Well, we finally made it to Prakash and now have Internet connection AFTER five days. Our trip was quite eventful from the moment the pilot had revved the engines to take off and the stewardess comes on over the intercom and says, ” Is there a doctor on board? We have a medical emergency.” The engine slows and we taxi back to the gate. I have to say the paramedics arrived immediately and the lady was taken off with oxygen, BUT then it took and hour and a half to find her luggage and take it off the plane—probably the last piece in the pile.

We arrived in Amsterdam for a three-hour layover only to find that the gate (secured room) was not open and only 20 chairs were provided for a planeload of people. Finally I just put my shawl down and sat on the floor.

Then to top it all off, when we went to check in for our flight to Nagpur we found that the flight had been cancelled. It was a holiday for their Goddess Durga!!! The ticket agents worked very hard to find us a flight and we ONLY had to walk about three-quarters of a mile through a construction area pulling our carry-ons to another terminal to the accommodating airline. This airline had recently changed their policy about luggage and we ended up paying almost $100 in fees for over weight baggage. Like I said, ” We are finally here.”

Due to the fact that there was this holiday and Diwali is coming there are thousands of lights and decorations. Loren teased and thanked our General Director for all the lights in his honor. Literally, hundreds of thousands of people have also invaded Nagpur for a Buddhist celebration so the mass of people and traffic from the airport to Prakash was beyond comprehension.

Because this was somewhat of a surprise trip, the majority of the staff was in shock. They all think Loren looks “healthy” and I think they thought he would be emaciated. Cancer is a total death sentence in India, so they marvel at his attitude and that he looks good.

Thankfully we didn’t have any jet lag and were able to start sessions with the executive staff the very next morning after we arrived. They are all so hungry for fellowship around God’s Word.

Pray that we have wisdom to handle all the things that are on our plate and that we will do what is necessary with love and grace.

There are a ton of stories to come. I just need the time to write them.

Every year we as an organization fund the “purchase” of the Samaritan Purse Shoeboxes. I know—we should not have to pay for them, but this is India and we do. Anyway, it is quite a process of distribution FUN. We order and pay for them in October and then WAIT—WAIT. Finally, we are thankful to report that the long awaited Christmas Gifts finally reached safely to Nagpur and the celebration of Christmas in September began. Most all of our churches and outreach ministries receive some of the boxes to give away.

I really don’t have words to express my joy when seeing these pictures of the poor village children and parents receiving the gift boxes. How I wish I could have been in every village as the boxes were given away. It seems that the parents were more excited than the children upon receiving such a wonderful present. I was told that along with the children many parents joyfully ate “chock lets” and sweets.

Pencils, sharpeners, white socks, small towels, pens, small toys and candy may not seem like much to us but, are very precious to these village children. Most of the parents are not able to buy these things because of their tremendous poverty.

We really want thank all those who partnered with us to send these treasured gifts, even if it happens in September. May our God bless you for bringing a smile to these poor faces and helping this wonderful work for the downtrodden village children in India. Thank you very much for your wise investment for the glory of God.

P.S.

Because of the outreach like the Shoeboxes our people have recently established two new Sunday School classes in outlying villages.

Some of you may not realize that there are several churches founded and somewhat supported by Prakash for India. The pastors of each of these fellowships are PBI alumni. Upon expressing their call for the ministry, funding was raised by Prakash for India for their seminary training. Nagesh is one of these dear young pastors and here is one of his stories.

“I visited a boy named An… in one of the villages in Amravati District. He was sitting with his distant grandmother (great-grandmother) when I came to visit. She is a very poor and old lady.

I was told by one of my relatives who live in the village that there was a boy who is fully orphaned and nobody was taking care of him. His mother passed away and his father just up and left him just like that. When I heard this story I took it to my heart and decided to go and pay a visit to that boy. I personally went on my motorcycle to the village that is maybe 200km (approx.125 miles) away from Nagpur.

Before going I contacted a few orphanages so they might give him shelter, but because of his age barrier I found it very difficult to get him into any hostel. Finally, I got him admission in Nagpur Orphanage. I wanted to bring him along with me to Nagpur, but he did not have his “Living Certificate” (birth certificate) and some other documents. To get those documents ready there were fees needing to be given. Well, I gave the officials the money for the work to be done and came back to Nagpur.

So after fifteen days, he came along with his distant relative who happens to stay in Nagpur for work purposes. When he came I took An… to the Orphanage. Upon arriving in Nagpur he was not well. His stomach was upset and so he was given some medicine, but after being in the hostel for a day or so he was in much pain in his stomach.

Not knowing what to do the hostel manager admitted him to Mure Memorial Hospital for investigation. Finally the doctors said he is HIV positive. So now he has no future anymore, also he cannot stay in the hostel with the other children. If I were to take him back to his village he would surly die soon and horribly without knowing about Jesus. Thank God there is one more hostel, which takes care of such people. With the help of one man who works for HIV people we got An… admission in that hostel. I also talked to this man over the phone and he was willing to take care of this boy. One more thing, now he also obtained the Free-card (Government Card) which will help him to get free medicine and even treatment for his entire life at any place in India.

I feel very sad to know that this boy is suffering from this sickness, but I also feel nice that God used me to go to that village to get An… in a hostel in Nagpur. If this boy had not come to the Nagpur I am sure he would have died soon. He is a very sweet boy and seems to be very intelligent fellow.

Now he is in Christian HIV Care Center in Nagpur with a better life than he had in his village and the opportunity to hear about the love of Jesus.”

Nagesh is a fully orphaned young man, so he has great empathy for the orphaned of India.

India has a huge population of HIV infected people, but as a country they do not want it known. Therefore, unlike Africa, it is a hidden fact and they lose out to a great extent in aid from the Western world.

Keep this young man in our prayers. His life will be better, but not long.