India Update Weeks 13 thru 16

I am going to make a strong recommendation to HBI that they move their base of operations from Chennai to Avalanche! That is where I spent a week camping in South India, but i will get to that. I would have to say that the last month largely has been vacation time for me. Between going camping, having my birthday, going on HBI departmental retreat to an amusement park, going to 2 weddings, going to Josh's native home, a Petra concert, and going to dinner a few times, I can't say I have accomplished a whole lot other than helping lead someone to the Lord (keep reading). It has been a great break though.

On Friday April 25th, the personal department at HBI, thats the office I am officially under, went to Queensland (the local Kings Island). We had a great time scaring ourselves on the rides and eating food. I got to swim, which was a good thing because it was really hot that day. I had to laugh, because in the pool there was a girls section and a boys section with a lifeguard swimming in the middle so no evil boys could come over the girls side. This pool was the exact same wave pool that Wyandot Lake had in Columbus years ago. Most of the people that was swimming, swam in the pants and shirts that they came in, and there were only a few of us that wore trunks and did not wear a shirt. It seems that I scared a few of the local kids in the changing room because I dried off and then striped down to what God gave me and I quickly found out that was a big no-no It is not culturally correct to be naked in front of each other even though that it was a mens locker room and it was called a "Changing Room". Who knew?

The following night I left for Avalanche and my camp site in the jungle. We traveled by train for 8 hours and by bus for 6. We slowly went from 100s+ temperatures to the 70s as we climbed in altitude. It felt so good to be back in some what normal temps. The train really was not bad. We traveled on the train by night so once everyone settled down, we slept most of the night. I woke up at each stop, which wasn't many, and I was pretty comfortable compared to a flight. The bottom bed in the photo was my bed for the journey. I mentioned in my last blog about being warned to stay away from the wild elephants. Well, in the elephant department (or any wild animals for that matter) I think we were too loud for anything to be seen near our camp. I was on the wrong side of the mountain for the elephants and there were tiger sitings a few days before we came, but we did not see them either. I saw a few hundred monkeys on the bus ride on the way up the mountain, but the only photo I got of a monkey (from this trip) was this one on top of the bridge.

The camp was unbelievable! 3 days of God's creation, friends and good Indian camp food. We had to hike a good 2 hours to get to the camp as the entire area was off limits to the public, not to mention that the road was not passable in a vehicle. There was nothing but mountains and jungle for as far as the eye could see. I am sad that I had to come back at all because it was one of the most beautiful places these eyes have ever seen. This was an adventure camp, so throughout the three days we had activities that were designed to stretch our abilities, limits, and fears. We had activities like rock climbing, boating, hiking along a gorge ridge, swimming at a waterfall or jumping off that waterfall, and sleeping through the extreme cold temperatures at night. I had to laugh at that one because it only got down to the 40s at night and most there had never been in temps that cold. One of my new friends, Sharma, was shivering on of the late evenings and was wearing only a t-shirt and shorts. I asked him why he didn't put on more and he said that he had never shivered before like that and he wanted to experience the feeling. The swimming was a stretch for me and everyone else because the water was fresh out of the mountain and probably no warmer than 50f. That was the coldest water I have ever been in. The rock climbing was my biggest challenge because I am scared to death of heights. As you can see in the photo I did it :) When we were not risking our lives we were worshiping and learning about God, and a few of the worship times we had were so powerful because God's presence there was strong and nobody there could escape his awesome presence. We are planning to go back in October so start planning now.




I got the opportunity to help lead Sharma my friend to the Lord! The first time we really sat down and talked he was telling me about his family and that his mother was a yoga master. He was also explaining his Hindu faith and some of the important gods that were in his life. As he was explaining all of this I asked him who the main god was and he could not answer the question. He became confused and said that was a question that was on his mind and was struggling with this. I said that it was easy for me because I have 1 living God and His name was Jehovah. We left it at that and then we talked about why he did not eat meat and that he did not understand why Christians could kill animals for food. He later got the answer for that one, but said he would stay a non-vegetarian. On the last night of our teaching and time of worship he said that he felt God there and he wanted to enjoy what we were enjoying, and it was at that time that he decided to follow Jesus. Please pray for him, because it is very common for converted Hindus to except Jesus and add him to the other gods that are important to there lives. Colin, the camp leader has followed up with him and said he still has a long way to go and that they would be connecting on a regular basis. I hope to see Sharma again soon.

Coming back to Chennai was harsh and difficult for me because of the heat. Since the first of May, it has not dropped below 100f during the day and as of late been around 105 to 108 with 70% to 90% humidity. This has really been hard for me! I am moving much slower than I am used to and I think is due to the heat. For you weather buffs like me, here is a good link to follow Chennai weather forecasts and weather history. Today actually was the coldest day for a while and the temp came in at a delightful 100f.

My birthday came on May 6th and due to the Indian culture, it was an expensive one. In India, it is up to the person that is having the birthday or special event to provide the party and food. I provided lunch for 40 people and that cost me 50 dollars which was not bad. I provided Chicken Biriyani which is a traditional India celebration meal. That evening I went out with some friends from the camp and we went to Sparkie's and enjoyed some traditional American food (Sparkie's birthday trip 1 of 2). Yum! For 11 people it cost me 60 dollars. The darn American food cost me more for 11 people then the India food cost me for 40 people. It was a great day and one of my most memorial birthdays being with all the people that have welcomed me and have helped me feel at home here. The popular gifts to give in India I found out, was picture frames, key chains and flowers. I also got a Yoga DVD from Sharma. It was a great B-day.


Still with me.... Oh good..... It has been way too long since my last update.


My first wedding that I attended was that Friday. Other than the bride and groom not showing up until almost 45 minutes after the wedding was supposed to start, it was very similar to a typical Christian wedding that we would have in the US. Some songs and the I do's was the ceremony, without the "you may now kiss the bride". (at least I think thats what went on as the ceremony was all in Tamil). The reception was outdoor and was very different. We all sat down in auditorium style seating and herd from the family and the family's pastor as the couple sat in a Love seat on a stage behind them. We then had the option to eat Mutton (lamb) Biriyani or stand in line to meet the new couple. The couple will now live in the husbands fathers home with his parents, and this is the norm in India culture. The second wedding came a week later and was just about the same except there were 800 people there in a place that was designed for no more than 500. Like the previous wedding the bride did not show up until about 30 minutes past the time the wedding was supposed to start.



The week after the first wedding was a lot of fun as I did get some work done if you can call it that. We visited all of HBI's local orphan homes. A week of playing with kids and taking there photographs; a tough job but someone has to do it right. We had no schedule or program to follow, we just spent time with the kids and we all had a good time laughing and playing. We visited these homes to get some video and updated photos of the kids to pass to the organizations that are getting these kids sponsored like world help. For those of you that have participated in Operation Christmas Child, I saw boxes from Samaritan's Purse at 2 of the homes we went to, so if you wondered if your boxes are going somewhere, they are. I asked about the boxes and I was told the kids got shoe box gifts last year for Christmas. My love for children is growing quickly hanging around these kids and the kids at HBI! I would like to smuggle a few of them home when I come.

At one of the homes we went to, as we were finishing things up and getting ready to pray with the children, The power went out and some very serious rain and winds came. Most of the kids and Sheela from HBI were very scared, but as most of you that knows me, and how I love the weather, would guess I was having a ball. A few minutes into the storm, we heard a very loud clap of thunder and then a big bang, then I looked outside and 4 of the trees in front of the home had come down. The bang we heard was the tree in the front hitting the side of the home. That was one of the strongest storms I have ever experienced.

On Wednesday morning (May 14th) I got a call from Josh at about 7am asking if I had Dr. Go's cell number as his wife was not feeling well. Within a few hours they found out that she was having labor pains. Jovi, his wife gave birth, via natural birth, to their son Johannes Lionel at 11:48 that evening. The baby is a month premature and weighs 4 pounds 8 ounces. Baby and mom are doing well. I was there when the baby was born and visited the new family a few times while they were in the hospital. By the way if you are planning to give birth and have a budget issue, come to India and give birth here as it cost Jovi and Josh about 375 dollars for there 3 day stay and care in the hospital.

My second Sparkie's night came that Friday night as I provided dinner for the 9 people that I have been working the closest with. We had been talking about doing this since I came and this was my excuse to finally take everyone out. 6 of the 9 that came had never had American food before and I think everyone but 2 said they enjoyed it. For those of you who have come before know "Watch the Lamb" Johnson, he was one of the 2 that did not like American food. He said that he has been wanting to go to the US for the last 7 years and now that he has had the food he does not want to come.

If anyone was wondering what ever happened to the band Petra, I found them in India. It seems that they are a big hit here. It was a good rock concert. It was mostly John Schilit's new music and a few songs from the old Petra days. From a technical point of view it was a little scary for me to see the setup of this concert as we arrived 2 hours early for this show. Right up to the beginning of the show they were still setting up lighting and video cameras and video screens. Before the concert one of my friends from church called me and asked me if I knew anything about the keyboard that the band was using, and before I knew it I was being ushered on stage to show Roger the keyboardist some of the different sounds the Motif7 has to offer. It seems that the keyboard was a rental. The stage was scary as the entire platform under was all bamboo stilts. Other than the heat it was a good experience to see the difference between a concert in the US and in India.

I just got back from a 3 day trip to Tirunelveli, which is Josh's home in the extreme south of India. The city is about 45 miles from the southern tip of India and 8 degrees north the equator. If you can believe it it was much warmer there than it was in Chennai. I was a great few days visiting with Josh's family and seeing his home town. I liked it there very much because is was a much slower place and not nearly as much traffic. We spent a lot of time visiting his family and resting. On Thursday May 22nd, we traveled to the nearby mountains to go to a place where we going to take a bath and also enjoy the sights. The place we took this bath was in the middle of a tiger reserve. I saw no tigers but many monkeys. This like the Avalanche camp site was beautiful with lots of scenery. The difference here was this was a big tourist spot. Once we arrived to the spot where we were to take the bath, we had to take a boat to that location then hick a small distance. But, once we got there, it was well worth the trip. The concept of personal space went out the window in this waterfall bathroom as there were about 20 of us all crowded in an area that comfortably should fit 5 to 10. You had your choice to bathe with you cloths or in the buff. I wore shorts if you were wondering. That was a great experience. The next day we visited Josh's family farm and took another bath, this time in a well. This was a poultry and a coconut farm. I now have proof that our chickens that we eat truly are not free range trash eating but are grown on a farm. That was a joke the India teams have always had when we came over to India because as you travel through Chennai and other places you would see cows, chickens, goats, and watter buffalo roaming the streets and eating the trash that was along the streets.



Now that I am back to Chennai I will return to full time work and Ministry. I somehow feel guilty to go to all these places and experience these things while I am supposed to be ministering in the field here, but I thank God for allowing me this time that I have had. A couple of prayer requests. First I am sad to say I am not going to China. Because of some of the restrictions that Americans have applying for a China visa, I cannot go. Also due to these restrictions, I am not able to the Northeast because these states are off limits without special permission from the government and again I cannot get that permission without creating more problems and safety concerns for me and HBI. So, God has closed these doors for a reason I don't understand and I pray that God reveals to me why so I can be effective. Also by not going to China, it creates a challenge for me as required by Indian law I have to leave India by July 31st and my China trip was that exit. Pray that I can come up with the funds needed to go to some nearby country for a quick visit and not have any visa issues to visit those places. Please continue to pray that I cope with the heat and exhaustion. Also please pray for clear direction on where God wants me and how he is to use me while I am here.