Monday - January 26, 2009

Greetings from India 26 January 2009

The weather is getting hotter! I am having a wonderful time & am in good health. It is very dry & dusty here. Only the fields of peanuts, sunflowers & rice paddies are green. Everything else is a sandy reddish color. There are some flowers planted in front of the guest house, which makes it the prettiest place on campus.

Today is Republic Day in India—a BIG holiday celebrating the end of British rule. It also is the day the students received their awards from the sports competitions. A government official from the Nellore District was the guest speaker for the celebration here at the school & he praised the school as well as the SDA educational system for the valuable contribution they make in the lives of the children who attend SDA schools. Some flower petals were folded in with the Indian flag & when it was raised, the petals floated to the ground making a beautiful site. The students in the upper grades were all dressed in white & marched in formation around the field. It was very impressive!!! Our team members were called on to help present some of the awards.

Before the ceremony was complete, Joy (a 4th year medical student from the US & the last member of our team) arrived from Bangalore with Varinder & John from the Dehli office of Maranatha. Varinder has been a member of the Maranatha team for six years, so we’ve worked on several projects together.

After welcoming Joy, we left her to get some rest, & headed out to a village to hold a medical clinic & VBS for the children. The principal’s daughter, Spandana, & Paul went with us. Kevin & I were in charge of the VBS with Kotesh as translator. We started by singing some songs—their favorite was “Bubblin’ Over.” We gave a demonstration of tooth brushing & then gave both children & adults toothbrushes & toothpaste. Kevin told the story of Jonah & then we handed out coloring sheets & a set of 4 crayons to each child.

After the Clinic, we went back to the school for supper & then to the village for the evening meeting. Kevin did the Health Talk on Colds, Flu & Coughs, Sharla played her violin, & I gave the message on Jesus’ parable about the man who came to the wedding feast without the wedding garment.
At the close of the meeting, I had prayer & then the people lined up in front of each of us for prayer.
It’s time to get some sleep so I’ll be ready for another busy day. I got a little sunburn today, but not bad.

Blessings from INDIA…where the people are beautiful, the children are irresistible, & the GOD of Heaven is blessing us richly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!