A beautiful view from the hotel room Saloni and I shared.
Another morning in India and another long drive ahead of us. I got up and joined Samuel and Keaton for coffee while we waited for the others to appear to start the day. We met together for prayer before drinking more coffee and heading off on another journey. We are going to be doing lots more travelling in the next week or so together and I'm looking forward to all the places we're going to see.
We stopped and had vegetarian dosa for breakfast again. We've been enjoying such big breakfasts that so far most of us have been happy with only two meals a day.
We have discovered that Luke is extremely ticklish especially around his neck. This is a fact much enjoyed by some people :).
We continued on again, most of us simple ready to get where we're going for the day.
We made another stop for lunch and had butter chicken; yum!
They served a kind of candied seed after the meal to freshen your breath. It sort of tastes like aniseed and is quite pleasant after a meal full of spice. So far it feels like we've mostly been eating and travelling.
A quick stop to stretch the legs.
We eventually arrived in Chitradurga and were warmly greeted by the church and the missionary couples that minister there. They served us all soft drink as a treat, which is sort of ironic as most of us don't really enjoy soft drink and Bill doesn't drink it at all.
We discussed IEM, the work in Chitradurga and plans to further the work in different areas. We were asked to sing and chose "Before the Throne" seeing as most of us know the words pretty well.
We headed off to visit Paul's daughter and parents at their home where we were served a tray of Indian desserts. Saloni pointed out her favourites and we all experimented a little with the unfamiliar sweets.
We then visited a family of new believers in the area and heard their story. I'm amazed at how these people turn around from lives immersed in idol worship and immediately start spreading the gospel to anyone that will listen to them. Some of these people have already faced all kinds of persecution from neighbors and police but remain committed to Jesus in the face of it all.
This small community of believers have already built their own local church building and we met together with them for worship. Men on one side, women on the other and of course all sitting cross legged on the floor.
Keaton and Luke enjoyed the group of boys that gathered around them. Making friends with kids is never hard even if you can barely speak the same language.
With Gupal playing the drums, a tambourine accompanying and two girls leading the singing they worshipped and sang with hearts full of joy, before hearing Bill speak. This small group of people late on a Saturday night could easily rival our large church back home on a Sunday morning with their enthusiasm in singing. We clapped along as we witnessed the kind of joy that can only come from fixing your eyes on Christ Himself.
We visited another family of new believers and prayed with them before heading to one of the missionary family's house.
This house was filled with still more believers who had been waiting for us to come and join with them in worship too. Bill spoke again and we prayed together before fellowshipping with the people here.
Alex's height is a bit of a novelty here in a place where Luke is considered quite tall for his age. The children all look younger to us than what they really are. From memory this boy was about 13 years old.
Samuel is chatting her with some of the missionary ladies. The young lady in the middle is still doing missionary training at the moment and has plans to marry a young man also in training by the beginning of next year.
We were served dinner by the people here and we all enjoyed it once again. So far every meal has been great, the only downside is that we can't seem to fit enough of it in our stomachs!
We had to take some of the men here with us to our hotel in order to sort out our rooms and so we squished Alex in our jeep again. We have now figured out a method for us all to sit in relative comfort without sitting on one another.
There was a slight confusion with rooms but it was all eventually sorted out, with Saloni and I sharing a double bed. Saloni and I were both suffering from bug bites and I feet felt filthy.
We both took just enough time to wash our feet and write in our journals before collapsing into bed.
I'm looking forward to church tomorrow and sharing once again in worship with the believers here.
"Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.......But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls."
Hebrews 10:35-36,39
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