South India, October 2012

Our time here in South India has gone very well so far. We were so excited to hear about the 6 trainings that the pastors had conducted since we were last here. It is such a joy to work with them because they are not only eager learners, but also enthusiastic to take the training on to others. They told us some of the pastors they have trained keep asking when they will get the next workshop. I am sure the men we are training will begin training others as soon as we are finished training them. They are bright, well educated and pick up the material quickly. In spite of the fact that many of them have bible school training, and several have taught in bible schools, none of them have actually been trained to study the bible itself. We find this to be the case everywhere we go.  

We have had a few challenges, as usual. Several men showed up who have not had the previous workshop and have had difficulty catching up. Two are not English speakers and have had difficulties understanding the teaching, although one man has been translating for them. We have worked these issues out so that everyone receives the previous workshops from the leaders here before they attend the next workshop. We also agreed that non English speakers will be better trained by the Tamil leaders here than by us. The three leaders here, whom we affectionately call the three amigos, are so cooperative and easy to work with.  

Edie and Linda have had a great time with the women. One problem they have had is too many women are coming. They had 20 women yesterday, way too many to effectively train with our method. We discussed that also with the leaders and I think we will have that solved next time as well. We will need the women to catch the vision for training other women. You can pray for that with us.

I am feeling much better, almost no back issues at all, and we are getting good rest at night. It is amazing how much better things go when you feel good. Thanks for praying for us. We feel your assistance through the Lord every day.  

Al