Our time in Delhi flew by and we made two very good contacts
for future training in the area. One man was a translator for me in Ahmadabad but
he lives in Delhi and has many contact there. We are excited about what may
come of this but unsure how we will operate the training. We will have to
recruit more pastors to help us. The other contact is a very wise older man who
has worked in Delhi for years and has many contacts as well. Both men are
getting to work right away for us to have a pre-conference this fall or next
winter. It was hot in Delhi but bearable, unlike it had been a few weeks
earlier with temperatures way above 100. Many people died there over the past
months. On our last day, we had some time to explore and go out for dinner in a
place where there used to be an old fort. We ate in a quaint restaurant that
wasn’t too good but we survived it. We then decided to look for ice cream. There
was a shop down a narrow corridor so we went in. It smelled awful in there,
sewer gas or something, but we ordered Dutch chocolate anyway. We were surprised
at how they made it. They poured a mixture in a blender and began blending it. Then
they poured what I assume was liquid nitrogen in and kept stirring, steam
rolling off the blender and counter in an amazing display. Finally, after
several applications they turned around and began scooping the ice cream out
into bowls. I did not know what we would get, but it turned out to be this
amazing dark creamy chocolate ice cream, perhaps the best I had ever eaten. Wonders
never cease!
We left Delhi on July 1 and flew into Colombo, Sri Lanka,
our first visit here. We travelled 5 hours to the city, Vavuniya, and did not
get to bed until nearly 1 am. Then we were up and began training the next day. I
was a little fatigued but the Lord enabled. We are training with one of our
former students from Trichy and he is doing a fantastic job. It has been such a
joy to work with him. We did the Jonah training in 2 1/2 days primarily because
he didn’t need translation as I do when I am teaching. I did not know
everything that was going on sometimes but got the gist of it. We just finished
and have the afternoon ( Saturday) off. A friend from our days in Las Vegas is
coming to visit us tonight. He is Sri Lankan and lives here part time teaching
at the seminary in Colombo. Through him, I was invited to preach at a local
church in town. The Bishop of the church where we are training asked if I could
preach there but I had already made the
other arrangement. So he asked if Edie could preach, but we graciously
declined, much to Edie’s relief. After church, we drive back to Colombo. We are
looking forward to it since our trip up was all in darkness. We travel along
the coast most of the time so it should be fun.
Monday, July 6, we fly back to India and on to Ahmadabad to
set up a pre-training in Songadh later this fall. Our team of Iowa pastors will
conduct that training. Then on Wednesday, the 8th we head back to Bangkok for
an overnight and then on to San Diego, again for an overnight, then on to Fort
Dodge on the 10th. All in all the trip has gone well, although for some reason
we have had a few more stomach upsets than normal and I have struggled the last
several days with sleepiness in the workshops. I now think it was because of
some medication I was taking for restless legs. So no more of that medication on training
days. Keep praying, we are on our last lap and still need your support.
Al
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