Firecrackers and Laundry delays

Wednesday: Today’s sessions went very well. Three men preached and each gave a very good sermon. I was very thankful to see the progress in each man. One has not historically done as well but this time he did a great job. One interesting side note is that this is the time of the largest holiday in India. It is somewhat like a combination of Christmas and July 4th. It is certainly a Hindu festival and the Christians don’t participate, but almost everyone else does. There is a lot of gift giving like our Christmas time but also a lot of setting off “crackers” (our firecrackers). All day during the sessions loud explosions were occurring at various times outside of the open windows. Their crackers are louder than ours and they are amplified by all the concrete walls and streets. It was like training in the middle of a war zone.

My back is much better, still a little stiff but it did not restrict me at all. The Indians had prayed for me diligently and were all interested this morning to hear how I was doing and thankful to God for my progress.  

In the afternoon we discussed the issues of multiplying the training to others in the area and region. I think we made substantial progress in helping them understand the issues involved and the way forward for them. In addition, I learned a lot about how to facilitate the development of training networks and some ways to incorporate that more fully in our training. We thank God that he is consistently teaching us how to make our training better and more effective. So far I have learned a lot on this trip about improving our approach in many different areas. Now if I can find the time when I get back to the US to start revising our curriculum and passing on what I am learning to the rest of the team, we will make substantial progress.

We are thankful for cooler temperatures due to the monsoon season beginning. It has rained every day which has added to the humidity levels greatly, but it is still more comfortable than last week up north when it was so hot. Unfortunately, because of the holidays it is taking more time for us to get our laundry back. I have been wearing my last shirt for awhile and I think everyone is rooting for our laundry to come back.

Al