Sunday, July 16, 2017

Higher Perspectives



We arrived in Trina, which is about 20 km from Chinnamanur where we will be training. It was a difficult three and a half hours here as the car was small and my back complained the whole way. It is quite beautiful here with steep mountains, the surroundings covered with what looks like scrub oak. This town is about 100,000 and busy. We are staying here because there are no good hotels in Chinnamanur, which I now find out is only 40,000 people. This hotel is a challenge, called a business class hotel but I am not sure what business they are shooting for. We had a good time last night trying to figure out how to turn all the lights off, about 10 different switches. I tried to recharge my computer but the only outlet that works is connected to a light so no charging overnight. Thankfully, the bathroom outlet worked and I charged it there. We have warm water and internet, occasionally. When it is on it is good but lasts only a few minutes and then goes off for a while. This is usually the kind of stuff that gets to me but I am trying hard to have a higher perspective. I am preaching this morning on the inheritance we have in Christ, Ephesians 1:11-14. I will try to keep my eye on that.

As with all new networks, we have a challenge coming talking about finances. That is always interesting. We look forward to meeting the pastors tomorrow and beginning their journey to careful Bible study.

Al

Saturday, July 15, 2017

Fruitfulness & Flexibility



We finished four fruitful days with our friends in Sri Lanka. These men are some of the brightest and most influential men we have ever trained. They were a lot of fun to be with, always joking and laughing with each other. They picked up the concepts really well. Even though several of them teach at Bible schools and seminaries, they had not learned the simple tools we were presenting. All said that what they had learned was so significant. I really think that there is the potential with these men to impact a large part of the Sri Lankan church. They represent several different denominations and educational institutions. But they must first learn how to train others who in turn train more pastors. That is the great challenge we put before them and they seemed to receive it well. Time will tell how well they do and the health of the broader church lies in the balance. Please pray that they are faithful, well organized, and can overcome the many barriers to multiplication training.

Edie had a fairly large group of ladies each day and they were enthusiastic learners. She only had them for two hours each day so it made learning harder as they had to learn more material in less time. She covered the book of Jonah with them that we usually do in a week with 6 hours or so each day for four days. But the Lord knows and I am sure they learned something.

We arrived in Trichy last evening and were so warmly greeted by our dear friends here. This is our 12th trip here and the people are like family to us. We will meet with many who know us this morning and then after lunch we will travel 3 or 4 hours to Chinnamanur where we will train next week. I will be preaching at our partner Seth’s father’s church there on Sunday morning. We have not been to this location before so it will be a new adventure for us. It appears to be near mountains, and should be a bit cooler than where we have been (in the mid 80’s). 

This is a small town for India, about 70,000 or so, so much like our hometown in Colorado. But the hotel situation is poor so we will be staying about a half hour away in a large town where there is a more adequate hotel. Not quite sure how we will get there this afternoon, things are always in flux and we have to be flexible. Our friends traveling with us brought a “Gumby” man and we award it to whoever had to be the most flexible during the day. We are promised that there will be a group of women there for the full week. We will see what that is like. Edie usually gets the gumby for the day.

Al

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Traveling Mercies



Monday, July 10: We arrived in Delhi tired but safe. Fourteen hours from Newark to Delhi is a long time on a plane. It’s been a while since we had a flight that long. We are not looking forward to the flight home next week. Our flight to Colombo was delayed by 2 ½ hours so we got in around 6:30 pm and to our hotel around 9 pm. We were fully ready for bed but slept well. So far, our new jet lag diet is working quite well and though we are tired and not exactly on the right sleep schedule, it is much better than usual.

On Sunday, we traveled to southern Colombo to a boy’s home where several churches had gathered for a camp retreat. I was asked to preach, which I expected and was prepared for, but I was not prepared for the request that I preach back-to-back sermons, separated by a tea time. Thankfully, I had planned to preach a sermon I preached two weeks ago on Ephesians 1:11-14. I had been discussing the next two passages with my son, who was scheduled to preach them next. So, that is what I used for my second sermon. It seemed to go well, at least from my perspective. 

It was a great joy to be reunited with our Sri Lankan pastors. I was not sure what to expect since I had not had good communication with them since last February. Most of them had passed on the training and we only need to tweak a few things to help them become more effective. Unfortunately, none of them had received the pre-assignment so they were not prepared well. We gave them time in the afternoon to do the necessary preparations. 

Edie had several ladies to train and that seemed to go well although the timing was a bit off. They waited for us for over an hour and then had to leave early so Edie only had one hour to go over Jonah 1. But the Lord once again helped and progress was made. Hopefully today she will have 2 ½ hours. We would have liked her to have more time, but it is better than nothing. 

The couple traveling with us who are considering joining our team are doing wonderfully. They are a delight to be with and we expect that they will be good additions to our team if that is how the Lord leads.

Al