Saturday, May 25, 2019

Heading home


Thursday, May 23:  We just completed our training in South Asia. One of the biggest challenges of the week was the heat. It felt like 105 every day and we had no air conditioning and off and on electricity during the training. We are both quite tired of drinking water and quite drained physically. Both the men and women made good progress and were very responsive and grateful for the training we gave. Our country coordinator invited two pastors from another area who are passing on the training as they receive it from him. One in particular was very bright and articulate and showed great leadership qualities. I am encouraging our coordinator to further recruit him to help spread Pathways throughout the country. This is especially important because it is questionable how long we can continue to enter the country as American Christians. So, having a good national training team in place is crucial. We have two days off to prepare for our marathon trip home, over 30 hours, on Saturday. We are looking forward to being home to “cold” Colorado.

Al

Saturday, May 18, 2019

On to South Asia



We are now in our last stop in S Asia. It is hot! 107 today, and always over 100. We are adjusting. The workshop went well in Sri Lanka with the men really transformed by the Pathways study. Several mentioned how before their training started 3 years ago, under their old preaching method their people were not changing.  Now as they preach through books and passages, their people are starting to change. The situation in Sri Lanka is complicated and tense. The politics, the terrorist threat and the cultural clashes are all mixed in a mess. Where we were was quite normal except the Christians are afraid to send their children to school because of the threats of attacks from the Muslims. The Buddhists have attacked some mosques, with ensuing riots in more rural areas. The Christian response has surprised everyone, one of humility and grace. It has elevated Christianity for the first time in the minds of many. God is at work in spite of man’s sin.

Al