India at Last!

Hello family and friends!

TUESDAY, Nov 4th--Wow, after a restful afternoon at the "Novetel" (airport hotel in Bangkok), we headed back to Bangkok airport to board our flight. We arrived in Dehli at about 11 pm; our good friend Ken Hoke was there waiting for us. (His dear wife Carol was waiting for us to arrive that morning, as they never got the message that our flight was cancelled!!--I think I owe Carol a BIG chocolate sundae or something--she waited a long time for our flight that never arrived)

Ken is very versed in the Hindi language, so had a driver waiting to take us to our hotel, where the rest of the Pastor's Vision Trip Team was--all tucked in bed for the night. We got there at about 12:30 am, and we discovered that they didn't have a reservation for us and the hotel was FULL! So, we bunked with Carol--now I owe her 2 sundae's--and Ken moved in with another guy on the team.
Rule #1 on a mission's trip--flexability is key
Rule #2-change is expected!
Rule #3--Follow Rules 1 & 2!!!

On Wed am --Nov 5th-- we as a group of 7, traveled back to Dehli airport to fly to Bhubaneswar, and then an hour drive to Cuttack, where some of our BIC churches are located. As you may know, this is the window in our trip where there has been much violence in previous weeks. We are safe here in Cuttack, staying with friends, but we must be careful what we do. We can ride in jeeps with blackened windows, and stay inside the building where we're residing. We are not able to walk around outdoors at all. This is best for our safety and for those around us.

Last night, we went to a program at the Zion Boy's Hostel here in Cuttack. This is a hostel that houses 65 boys, grades 8, 9, 10. They put on a program of singing and drama for us--we had a great time! Unfortunately I don't have access to my computer to post pics, but I will hope to add those in a few days. We were also privilaged to hand out "Christmas" gifts to the boys....You should have seen their faces---so delighted to receive a new pair of jeans and a tee shirt! Amazing!

Over night, Bekah, Carol and I were startled from sleep from a very large crash outside our window. We were a bit tense, from all the talk of needing to stay safe, etc. We found out this morning that some locals had dumped a load of bricks right outside our window ---why they needed to do that at 4 am, I'm not sure!!! WE've had a good laugh over that today.

Today (thursday the 6th), we attended a service where I was able to share some words of encouragement to many pastors and church leaders. Tonight and tomorrow we will also attend gatherings here.

Bekah is once again adapting very well to her surroundings--I know this is an answer to your prayers. She was very blessed at the hostel program--being able to interact with the students and helping to hand out their Christmas presents. When we were ready to leave the hostel for the evening, every boy shook our hands, kissed their hand and touched our feet. This is a sign of honor and respect. What a humbling thing! We will see the boys again tomorrow night as part of our program.

We will be in several locations in India over the next days, and then on the 12th
(3 am), Bekah and I will fly to London. We'll be spending a couple of days with our London team. We return to Dulles Airport in DC in the evening of the 14th.

Pray for strength, rest and endurance, as we've been on the road for 2 weeks now. God is sustaining us very well, but I can tell that the travel, heat, and emotion of our days is adding up. We've seen much, have interacted with many, and are enjoying every minute of it, though some of the conditions we see are very difficult. I'm so thankful for this experience for Bekah and I to experience together.

I'm grateful for the time I'm able to spend with our teams and individuals who are serving with BICWM. WE are blessed with an amazing and gifted group of leaders, pastors and teachers. I'm humbled to serve with them.

As I said, pictures to follow as we have access to technology to do so.

Many blessings to each of you--thank you for tracking with us, and for your thoughts and prayers...
until next time!

Chris and Bekah