June 25

We arrived home yesterday at 1 pm to find our house and yard in great shape. It is good to be home, even though there is a bit of jet lag to deal with.  This trip was amazing and we hope to share more details with those who would like to hear. We'll publish the date and time of an informal presentation once we figure out what will work best.

Thanks again for your prayers. We are convinced that God was strengthening us and directing our steps throughout the two and a half weeks.

June 22

Marla and I were able to visit with another ministry here in Pune yesterday that my brother has been connected with for many years. They do many things for the poor and those needing justice, including trafficked women and children not able to go to school because they are forced to work for their parents.

Last night the international food party was a smashing success. There were 18 of us altogether, singing, eating, sharing stories and playing games. Here are Marla and Analia preparing food for it. Marla made an apple crisp and mashed potatoes to represent US food.  We had people from Turkistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Iran, Bolivia, India and, us from the good old USA.  Things started winding down by 1:45 am. We went to bed at 2 and there were still three visitors here, talking with M & A.  Sohel was the life of the party until he went to bed around 10.


It is now about 12:30 pm and our taxi arrives at 2:30 to pick up the 5 of us with our luggage for the trip to Mumbai. Marla and I have a very inexpensive hotel reservation where the Clarks will hang out until their taxi comes to take them to the airport for a flight leaving at 1 am on Sunday, the 23rd.  Marla and I will stay until Sunday evening when we will also take a taxi for a 1 am flight on the 24th. We hope to find a church Sunday morning that is in the Hindi language.

Thanks again for your prayers. Lord willing we will see you soon.

June 21

Today is our last full day in Pune. We will travel tomorrow with Michael and Analia to Mumbai by taxi.  They leave early Sunday morning for Thailand for a few days, fulfilling their visa requirement of leaving the country every six months. We will stay in a hotel in Mumbai and leave early Monday morning. Because of time zones, we actually arrive at SeaTac at 11:30 am that same morning,  22 1/2 hours later.  This may be our last entry, though I will try to do one tomorrow morning if there is time.

Yesterday was an amazing day. I fixed pancakes for us all, including a friend who had come to join us for breakfast and a time of worship.  The most exciting "event" of our trip happened during that time, but you will have to ask us  about it when we see you in person due to the sensitive nature of things here.

Please pray for the international food party tonight and for Marla and Analia as they prepare dishes for it today.  Everything takes twice as long here as it does at home -- ask me sometime about showers. Pray also for preparations and travel for both families as we leave Pune tomorrow.

June 20, 2013

The days fly by so quickly and it takes so much time each day to do very basic things here. Yesterday, Michael and I spent a lot of time looking in hardware shops for several items, including some hardware to help baby-proof the kitchen. Hopefully we will be able to finish the project today.

Many other more exciting things happened yesterday as well.  We went to the "Neighbor" Center which is a training site for those wishing to work more effectively with their Mlm neighbors. They have a very large library there as well as some dedicated prayer warriors and trainers. Michael led a time of worship and I shared a devotional thought with a group of eight people.  Following a tour of the facility and stories from the lives of some of the workers there, Michael and I did some shopping (see above) while Marla and Analia went to a coffee shop to visit with a sister who was born in Iran. Later, when Michael and I joined them, this sister, M, shared her a amazing story of how she became a follower of Jesus and the difficulties she went through as a result.  We were blessed to hear another story of God's love and faithfulness.

After some down time in the afternoon, we all did more shopping for hardware and other items, followed by a meal we treated Michael, Analia and Sohel to at an Iranian restaurant they really like. Everywhere we go, Sohel is the main attraction for those we see. He is a blast to be around, but don't take your eyes off of him.

Please continue to pray for this family of three as they represent Jesus in this community. Pray for our international food party tomorrow night (it will start at 3:30 am on Friday for you in case you can make it.)  There will be many Mlm friends there.  God has healed a major problem in my jaw and Analia is doing much better. Both Marla and I have been free of cold symptoms for several days. Thanks for your prayers.  Pray that our final three days with the Clarks will bless them in special ways.

A special shout out to K, M, M, C and C!  We love you.

June 18

What a day we had yesterday!  We took care of Sohel in the morning (what a blast!) as Michael took Analia to the doctor's office for results of her tests.  She is still having liver problems and stomach pain but they have given her some good advice and some medications. In the afternoon we drove through horrendous traffic to meet with and have a late lunch with Q and his two Mlm brothers, along with two other roommates that are also Mlm. They all came from Afg...stan and have been living in Pk...stan for many years. Currently they are here as students in Pune.  Michael has been meeting with them for several months and has known Q for many years.

Conversations over lunch (they insisted on paying) and then afterwards on a long walk in the misting rain for 4 kilometers (God granted me special use of my feet for that walk) were enlightening and, I believe, God-directed. They are all wonderful young men and are very open to talking about Jesus.

After the walk they invited us to the apartment they share, for green tea.  It was wonderful. By now it was 8:30 and when Michael explained that we had to get the baby home, they offered a spare room for him to sleep in so that we could stay for a meal they would prepare and for games and more discussion. We respectfully declined, and after praying for all of them, we returned home.

This is an example of the kind of ministry the Clrks are involved in on a regular basis.

We invited them to a party on Friday night. They all plan to be there. Please pray for this time. Please continue to pray for Analia and her health problems. Thanks for your prayers for us during this trip. It is obvious to us that many of you are bringing us before the Throne.

June 16: The Rest of the Story

First, we got a wonderful rest last night. It is hot here, but not extremely hot, and a ceiling fan did the trick.

Sohel is opening up to us and is really relaxing around us this morning. Yesterday he woke up from a nap to find his parents gone and these two relatively strange people taking care of him. He cried for a while until I took him for a walk in the neighborhood.  We found one of my favorite things, a bakery, which sold popsicles, besides bread.  I found out later that it was his first popsicle. It did the trick: we are now friends for life.

On an earlier walk, I watched these boys playing cricket in a rather junky lot.  A few meters down the road I found a large dead rat in the gutter, but didn't take a picture.  My next discovery was this walk- through loo (toilet for you non-British).  They have them in the poorer neighborhoods where many families do not have their own toilets.  These are gents only, none for women.

Last night after supper, Michael, Marla, Sohel and I walked to Sohel's favorite park.  He fell asleep in the back carrier on the way there, but dad woke him up and the two of them played tag even though Sohel was obviously not fully awake. He had a ball, especially when he got to splash in mud puddles. (I lied about the mayhem, but needed to say something exciting to get you to check back.)

We attended church at Naga Christian Fellowship this morning with the Clarks. It was a large group (over 300, I'm sure) and was a wonderful time of worship.  The theme was Fathers' Day with lots of appreciation expressed for the fathers in attendance, along with some challenges to be a father like God is a father to us.

Michael and I went swimming this afternoon and I had a chance to talk with a couple of men in the office while he finished his laps.  Please pray for Amrisch, a Hindu- in- name- only atheist.  He gave me permission to pray that the God I worship would reveal Himself to him.  I'm asking you to gang up on Amrisch by praying that God would do just that.  God is taking care of our health concerns. Thanks for your prayers.  Please pray for Analia who is experiencing stomach pain that is somewhat severe.  Pray also for me as I prepare a devotional for Wednesday morning for a group of believers in the office that the Clarks are linked with.

June 15: True Exhaustion

Well folks, this is not jet lag, but just lack of sleep over the two nights that it took to get here. We arrived safely with our bags intact and made the taxi connection in Mumbai for the long ride to Pune. It is great to be here with the Clarks (sorry Bill and Julie). I'll write more details and upload a few pictures in the morning if I have a chance, but right now I'm going to bed to sleep before I write anything crazy in the state I am in. Marla is in the same shape. I will say that today there was a cricket game, a dead rat,  Sohel's first popsicle and mayhem in the park. Tune back in about 12 hours from now for the "rest of the story."