Working Hard

Our days are a really long.  Melissa is has about 12 hours of work and commute time and I spend probably over 4 hours just commuting or walking.  We finally get back to the hotel and basically drop dead.  It is good work but hard.

Melissa worked at Daya Den the site for the mentally disabled.  She worked with Angel who is 13 yeras old and about the body size of a 4 year old and about the brain function of a 4 month old.  Melissa cared for her and did physical therapy and her favorite part was whent he sisters told them to hold their child and pray over them for a while.  She also sang kids songs to her.  The motor rickshaw was crazy for her, almost like a disneyland ride, there is no protection andyou weave in and out of a lot bigger vehicles.  The bus seemed to go well.  Helping heron her way were Jane and Roger a couple from Michigan who are volunteering her for a month.  They tooker her under their wings both in the travel and in the serving.  The sisters don't give a lot of instructions so syou really depend on the volunteers who have been there before.  Melissa and Jane also served at the orphanage in the afternoon.  There Melissa got to play wiht the 2 year olds.  There were hundreds of kids and not nearly enough volunteers.  The kids were desperate for attention and one girl held onto Melissa and would not let go. 

Once yesterday was over we basically shared wbout our days and then collapsed in bed.  We were only awake for a bit in the middle of the night so maybe soon we will be fully acclimated to the time change. 

I dropped Melissa off at the mother house at 7 a.m. and then spent some time re-working my teaching.  I also started to work on a sermon for sunday.  My taxi driver this morning was mister mellow - but apparently it worked because he got me there the fastest.  However I am really tired of the constant negotiation on price.  There are no meters and they know I am Western so they always press for more rupees.  I was really tired this morning but the teching went very well and the energized\d me.  The best part was when we talked about the role of love in the church.  We read in John 13 about Jesus washing the disciples feet, then I used my shirt and I washed their feet.  I've washed the feet with the elders.  These feet were way much dirtier.  But it was beautiful.  It is an Indian custom to kiss the feet of an elder.  So I kissed their feet when I finished.  They sang and prayed while I washed and many of them wept, even the men.  Then when I finished one by one they came to me and washed my feet, each of them.  It is hard to put in words how beautiful it was to serve each other.  We sang and prayed for a while at the end and then hugged and smiled even though lunch was getting cold.  It was amazing and rich. 

Soumya is a young man, very handsome, tall, well educated.  He came up to me afterward and said he had been taught by many others at seminary and in conferences but he has never seen love like he saw in me.  He said the teaching and foot washing today was really important for him and hleped to turn him around.  He wants to find some time to talk to me about things in his life.

Apparently they appreciate my teaching.  They rave about it a lot and now they are trying to figure out how to get me to visit each of their ministry sites.  I have invitations for the next two nights and I possibly going as late at 10 p.m., preaching on Sunday and probably all day on Monday and Tuesday going out to ministry sites - in stead of teaching.  The pastor purnendu said he learned a lot and wants me to speak at the ministry sites.  I am trying to go with the flow but all of this extra stuff is a little overwhelming when I am already pretty drained after a day.  Also I spent a lot of time preparing fo the teaching I am doing here.  I am not sure what will be asked of me at these ministry sites.  You can pray that God supplies me all that I need and gives me the strength and rest I need.  We might have a chance to eat wiht Melissa's friends Jane and Roger as well. 


AArrggghhh - still having trouble uploading pictures.  It wants to re-start the computer now.  Hmmm.