The Berean Way

India 13 - Final day in Mumbai

I had a knock on my door at 6:30 am. Time to go to the beach for a swim. There was a clean beach we could visit.

We jumped on the train for yet another new experience. It was so crowded that I could almost lift my feet off the floor and not fall down. It was so crazy I just don't have the words.

That's OK, because we were going swimming. We arrived and found an auto to take us. However, our beach turned out to be a fishing village. All of the fishermen returned early that morning so the fish were being sorted before drying and the prawns were spread over the tarps to be dried by the sun. The smell was just like you would imagine.

So we went to another beach but with all the trash around I had my doubts. Then I found this.



I guess I won't be swimming in the Arabian Sea today after all. The traffic took my understanding of traffic to a new level. I have seen congestion in many forms all over the world. Once again, India proves why it dominates yet another category. Mumbai may have passed Chennai, Dehli & Kolkuta today.

So I got a little scared and decided to push my journey to the airport forward several hours. The guy at the hotel told us if it gets bad, we could be looking at 5+ hours to the airport. Plus, I hit that wall. After a couple weeks of extreme heat, noise & smells, my mind told me it was time to return home.

We caught the high speed train and an auto and were there in no time with no traffic. The day ended quicker than we planed. Sam, Abraham and I sat down in a waiting room in the Mumbai International Airport and fished up all the conversations we had started these past two weeks. We said goodbye and they headed out.

I am sitting here waiting for an internet connection and processing these past two wonderful weeks. I am excited about the future in India but can't wait to get home to me family.

I hope you enjoyed reading about how God is alive and working in India, but to hear the "rest of the story" please make plans to come to our 3rd annual auction, "Experiencing the Adventure" on May 19th.

Thanks for making this such an effective and powerful trip. If you would like further stories and more details, just contact me to get together. In Christ - Jeff

PS  OK, I think I am going to put together an entry on train travel in India. You just might want to check it out . . .

India 12 - Mumbai

I crawled into my familiar top bunk in the overnight sleeping car. The train started moving forward, up, down, sideways until it settled into its own uneven pattern. It didn't take long for me to go to sleep. One of the students came to pick us up the next morning.

It's a good thing they give you a clean pillowcase!

Mumbai is on an island and it is not easy to move around. To our surprise, we had to take an auto rickshaw to another train station. Then take another train for almost two more hours to the other side of the island.

I here yelling and look over to see a massive crowd of people trying to make their way down the stairs. A few railway officers are beating the crowd with sticks like cattle in order to create some sort of order as they all force their way down the tunnel.

We checked into our hotel, cleaned up then drove to the church. The building they are using is actually the home of a Hindu family. They are so interested in the message from Pastor Savior they they have become one of the churches biggest supporters, but they are not (yet) Jesus followers. We met upstairs in a small room that had a balcony off to the right of where we were sitting.

Do you ever look at the clock when church seems to be going a little long? If so, this would not be the best place for you. We started at 12:30 pm and went until 4:00 pm. Yep, that was 3.5 hours with no announcement nor videos. They had one loud drum and 2 metal moraccas. I am amazed at how loud everything has to be. I spoke on assurance of who they are in Christ from 1 John 5 in English. Pastor Abraham translated into Hindi. Then Sam taught them speaking in Tamil while Pastor Savior translated into Hindi.

It is still hot, but we had a constant breeze from the sea flowing through the window. But everyone else in the back just sang and cried and clapped like it was their last day on earth. After the service we saw a tremendous delivery from some pretty bad stuff. You probably wouldn't believe me if I told so ask me about it later.

But this lady has a lot to be thankful for.

This is a tough neighborhood. Pastor Savior told me that last year 40 people were murdered in this area over disagreements that turned bloody. He was also the target of a local businessman/councilmen/gangster. This guy owns over 150 buildings and wields a ton of power and influence. Last year, he sent 12 guys to beat up Pastor Savior. Somehow he escaped. Then a series of tragedies befell this guy and now he is paralyzed on one side of his body. Pastor Savior still prays for him.

Meet Ali. He was a former Muslim and another one of the town's criminal "godfather" types. He showed his body full of scars (he was a cutter) and shared how he was into big-time crime. But he met Jesus and now he smiles and not angry anymore.

The Maharashtra food is so good. We were invited downstairs by the homeowner for an amazing lunch and home by 6:00.

Then is was back onto the train for another 100 minutes to visit some historical sites downtown.

We saw the gateway to the city and the Taj Mahal Hotel which was attacked in the recent bombing that killed well over one hundred people. It was Sunday evening at 11:00 pm and there were so many families and people everywhere? I couldn't imagine what it would be like on a normal business day.

India 11 - Thowaway People

• For reasons completely outside your control, you are forced into the ugly world of sex trafficking. You get sick. You get pregnant. Now both you and your small child suffer everyday - you have nothing to live for.

 • You work hard in school your entire life. You are at the top of your class and do well on the exams. Your years of persistence pay off and you become a nurse. One day you get sick and are not getting any better. Your heart sinks and you head to the clinic for additional tests. The results confirm your greatest fear . . . you are HIV/AIDS positive. You know your own history so it could have only come from your husband. But neither of you will talk about it with each other. Later you discover your son is also infected. The immense shame you live with deep inside will become unbearable if it ever became public.

For these women there is no hope of any kind for your future. You can't imagine living another day, but you won't abandon your only child.

You pray to any of the millions of gods that are all around you. But none of them answer. None of them care about you.

It's Saturday so you head to the clinic to pick up your weekly medicine.

You are surprised to see a few strangers (especially a Westerner) waiting to meet with you. You are guarded and shamed.

They take you to the park, share a small gift and then tell you that they were sent by God to give you a message.

You are told that the Creator of the world actually knows you and wants you to know Him. You are told that you have tremendous value to God and that you are loved.

Tears role freely as you are given hope and a reason to live . . .

This was only part of our experience today. We sat around for three hours wait for them. Usually there are 25 women that come in, but for some unknown reason, only 3 were there. My heart breaks when I see them. I guess the wait wasn't really that long.

There are countless millions here in India alone who are facing the same problem. Every day women, children and men sit and wait for those results to come back from the clinic. Positive or negative? My guess is that the answer is mostly the one the dread the most. The government still has not acknowledged that this is a problem, let alone an epidemic here in India.

The only reason we left was to catch our overnight train to Mumbai. We had dinner at Uncle's house where they all stood around and watched us eat. We said goodbyes knowing we had some real friends in Solapur. But not really able to forget the women whose lives changed today for eternity.

India 10 - Karnakata

Today was a day for relationships and culture.

The plan was to head south to the neighboring state of Karnakata to visit the ruins of the ancient city of Bijaypur. Due to a million different reasons, it took three hours for us to hire a vehicle. So rather than getting frustrated, we used that time to further get to know each other and cast the vision of the Berean Way.

Isn't that why we are here in the first place?

It took two hours to drive 100 kms or about 60 miles on the main freeway. This allowed for deeper discussions and more intimate conversations.

It is amazing the vision that some leaders have. The city was a reminder of how once powerful kingdoms will eventually be turned into dust. Life on earth is fralie and temporary.

We visited Gol Gumbaz which is an amazing feat of architecture (I borrowed this first photo from online). It is 110 feet high on the inside.

Apr 20, 2012 11:42:12 PM

We left for the train station at 8:00 am and arrived in Solapur by 1:30 pm. Usually, we travel at night in a sleeper car. But this is not that kind of train, so this time we went in the air conditioned passenger car which had 3 seats on one side of the isle and 2 on the other. Just like an airplane.

It felt so good to be in that cooler air, but I knew it wouldn't last. Nothing here does. Unfortunately, India proved to be consistent and partway through the trip, the guy in front of me was asking me to flip the switch to turn on the ceiling fan that was near us. The A/C was gone.

And let me talk about that ride. I can't really explain it to you. The entire train jerks left to right & up and down. It is not very smooth. Sitting in the chair and looking forward, the car moves around so much that it looks fake - like watching the landscape move around as someone is supposed to be driving a car in one of those old movies. Everyday the train makes this journey back and forth, but it will not be surprising when it swings too hard to one side and physics take over. I really can't believe this thing will stay upright for much longer. Just like everything else, we ride on the edge of life & death here in India.

It has been over 100 degrees everyday of this trip except one. When the train stopped at our destination, I was quickly wishing for another 100 F day. Wow, it was smoking hot!

Shneeyah, Pastor Abraham's wife, is from this place so we were well taken care of.

We piled our things into an auto-rickshaw and went to the's in-laws house for a meal.

We enter the front room which is small that has two folding chairs and a floor mat. We sit on the floor and talk under the ceiling fan for a while. Then from the kitchen the women come out with our lunch. This is a fried hardboiled egg in a spicy curry, home made chapatis, and a local eggplant delicacy. It was so good.

Afterwords, we went looking for a hotel. We were rejected over and over because they refuse to rent a room to me. Sam was reading the book of Acts and said he felt like we were being rejected like the Apostle Paul.

Finally, we found a place that would rent to us. The way it works here in India is that there are two prices. An Indian price and a foreigner price (except for food).  It's even posted on the admission banner.

When you hire an auto rickshaw or a money changer or whatever, the price goes way up a soon as they see me. So I typically lag behind until they set the prices when negotiating for a ride or room. Once it is agreed to, then I show up. Sometimes they agree to a price, see me, change the price, then will walk away from the transaction if they don't get more for including me.

They set the room rate then I walked to the counter. The guy asked if I could be helped and we told him I was in the room. You could see the look on his face that he was caught off guard, but he honored the price he agreed to.

We turned on the A/C in our room and after a couple hours we got the temp in our room from 29 C (84 degrees F) to 26 C (79 degrees F) add in the ceiling fan and we can live with that. They shut the power off to the entire city (except hospitals) for 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening.

We were invited to a friend's house for a prayer meeting and boiled water. We prayed and Sam shared with them an encouraging word.

The hospitality of an Indian family can be so overwhelming that if you didn't know better, you could be suspicious that they might have alternative intentions. But I know better and it is such a privilege to meet the people I do and spend time with them.

We have been invited to & turned down so many meals and teas that I have lost count. With all the challenging that Indian brings, the people are wonderful enough to keep us coming back.

We headed off to the hotel (our A/C was working!) where it took only seconds to reach that deep sleep. See you tomorrow.

At 2:00 am our alarm went off. By 3:00 we were at the airport. At 7:15 am we landed in Pune, Maharashtra to meet Pastor Abraham Joseph Massi. The problem is that he was returning to Pune by train. If you have spent any time reading this blog you know about the Indian trains.

He left yesterday morning for a 3 hour train ride . . . 18 hours later he would arrive (that's lunch time today). So he started calling people to see who could meet us in his place at the airport. John & Sandeep came to our rescue.

They say golf is a game of inches. I say survival on the streets of India is a game of centimeters for one's mortality. Some of you have an idea of what I am saying if you have traveled around the world. But unless you have been here, you have no idea how bad it can be.

[Every time we get in an auto, I watch people almost get into accidents - all day long. Drivers go down the wrong way on one way roads, there are no acknowledgment of lanes nor traffic signals nor police on the road. Scooters, motorbikes, bicycles, carts, animals, school children, buses, loris, tractors all fight their way for pole position at any opening in the road. One of our auto rickshaw drivers decided he wanted to do battle with a very drunk man in an SUV so they played NASCAR and yelled at each other the entire way to our hotel. I am glad it was a very short ride!]

Remember back at the bombings of Nov 26, 2010? Well because of that, we were told that most Indian hotels in the city will not rent rooms to foreigners. We would be fine in the upper end hotels, but that is not how we roll. So our friends were scrambling around until they finally found us a place to stay for the night close to the railway station.

We checked in and I finally had a chance to talk with Erin for a long time. I love my amazing wife!

After a Maharastra breakfast, we walked through parts of the old city.

Here is the photo of where that bombing at the German Bakery took place.

We also went to the Jewish Synagogue, but since the bombing, they no longer allow visitors. After a long walk through some old parts of the city and many great conversations, we went on the search for water. And better than an oasis in the desert, look what we found. An older version of my favorite contraption.

These street sugar cane presses are usually either run by a hand crank, or more commonly, by a machine. I haven't seen a human one like this before. Of course, the hard work is done by the man from the lower caste being paid a very minimal wage. But that is how everything operates
 here.

Abraham Massi finally arrived with his wife and we had lunch together around 2:00 pm, before sending them to their hotel. Sam & I went back to ours and I slept for a few hours.

Feeling refreshed, Abraham took us out to the fringes of the city to meet many of his people.

Our first stop brought us to the home of Esther & her family.



Indian families require that everyone participates, but the father is the primary source of income, leadership & social acceptance. No father = tragedy for most families.

Esther's father had gotten so sick that he could no longer sit up on his own. She had been promised prayers from others but nothing seemed to work. They had given up hope. When she met Pastor Abraham, last month he first came to their house and prayed. He also encouraged others to pray as well. Her father started feeling better. Soon he was getting up on his own and as you can see in the poor photo, he is doing well.

Then we moved to another family. Lisa and her husband met in college, fell in love and got married. In a culture of arranged marriages, this created family tension so that both parents would have nothing to do with them. She had multiple miscarriages. Lisa had a fever that even the drugs could not bring down and she was very sick. Pastor Massi came to her house and prayed and became healed.

These are just two examples of how God heals. Most of the world outside of the USA lives in a overtly spiritually active world. The Bible reminds us of not forgetting that. There are heavily demonic layers within these stories that I would be happy to share with you when I return . . . if you ask. But just understand that serious spiritual battles are taking place. I am not sure I would even believe them had I not experienced them countless times over the past ten years of traveling.

Our next visit was to John's house with his parents & two brothers. They served us sugar cane juice, a hard boiled egg and some sort of hot chili salsa. I silently prayed and took it down. It was quite good. We prayed and left.

Then next thing I know is that we are traveling through a poor part of town down a street barely wide enough for an auto-rickshaw.



We are greeted by a couple with the biggest of smiles. This is their kitchen, bedroom, living room, etc. you get the picture.

It is also the meeting place of their house church. Only a few members of the six families were able to crowd on the floor.

I just encouraged them that they were being prayed for by many different people around the world. I shared about my family and how the Bible teaches us that we are more than one big family, we are one body. I would have loved to stay with them for several days or even hours, but we had to go.

This lady is one of the great testimonies that God is seeking the lost and changing lives.

Her testimony is amazing! Unbelievable actually. Want to hear it? Great, just come to our auction, "Experience the Adventure" on May 19th. That alone will be worth it!

We had authentic Punjabi food and I had one of the best versions of my favorite meals in the world - chicken tikka masala & naan bread.

I arrived back in our room refreshed & exhausted. It was 11:45 pm and I don't remember my head hitting the pillow.

What an awesome day with some amazing people. Tomorrow we take a train southeast to Solapur.

This morning we travel to a small hill outside of Madurai. It is the site of one of the holy pilgramage places for Hindus as well as a place where the Muslims set up a mosque. I am told they are always fighting each other. They say is has 1000 steps to the top.

At the top of the hill overlooking the entire region, I was enjoying the beauty and thinking about how great it would be to have my family up here with me. Between the lizards and monkeys, my son would have an incredible time running around. What would it be like to live here?

I found the perfect spot for a house, figured out to trap rainwater, make a pond, etc. My mind was going crazy with ideas. I even found the perfect spot to put in a zipline. This could be great.

Then I looked over and saw my two climbing partners, Danny Sarravan & Sam in a small shady area crying out to God to save their city. They asked for more churches to be planted and for more people to be freed from their bondage and to discover the light of Jesus.

Once again, this was not my best moment. Have I learned nothing these past few weeks?

So I went over and joined them for some refreshing time in prayer.

Thankfully humbled once again - Jeff

This afternoon we fly to Chennai, then take a very early flight to Mumbai.

Sam took me outside the city for fresh milk tea at a nearby village and a one hour morning walk. We continued making good progress on our vision planning for the next 10 years in India. I can't wait to share with you all that God is placing on our hearts. While I aam excited, I am also overwhelmed if this is what God really wants us to do. More to come later . . .

Susannah prepared another incredible homemade meal (including red bananas) before heading off to meet up with the students.

The theme was a continuation from church yesterday. That is, "the battles we face are not flesh & blood." My goal today was to encourage them to continue the ministry they had first begun. You see, many of them have graduated from Bible school and lost their focus as they look at the things of this world. We spent time confirming who God is and who we are in Him.

We focused our time in 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:21.

We live in a world where we believe that our physical body is who we are. As a society, we spend billions trying to change our appearance. Yet the Bible teaches us that our physical bodies are just temporary. They clearly ARE NOT who we are. So why to we waste so much time & energy on the temporary when we can have much more impact on the eternal. Daily we are closer to decay, yet as followers of Jesus our souls are being renewed everyday. I will be spending the next few day processing that.

We concluded the summit by spending time in deep confession with the Lord with the goal to clear away any hidden secrets or sins before the Lord. Then we prayed for them before having lunch together. A few of the former students agreed to let me do a short interview.

I am truly amazed at the variety of backgrounds from these people God has brought through the New Covenant Bible School. It was a powerful time to reunite a wide variety of former students.

Thanks for your prayers and please don't stop - Jeff

The temperature has been around 100 degrees during the day and it might get down to 80 at night. Add in the humidity and you can imagine how pleasant it has been. My room had Indian HVAC. That means it could cool down the room, but not by much.

So the last couple nights, my HVAC unit has been getting lazy and not doing its job very well. Last night it decided to quit altogether. I woke up completely soaked in sweat at 3:30 in the morning after going to bed around 11:30. Even with the fan running at full speed (the only speed that worked) I could not get back to sleep so I knew it was going to be a long day.

We made the 60 minute flight from Chennai to Madurai and arrived at 9:30 am. Maharashta, one of the Bible students, picked us up and drove us straight to the church. Sam asked what I was going to speak on. Since I didn't know I was supposed to preach this morning, I said, "I don't know." And then started praying.

While still on our way, my wife called me. I spoke to my daughters on the phone and Bella asked what I was going to share at church. I said, "maybe I will talk about you."

I had forgotten how loud it is down here in Madurai. The horns, the trucks, the brakes, the music, the street speakers, police whistles, sirens, etc. Everyone is literally trying to get louder than their environment. Today was no different.

The Rainbow Church shares space with the New Covenant Bible School. It is located on a main road on the third floor of a building shared with many other businesses. The space faces the street. We arrived and the power was out. Every 24 hours, the power is completely cut off at different times of the day for a total 9 hours! Every day! This was one of those times.

No power = no fans = no air circulation = hotter. The front door and windows are almost always propped open attempting to promote airflow. So you hear everything going on outside. Across the street, they where holding a wedding celebration. They ran the generator, speakers & music. It felt like the wedding was happening in our building.

After a short story from Sam Charles, I was introduced and brought to the stage. There were maybe 40 people there this morning and I had recognized nearly half of them from my previous visits (although this was the first time I had been in Madurai in 4 years).

I had only a few moments to think about what to share. I had just spent the previous day taking about family issues and so the thought came to mind to share with them about my family and current challenges we were having. It went basically something like this:

Our kids are growing so fast. One minute we are getting along great, then the next moment someone is having a meltdown. Why do they have such dramatic mood swings? Sometimes I wonder who are these people that are living in our house. Grades, clothes, meals, chores, bedtime, tv, finances, movies, sports, responsibilities, etc. are all becoming divisive topics at home. We are involved with so many commitments and our children are growing so fast. Much to my surprise, they need us more than ever, but in new and different ways.

So I felt led to speak out of Ephesians 6 in the section most commonly known for the Armor of God. But I wanted to take a different angle and just focus on the reason and need for this section. So we just stayed in verses 10-12. The key point is in verse 12 which says, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood . . ."

I also shared about how my daughter's love for her friends has started a very cool chain reaction. She invited several of her friends to church, which led to their parents to start attending church with us where they are all being exposed to the real Jesus. Many lives have been changed dramatically because God has used my daughter.

In physical battlefields you want to be bigger, faster, stronger & more powerful than your enemy. But Ephesians tells us that the main battle we face is not physical, but rather is spiritual. In the fight we are in, God's best warriors are often the humble, young, prayerful, innocent and faithful - like my daughter.

What a privilege to serve a God who prefers to use those who trust in Him rather than those of us who think more highly of ourselves.

I went to my room after a late dinner to take some time a process the day & get ready for tomorrow. We are expecting 60 of Sam's former Bible students to come to a forum tomorrow. They think they are coming to be taught & encouraged. But I expect that they are coming to teach & encourage me.

Of all the activities planned for this trip, tomorrow was marked in advance as the highlight for me. We cherish your prayers - Jeff

Today was one of those days that I had been waiting for and almost dreading at the same time.

I first met Solomon Raj back in 2006. He was a business man who got tired of driving by these homeless street kids everyday. He had such a conviction that he could avoid no longer. So he quit his successful job and adopted several of them. And by the way, the kids were all HIV/AIDS positive. I had no idea what to do nor expect when I went to his home that first time. They lived in an old run-down shack next to an open sewer that used to be a canal. It was dirty and unsanitary and & kids were always sick.

So we rented a bus and took them to the beach for the first time in their lives (see 2006 photo below). They called me Beach Uncle. Before we took them home we went to the mall for lunch - again for the first time in their lives. Never had a mall restaurant seem so special. What I remember the most is how they all wanted me to touch them I held hands with several of them at one time. If I ever let go, that tiny little hand would quickly find mine and latch back on again.

2006

I returned in 2008. Beach Uncle rented a bus, took them to the beach and then back to the mall for lunch. The kids were still sick and a few of them passed away later that year. Solomon willingly replaced his comfortable life to have to live by faith everyday. The cost to feed, house AND provide medication was overwhelming. I included a few photos from 2008 below.

2009 was our last visit to Solomon's kids. Here are a few of those photos:

All of our work since 2009 has been in the north so I have not passed through Chennai for three years. So today, I got to reunite with Solomon, the children & their new home. I was confronted by this special man who has given his life to take care of what the Bible calls, "the least of these."



This new facility was built on land purchased by amazing faith. They received funds from all over the world and much of their gifts were made anonymously. It is remarkably clean and sanitary. They even have a miracle room where the sick kids can go and receive medical attention.

They also can isolate the sick kids who are contagious to not endanger the rest of the children. They are only 6 km to the beach so a cool breeze flows through the building (much nicer than the sewer they had before).

The SHELTER family now has 28 kids & 8 support staff. That means there are a lot of toothbrushes.

Kumar & Uma (both positive) were two SHELTER workers that were brought together & married last year because of Solomon. They now serve as the house parents for the family.



The kids performed songs and dance routines for us. I showed them old pictures of them from years past and we laughed a lot. Can you see through the pictures how they are growing up?

This girl (below left) was one of the first in all of India to receive a new drug a few years ago. Never were drugs considered to be offered to young children - especially in her poor condition. Not only did Solomon get the government change their policy for her, they even helped pay for the majority of the costs. This is the kind of story that seems to happen on a regular basis at SHELTER.

This girl (below) was not given any chance to live three years ago. Just look at her now!!!

With 36 people in the house, they must keep strict rules. Here is what lunch looks like.

I am amazed at how well they are doing. The new living conditions have made a tremendous impact on their quality of life and health. Today, everyone was healthy and moving around - that's a first for me to see. A couple of the girls were on their deathbed in 2009. Today, they are doing great.  God has truly moved through this man's obedience. He has fought hard against his society, culture and government many times for the lives of these kids. Even today, he juggles three jobs in order to make ends meet.

This entire experience today is overwhelming & convicting. I kept walking around in unbelief and asking God how He made all this happen. I am not trying to paint an unrealistic picture. Life there is very difficult with much pain & tears. But these kids are having apositive difference on adults all throughout the world.

So what about me? What am I doing for those who have no voice? What sacrifices would my family be willing to make in order to help those in the greatest need? What if we lived as if we really depended on God to make a difference in this world?

I need my wife to call and help me process all I experienced today! Will you take a moment and pray for Solomon, the kids & the entire SHELTER family? He told me most of his Christian friends are unable to financially support them. So he asks for prayer because if only three kids don't require a hospital visit during the month, that saves him 10,000 rupees. Now that's a different kind of donation.

Tomorrow morning we catch an early flight to Madurai. From the airport we will go straight to church and then a celebration with Sam's family.

India 9 - Solapur

We left for the train station at 8:00 am and arrived in Solapur by 1:30 pm. Usually, we travel at night in a sleeper car. But this is not that kind of train, so this time we went in the air conditioned passenger car which had 3 seats on one side of the isle and 2 on the other. Just like an airplane.

It felt so good to be in that cooler air, but I knew it wouldn't last. Nothing here does. Unfortunately, India proved to be consistent and partway through the trip, the guy in front of me was asking me to flip the switch to turn on the ceiling fan that was near us. The A/C was gone.

And let me talk about that ride. I can't really explain it to you. The entire train jerks left to right & up and down. It is not very smooth. Sitting in the chair and looking forward, the car moves around so much that it looks fake - like watching the landscape move around as someone is supposed to be driving a car in one of those old movies. Everyday the train makes this journey back and forth, but it will not be surprising when it swings too hard to one side and physics take over. I really can't believe this thing will stay upright for much longer. Just like everything else, we ride on the edge of life & death here in India.

It has been over 100 degrees everyday of this trip except one. When the train stopped at our destination, I was quickly wishing for another 100 F day. Wow, it was smoking hot!

Shneeyah, Pastor Abraham's wife, is from this place so we were well taken care of.

We piled our things into an auto-rickshaw and went to the's in-laws house for a meal.

We enter the front room which is small that has two folding chairs and a floor mat. We sit on the floor and talk under the ceiling fan for a while. Then from the kitchen the women come out with our lunch. This is a fried hardboiled egg in a spicy curry, home made chapatis, and a local eggplant delicacy. It was so good.

Afterwords, we went looking for a hotel. We were rejected over and over because they refuse to rent a room to me. Sam was reading the book of Acts and said he felt like we were being rejected like the Apostle Paul.

Finally, we found a place that would rent to us. The way it works here in India is that there are two prices. An Indian price and a foreigner price (except for food).  It's even posted on the admission banner.

When you hire an auto rickshaw or a money changer or whatever, the price goes way up a soon as they see me. So I typically lag behind until they set the prices when negotiating for a ride or room. Once it is agreed to, then I show up. Sometimes they agree to a price, see me, change the price, then will walk away from the transaction if they don't get more for including me.

They set the room rate then I walked to the counter. The guy asked if I could be helped and we told him I was in the room. You could see the look on his face that he was caught off guard, but he honored the price he agreed to.

We turned on the A/C in our room and after a couple hours we got the temp in our room from 29 C (84 degrees F) to 26 C (79 degrees F) add in the ceiling fan and we can live with that. They shut the power off to the entire city (except hospitals) for 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening.

We were invited to a friend's house for a prayer meeting and boiled water. We prayed and Sam shared with them an encouraging word.

The hospitality of an Indian family can be so overwhelming that if you didn't know better, you could be suspicious that they might have alternative intentions. But I know better and it is such a privilege to meet the people I do and spend time with them.

We have been invited to & turned down so many meals and teas that I have lost count. With all the challenging that Indian brings, the people are wonderful enough to keep us coming back.

We headed off to the hotel (our A/C was working!) where it took only seconds to reach that deep sleep. See you tomorrow.

India 8 - Maharashtra

At 2:00 am our alarm went off. By 3:00 we were at the airport. At 7:15 am we landed in Pune, Maharashtra to meet Pastor Abraham Joseph Massi. The problem is that he was returning to Pune by train. If you have spent any time reading this blog you know about the Indian trains.

He left yesterday morning for a 3 hour train ride . . . 18 hours later he would arrive (that's lunch time today). So he started calling people to see who could meet us in his place at the airport. John & Sandeep came to our rescue.

They say golf is a game of inches. I say survival on the streets of India is a game of centimeters for one's mortality. Some of you have an idea of what I am saying if you have traveled around the world. But unless you have been here, you have no idea how bad it can be.

[Every time we get in an auto, I watch people almost get into accidents - all day long. Drivers go down the wrong way on one way roads, there are no acknowledgment of lanes nor traffic signals nor police on the road. Scooters, motorbikes, bicycles, carts, animals, school children, buses, loris, tractors all fight their way for pole position at any opening in the road. One of our auto rickshaw drivers decided he wanted to do battle with a very drunk man in an SUV so they played NASCAR and yelled at each other the entire way to our hotel. I am glad it was a very short ride!]

Remember back at the bombings of Nov 26, 2010? Well because of that, we were told that most Indian hotels in the city will not rent rooms to foreigners. We would be fine in the upper end hotels, but that is not how we roll. So our friends were scrambling around until they finally found us a place to stay for the night close to the railway station.

We checked in and I finally had a chance to talk with Erin for a long time. I love my amazing wife!

After a Maharastra breakfast, we walked through parts of the old city.

Here is the photo of where that bombing at the German Bakery took place.

We also went to the Jewish Synagogue, but since the bombing, they no longer allow visitors. After a long walk through some old parts of the city and many great conversations, we went on the search for water. And better than an oasis in the desert, look what we found. An older version of my favorite contraption.

These street sugar cane presses are usually either run by a hand crank, or more commonly, by a machine. I haven't seen a human one like this before. Of course, the hard work is done by the man from the lower caste being paid a very minimal wage. But that is how everything operates
 here.

Abraham Massi finally arrived with his wife and we had lunch together around 2:00 pm, before sending them to their hotel. Sam & I went back to ours and I slept for a few hours.

Feeling refreshed, Abraham took us out to the fringes of the city to meet many of his people.

Our first stop brought us to the home of Esther & her family.



Indian families require that everyone participates, but the father is the primary source of income, leadership & social acceptance. No father = tragedy for most families.

Esther's father had gotten so sick that he could no longer sit up on his own. She had been promised prayers from others but nothing seemed to work. They had given up hope. When she met Pastor Abraham, last month he first came to their house and prayed. He also encouraged others to pray as well. Her father started feeling better. Soon he was getting up on his own and as you can see in the poor photo, he is doing well.

Then we moved to another family. Lisa and her husband met in college, fell in love and got married. In a culture of arranged marriages, this created family tension so that both parents would have nothing to do with them. She had multiple miscarriages. Lisa had a fever that even the drugs could not bring down and she was very sick. Pastor Massi came to her house and prayed and became healed.

These are just two examples of how God heals. Most of the world outside of the USA lives in a overtly spiritually active world. The Bible reminds us of not forgetting that. There are heavily demonic layers within these stories that I would be happy to share with you when I return . . . if you ask. But just understand that serious spiritual battles are taking place. I am not sure I would even believe them had I not experienced them countless times over the past ten years of traveling.

Our next visit was to John's house with his parents & two brothers. They served us sugar cane juice, a hard boiled egg and some sort of hot chili salsa. I silently prayed and took it down. It was quite good. We prayed and left.

Then next thing I know is that we are traveling through a poor part of town down a street barely wide enough for an auto-rickshaw.



We are greeted by a couple with the biggest of smiles. This is their kitchen, bedroom, living room, etc. you get the picture.

It is also the meeting place of their house church. Only a few members of the six families were able to crowd on the floor.

I just encouraged them that they were being prayed for by many different people around the world. I shared about my family and how the Bible teaches us that we are more than one big family, we are one body. I would have loved to stay with them for several days or even hours, but we had to go.

This lady is one of the great testimonies that God is seeking the lost and changing lives.

Her testimony is amazing! Unbelievable actually. Want to hear it? Great, just come to our auction, "Experience the Adventure" on May 19th. That alone will be worth it!

We had authentic Punjabi food and I had one of the best versions of my favorite meals in the world - chicken tikka masala & naan bread.

I arrived back in our room refreshed & exhausted. It was 11:45 pm and I don't remember my head hitting the pillow.

What an awesome day with some amazing people. Tomorrow we take a train southeast to Solapur.

India 7 - Tiruparamkundram

This morning we travel to a small hill outside of Madurai. It is the site of one of the holy pilgramage places for Hindus as well as a place where the Muslims set up a mosque. I am told they are always fighting each other. They say is has 1000 steps to the top.

At the top of the hill overlooking the entire region, I was enjoying the beauty and thinking about how great it would be to have my family up here with me. Between the lizards and monkeys, my son would have an incredible time running around. What would it be like to live here?

I found the perfect spot for a house, figured out to trap rainwater, make a pond, etc. My mind was going crazy with ideas. I even found the perfect spot to put in a zipline. This could be great.

Then I looked over and saw my two climbing partners, Danny Sarravan & Sam in a small shady area crying out to God to save their city. They asked for more churches to be planted and for more people to be freed from their bondage and to discover the light of Jesus.

Once again, this was not my best moment. Have I learned nothing these past few weeks?

So I went over and joined them for some refreshing time in prayer.

Thankfully humbled once again - Jeff

This afternoon we fly to Chennai, then take a very early flight to Mumbai.

India 6 - New Covenant Bible School Summit

Sam took me outside the city for fresh milk tea at a nearby village and a one hour morning walk. We continued making good progress on our vision planning for the next 10 years in India. I can't wait to share with you all that God is placing on our hearts. While I aam excited, I am also overwhelmed if this is what God really wants us to do. More to come later . . .

Susannah prepared another incredible homemade meal (including red bananas) before heading off to meet up with the students.

The theme was a continuation from church yesterday. That is, "the battles we face are not flesh & blood." My goal today was to encourage them to continue the ministry they had first begun. You see, many of them have graduated from Bible school and lost their focus as they look at the things of this world. We spent time confirming who God is and who we are in Him.

We focused our time in 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:21.

We live in a world where we believe that our physical body is who we are. As a society, we spend billions trying to change our appearance. Yet the Bible teaches us that our physical bodies are just temporary. They clearly ARE NOT who we are. So why to we waste so much time & energy on the temporary when we can have much more impact on the eternal. Daily we are closer to decay, yet as followers of Jesus our souls are being renewed everyday. I will be spending the next few day processing that.

We concluded the summit by spending time in deep confession with the Lord with the goal to clear away any hidden secrets or sins before the Lord. Then we prayed for them before having lunch together. A few of the former students agreed to let me do a short interview.

I am truly amazed at the variety of backgrounds from these people God has brought through the New Covenant Bible School. It was a powerful time to reunite a wide variety of former students.

Thanks for your prayers and please don't stop - Jeff

India 5 - Madurai

The temperature has been around 100 degrees during the day and it might get down to 80 at night. Add in the humidity and you can imagine how pleasant it has been. My room had Indian HVAC. That means it could cool down the room, but not by much.

So the last couple nights, my HVAC unit has been getting lazy and not doing its job very well. Last night it decided to quit altogether. I woke up completely soaked in sweat at 3:30 in the morning after going to bed around 11:30. Even with the fan running at full speed (the only speed that worked) I could not get back to sleep so I knew it was going to be a long day.

We made the 60 minute flight from Chennai to Madurai and arrived at 9:30 am. Maharashta, one of the Bible students, picked us up and drove us straight to the church. Sam asked what I was going to speak on. Since I didn't know I was supposed to preach this morning, I said, "I don't know." And then started praying.

While still on our way, my wife called me. I spoke to my daughters on the phone and Bella asked what I was going to share at church. I said, "maybe I will talk about you."

I had forgotten how loud it is down here in Madurai. The horns, the trucks, the brakes, the music, the street speakers, police whistles, sirens, etc. Everyone is literally trying to get louder than their environment. Today was no different.

The Rainbow Church shares space with the New Covenant Bible School. It is located on a main road on the third floor of a building shared with many other businesses. The space faces the street. We arrived and the power was out. Every 24 hours, the power is completely cut off at different times of the day for a total 9 hours! Every day! This was one of those times.

No power = no fans = no air circulation = hotter. The front door and windows are almost always propped open attempting to promote airflow. So you hear everything going on outside. Across the street, they where holding a wedding celebration. They ran the generator, speakers & music. It felt like the wedding was happening in our building.

After a short story from Sam Charles, I was introduced and brought to the stage. There were maybe 40 people there this morning and I had recognized nearly half of them from my previous visits (although this was the first time I had been in Madurai in 4 years).

I had only a few moments to think about what to share. I had just spent the previous day taking about family issues and so the thought came to mind to share with them about my family and current challenges we were having. It went basically something like this:

Our kids are growing so fast. One minute we are getting along great, then the next moment someone is having a meltdown. Why do they have such dramatic mood swings? Sometimes I wonder who are these people that are living in our house. Grades, clothes, meals, chores, bedtime, tv, finances, movies, sports, responsibilities, etc. are all becoming divisive topics at home. We are involved with so many commitments and our children are growing so fast. Much to my surprise, they need us more than ever, but in new and different ways.

So I felt led to speak out of Ephesians 6 in the section most commonly known for the Armor of God. But I wanted to take a different angle and just focus on the reason and need for this section. So we just stayed in verses 10-12. The key point is in verse 12 which says, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood . . ."

I also shared about how my daughter's love for her friends has started a very cool chain reaction. She invited several of her friends to church, which led to their parents to start attending church with us where they are all being exposed to the real Jesus. Many lives have been changed dramatically because God has used my daughter.

In physical battlefields you want to be bigger, faster, stronger & more powerful than your enemy. But Ephesians tells us that the main battle we face is not physical, but rather is spiritual. In the fight we are in, God's best warriors are often the humble, young, prayerful, innocent and faithful - like my daughter.

What a privilege to serve a God who prefers to use those who trust in Him rather than those of us who think more highly of ourselves.

I went to my room after a late dinner to take some time a process the day & get ready for tomorrow. We are expecting 60 of Sam's former Bible students to come to a forum tomorrow. They think they are coming to be taught & encouraged. But I expect that they are coming to teach & encourage me.

Of all the activities planned for this trip, tomorrow was marked in advance as the highlight for me. We cherish your prayers - Jeff

India 4 - Solomon's Kids

Today was one of those days that I had been waiting for and almost dreading at the same time.

I first met Solomon Raj back in 2006. He was a business man who got tired of driving by these homeless street kids everyday. He had such a conviction that he could avoid no longer. So he quit his successful job and adopted several of them. And by the way, the kids were all HIV/AIDS positive. I had no idea what to do nor expect when I went to his home that first time. They lived in an old run-down shack next to an open sewer that used to be a canal. It was dirty and unsanitary and & kids were always sick.

So we rented a bus and took them to the beach for the first time in their lives (see 2006 photo below). They called me Beach Uncle. Before we took them home we went to the mall for lunch - again for the first time in their lives. Never had a mall restaurant seem so special. What I remember the most is how they all wanted me to touch them I held hands with several of them at one time. If I ever let go, that tiny little hand would quickly find mine and latch back on again.

2006

I returned in 2008. Beach Uncle rented a bus, took them to the beach and then back to the mall for lunch. The kids were still sick and a few of them passed away later that year. Solomon willingly replaced his comfortable life to have to live by faith everyday. The cost to feed, house AND provide medication was overwhelming. I included a few photos from 2008 below.

2009 was our last visit to Solomon's kids. Here are a few of those photos:

All of our work since 2009 has been in the north so I have not passed through Chennai for three years. So today, I got to reunite with Solomon, the children & their new home. I was confronted by this special man who has given his life to take care of what the Bible calls, "the least of these."



This new facility was built on land purchased by amazing faith. They received funds from all over the world and much of their gifts were made anonymously. It is remarkably clean and sanitary. They even have a miracle room where the sick kids can go and receive medical attention.

They also can isolate the sick kids who are contagious to not endanger the rest of the children. They are only 6 km to the beach so a cool breeze flows through the building (much nicer than the sewer they had before).

The SHELTER family now has 28 kids & 8 support staff. That means there are a lot of toothbrushes.

Kumar & Uma (both positive) were two SHELTER workers that were brought together & married last year because of Solomon. They now serve as the house parents for the family.



The kids performed songs and dance routines for us. I showed them old pictures of them from years past and we laughed a lot. Can you see through the pictures how they are growing up?

This girl (below left) was one of the first in all of India to receive a new drug a few years ago. Never were drugs considered to be offered to young children - especially in her poor condition. Not only did Solomon get the government change their policy for her, they even helped pay for the majority of the costs. This is the kind of story that seems to happen on a regular basis at SHELTER.

This girl (below) was not given any chance to live three years ago. Just look at her now!!!

With 36 people in the house, they must keep strict rules. Here is what lunch looks like.

I am amazed at how well they are doing. The new living conditions have made a tremendous impact on their quality of life and health. Today, everyone was healthy and moving around - that's a first for me to see. A couple of the girls were on their deathbed in 2009. Today, they are doing great.  God has truly moved through this man's obedience. He has fought hard against his society, culture and government many times for the lives of these kids. Even today, he juggles three jobs in order to make ends meet.

This entire experience today is overwhelming & convicting. I kept walking around in unbelief and asking God how He made all this happen. I am not trying to paint an unrealistic picture. Life there is very difficult with much pain & tears. But these kids are having apositive difference on adults all throughout the world.

So what about me? What am I doing for those who have no voice? What sacrifices would my family be willing to make in order to help those in the greatest need? What if we lived as if we really depended on God to make a difference in this world?

I need my wife to call and help me process all I experienced today! Will you take a moment and pray for Solomon, the kids & the entire SHELTER family? He told me most of his Christian friends are unable to financially support them. So he asks for prayer because if only three kids don't require a hospital visit during the month, that saves him 10,000 rupees. Now that's a different kind of donation.

Tomorrow morning we catch an early flight to Madurai. From the airport we will go straight to church and then a celebration with Sam's family.