Final Days Here in India

Today was the last day of our fourth (and final) training time, here in Salem. The conference grounds are beautiful, but soooo HOT!! Mid to upper 90s with no air conditioning- (Air conditioning wouldn't help in the heat of the afternoon anyway, since the power goes off for two to three hours each day as an energy conservation measure.) Those of you old enough to remember the old summertime camp meetings in the sawdust chapels with funeral fans, that's about what it's like, except, this runs from 9 to 5.

The people are incredible. Their greatest request? "Pray for us." Pray for their ministry, their future, the persecution they WILL face in the areas they go to teach and train. Many traveled up to 12 hours by bus (cramped, sweaty, no A/C) to be here. All of us have felt incredibly humbled and blessed to share with them. -Dave

I have two snapshots: The first one is two evenings ago, on the way back from a children's program, we stopped at a Sports Store. Not like any store you can think of. Think of a shed that has been closed for about 10 years then opened to look into. I stepped out of the store just to give room for the others to look around (like I said, shed size). There was an elderly woman sitting on the stairs (that later, just laid down to sleep for the night)and as I looked at the buildings on the other side of the stret, it dawned on me that this is all her eyes have ever seen. She has never seen Colorado skies, Oregon ocean, quite evenings.
The contrast of that is this morning, I was awakened by voices singing. I had to go out to see who and where they were. Down the sprial staircase and across the dirt road is the "church without walls", it was 5ish in the morning and there were people singing so beautifully. I had no clue what they were saying, it was just so calming. The world had not awakened yet around us, I just sat on the stairs and listened to them for awhile. -June

Gary: A few minutes to express some thoughts before we go to barbecue here at the Stephen's home. This last leg of the journey has been one after another loaves and fishes story. I forgot to mention from the church program last Sunday that we were passing out candy to the children; Dave and I doing the boys and June and Beth distributing to the girls. Half way through I was praying for the amount of candy - we were getting very low. To not have enough would have been very bad! When all was said and done - every kid had a piece and there were 12 left over! It was exciting to see the team personally ministering to the people today - lots of praying and encouraging individuals. As Dave said, it is so humbling to think of the "trials" we face and the very real persecutions they face. It is encouraging to know that we can still bring them before the throne! Some big pictures I am walking away with: the aspect of honor and respect. The people here have taught me a lot about that and especially how it carries over in their relationship with the Lord. "Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect." A verse I have been pondering and meditating this week comes from Acts 9:31: as the church went on in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it ocntinued to multiply. Dinner bell is ringing. Keep checking back - I will post sime pics when I can and hopefully Jeff and Beth can add some thoughts. Again, thanks for your prayers and support - you have been a major contributor to the ministry in India!!