Post Agra, Pre Bihar Post

So its been about six days since I've arrived and things are going great.

The meetings in Agra went well and the suicide/murder issue was taken care off. Turns out the guy was in the Air Force, so they took his body to do post-mortem and stuff and they indeed found poison. Please keep that family and the church in your prayers.

Anyway, like I said in the previous post, we visited the Taj Mahal, so here are some pictures from there:





=] I can believe horses and donkeys... and even cows... but camels in Agra? lol




On the way there, we had also stopped at a McDonalds... would you believe the sign I saw there...


And our sleeping arrangements there... this is in the church hall, by the way:





Last two days we had gone to Samalkha in the state of Haryana. The church there was celebrating their 4th anniversary. By God's grace and the tireless work of the pastors in this ministry, in just 4 years the church has grown to over 250 members. All the believers and even the pastor of the church are converts. Please keep that church in your prayers.

Here are some pictures taken around the time of these meetings:


People at the meeting:



I also have a picture of an oil-changer's dream vehicle...



Look at the position of that filter!!

... anyways on with the blog...


There was another suicide/murder incident yesterday (Oct 5) this time involving a bible school student. He had joined the school recently even without the permission of his father and step-mother (who, it turns out, aren't very interested in him anyways). Apparently on Sunday morning when the rest of the students went to church, he said he wasn't feeling well and stayed in bed. When everyone returned they found him hanging from the ceiling fan. Fortunately for the bible school, the police found a suicide note claiming that no one was responsible for his death except himself. Unfortunately, however, the police are apparently making up stories saying the school had not been feeding the kid for the past few days which forced him to commit suicide. It is, obviously, just a ploy to get some money from the school. The school is located in Nagpur near Delhi (or so I hear...). Please PLEASE keep that school and the rest of the students and faculty in your prayers.

As you probably already know, the tension is still high here in India. Many cities are imposing curfews and "shoot on sight" orders. The violence is getting out of hand and doesn't seem to be any sign of relief. The national government is worried about the international opinion and is trying to work to fix its image. This just means that the protests and wide... well somewhat-wide coverage of these issues is working.

There will be some meetings here in Delhi the next few days. On the 9th we will leave for Bihar by train. The ride is almost 24-26hrs. :) Sounds like a long trip? Well the return trip to Delhi will be about 36 hours!!

So far my stay here has been great. I thought the food on the plane was pretty good, I had no idea what was in store for me here. From the roti and subzi the family in Agra mass produced (yes mass produced, there were 7 of us hungry hungry people =P, plus some of the guys from there also) to the meals from the different places we visit... its just amazingly tasty. Also, I don't know if this is a overall thing, but after the Samalkha church anniversary, I thought it was interesting that they were going around with the kheer first! And I don't think its because the rest of the food wasn't ready either... but anyways, dessert first is like a dream come true hahha.

I've met a lot of the guys from the training center and stuff here. It was a good thing that I went straight to Agra with some of these guys, I got a chance to really get to know them so there isn't that awkwardness anymore. One of the guys speaks English well and another can get by. The second one, Samuel, is really quiet and my uncle was surprised when I told him that he could speak English. But forget English... this kid Samuel is a musical genius. He learned guitar and piano ON HIS OWN and when he plays... its just mesmerizing to hear him play... I'll definitely be hanging around him, hopefully I can pick up a thing or two.

The only bit that still annoys me a little are the wet and not-so-pleasant bathrooms. I don't think I need to go into detail about that, but I'm getting used to it... The other thing is the dust everywhere. I've been getting asthma attacks frequently and I'm pretty sure its because of the dust.

Other than those two things, everything is A-OKAY thanks to God's grace and mercy. By this I know that people have been praying for me. Thanks!! and God Bless you=]



Please keep praying for me and the ministry here, the people I'm traveling with and the whole bit.

Thanks and God Bless You!