The Classroom And Lunch. . .Here I am Send Me!

Man, who is that good looking guy? Oh Yeah, it is me. Here I am giving my high quality opinion. . . .Can't you just see the intelligence pouring out of me?

This is Rajesh. From what I understand, He and his wife left their daughter with family so they can study at the Seminary in order to plant a church upon their return. He is in the Master's of Missiology program and his wife is completing her bachelor's degree.

This is Anankumar and he was just accepted into the Master's of Missiology program. He comes from a very poor family and was in school for a Master's in Physics when God called him into the ministry. He is a converted Hindu and now desires to take the Word of God into his village or wherever God wants him to go. He has sacrificed a wonderful career and the promise of money in order to attain a Seminary degree.

Akum is a Master's of Missiology student. He is engaging and asks a lot of questions. He was raised in a Christian home and desires to plant a church upon leaving the Seminary. His village and villages he knows about are under severe demonic activity (Possessions, Trances, Spirit's entangled with Animals). He has a very long road ahead of him in his desired ministry. Please pray for him and his village.

Priya has been around the school for a while and is a dedicated student and helper around the school. She also tends to be the classes mouth piece if they do not understand something or have an issue to resolve. She is a dedicated student who is earning her Master's in Missiology and desires to work within a village helping to reach the remote people of India for Christ.

This is Kupuli. She has a very interesting testimony, as God spoke to her in a vision that brought her to Christ. She had many medical problems growing up and did not think it would be possible to attend Seminary, but here she is earning a Master's in Missiology. She has a wonderful heart and desires to be used wherever God wants her to be, but she would like to do missions in her home village.

Ayetoli is quiet, but pays close attention. She is from the Northeastern part of India and has traveled a long way to earn her Seminary degree in Missiology. She longs to teach and bring people into the saving grace of Jesus Christ. She has a tender heart and a love for God.

Pele is earning a Master's in Missiology. She is active in class and is dedicated to earning her degree and going into the field. She comes from a large family and it took nearly three years of asking for her parents to allow her to attend Seminary, but finally they relented and now she plans on using her degree to reach those in her home village for Christ. She just completed an internship as a youth worker for a local church and she loved the experience.

This is Kono (Cono) and she is also very quiet but pays close attention to what is being asked. She longs to work in a church wherever God places her. She is also earning her Master's in Missiology.

This is the classroom from the front. As you can see the furniture is nothing fancy, as the tables are just metal, and the seats are metal as well. The floor is cement and their is no air conditioning or fans. It is the very basics needed, but they are faithful and diligent in their work. They do not miss class. For four hours a day they are sitting in those seats working in my class. I am glad that I have to stand most of the time. Actually, I found a plastic chair to sit to utilize.

This is our lunch on a typical day. Rice, flat bread called Chapati, banana are always regular every day. The toppings you can see on the rice will change. We mix the rice with the side item, it is the green vegetable you see to the left of the rice. Typically it is in a more gravy format and you use your hand or a fork, but who uses a fork when you have an excuse to eat with your hand. . . .Not me or Jeremie. I may never use silverware again.

I wanted you to have a picture and name of the students that I am teaching so you can pray for them. It is amazing to me what they do for their degrees. They give up all comforts, if they actually had any and pay up to 13,000 Rupees a year to come here, which is about $400 American dollars. This amount covers classes, food, and lodging. You have seen the class room and the food. The lodging is that all the men share six people to a room and the girls all share rooms in the same fashion. They sleep on bunk beds they remind me of ones you typically see in Army barracks. They have no closets and the bathrooms are not what you have seen that Jeremie and I use. Their is cement floor, and for a bath you fill a bucket with water and use a small bowl to pour it over your head.

They are not allowed work, except for the chores they have to do around the Seminary and church. They are mandated to either be in class or studying from 8am till 5:30pm each day. They go to an 10:40 chapel for an hour and then have another chapel in the evening. They are to be involved in local church ministry and available for anything else that may need to be accomplished.

The dress code is strict and enforced. No shorts for men, only slacks and jeans, and I have yet to see a T-Shirt worn to class. Women are to be covered from neck down during class time and free time. They do not wear shorts either. This is easy for them as that is their culture anyway and they are very conservative regarding clothing.

When they leave with their degrees they are not looking for a job in a big church with a decent salary so they can buy a home, car and support their families. They are looking to go to the remote villages where they came from and to villages where they have not heard the Word of God yet. They are saying "Here I am Lord, Send Me!!!" SEND ME!! They want to sleep on the dirt floors, eat rice of big leaves and only have two sets of clothing if they can reach their brethren.

It is not as easy as in the U.S. just to go to a new state or village (town) and minister. Just in my class there are four different languages present. India does not all speak the same language, as each village could have a language they speak, especially if they are uneducated. Just learning Hindi will not cut it. They have to learn the local language if they are not returning to their home towns. HERE I AM SEND ME!

How many people in U.S. Seminaries say that. . .Send Me! Yeah, some will say it, but in the back of their minds most of the time they are saying: "Well, I would prefer to stay here and work for this megachurch, get married, have kids and live the comfortable Christian life." These students leave their homes, their families and their comforts so they can teach others about the love of Christ and Salvation.

I am not writing to make anyone feel guilty, but if you are maybe there are things you need to look at. I am writing this because it convicted me!! Would I do what they are doing? They could choose to stay in Bangalore and make money, as they are all educated people. Each one of the students in my class speaks at least 3 to 5 languages. This is not their only choice in life, and one can make money in India.

They choose to sacrifice for the sake of the kingdom of God. They do it wholeheartedly. They do joyously. It just is amazing to me.

Yes, we need people to work in megachurches and they have their purpose in our culture. But how many of us say in whatever field of work or ministry: "Here I am Lord, Send Me!" Seriously, when was the last time you said it and meant it. No age excuse or health excuse, as the Bible has shown that to be an impudent argument. Take the time and pray and seek after God and then tell Him: Here I am Lord, Send Me. . . .Use me no matter the cost or sacrifice. I am Yours, do what You will.

Warning: Do not pray it or say it unless you mean it, as God has a way of calling us on it. There only two real ways. His way or Hell's way. You can say God Your will be done, or God can say to you, your will be done. Which do we chose?

Catching the Fire

Romans 13:12-14, "12The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature."

1 Corinthians 5:11, "But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat."

Galatians 5:19-21, "19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God."

What do these verses mean to you when you read them? Look them up and read them in context to make sure, but in the end we have to deal with them as believers, especially as Christians.

Being in India and teaching Apologetics again has caused me to catch a fire that I have not had in a while, or at least it has not burned as hot as I would have liked. Not only have I been able to teach the Word of God and how to defend it, but I have been impacted by the believers here and my own teaching in how we are to handle sin in the lives of believers.

When we read the verses above, it seems to me we have missed the mark in American churches. We do not really hold each other accountable anymore, because it would be offensive or a friendship might be lost because of it. We make excuses to keep “Christians” around who are acting out as in the verses above. Why? Why not do what the Word of God tells us and rid ourselves of them and hopefully this will bring them to repentance and restoration? Why do we rationalize sins in our brothers and sisters lives? Is it because we are guilty of the same things? Is it because we are afraid of confrontation? Is it because we are people pleasers instead of God pleasers? To keep membership up? To keep their tithe? To make other members happy? Why?

The Word tells us plainly not to put up with certain sins within the church, and yet go into just about any church and I bet you will find these very people there. And we wonder why we are having so many problems with doctrine in the church today. I say this: That I will be striving to maintain a much better Biblical standard over any ministry under my control from this point onward. I would much rather offend and make man mad at me then stand before God and give an account why I allowed people who call themselves Christians to continue within the body of believers when they were so apparent in their sinful behavior. What would you say? Well God, you see we needed the money. It would have caused too much division and so-and-so would have been upset as well, and they have a lot of power. Well God, I did not want to ruffle feathers and it did not seem to be hurting anyone; I mean no one else knew, well except You.

Where are you? Are you struggling with any decisions? The only question you have to ask yourself is this: If I stand before God today would I be able to say that I fought the good fight and finished the race as Paul did.

2 Timothy 4:7-8, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

Preach it John Piper!!

Here is a great link, where John Piper makes his comments about the Word of Faith's health and wealth Gospel.

http://www.symphonyofscripture.com/?p=246

All I can say is thank God for people like Piper that make a stand and say it out loud. Not afraid to stand up for truth.

Monkeying Around

I know what you are thinking and no this is not me dressed up and posing for a picture. This is one of their Hindu gods that they worship. We were riding back from Khandili and Jaykumar asks for the camera and tells us he is going to take a picture of a monkey for us and this is what we got. These types of statues are common in Bangalore, as our temples for Hindus.

This man was a Hindu that was converted to Christianity through the efforts of BBCM and ACPL. And because of his conversion he donated land for a church plant in his village. Just one of many stories like this from the pastors that are trained at this Seminary.

The next few photos are just pictures of plant life and scenery as I liked these pictures that Jeremie took during some of our travels.

If you look closely you will see a head peeking out. Jeremie and I were talking about the coconuts up there and one of the villagers heard us and came over and climbed up the tree that was almost straight up and down, and did it barefoot. Jeremie and I had our first taste of fresh coconut milk. It was different to say the least. Jeremie was not that impressed. It tasted like watered down milk with a little sweetener. It was thick like milk as well. We then ate the coconut fresh.

The camera died today and we are not able to take any pics, so we will charge them up tonight and get some more pics for you tomorrow. Jeremie is speaking at chapel tomorrow, and I spoke today. Next week will be a busy time, as Jeremie will be out of town with Jayakumar and I will be speaking 5 to 6 hours a day at times. It will be a strech for us. This weekend we will be busy with outreach to the youth and will probably not have time to post anything until Monday or longer if Jeremy takes the camera with him on his travels.

Continue to pray for energy and that God will continue to use us in His way and in His will. We love you all and look forward to seeing everyone in a couple of weeks.

Daddy's Little Girls

Just wanted to say thanks for the videos that were put on You Tube so that I can see my girls while I am gone. I missed Lydia's first steps, but was able to see them on You Tube. For that I am extremely greatful. Here is Kayla telling me that she loves me and then my youngest taking her first steps. I know a lot of you reading this are checking up on Jeremie, but a lot of my family reads this as well and I wanted them to be able to see Lydia's first steps too.

Thanks Meg for taking the time to do all that for me. It is greatly appreciated.

India Traffic Video

We have been promising it for days now and we finally have it up. This is some Saturday afternoon traffic on our way back into Bangalore. This is Electronic City, which is a suburb of Bangalore.

This should help you appreciate American traffic patterns and should hopefully help you with a little more patience the next time you are stuck in a traffic jam.

Jeremie gave his testimony today at chapel and he will be speaking on Thursday for chapel. He is now the feature speaker at a youth event we are having here on Saturday evening. We are hoping to have around 100 children and young adults. There is also a Sunday night service that we are going to be part of through the next couple of weeks. As the time progresses we are getting busier and busier. Keep us in your prayers for strength and stamina. Because our main source of food is mainly rice, our bodies are not as energized, and thus creates fatigue much quicker.

We fell very honored to be part of the Lord's work here and are thankful for your support.

Khandili -- Jeremie

Jeremie posing in a village church. The space is about 10 feet wide by 20 feet long. You can see a greater description in the previous blog and see other shots of the churh as well. Jeremie gave a wonderful sermon, though no one was there to hear it.


Saturday, June 16, we visited a new medical clinic in Kahndali, India. After seeing the facility, Uncle Jay had a meeting at the clinic. Stanley, an elderly Indian Christian who accompanied us to the clinic, introduced us to the pastor, Thangaraj, who has been serving in Kahndali. Anil then drove us out into the villages of Kahndali.

Within the villages there is an elaborate Hindu Temple. The Hindus of the area (I do not know the details of their beliefs) consider snakes to be the highest form of life and worship them. They will pile up a mound of soil and then sort of hollow out holes for snakes to live in. I kept my eyes pealed for a cobra, I would have liked a picture of one, but the midday sun was far too hot to be seeing anything cold blooded about.

As we drove through the villages I would roll the window down for pictures. Children and their mothers would come up to the car and stare blankly at us. I smiled back and motioned for them to smile and held up my camera. The people know English, but they just seemed so confused with my interest in them. I took some pictures and then I reached out my hand to shake the hands of the children. As soon as my hand touched theirs they started laughing and pushing each other out of the way to shake my hand. All of a sudden they were smiling and laughing. I showed them the result of my pictures through the viewfinder. It was after all this that I realized the works that pastor Thangaraj is doing. He visits, preaching and teaching, at least one village everyday, on bicycle with his wife on the back. The amount of Christians in each village is at least 25 or more. Imagine yourself in heaven finding out that some of those Indian children I took pictures of lived and died a life devoted to the Hindu beliefs, bound to the fires of Hell. Thank God for his grace and mercy. Also for men like Thangaraj who serve the Lord and share the Word of Truth with people of villages like those who live in Kahndali.

Alan and I were sort of in awe of the quality of life for these people. We spent most of our time while walking and driving just listening to the stories and explanations of the life and beliefs within the villages. Alan pointed out that there was never a span of time that we were not within sight of another person, and there we were in what you would consider rural India. In some places where you would expect to see only wilderness, there would be a few Indians sparsely scattered, walking through paths in the foliage. The girth of the Indian population truly is present as we traversed the highways.

We have videos of the traffic to be posted on this blog in the future.

Alan also posted a blog right before this one, so if you want you can read it as well.

Khandhili Trip

A group of women making incense sticks by hand. They are paid 8 Ruppees per 1000 sticks completed. To give you an idea, our dollar varies between 38 annd 40 Ruppees. By comparison the are making a nickel for every 1000 sticks they roll. They do not have child labor laws here either, as we saw some pretty young children rolling incense. They use these in many Hindu rituals. You can bet they do not have dish pan hands.

Here is a village we visited while in Khandhili. Went traveled to villages that a Pastor took care of that BBCM Supports. BBCM is the organization that Jeremie and I are working with currently. As you can see the houses are not much and the roofs are made of palm tree leaves. The Pastor, who was trained at the school I am teaching, has been able to reach a few of the residents and continues to make more and more progress.

We are walking to another village because the van could no longer travel on the road. It looks smooth right here, but trust me the rocks and crevices we past made it undriveable. The pastor on the left rides his bike to these villages and preaches and counsels each week. This guy must ride 40 miles a day with his wife on back of the bike a lot of time. His moped was stolen during a prayer meeting at one of the villages.

Here is a house church in another village we visited throught the day. You can see the house is made of mud and the roof is made of palm trees. I had to duck to get inside and once you get in there, as you will see below, there is not much room. I figure the house had to be at most 150 to 200 square feet. A quarter of it was taken up by hey for animals. There were little chicks in there when we went in. All this man had inside was a cot and a couple of stones used for cooking. This is living in humble means.

This is my good friend O'Neal. He drives us everywhere we go. To school, back to the house, to school, back to the house. . .I think you get the picture. He also drove us to Khandili for the day, as Jayakumar had surgery on his arm and could not drive. O'Neal i standing inside the house church you saw from the outside above, and as you can see it is not as decorated as our churches back home, nor is it decorated like our homes in the states, even homes in the poorest neighborhoods. No indoor plumbing, no running water, no floor (well, dirt), and the walls are mud. No door to close at night, so animals and cobras can just come on in. How would you like to wake up and see a cobra staring back at you? Now that is a good time waiting to happen. Yes, there are cobras there. On Sundays 25 people gather in this tiny space to hear the word of God and to worship Him for their salvation. How many of us would go to a dirt floor house filled with hey, animal waste and many other nasty smelling things to praise God? Yes, it is all they have, but they could just make the excuse there is not enough room or it is too hot (and it is extremely hot in Khandhili). They come to worship their Savior, Jesus Christ. It is awesome.

This is a church right by the medical center. The roof blew off during a wind storm and they are currently trying to decide either to fix it or build another church. The same pastor also preaches here and they still meet here each Sunday. The Pastor starts preaching in one village at 8:30am and then rides his bike to another to preach at 10am. Trying doing that between services.

Here is some of the main dudes in this important ministry. Starting from the left: Is Pastor Raaj, who is the pastor that roams around the villages preaching and sharing with Hindus. Your support in sending Jermie and I here have helped people like him become prepared to do the ministry he does. Jaykumar with the computer on his lap is the founder of BBCM, ACPL and the medical center in Khandili. ACPL is the organization that plants the churches and trains the pastors. We are staying at his house. This man is active in trying to reach India with the gospel of Christ through planting strong Biblically based churches in villages equipped with a trained Pastor to lead the flock. I have considered it an honor to be part of the work he is doing and look forward to being a part of it in the future in any way God will allow. To the right of Jayakumar is Stanley and he is an elder of the church and one of the key figures in the design and construction of the medical center. We just met him on the trip and we are going to have dinner with him on Thursday. They love feeding us here. I am thinking that I may not lose the weight this time.

This is a picture of the village around the medical center. Though it may look run down and that no one lives there, it is inhabitated by people. What you are looking at is the home of probably a family.

This is the front of the medical center where they see approximately 60 people a day. When the medical teams from America and Australia come in to volunteer there are lines that reach 100 yards. They start lining up at 3AM and wait. They will also take the teams into some neighbooring villages and work with people from 7am till 7pm each day and barely scratch the surface of the needs.

It was a very impacting trip for me in a variety of ways, especially in my thinking about the Gospel for Christ. We traveled past villages and communities that have not even heard of Christianity, let alone Christ. I am not sure if I mentioned this in another blog, but there are also 250,000 untrained pastors. That is a staggering figure. God is at work and moving and needs all the capable hands to teach pastors so they can go and reach the villages and communities for Christ.

Jeremie and I were discussing some of our observations on the walk back from one village and it occured to me that in America anyone could ultimately here the Gospel if they truly wanted. We are without excuse, as the average household in America has 6 Bibles. There are churches everywhere, and you can most likely find one within a mile or two of your house and in the farming communities you can usually find one in the closest town and many times in the fields.

Where evangelism is still extremely important in America and there are still those that have not heard and need to, or those that need to hear correctly, it is not the same in India. If someone wanted to get a Bible you could go to a Holiday Inn and pull it out of the dresser drawer or go into the local library and pull one off the shelf. One cannot do that in India. Bibles are not prevelant everywhere and churches are rare in the smaller towns and villages if non-existent.

My change came in because I am not a fan of projects overseas that do not make in impact for Christ. There seems to be a lot of money spent on just doing things and not training or equipping people for reaching others. I became frustrated and hardened about overseas ministries as there seemed to be little effect with just coming over handing out a few tracts or building something and leaving. There is just no substance. What good is a house if you are destined for hell? What good is a tract if you do not have the capability of being discipled or even being told what it truly means, in that what he or she is really committing too?

BBCM and ACPL are doing what I believe is the key to reaching the lost in India and should be modeled in other countries. They use the resources given for reaching the lost. Everything they do is driven towards preaching Christ. If a building is built, it is built mainly by local people, giving them work and letting them take ownership in their local ministry. Those that come over to India are used to teach pastors, teach construction, teach English, teach teaching, and everything in between. We do not come over do it for them and leave and they have no idea what to do after that. The support you have given me and Jeremie is going towards teaching pastors and teachers to go to the mission field to disciple and teach others.

This time has softened me again on overseas ministries, at least for those that take the resources given to reach the unsaved and to use for multiplying the kingdom. I look forward to continually being part of this work even as I leave here. There is just so much going on for the kingdom here and it is a true blessing to be a part. Thank you for giving me that opportunity and being a partner in this mission field.

Friday Pics -- We are still here.

We took a walk and of course Zeek, who seems to think he is center of attention, wanted a picture of himself on the bench. I tried to tell him that he needed to walk a little to lose the gut. . .I cannot put onto the blog the response I got. Let's just say that Zeek had to repent afterwards.

What you are looking at is a new apartment complex being built and yes those are tree limbs holding up the floor. It is crazy, but it seems to work for them.

Here I am being productive, or at least trying to look like it in my classroom. I know what your thinking. . .That is one smart looking character. I was going to photo shop the little spot on my head, but who needs to mess with perfection.

Here we are about to walk into an air-conditioned coffee shop. It was AWESOME. You can get a cup of coffee and a danish for around a $1.50, or 50 Rupees. We didn't want to leave, but I also did not want my body to adjust to air conditioning again, as no other place we are at has it.

Jeremie was taking pictures outside, and trying to get a picture of a lizard, but these two gypsy children kept getting in the picture. Gypsy children do not speak the native language here, so it is very hard to communicate with them, even for the locals. By the time I walked out there was a mother and 5 children standing there with Jeremie. We gave out some candy and then jumped into our car.

I just want to take the time on this blog to thank Jeremie for all the great pictures and video. Though we are not sure if the video will be able to be uploaded until we get home. We are working on it though.

Jeremie is going to have a very busy week next week, so we are hoping to keep up with the pace of pictures, but it may slow down some next week. He is speaking three different times, two at chapel and then one at a youth event. He is going to be preparing during his free time. Please pray for him as he starts to minister more directly with the Indian culture.

A Little Tour

This is the School's computer lab. The person you see is Chuck. He and his wife are missionaries in Bangalore and work with the school. They have a two year old daughter and another on the way. They have been in the mission field for three years now, and plan on at least serving in Bangalore seven more. Chuck is the Registrar for the school and teaches several classes. He is also a graduate of ACPL, the Seminary that I, Alan, am currently teachint at.

This is the front office where three ladies work in different areas of administration.

This is the school Library. They now have over 9,000 books that have been donated or purchased since their opening.

This is the bathroom that Jeremy and I share. As you can see it is a little different then our bathrooms in the States. Everything is all together, the shower, toilet and the sink is to the right just out of the shot. Everything gets wet. You can shower, shave and use the toilet all at the same time. It is quite convienent. If it just had a television it would be every man's dream!

Last, but not least we have Zeek. He was getting a little upset that he was not in more pictures as of late. To shut him up I took a picture of him while he was lounging around downstairs on the couch. You think from that smile he has on his face all the time that he would be a little nicer.

This may be the last blog for a few days, as Jeremie and I are headed off to Khandili after I am done teaching. This is where the medical site is. There is no internet and possibly no phone service in this town. We will be there till Saturday afternoon and then return. Sunday's are consumed by church and Sabbath rest, so we may not be able to get online until Monday.

We will have many pictures for you of our trip and we are working on adding video footage shortly to the blog.

We miss you all!!! Stay Tuned. . . .

A Great Review of Velvet Elvis!

Below you will find two links. One is a review written be Dr. Dewitt and the other is his biography. This is by far the best intellectual review I have read yet on Rob Bell's "Velvet Elvis." His analysis is point blank on the spot. Please take time to read it when you get a chance.

http://www.liberty.edu/academics/arts-sciences/biology-chemistry/index.cfm?PID=6627 (This is his biography).

http://relationalconcepts.org/long%20topics/Velvet%20Elvis%20Review.pdf

Some Interesting Shots

This is a picture of the house we are staying in while in Bangalore, India. It is very nice inside and out and we could not ask for better accomodations.

This is an ugly looking face, but the Hindus believe that it keeps their money being sucked away by other people. If they have a nice house then they think people will come by and talk about how much money they have and this will then make it so that they will loose it. So, by placing this ugly face on there it keeps them safe from the money being taken. Not sure how it works, but it is what they believe.

Two neighborhood children out for a ride.

This is a man working on a new house going up on the street we are on. He kept carrying the stone with the pan next to him. He would place it on his head after it was filled and walk it into the construction site.

Jeremie looking out from the bedroom window. All windows are gated to keep out animals and theives.

This is a picture of the main road to our place of residence. This is typical of a lot of raods in India.

Picture looking out from our bedroom window, minus the bars.

Jeremie in our room finally cleaning up his mess. You can tell by looking at my side and his side that I am much neater. Actually, I just throw everything on his side so my side stays neat.

One of the workers at the school where I teach. He does pretty much everything around the building. He is probably like a handy man.

This is a little girl outside of the school that kept following Jeremie around until she got into the picture.

If you did not read the post before this one make sure you do, as I am posting two posts at once. This one has regular pics and the other one has the update and some fun pictures with ZeeK.

Time For Zeek

Say hello to my little friend, "Zeek." He is the Ransomed Mascot and obviously likes to try to get into as many pictures as possible. It is a little annoying at times.

Here Zeek and another missionary are taking a nap together. I know what you are thinking, weird, but who are we to judge. Seriously, it was an innocent nap.

Here for some reason Zeek decided to fly into the shot of the road that we are staying on, and yes that is the road. Makes PA roads look marvelous.

Here you can play, "Where's Zeek?" He is chillin on the pillar. This is the entry way into the house we are staying in while in Bangalore, India.

I was admiring myself in the mirror when Zeek kept interfering until I took a picture of us both, so here it is. I know what your thinking, Alan would never just stand in a mirror and admire himself. True, I am a humble man, but at times you just have to admire what God created.

Here Zeek is playing a little hacky-sac by himself. Jeremy got angry because Zeek kept beating him. Jeremy stormed off saying something about cheating and using his hands too much, but you can see here that is clearly not happening, though the smirk makes me think there may have been some cheating going on.

This is the first appearance of Zeek. If you are not familiar with Zeek, you soon will be on this blog over the next several weeks. Zeek is the Ransomed Mascot and he made the trip with us to India. We thought we would take him around with us and let him see a little of India as well.

I, Alan, started teaching today and it went very well by India standards. Typically they do not talk or engage in the conversation, but today I was able to get two of them to participate. The first class I am teaching is The Synoptic Gospels, and there are 8 students in the class. They are all Master level students.

Jeremie is working on producing a newsletter for the School. Jayakumar, the President of the school, asked him to help, as he has done this before. Jeremy will get to spend some time with Jayakumar, which is considered a honor here, as he is very busy.

We found out that today we are leaving on Friday of Khandili (sp?) and will stay over there for a night. There is a medical clinc and another church plant there. It will be a great experience, as I did not get to see it the last time I was here. We will also be going to Mysore in the next week or so to visit some other church plants. Mysore is another city where there are several church plants, and I will most likely be preaching there.

That is all for now.