Couple of Surprising Things!

It has been an interesting few days to say the least, but great days in and of themselves. As it goes in India, and especially here at BBCM, you have to roll with the punches. My teaching schedule changed completely upon arrival. I will not start teaching until Wednesday, and I thought it was going to start two days before that on Monday. I also found out that I would be teaching not just two hours a day, but 4 hours a day.

I have been able to catch up with old friends and meet some new people along the way. I was able to see my buddy, Rufus, whom I formed a bound with the last time I was here. He was in 7th grade the last time I saw him and now he is a foot taller and in 10th grade. He has a heart for ministry and wants to go into missions some day after his schooling.

There are a couple of things that have surprised me thus far in this trip. The first is that Banglore has become even more westernized in its commercials and in its style. You see more young adults in jeans and the commercials are more risqué then the last time I was here. Of course, by American standards they are still tame, but changing none the less. It is a sad thing to see. Our culture seems to be like a leech, we just strap on and suck the culture and life out of countries by making them believe our way is the best way.

The other area that astonished me was that the young ones learn so much in Bible here that it blows away our young on many levels. As young as two years old they are started in verse memorization, and they are taught at a different level then we tend to teach our young. They do not shy away from the tough subjects, such as sin, hell, repentance and what it means to walk what you talk (not looking like the secular world).

Some areas are still the same. Church can last up to three hours here, and I could not see the average congregant lasting even half that long, as it would run into sporting events for children or on television. They spend the first half of the time in prayer and songs of praise. Then the last half on a sermon. The rest of the day is rest. No sporting events for children or school activities. They just relax at home and spend time with family. How many of us do that? Taking the Sabbath as a real thing and resting and refreshing in Christ through worship and family.

Getting ready for dinner, so gotta role. Keep us in your prayers, as we will need it once the pace of classes and speaking start moving this Wednesday. They now have Jeremy speaking at a chapel service for the students. He is finding out that what I said is coming true. Once you get here they will use you in ways you did not even dream, and stretch you in your gifts and comfort zones.

Seriously, gotta go eat, not to mention put on more mosquito spray, as they are bad here this time.

Alan out for now. . . .

Just the Beginning!

Home made Brick Making





The Building above and to the right is the Bible College and Church. The picture to the left and just above are from the downtown area.

On June 8th as we were descending upon Bangalore I peered out the window o the earth below. It was around midnight in India as we landed. The scenery through the window was so different from what would be seen while descending into a U.S. Airport. Every visible portion of land that could be seen from my window was covered by a building, road or covered by the glow of a yellow light bulb. After landing, our plane had to wait 40 minutes before there was a loading dock available. The airport was very small, but not over crowded during our time there. We waited for our baggage for twenty minutes before it came out the conveyer belt. Then we had to have one of our bags checked again before we could finally leave the airport. Chuck and Colin, both Americans, met us as we left the baggage claim. After shaking hands they led us to the taxi.

Driving though the Indian streets was somewhat chaotic in my eyes because not only were we driving on the left side of the road, but the road lacked lines, markings and pavement. Motorcyclists weaved in between each other and pedestrians wandered sometimes even between the motorcycles. It was around midnight and there was still a fair amount of traffic. Finally, we reached the home of Jayakumar and Prima.

Chuck, not yet middle-aged, used his cell to the landline phone inside the home. Prima came out the door and groggily greeted us, then unlocked the iron gate that enclosed the porch. Alan, Colin and I bid Chuck, who lives a block away, goodnight. Colin, who nineteen years old and is staying in a room next door to Alan and I, parted as we spoke shortly with Prima before the both of us headed up to our room. Alan had told me that the floors were made of marble, but I didn’t quite imagine that all of their floors would be marble. Marble is as common in India as linoleum is at home. Their home on an American standard is actually very nice; every bedroom has its own bathroom with shower. After exploring our room, unpacking and settling into our firm beds, we were able to enjoy about twelve hours of much needed and long awaited rest.

On June 9th, most of our day was used to really get settled. Chuck, his wife, Connie, their daughter, Anjali, and Colin took Alan and me out for a drive through the city. We saw the state Capitol and the Parliament building. We drove through the, “most western city in India,” according to Chuck. Traffic was still insane. I’ll see if I can get some videos and pictures up to show how traffic runs in this country. Later, Alan gave Rufus, a young man that Alan connected with during his last visit to India, and Prima the gifts that he had brought them from home.

We had dinner around 9:30pm which is quite normal for the Indian culture. Around 10:30 we had cake for Prima’s birthday. It was a fruit flavored cake with icing.

Alan is always preparing for his class that starts on Wednesday or reading one of his many books. He has also been recruited to preach next Sunday in the English/Tamil service. The service on Sunday June 10th was very interesting. There is a worship team that sings and plays guitar, drums and runs a computer that projects the lyrics. The songs are shown on the projector only the language that they are meant to be sung. Tamil songs are shown in the normal Tamil script as well as in English to help with pronunciation of the Tamil language.
Today, Monday June 11, Alan and I are at the school using the computers here. Alan is printing documents and preparing things for his lessons while I am writing this blog entry. They have wireless internet and a network setup for the school’s computer lab.

It feels great to be away from the American culture. I have confidence that the Lord will be working through Alan in the classroom. He is teaching Apologetics, the defense of the Christian faith. Pray for Alan as he is teaching here across the globe. Pray for me as well, that I will be able to serve to the best of my abilities, grow in my faith while I am here and aid Alan as he serves in the classroom. Prayer is always needed.

Jeremie

Hurrying No Where

First of all, I cannot believe I am leaving these three beautiful ladies for thirty-three days. It is very hard, but I know at the same time God has me where He does and I am excited about being able to equip pastors in India. What a great opportunity to be able to be part of the Great Commission.

It has been an interesting trip thus far. It took us six hours just to get out of Pittsburgh and now I am waiting to board the airplane to Paris. Hopefully in the next hour we will be able to board if all goes well, but it is in God's timing. He has been teaching us to slow down and be patient.

I was wondering why in Star Trek they never suffer from jet lag. They go all over the place and through time warps and many light years, but no one ever suffers jet lag. Does anyone know why? I go 9 1/2 hours and I suffer a lot, but Captain Kirk or whoever is captain now does not suffer at all. What is up with that? It would also be cool to have the teleporter and just zap us there. That would be AWESOME!

Jeremie and I look forward to sleeping a little on the flights. We will not be able to communicate for the next couple of days. For now I am signing out, but we will be updating as regular as possible. And depending on Internet speed we are hoping to add photos to the site as well.

In case you read this Erin, I love you and miss you already. Kiss the girls for me.

Why Life is the Way it is. . .

On the first day, God created the dog and said: "Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years."

The dog said: "That's a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I'll give you back the other ten?"

So God agreed. On the second day, God created the monkey and said: "Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I'll give you a twenty-year life span."

The monkey said: "Monkey tricks for twenty years? That's a pretty long time to perform. How about I give you back ten like the dog did?" And God agreed.

On the third day, God created the cow and said: "You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer's family. For this, I will give you a life span of sixty years."

The cow said: "That's kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. How about twenty and I'll give back the other forty?" And God agreed again.

On the fourth day, God created man and said: "Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I'll give you twenty years."

But man said: "Only twenty years? Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?"

"Okay," said God, "You asked for it." So that is why for our first twenty years we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves.

For the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family.

For the next ten years we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren.

And for the last ten years we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.

Life has now been explained to you...