ON THE MOVE

We have packed our bags in preparation of going on a LOOOOONG train ride across the country to western India. It is about 10:30 am Monday here. We will go into the city of Vijayawada where the train station is, but will do a little shopping first. Then we will catch the train this evening. Just think of a classic old black and white movie where there are sleeper berths on a train - it's something like that. Gentle swaying with the rhythm of the train all night long. Sounds of screeching whistles as trains pass by in the opposite direction. Venders calling their wares at each stop. Maybe having an opportunity to share Christ with a fellow passenger. The Indian people are tremendously friendly and open to talking about any topic.

Gave Dr. Chatla some Bill Rudge material which he would like to have translated and reprint on presses that he has here on site.

Please pray for safe travel, both by auto into the city (about an hours drive) & then the train ride.

BLOG HINT

To view any picture full screen, simply double click on it. Also, if you have trouble leaving a comment, an e-mail address to reach us is rickychen777@aol.com. Thank you!

DEDICATING A NEW CHURCH

Today was another hot day - in the mid-90's at least. We traveled this morning to a new church in the city of Vijayawada where a dedication ceremony took place. This included a ribbon cutting, music, special meal, speeches and prayers. In the picture, Karen can be seen in a dark pink saree with Rick partially behind Dr. Chatla.

Rick preached a brief message encouraging the Christians to "Go Light Your World", which is the song that Karen sang. Three other pastors gave messages also.

Thank you for your prayers for safety: the Ambassador vehicle (looks a little like a small old fashioned taxi cab, only white) had two mechanical problems this week. Last night, it was a wheel or brake which was fixed this morning by a repairman as we were parked partially on the busy main street with huge lorries barrelling by. Speaking of traffic, here are some of the things you see on the streets: goats, huge water buffaloes, chickens, dogs, people, bicycles, motorcycles, bicycle rickshaws and autorickshaws, bicycles hauling merchandise (including live chickens). Here is a picture of the most unusual so far - a truckload of live goats.

HELLO FROM DR. CHATLA, OUR HOST

"1.5 billion people in India. 2.5% are Christian. This Bible school is a channel of blessing to plant churches where there are no churches throughout this country. My desire is to bring people from all over India, train them and then send them out to plant churches. In spite of any lack of finances to pay, we will train the dedicated young people who want to learn. If they have a call on their lives, we trust God to provide. God has His way of doing things and we praise Him!"
Dr. Chatla D.

This is a picture of the young Muslim men pushing the little Ambassador car out of the sand when we stopped at the beach on the way to an evening meeting.


This is what we do a lot on our trips. The picture of this outdoor meeting is very typical – a village area that takes 1-3 hours of extremely hazardous (bumpy and the unbelieveable India driving style) driving to get to. These are Christian believers in a Hindu nation. We go to encourage them, teach them further about the Bible. Many of them have Bibles and can read; of course, it’s in their Telagu language.

This is our room here at Dr. Chatla’s compound. We are very thankful for comfortable nights due to the air conditioning. Things get very quiet at night, but during the daylight hours in this country setting, there are many sounds, the children’s voices from the kids’ home, crows cawing, roosters crowing very early (thank God for earplugs!), water being pumped from well, pots banging around as they are being washed.

We were invited to drive a ways to be part of an engagement party, pictured below. Although the spot was only about an hour away, it turned into an 8 hour trip, with our car going ka-THUNK a couple times before they put us in an auto rickshaw (Dr. Chatla, Karen, Rick and a guitar) to finish the journey. There was much pomp and circumstance, with some vows recited, gifts of sarees, clothing, bananas and sprinkling of flower petals on the young couples' heads by each of the 50 people in attendance on the rooftop. Rick shared a brief message from Ephesians 5 and Genesis 1 and 2 about the roles of husband and wives in marriage. Karen sang a couple songs and then the food was served - lots of rice, flatbread and saucy toppings that they refer to as curry in the same manner as we refer to "sauce". It's hot and sunny every day and we are eating well. Too well! Yum! God bless you all. Keep us in your prayers as Rick now seems to be catching Karen's head cold. Otherwise, we are doing find. God is good.

Greetings from India on March 23. This is a common sight - big bulls being used for labor, brown water buffaloes being given a bath by their owners in the canal.

We finished up at Jothi Nivas with Lifesong. You will see a picture of a FEW of the girls with us (standing way in the back in the shadow) as we prepared to leave. Our sponsored child grew up and so we were able to actually meet and interact with our new girl, a 15 year old named Saumyia. She is smart, funny and absolutely beautiful.

We traveled a 3 hour journey to the ministry of Dr. Chatla and went to the area of the ocean, first to see the waves, got stuck in the sand, got pushed out by a bunch of Muslim youth riding on the hard packed sand on motorcycles. We made it to the evening meeting to sing and share the Gospel with a group of about 75 people, mostly from the fishing community there by the Bay of Bengal.

The power is scheduled to go off in a few minutes. Brown outs are a way of life around here. We will communicate again as soon as we can. Keep us in prayer for safe travel and that we stay well. So far, the only problem has been that Karen has a head cold.

Love to all, Rick and Karen

Wednesday

The attached picture shows Siromani Stoll and Karen handing out Bibles (in Telagu language) and toothbrushes to the children at Jyothi Nivas Children's home.

Took a brisk walk this morning as the sun was coming over the palm trees with 83 year old Bob Stoll who kept up a very brisk pace. Our walk included crossing a palm tree/bridge that spanned a canal. Don't worry, it had a handrail! The few Indian people that were out and about that early stopped everything to watch. We were quite a spectacle but at least nobody fell in the putrid canal water!

Our work today also included setting up Excel spreadsheets so that the 6 children's homes can report on the finances to Lifesong. Their team flew out yesterday after some lively brainstorming, planning and dreaming!

Visiting any of the children's homes involves an elaborate welcoming ceremony, pictured here.

Joyful

A happy little boy at Bethel Nivas Children's Home. He is hearing about Jesus' love, receiving good food, education, and medical care.

LIVE FROM INDIA!

We arrived in amazing India! The 15 hour flight from NY to India was nice, broken only by a few meals, sleeping and watching the movies or TV shows offered. We had a total of 4 flights in 2 days and all were very uneventful (which is a good thing), getting us to a tiny airport in a city called Vijayawada in eastern India. It's hot here, but not unbearable. Our friends from India Crusade met us, driving us in air conditioned vehicles for several hours before arriving at Jothi Nivas Children's home. We are joined on this trip by 6 other people who are part of Lifesong" (lifesongfororphans.org). As the leader of India Crusade (Bob Stoll) retires, Lifesong will take over the support and development of the ministry in India. The transition from India Crusade to Lifesong has been stressful for the folks here. They don't know what to expecct and their whole future depends on what happens next. Please keep them in your prayers. There is great potential for growth.

Our quarters are brand new, very comfortably furnished, with air conditioning and lovely Indian food (but not too spicy). There are 6 new guest rooms with bathrooms attached on the 3rd floor of the children's home. They include a dining room, and large living/meeting room. We've enjoyed getting to know the Lifesong people and interacting with the workers and children at this home.

Monday, we visited another children's home - Bethel Nivas. You should soon be able to see some film footage of this on the Lifesong website (as soon as those people get home). Bethel is a smaller home, with well groomed young boys and girls, smiling, wanting a handshake and eager to sing for us. We toured the home, seeing their "dorm" rooms - no beds or sheets, just pewter colored small trunks lining the walls (this holds their belongings). They sleep on mats which are unrolled on the floor at night. There is one room for the boys and one for the girls.

Today, the 6 Lifesong people left. It has been an amazing week so far and we've only just begun!

We have to think about the computer set up here before we can post pictures, but trust me, WE GOT PICTURES! Thank you for your continued prayers.

In His Service, Rick and Karen

We want to share a little info about our first stop in India. Pictured is the Jyothi Nivas ("lighthouse") Children's Home in Narsapur, India, where we will spend our first week in India. This is an older picture. A third floor has been added to the building which provides additional space for children, classrooms and guest quarters. There are 270 children in this home, all cared for by Lifesong for Orphans (lifesongfororphans.org). Click the link on the right to check out Lifesong.