IN THE STATE OF KARNATAKA

Thanks for your prayers for traveling. The 15 hour [overnight] train ride went fine. We were in a berth with 2 other Indian men. Both spoke English and one was slightly intoxicated. He kept leaving the curtained compartment to have a smoke and probably a nip or two. He engaged Rick in a slightly confrontational manner, wanting to know why we were in India, declared that there is no poverty in India, and insisting that American money that comes here for orphans goes into other pockets. Rick was very diplomatic but avoided the confrontational aspects. It was good that Rick did not try to share Christ - the other man was an officer in the Indian army. He sat quietly and listened to Rick's answers. Both knew that we were Christians. We plainly told them this. The one who was drinking asked why we did not drink. Rick said that he would not do something that caused so much pain in families. Drinking destroys families. It is bad. There was silence. The subject was changed. They ended up doing some number puzzles together and eventually, the inebriated one went off to sleep in another berth!

Now remember, we were on this train from 7 pm Monday evening through Tuesday morning at 10 am. 15 hours. In the morning, a gregregarious 11 year old boy adopted us. He wanted to "collect" some American coins and repeatedly asked us for more than the quarter and penny we gave him. I won't even get into what it's like to "go" in an Indian bathroom on a moving train! Balance is the key.
We arrived at our destination, a children's home called Joyful Children's Home. There is a LINK on the side of this Blog if you want to see their website. This home has 67 girls of all ages. They are precious. Many know enough English for us to be able to communicate somewhat. They LOVE music and are ready, willing and able to learn any action song I can teach them. They are absolutely adorable! They are well taken care of here by Arun & Shobha, but they thrive on any attention given to them.

There is also a Bible college here with about 11 or 12 students and today is the second day that we are monitoring them as they take finals. They sit on the floor on plastic patterned mats and write out the answers to their essay questions in longhand (in the Kannada language - which is scripty and curly like Arabian or Hindu).

Each morning, through a translater, we have been sharing a devotional time with a staff conference that is also happening. In the evening, we do something similar with the children.

Again, thank you all for your continued prayers for health and safety. You can respond by clicking on "comments" or e-mailing rickychen777@aol.com. God bless! Rick & Karen