Farewell to Our Friends in the Villages

Our last meeting was bitter sweet. We have grown to love the people deeply. We were sad to leave them, and shed many tears as we said goodbye. but we are also joyful to know that someday we will all meet in heaven. It was a completely packed site, and they buried us in garlands! On a scale of one to ten, we all agree this trip was at least a nine! India Mission Trip 2012 is over, but the memories will last forever!

Other Cool Stuff!

Here's some other cool stuff we've experienced in the last 2 weeks! Passed out Matchbox cars and toothbrushes at our schools in Nuzvid and Ibrahimpatnam . Watched the three poor school boys we bought necessities for show off their new uniforms and shoes. Took a boat to Bhavani Island in the Krishna River and had ice cream. Got to see Sunita, the Johnson's sponsored boy's mother who had the brain tumor, now well and active. Harry also was able to get a good study Bible for the Bible teacher at Ibrahimpatnam who only had a small modern translation. Imagine! The man lives in a small room with a bed and a rope to hang his clothes on--nothing else! We have so much in America, it is really humbling to see how much of the world lives without much of anything at all!

Bible Worker Homes

We had the privilege of dedicating six Bible worker homes that were built in villages we had held evangelistic meetings and revivals in in the last 8 years. They were funded by our NNEC folks. Three are finished, and three are in the final stages of completion. They are very small, simple structures--one small room, a "kitchen" (a tiny closet with a few shelves), and a "bathroom" out back (a squat pot in another small closet). The SDA workers who will live in them are thrilled, however, as presently they must rent a home on their meager salary of about $600 a year. Two were dedicated to the memory of two of our young men, who worked at Camp Lawroweld, and died untimely accidental deaths--Nate Stoll and Andrew Johnson. We miss them a lot, and are happy their memory will live on in these houses provided for the underpaid, dedicated Bible workers who labor year round in our villages.

More Baptsms

We held our second and final baptism on Jan 31st. We walked onto the Krishna River floodplain at the village of Chevitikallu. Lots of water buffalo here as well as a large water pumping station for the village. We took pictures and handed out new Bibles to new Adventists! 78 people from this village and S. Amaravaram were added to the fellowship of believers. It took one older lady with stiff legs 20 minutes to walk down using a plastic chair as a walker. A little crippled lady with crutches refused to be carried back up--she proudly, but slowly made her way up the hill. Another memorable day in India!

Still More on the Meetings

It's hard to believe there are only three meetings left! We have grown to love these folks, and are already dreading the good-byes. Attendance has held steady at about 400--a packed site every night. We love doing our songs with the crowd! It's so much fun!! They are so-o-o enthusiastic! We have had no power outages since the generator has been ready to roll--figures! Our brand new projector just quit working last night. The guys took it apart, and put it back together--no luck. Just before we really needed to use it for the Power Point presentations for the health talk and sermon, Josh Dayen decided to try it one more time, and it worked! God is good! The children bring us candy and flowers for the girl's hair. Our friend, Sunila, the South Andhra Section treasurer's wife has been making us Indian tea every day, and wrapping the girl's saris for the evening meetings! Leigh and Julianna look so lovely in them! Josh, Josh and Judy are continuing to help Harry with the sermons. I don't know who is receiving the bigger blessing--the villagers or us! It's just been great!

Baptism Day!

Sunday was a very special day for us! We walked from where the car could go no farther (washout on the dirt road) down onto the green flood plain of a tributary of the Krishna River. Water buffalo grazed nearby, we passed women doing their wash and birds were everywhere. We had the joy of watching while 67 people from our villages of Kothapeta, Damuluru and Chilukuru publicly gave their lives to Jesus and were baptized. Each one got a new Bible from us in their language of Telegu. (Those of our friends who donated $100 and $200--this is where your money went!) You can see the happiness on everyone's face!