Bethlehem Lutheran Church

Forgive me for not adding to this for the last several days! When last I wrote, we were preparing for our trip the the Kalrayan Hills- the home of a "tribal people," truly the aboriginal people of south India. The Arcot Church has led the way in bringing education and health services to the area. The Hills are beautiful and remote: one road enters and switches back and forth as we climbed. The views are fantastic- and you could fall a long way if you left the road. The children are fantastic, too: eager to share what they're learning, and eager to succeed, too. It has only been a few generations since these folks were illiterate, with few contacts with the outside world.

On Friday, we packed and left Siloam and headed to Malpatambakkam. First we stopped in Panruti and visited New Jerusalem Lutheran Church, the church we helped build with funds from an earlier capital campaign. I preached there in 2005 when a group from Bethlehem was present for the church's dedication. It was good to return and meet their new pastor. He very much wants to renew a partnership with us. We'll be corresponding by email to see what shape that might take. Our youth sang a lovely arrangement of "Sanctuary" that had been put together by Luke Albrecht and Ethan Oscarson moments before for the staff and council members present to welcome us.

There are two ALC schools in Malpatambakkam: a huge boarding school for girls and a smaller (and much poorer) elementary school that has an LPGM library. We marveled at the appreciation shown us by the teachers- international visitors almost never stop at the smaller schools. In some significant ways, our service work was as much a ministry of presence and encouragement as anything else, as Kim Dickey pointed out to me. (Once again, a member of Bethlehem said something I wish I had said first!) On Saturday (after a night in an airconditioned hotel with only a few mosquitos- what bliss- and how much we take for granted) we were treated to an Indian breakfast at the new LPGM headquarters in Cuddalore. Joseph Gunnaraj, the head of LPGM operations in India and his staff received us so warmly. On my first visit to India in 2001, Joseph was THE staff, and was with us the whole trip. This time he was more than ably assisted by Ruth and Thomas, who were present with us most of the time.

We said farewll to Joseph and Cuddalore, and began our journey as "tourists," first in Pondicherri, a town founded by the French. We had dinner with Jane Koons, whom you might know from Bethlehem, who was instrumental in getting the LPGM Library Project going. She spoke wonderful words of encouragement and thanks to our youth. And it's always a delight to see a familiar face halfway around the world..

Let me digress a moment: this trip has reminded me of the incredible faith and dedication of our brothers and sisters in India. Jane got me thinking about it with her commitment to the libraries. But truly, the teachers, wardens, staff at the schools, Dr. Franklin and his colleagues at the Danish Mission Hospital, Sundar, who leads the entire ALC school project, James who leads the Library Project, David who is so passionate about English education at Park Town- these folks (and the ones I missed), are wonderful examples of what it means to serve and follow Jesus where they live! It's something we can all do where we live- and see the world change- as they are in this corner of the world. Maybe this is a good place to stop for now.

Keep us in your prayers! You remain in ours. We're in the north now: Agra today, Delhi tomorrow and then home!