Well here are alot of pictures from the last couple of weeks. Please bear with the typos since Harold did the postings. We are now off to Jaipur, Agra and Delhi and will not be available to post for at least the next 10 days. We are both very healthy and having a wonderful time. We think we have finally adjusted to things physically and spiritually. We have come to deeply love these brothers and sisters. They are such gracious hosts. There is a deep spirituality and devotion here and we are still struck by the complete sense of joy. We did observe one church conflict recently and were also impressed with how graciously they handled it.

Donna and I have had a wonderful time together and have kept our commitment to daily prayer together. We have found this time to be a true renewal of our relationship and have been amazed with how well we can live together 24/7.

If we could be sure the power of phone lines wouldn't go out I would arrange these entries differently but as it is you really need to scroll down to were you left off to get the flow of things.

Well, the Bishop's wife just called me to lunch so bye for now - our love to you all.

Harold

This is how cashews grow on large trees - we are told the fruit is very sweet ( we will be tasting this in a few minutes with lunch) they also extract oil for machine lubrication from the fruit and then roast the nuts. 

the cow manure is placed in this vat with water. this produces gas for cooking. Elsie uses composting, solar panels and rain water harvesting as well. 

the family cow was just 10 feet from our bedroom window (at Elsie's) which made for an interesting morning. We have also become used to the Bishops chickens under our bedrom window at he bishop's house and the rooster's 5 am wake up call. 

we had goat's milk in our morning tea 

bags of cardomon, black pepper and coffee just harvested and right out side our bedroom door 

Our hosts for the night in Ayyappancoil, Elsie and her mother. Elsie's two sons came for teh weekend (Robin on left and Elwin on right. Elsie's husband died two years ago and now she manages the farm. 

"Woman at the Well" at St. Stephen's. This is one of Harold's favorites of the week and is for Donna who decided to come to India after his sermon about the woman at the well. Most middle class families have a "dug" well like this many with electric pumps and a hose down into them. Poorer (most) get thier water from hand pumps along the roadside. The most common scene is women carrying water jars on thier heads. 

the oldest member of St. Stephan's at 105 

the dedication service was in the afternoon and lasted about 3 hours then we came back at 7 to hold a worship service for confirmation and reception of new members there were 31 and this service went till 10:30 PM! then we woke the next morning to have a Golden Jubilee service saturday at 10 AM which lasted until 1 PM then lunch then a public meeting. We got back in the car to head home around 5 PM with a two hour ride home exhausted. 

the first sermon in the new pulpit 

dedication 

St. Stephen's Church just $4000.00 dollars in gifts from two partner churches in the US and England launched this. 

we didn't quite have the wave thing down very well since we had to hold on! 

 

We were greeted once again with lots of color, bands, drummers and fireworks as we enterd the town of Ayyappancoil in the hill country of the Western Ghats. Here we spent two days February 17 and 18. On Friday afternoon we dedicated a new church, St Stephen's. The pastor is Rev. Isaac. The pulpit was given by the Bishop in memory of their daughter who had died at the age of 8. This was the Bishop's first church. He invited Harold to preach the dedication sermon for the church - this was the first sermon preached in this pulpit - a very humbling experience.

Two senior pastors of the Diaocese Rev. E.J. Daniel (front) and Dr. K.G. Daniel (rear and no relation - Daniel is a common name here). We figure these are the top two candidates for Bishop when Bishop Samuel retires this January. Both are wonderful and bright men. 

Harold's favorite photo of the week - back water fishermen 

bats hanging from the trees 

this is a bat! there were alot of them every where we looked with wing spans over 3 feet 

The Back Waters of Kerala about a two hour ride from the Bishop's House we did not use a big boat like this since we also went into a bird d sanctuary through very narrow waterways. 

Donna in her first "churidar" she has just had purchased fabric and sent it to the tailor to have two more made. The tailoring cost was under $10 for two which includes top and pants plus a blouse to be made for her new saree which she also bought this past week.

The Annual Convention ran for 8 days ( Sunday through Sunday) February 5 - 12th there were at least 5000 perhaps as many as 10,000 on the last two days

Harold preaching on the Children's day at the convention. There must have been a few thousand there! In case you are wondering it was about a blind man.

More elephants!