Ready, Set , Go

It is Sal and Elena's last full day in Bangalore. They enjoyed shopping and visiting with Paul, Jaya and the children. At 5 PM they will be taking a walk with Shibo and Seju, Viju's two boys. It has become a tradition that they take a walk and talk with them each year before they leave for the states. Tonight Jaya is cooking a central Indian regional meal. They will spend time in prayer and Bible study with Thomas and Marykutty before dinner. After dinner they will finish up the packing and then take a short nap until 11:30 PM when the car will be loaded and off to Bangalore International Airport.

It is a bitter sweet day. Bitter in that the good-byes are difficult. The love shared grows stronger each year. Sweet in that the Massa's will return home to family, church and friends. They are so blessed by the support they receive from everyone to make this extended ministry of Lake Country Bible Church a reality and a fruitful blessing. "Thank you" is not adequate enough to express how they feel. 

Back to Bangalore

At 8 Am on Sunday, the QC staff gathered on the newly constructed Lake Country Patio to pray with and say good-bye to Sal and Elena. There were tears all around. Over the years, a sense of family has grown between the "foreigners and the nationals". 

After a long car ride, Sal, Elena, Thomas and Marykutty arrived back in Bangalore. The time was filled with listening to stories of how God has been so faithful to them. It has been a joy to spend so much time with the Samuels. Their lives are full of adventures and memories that need to be written in a book. They are living examples of walking in faith and what God can do when we are available.

Elena will be setting up a blog for Thomas. It will be a good way for him to keep his prayer partners and supporters informed of the many ministry events planned throughout the year.

After a good night's sleep in noisy Bangalore, Sal and Elena went to the shopping area with Viju and his wife Ammu. Elena bought material and will have an outfit made to order. That is a first time experience. Another first time experience was stopping in a Bangalore MacDonalds for an ice cream cone. As they left the restaurant, Elena's ice cream cone was suddenly covered with a greenish slim which fell from above. YUKKKK!! We only hope it was the blue bird of happiness.

Courageous

Tomorrow AM Sal and Elena will be leaving Quiet Corner and starting the journey home. They will spend three days in Bangalore before boarding the plane for France and then on to Chicago. There could not have been a better day. They packed and studied. Elena visited with some of the ladies and invited them and their families to come to Mercy Hall to see the film Courageous. It was a very powerful time and no dry eyes in the hall. We had a time of prayer with the families that came. And there were tearful goodbyes.

We have been humbled by the love and hospitality that has been shown to us. This mission trip has been a blessing from beginning to end. The conferences were a great blessing. The US Team mission project was a huge success. Lake Country Patio is almost completed. It looks beautiful and will supply needed dining space for future conferences and camp meetings. The outreach visits have been powerful.

Thank you for reading the blog and praying for all of us.

The Colony

Yesterday was a blessed day for Sal and Elena. A delegate of Ooty pastors came for a breakfast meeting to discuss the plans for an End Times Conference in Ooty next year. The Sewing School graduation followed with 6 girls completing the course and receiving a new Singer sewingg machine. Each girl gave her testimony. Each one came to the school as a Hindu and all have powerful testimonies of God's saving grace. Elena gave a message of encouragement and they all received diploma's and their machines. There are now 10 new girls enrolled. God bless Soji, their teacher, for how she cares for and loves these girls.

At 4:00 PM Viju, Benjamin, Jaya, Sal and Elena took off for outreach ministry. First we stopped at two Hindu homes to deliver promised Bibles. Benjamin will be following up with these families. Each promised to read them. Then it was off to a very remote area to visit a tribe of low cast people. Sal and Elena have been to many poor villages in the past, but none as poor as this. The village is considered a colony. The people who live there are "squatting" on government land in the Elephant Corridor. They live in small mud huts with no electricity or running water. The front door of the hut is shielded by a lean-to like awning made of bamboo poles and branches. We thought it was to shield them from the sun, but it was to protect them from the elephants who roam at night. The animals smell food and will try to get into the huts. It was heartbreaking to see such living conditions and poverty. Elena told them a gospel story and Sal prayed with them. Do to the dedicated outreach of Quiet Corner, these precious people know the Lord. We brought new Sarees for each of the ladies in the colony and toys and candy for the children.

India is so full of contrasts. You can travel from the most modern city to the remotest village. But the obvious needs are the same: Illiteracy, Poverty, Idolatry, Cast and Superstition. Pray for India.

Sal and Elena will be leaving QC on Sunday and staying in Bangalore until Thursday when they return home. Please pray for them to remain healthy and safe for the trip.

Priya

Today marks one week to returning home. Sal and Elena will leave with hearts full of joy and gratefulness for all they have been priveldged to be a part of. Today they visited Dr. Vishnu at the government hospital. They brought him a gift for seeing them when they were sick over the last two visits to India. He has never taken any money and he even made a house call once.

In the late afternoon, they toured around Masanangudi with Viju, Thomas and Marykutty. There is one home Sal really likes and since Thomas and Marykutty are building a new jungle home, he wanted to show them the archetcture to get some decorative ideas. The Hindu woman who lives there talked with them and soon she was giving them a tour of the home. It was very lovely. But the best news was that Thomas was able to speak with her about God and a Bible will be delivered to her tomorrow as a result.

Then they passed the home of a family Sal, Elena, Tom and Bev met last year and had opportunity to share the gospel with. They are also Hindu. The lady is a cousin to Viju's wife. She remembered Sal and Elena and immediately invited everyone to come inside. Thomas and Marykutty did not know them. We chatted a while and then asked if we could pray with them before we left. The woman began to pour her heart out about her daughter, Priya. She is a beautiful 21 year old who is living with a man in Ooty and has no contact with her family. The mother and grandmother were broken hearted. They can not even find her and they fear she is being held under compulsion. We spent some time in prayer with them. Sal asked if he could bring a Bible and they agreed they would read it.

We are praying that God will use this situation to bring the entire family to faith in the One True God. They have a family altar with many pictures and statues of false dieties. Now the Bible will be given. Last year the gospel was given. Surely God is on the move. Please pray for this family and that Priya will contact them soon.

One Last Trip To Ooty

Yesterday, Sal and Elena made one more trip up the mountain to Ooty. We had lunch with Pastor Jacob and his wife, Jeannie. Jacob has been the translator for all the conferences for the past three years. Often times his voice would become hoarse because he spoke so much. He also translated for the women's conference. We are so grateful to him and amazed at his ability. He has never had any formal English training, yet he is able to quickly and accurately translate and restructure the grammar into Tamil. We thank God so much for him.

We never met his wife before. She is a wonderful lady who works for an organization that rescues young girls from sex trafficing called Freedom Firm. They send undercover operatives into brothels to seek out girls that have been abducted. Reports are given to the police who then raid these places, arrest those runnning the operation and resuce the girls.  The girls are placed into "aftercare" homes where they receive education, counseling and health care. Currently they have 5 young girls in the program. The girls are also taught a trade and introduced to Jesus and the Bible. If you want to know more you can go to http://www.freedom.firm.in/.

When Sal and Elena returned to Quiet Corner, they were met by Thomas and Marykutty who arrived from Bangalore. They will stay until Sunday, when all will return to Banglaore. The time spent will be used to discuss and plan for future conferences and a possible start of a Bible College in 2013.

Please keep Sal and Elena in prayer as they will be returning home on March 1. Pray they stay in good health for the remainder of their stay and that there flight arrangements are not met with any delays.

Sardis & Muttah

The days are getting hotter here in south India. I think it must have hit 90 today. It is very dry and will continue to be that way until June when the monsoon season begins. The nights are cooler and the breeze cools things down quickly.

At 5 PM we walked with Pastor Benjamin to the village. He wanted us to meet his boyhood friend, Muttah. He lives with his wife, Sardis, in a very nice government home and he works in Ooty making x-ray films for hospitals. They are Hindus but have read the bible because Thomas Samuel gave him one in 1972. They also listen to Christian programing each morning on the TV. Benjamin asked Sal to share his testimony with them. After they listened, they both wanted to pray and ask Jesus to be Lord of their lives. They are going to read a chapter a day in John and they both promised to come to church on Sunday.

On the way back to Quiet Corner we stopped to pray with a Christian family, Ruth and Boaz and their daughter, Gracie. We passed Anama's home and she came out to greet us. I asked her if she remembered our conversation last year about Jesus. She said she did and wanted us to come back to talk again.

This little village at one time had never heard the name of Jesus. But through the ministry of Quiet Corner, one by one, people are turning to the one True God.