Wrapping up India

Well, I finally have a computer. I don't have the correct cables to hook it up to my old one to transfer files, but I'm thankful that I can pull photos off my camera, access Dropbox and write blog posts and emails. 

My status as a technology "have not" has kept me from posting a wrapup from India, and now I'm not sure where to start. We're in Cambodia right now. We arrived late last night, met up with our good friend, Peter Shumaker, and got to bed at about 1:30 a.m. At 8:30 a.m., I preached a short and hopefully coherent sermon at our church in Phnom Penh. Afterwards, we said goodbye and drove to Battambang, about 5 hours outside the capitol. We're safely at our hotel, and we plan on having some dinner and hitting the pool. We considered visiting the campus tonight, but everyone is pretty darn tired. We'll relax this evening and be fresh for tomorrow.

Despite the computer problems, the India trip finished well. The Scarlet City Church team was wonderful, and they took a ton of great photos and video that I can't wait to share with you soon.  I have lots of pics of my own, so many in fact that I can only post a small portion of them here. 

We enjoyed a church service with our Kalimpong staff and kids, and also had the privilege of baptizing some of them. We then took all of the older kids to Darjeeling to visit the zoo. It poured down rain most of the day, and was quite cold. Nevertheless, it was a great time. We said our goodbyes to the kids after a great day, and spent the night in town before heading down to Siliguri. 

We spent most of the day driving through heavy fog. We zigzagged back and forth across the India/Nepal border, but were unable to see much of Nepal. I can say that I urinated in the country along the roadside. Too much information, I know. But I was happy to step foot in Nepal and add it to my list of countries visited.  And I had to pee. Again, too much information, I know.

Along the way, the rain stopped long enough to allow us a short hike into the tea fields. To call them beautiful would be an understatement, and I have neither the talent nor the equipment to do them justice in photographs. I will cherish the memories every time I drink a cup of Darjeeling tea.

We visited a plot of land that we would one day like to buy -- if we could swing the whole piece, we could put at least 10 homes there! But more on that later. We still have to finish our project in Cambodia; let's not get ahead of ourselves... 

We all flew to Delhi, and the Scarlet City guys left for home. My family and Adam hit the city to do some sightseeing. Delhi is an amazing place, everything you can imagine in an ancient Indian city and more. We stopped at a perfumery that has been in business since 1816, and bought some custom scents. We ate more naan than you'd think possible, and may have had closure on tandoori chicken. At least for a week or so. 

I miss India already, especially the staff and kids. Please keep praying for church partners; we desperately need at least two new churches to take over the sponsorship of homes in Kalimpong.

Thank you for making all of this possible through your prayers and financial support. Together we're changing the world.