Photo shows: Happy Christian, his wife Susilla, John Christian and his wife Prasanthi and John's sister Esther with her little boy.
Our adventure to Bhimavaram got off to a bad start. I'm not sure why, but there was not anywhere on the train for me to stow my suitcase and lap-top bag. I got to sleep with it all in a space that was barely big enough for just me. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleeping done!
The train is a slow, old rickety thing. At least in the rarefied heights of 2nd Class AC we get some space, a sleeping berth and wonderful air-conditioning. As we were travelling at night it was impossible to see the scenery and not even the names of the stations. We were due to arrive at about 5.45 am so we asked the cabin attendant to tell us when we were approaching Bhimavaram. Still we couldn't be sure that this would happen so Michael set his watch alarm and PDA alarm to 5 am, then promptly slept through them both, I was already awake (still awake?) so I woke Michael up and we proceeded to manoeuvre my suitcase from the top bunk down to the floor. The inhabitant of the bunk below me was also going to Bhimavaram. He got up and very sleepily took himself to the door. After 10 minutes of hanging out the door he came back and announced "one more hour to Bhimavaram." He was right, and we didn't get here until 6.30 am.
I've been finding this part of our visit very difficult. From the moment I set foot on the platform, I had voices in my head saying "Go away. You don't belong here. Go back to Chennai where you do belong." I knew that this was demonic opposition. After a shower and some concerted prayer I started to feel better. Michael says it's always hard in Bhimavaram. In the past he had out it down to environmental factors and circumstances, but our perspective now is that there seems to be some kind of spiritual force at work which sucks the life out of you, Praise God, for He is stronger then the enemy! We just need to be constantly on the alert and overcoming these things in prayer.
Time and communication are our biggest problems here. John Christian is a great guy, but it's hard to get used to his thinking on time, or at least the way he expresses that, Last night he was going to come to collect us at 6 o'clock to take us to the prayer meeting for 7.30 pm. We were ready to go from 6, but expecting that it could be 6.30. At a bit before 8 a young man came in to our room and motioned for us to go. Michael asked him if he was from John Christian and he nodded. He took us down to Reception and motioned for us to sit. About 10 minutes later, John Christian rocks in, talking on his mobile. He says something in Hindi to the man behind the desk, while still talking on the mobile and then we go to the car. Apparently there was great celebration happening because a match had been finalised between one of the young men in the church and a christian girl. This was why he was late. The prayer meeting when until about 10 o'clock after which we stayed on for dinner at John's place which is attached to the church.
On the way back to the hotel John said he would pick us up this morning at about 11 and bring some food for breakfast. Knowing that this meant more likely lunch, I had a couple of muesli bars for breakfast. John turned up at 8.30 with breakfast and he will pick us up at about 10.30 to (hopefully) go to the internet cafe.
All over India you see yellow signs with black letters proclaiming "STD ISD PCO" and sometimes FAX and XEROX. These are enterprising little businesses which sell you phone time for local, national and international calls. Generally they are staffed by people with very limited English so communicating with them is very difficult, but once you know how the system works it's great. From Chennai I was able to ring home for 7 Rupees a minute (about 25 cents), although I think they might have been a little creative in their definition of a minute, There is a display that shows you in seconds how long you've been connected and also the total charge. They also give you a printed receipt.
I've been visiting a little booth around the corner from the hotel in Bhimavaram. It is very hot here even at 9 am which is when I manage to get there. Today after I talked to Margaret, the man insisted I go up into his little shop and sit under his fan for a few minutes. He's a very friendly man even though he speaks little English. Probably the fact that I'm making relatively long overseas calls each day makes him quite happy too! Today I spent a little under R 100 there and I always let him keep the change. To me R100 is just a few dollars but to him it's probably a large proportion of his daily business.
Bhimavaram seems hotter than Chennai even though it is further north, I think it's because it is a little bit inland from the ocean.
John Christian has married a beautiful young woman who teaches science at the local high school. Her classes are all about 60 children in size, so that puts discussions about class sizes in Australia into a different perspective. John's sister, Esther, is also a teacher at the nearby city of Kakinada. She is studying for a Masters degree by correspondence. Indian people really value education highly as a means of attaining a better economic position. That is why the church in Chennai sees the offering of educational services such as sewing and computers as such an important part of its outreach mission.
I'm not sure what the program is for today. I think there is some kind of meeting this afternoon and another prayer meeting tonight. I'm sure that we will be expected to bring some message at these gatherings, and then lay hands on ever person present to offer a brief prayer for them.
Blessings
Keith
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