Updates From Singapore and India

Since Josh is in such a remote area of India, I have only gotten to talk to him a few times - once, when he and the team met up with our dear friend, June, in Singapore and then again last night from India. I am receiving emails occasionally that keep me a bit more in the loop, so I thought that I would pass them on... This first one is from June - i managed to meet up with scott and the rest! it was good..... ok, the lowdown of the happenings last friday: went to the airport to meet them and since my car could take only one more passenger, i took Josh on a private tour around singapore in my zippy zip zip mobile while scott led the rest by train to Bugis Junction. Bugis is a nice quaint place in Singapore (they wanted some place local where they could absorb as much of the culture as possible in the short time they were here, so i thought Bugis!).... i had to park my car back at the office as parking is a nightmare in the city, so Josh got to see where i worked and had a little walk with me down the bay area, before we hopped on a cab for the short ride to bugis. after meeting up with the rest of the group, we went for food (yes, local as well in a restaurant) and am sooooooo glad that they approved of all the food! it was scary, not knowing what they liked and what they didn't like, but i took the risk and just ordered and they loved it all! phew! we had fried rice, steamed rice rolls with shrimp, sharks fin soup, noodles, curry, deep fried eggplant with pork floss, pigs trotters (yes! and scott and josh loved it), tofu, turnip cake, pumpkin soup with seafood..... just so much food but am sooooo glad they loved it all! they took so many pictures of the food! after lunch, the group split up - me with scott, josh and paul. the rest went shopping at street stalls while i took the boys in search of durians! ha! yes yes, thatz the famous fruit with thorns and a real pungent smell.... the boys tried one each (i think scott might have had two) and they had the funniest look on their faces! they found it very wierd indeed, but gamely tried it for the experience of a lifetime - they took photos of the ordeal (!) and will probably show them to you when they get back! then we went to a chinese taoist temple where they got to see how the taoist worshipped and then to an hindu temple - so it was all an eye-opener for them... then we hopped into a cab and went down to the bay side where they saw the city skyline, the singapore flyer (a mega huge ferris wheel just like the London Eye), raflles hotel (the iconic oldest hotel in singapore), the esplanade (our world-renowned theatre by the bay) and the merlion (yeah, that mythical creature which is half lion - representing singapore the lion city and half fish bottom - representing our place as an island)... and of course they had starbucks under the bridge which they so missed. they were amused to find starbucks under the bridge - it is very prettily nestled under the flyover by the bay and they wished they had more time just to have a quiet moment resting, but none of that since they were in a rush! all too soon, the time came for them to return back to the airport - they prayed for me and then we parted ways - it was very sad indeed. Oh, June, we miss you! Josh called me while he was riding along in her car and he said that Singapore is definitely a place he would like to go back to. I'm not all that sure about the shark fin, but, hey... This next one is from Lori - her husband, Scott, is our senior pastor and is on the trip as well... Just thought I'd pass along a summary email to let you know that I heard from Scott again last night and all is well with Team India! After over 26 hours of travel, and a long layover in Singapore where they did some site seeing, they arrived in Hyderabad and spent a day or so there getting acclimated to the environment. The last couple days (and where they will be most of this week) they have been in very rural open country areas near Hyderabad ministering to the people in the Villages there. They have had some great opportunities to share the gospel with many and have also been encouraging the church leaders and their families that LifeQuest supports. Along with Scott doing some preaching, Shane had an opportunity yesterday to share his testimony to some of the men in the village about marriage and purity. And so far Josh and Chris also had an opportunity to share God's Word. They will be doing some outreach events there in the villages this week. Scott said that though most people are Hindu or Muslim they are very receptive and hungry to hear the gospel of Christ. The children are going crazy to shake their hands and be around the Team, and Scott says that its like going back in time 500 years with the simple way people live out there. Caleb, their incountry missionary leader is wonderful and has taken such care of the team- they feel very safe and organized with him. There are cows and monkeys roaming the streets, and of course he had to mention that the authentic spicy Indian food is great! Scott sounds very encouraged and says the entire Team is truly loving their time there. This final one is from Lisa, whose husband, Chris, is with the team... It was a blessing to hear from Chris again around 5 this morning. He told me there is a harvest festival going on now. He also said they felt the Lord's protection when faced with a literal roadblock (overturned truck) keeping them from going to a questionable area. They have had two blowouts and Chris wants to buy the ministry four new tires I think. The Lord has provided for and blessed the team in innumerable ways already. Pray for Shane, who has an infected molar and is on antibiotics and will himself be treated at the dental clinic. Praise God for the baptisms yesterday and pray for their time with Pastor Ratnaker today (it is his birthday by the way). Praise God for all the church plants and pastors. I talked to Josh last night (Monday) and he said that he was doing well physically- thank God! -but that he is experiencing some culture shock. He sounded great and excited about what is going on there. He also said that they were going "deep into the jungle" today and that he probably wouldn't be able to call again until they get back to Singapore on Saturday. Thanks for all of your prayers for this team. What an opportunity!