Sunday Update

Sunday- Christmas Day

We woke up Sunday morning and made a breakfast of eggs and juice.  The juices we drink are incredible.  We are most infatuated with litchi flavor.  And I’m a sucker for anything mango, so that’s great, too!

We left for church at 8am for the 10:30 service.  Church was good (again) and we enjoyed being there.  It is always good to worship when Karl’s pastoring.  One aspect of the service I love is that during the service they do welcoming introductions and departing goodbyes.  On Sunday there were people from Madagascar, Namibia, America, and I can’t remember where else.  It is always so neat to worship with people from many tribes, tongues, and nations as we see a glimpse of what that will be like when Christ returns!  

After church, Aslam drove us down a street in Delhi that is full of monkeys.  Hundreds of monkeys.  Just sitting on the fence like birds, watching, and waiting for bananas to be thrown.  It was lots of fun.  And there were lots of babies.  At one point I was able to take video of a man and a child throwing bananas and watching the monkeys eat them.  The kids LOVED it.  And so neat.  What an experience for them.  Certainly something they can’t do in America, that’s for sure.  

After church and monkeying around (see what I did there?), we came back to the house, and Kathee and I got dressed up to attend a party for a member of the Indian Parliament.  This man had become a Christian and a huge part was thrown for him.  Our friend Cornelia Bosman (from South Africa) had a piece of artwork that was given to the MP during the cermony.  So Chritiaan and Cornelia had a few extra invitations, and so they invited us to attend.  What a privilege.  So Aslam drove us to the address, we got out, and walked in.  We were fashionably late as the event began at 11 and went to 4.  We arrived around 2:00 or 2:30pm.  We walked by the side of the home, following the loud speaker.  The back yard was full of about 200-250 people.  Of them, Kathee and I were 2 of 6 that were lily white.  To say we stuck out is an understatement.  Plus, the entire thing was in Hindi, none of which we understood, so we did what we could to fit in.  We clapped as others clapped, talked as others talked, ate, etc, etc.  They had a guy making chai and it was delicious!  Absolutely delicious.  Kathee and I had two!  So good.  We also ate mutton, chicken, buryanie rice, and a sugar doughball that I love to eat when we go to our favorite Nepalese restaurant in St Louis.  As an aside, and as a bird nerd, I thought this was funny.  There were 20 tables of buffet-style warmers full of food.  When it was time to eat, a kite flew overhead (a kite is a bird of prey about the size of a large red-tailed hawk.  They are the scavengers in Delhi.  They are absolutely everywhere).  In a few minutes there were 20 of them circling overhead.  The closest I saw one come was about 20 feet overhead.  I was close enough to see his feet come down like he was going to grab some food and take off.  IT. WAS.  AWESOME!  As a further aside, Kathee didn’t think it would be a good idea (like I did) to put a plate of mutton on the standing table we were at and then start filming with my phone.  I guess she was right.  But it would have been awesome!  As part of the ceremony was a Sufi band that came and played.   We were told by multiple people that it was a real treat that this Sufi band came and played (they are Muslim devotional music).  While they are certainly not my cup of tea, everyone else seemed to think they were great!  As they were finishing up, a young man from the church approached me/us, wanting to meet us and have lunch with me sometime in the next couple of days.  As part of that, he shared with me his business/ministry plan and how I could get involved.  He got his MBA in Delhi and was excited to share with us his heart.  While it would be nice to meet with him, I don’t think we have time this time here.  After chatting with him, we called Aslam, followed the crowd, and left.  What a privilege and opportunity.  To be invited to something like this was huge.  And the cost/danger for this man is huge to “come out” as a Christian like this.  So it was great to be at a place, celebrating what Christ has done in one of the most powerful people in India’s life, surrounded by 90-95% of the other attenders there who do not know Christ as Savior and Lord.  What a great and fun day.    

When we got home from the party, we hung out, ate supper, put the kids to bed, and read!  Another great day in India!