back in hyderabad

okay, so that wasn't the last post, but this probably will be until we get back to chennai on the 26th. we're back in hyderabad today, got back last night. this is the capital city in the state, so to head to another district/region, we had to come back here. we'll be heading to the coast tonight, and moving from a city over there, we'll be going out to villages for the next 4 days. heres a little recap of whats been going on

we've been to a few of the biggest churches in asia minor, which has been really cool. some of them seem like different ministries are going really well, while other seem to have fallen almost into another form worshipping idols.

6/11 - traveled from hyderabad to dornakal, a small town in the warangal region. very nice peaceful place. saw site of future school (both grade school and ministry school). met many pastors. spent a day or two just going to different villages to spread the Word, visiting families and encouraging, and such. one day we took an autorikshaw, and the two drivers were gypsies, and they wanted us to come visit their village up north. we ran out of time, so anand and kiran will visit them after we leave. we also met some guys on the train ride up, with some interest, especially after J healed one of their really bad back pains right there on the train.
we had a monkey run into the house and steal a bonda (breakfast food) one morning
got to stand on the tailgate of the autorickshaw when we went from village to village, very windy ride. saw a cobra cross the road

6/14 - went to a small town called atkur, 30 min outside of a small city vijayawada. most buildings are huts, this is a small village like many that we visited, but this time we stayed there 2 nights. taught the kids, sang songs with them. eric gave the message Sunday morning when we dedicated (ribbon cutting etc) the new church building (which was 15 ft by 8 ft or so, a metal roof, and walls made of sewn together rice sacks and palm branches). one family took the door off their own house so that it could have one. a lot of the village turned out for the opening, so we got to share.

6/17 - dedicated a new kindergarten in a village with no schools, set up by anand's ministry. lots of kids from village came. its crazy how many people flock when they see white people and esp when we play a little guitar. brian, the reese's pb you gave me before you left was a huge blessing to pastor kiran, he absolutely loves the stuff, though he hates grant's tuna. eric and i made pb &j sandwiches for lunch for everybody that day with mixed fruit jelly (delicious). they were not the biggest fans, so they made some rice and curry like an hr later. everyone tries to feed us so much.

lots going on, i haven't even tried to cover all of it, especially my thoughts and all the Lord is teaching me, and i think eric would agree. just be praying for us though, this is going to be the most extreme part of the trip as we look to be sleeping outside, monsoon season is about to start, and these villages are going to be just like the ones we've been going to except we'll be going to a lot more random people. to whom much is given much is also expected. we're very blessed to be here, and we look forward to seeing you all very soon. but we're also having a blast here, and doing what we came to do. so life is good
peace

mike and eric