We spent most of the day Wednesday with the Clayton group in Hyderabad. We learned a lot about the work in this part of India and got to go to some areas of the"real" India, the places you see everywhere, not just the tourist pictures. The traffic in India....well picture L.A. or New York at rush hour and multiply it by 10. Hyderabad is populated by 13 million people. The state of Andra Pradesh is about a third the size of Texas with a population of 90 Million. All our work will be in Andra Pradesh...Hyderabad abd Kakinada
We met most of the staff at the office both Indian and American. It's about as busy a place as you can imagine with constant comings and goings. I am just overwhelmed by the task they have undertaken in a very organized manner to reach people with the Gospel. Some 20,000 native preachers from 40,000 congregations all look to this office for help and guidance. Most of the preachers have been trained in one of the schools. As the scriptures teach, each church is autonomous and NONE of these preachers receives salary from the US. The only ones paid by our American churches are instructors, directors of the schools and the orphan homes. Most of them "double up" as visiting preachers on Sunday as well.
Today I will be teaching at one of the preacher training schools. I am instructed to teach until I am tired and then come back to the church office. I am just astonished by these people's desire to hear the Word of God...and how they respond to it. I get my first chance to help and encourage them today. I know many of you are reading this daily...keep us in your prayers.
The events of last night in Mumbai are a bit unsettling but Mumbai is a ways away from here. ((78 people killed in hotels and restaurants---mostly American or other foreign tourists.) Those who cannot win support by logic and words still try to take it by force. God bless us all in His service.
We have had a great Sunday! I spoke at the morning service to a PACKED auditorium. They had chairs on the sides too. Remarkably, 48 (I Counted) little children 5-10 years old sat on the floor in front of the pulpit through the entire service! Listening attentively, on their knees during prayer and singing with spirit. (An hour and a half...and they had already had 2 hours of bible classes) Joshua Gootam (Ricky's Dad) translated for me and does a tremendous amount of translation of Bible books, tracts, etc, into Telegu. He asked for a transcript of today's sermon to translate into written form for use in their work here. They mail 12,000 teaching periodicals monthly and he wants to put it there as well. I am humbled that this sermon is so well received. Certainly not by my might or spirit, but by the spirit and power of God! I continue to marvel at this great work. It is hard to believe it without seeing it! I have run out of superlatives to describe what is happening here in India. We go back at 6:30 for another service with Billy Bland from the Memphis School of Preaching doing the speaking. There are speakers here from Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Australia, and around India. One speaker was coming from Thailand, Dorsey Traw, but has been unable to get here as yet because of the unrest in Bangkok. After services today the entire church and guests ate together.... I have never seen that much rice in one place! Rice, a fried cabbage, a flat bread and a bunch of other stuff I don't know what is. It was great! I could write for an hour but will let the pictures tell the story. God bless us all in His service.
work) They are all preachers and preach all over this area an run a school and orphanage there in RAJ. It'll break your heart to visit with these 150 children whose eyes light up when you enter there classrooms and speak to them. They are smiling and happy and obviously know someone cares for them. Elaine was the last to come out to leave...I thought we were going to have to drag her! They go to school from 9 in the morning til 4:30 in the afternoon--6 days a week. The church feeds three meals a day and clothes and takes care of all these children. It takes about $50 a month per child to handle this, so support is always a problem. They can buy one set of clothes for about for about $6.00 each. They never turn a child away and trust the Lord to provide. There are 15 widows who also work in the school for their sole support. I have never seen more faith or dedication. We also met two wonderful ladies from the church in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia who are working for 6 weeks in the school and orphanage. Gemma Wells and Ruth Sinclair were a delight to visit with. I could tell immediately by there speech, they were not from Oklahoma! The lectureship opens tomorrow (Sunday) and I am to make the opening address at 11:00 A.M. I can't tell you how humbled I am to just be here with the opportunity to speak for My Lord, and how much Elaine and I have been blessed by just seeing the work here. She is to teach the Ladies on Monday and will do a good job. 
