Thoughts from exile in my home…

I don’t have to tell anyone that the past few weeks have been…interesting…to say the least. For the past six, plus, weeks, I’ve been enjoying a short commute (about 20 steps or so from my bed) to my office away from office. I’m still working full time, but doing it from the comfort of the guest room in our home.

Andy is still working at his place of employment. Chris is living with Cathy’s mom and working full at Bioseal. Cathy kept Children’s House open as long as it made sense, but has furloughed her staff and is working to clean the school and get it ready for when they are ready to reopen, whenever that may be.

For the past 5 or so weeks, our life group has been meeting via Zoom…well, at least a core of our group has been doing so. This has been a great way of keeping in touch, sharing this strange chapter of our lives with each other, and encouraging one another in our faith and walk with Christ.

The past three Thursdays, we’ve had guests join us. Last week was a man Rob Marton met on his first trip to India. The man was Hindu but was interested in the Gospel, and Rob gave him his Bible (complete with a photo of the Marton family). About six years later, Rob hear from him again. He is following Christ now, and even teaching in a local fellowship from time to time.

Two Thursdays ago, our guests were Blake and Dakoda Keller, from their new home in Manila. No sooner did they get moved into their apartment than the city went on lockdown. Blake is not able to leave their apartment complex, Dakoda has a “pass” that allows her to leave to go to the store. They are doing well. Language school is underway, though the delivery method is remote.

Three Thursdays ago, our guests were Bharat and Bandana Pradhan. Bharat is the pastor of Word for the World Fellowship in Siliguri. Bandana is his wife. They are the couple in the lower right corner of the Zoom meeting screen above. Their daughter also joined us at the end. While fellowshipping with them, we discovered that the people living in the tribal and tea villages around Siliguri are not currently working, as they are locked down. This makes their situation very dire. They have no income and are in desperate need of food, medicine, and the love of God. We prayed for one another as we closed that meeting.

The next day, Bharat and I were chatting online and he told me of a possibility of providing food, medical care, and other assistance for about 125 or so families in some of these villages. I shared the idea with TACC’s Mission Team and we thought we would like to use some of the money from our Making Disciples budget line to provide support to this effort. We proposed doing so to the elders and they agreed.

To that end, TACC is providing $3,500 towards the provision of food, medicine for fever and cough, sanitizer and masks for their safety. Members of Word for the World will be acquiring these items and then delivering them to as many families in tribal villages and tea gardens in the next couple of weeks. Please pray for the success of this mission to show the love of God for these dear people!

If you have any questions about this, or any of the things I wrote about in this blog entry, please let me know…

God bless and protect you and yours through the days and weeks (and maybe months) to come!