October 26, 2010 (From Hyderabad)
Dear Family and Friends:
This will be a hurried attempt to get out word that we arrived safely in Hyderabad and are right now in a hotel room there. For those who are interested in more details, here we go!
Plans changed frequently from our earliest outline. Rather than leave Gentry Oct 12 to go to Berrien Springs, Michigan for the Special Seminar at Andrews University, we stayed by to support the Dick Shadduck family and participate in the memorial service Oct. 16 at 3 p.m. in the Gentry Church. We were still packing for India up to Thursday, Oct. 21 and left for Chicago at 3:30 p.m. In the meantime we went to the Prayer Meeting at Decatur on Wednesday and participated in the ordination service for LeRoy Bayler whom we had the privilege of baptizing when pastor at Decatur.
Since the plans had changed we were able to attend three of the evangelism series for the Rogers Church by Evangelist Mark Fox whom we knew from our days in Michigan.
We didn’t get to Chicago at Glenn and Debbie’s house until 2 a.m. Friday. Fortunately we knew the combination to their garage and parked the car inside so didn’t have to unload before bed. They did not wake up at our coming, so we all got a little more sleep. The family had to have breakfast at 7 and get the kids off to school and Debbie off to a seminar she was attending. We joined them in that and a long morning hike in the fresh air with Glenn Paul before attending to more packing arrangements after unloading our car. We had brought some things for them along with two suitcases of our things to be left there for when we return (we trust) to Chicago December 9. (From there we then go to conduct a Sanctuary Seminar in the Glen Bernie Church near Baltimore on Dec. 18. Since we will be there we decided to visit relatives in the D.C. area and Virginia and in Tennessee and Georgia on the way back to Gentry.)
Sabbath at Glenn Paul’s church in Elmhurst (suburb of Chicago) was pleasant. When we hear him preach we learn of some childhood experiences we didn’t know before. He uses them to illustrate his sermon topic and we get a double benefit. In the evening he took us to O’ Hare Airport where we flew at 8:20 to London Heathrow Airport. Arriving at 10 a.m. we had a full day to spend before flying that night at 9:25 to Mumbai (Bombay). It was a delight to learn that at Heathrow they now have a partially quiet waiting place (Lounge) for people like us with a long interim before the next flight. With reclining chairs it was better for sleep and we did just that for a while. Then Glenn spent significant time with the computer while the battery lasted, (They didn’t have electric outlets) doing more preparation for our India meetings.
We got some sleep while in the air both to London and then to Mumbai, but there are frequent interruptions as flyers know. Glenn spend some “quiet time” in flight with music and devotional readings on our Ipod with earphones.
In Mumbai we had to hurry to connect with the flight to Hyderabad. We had to retrieve and identify our two check on pieces of luggage. (yes we limited our luggage to 2 carry on pieces and two check on pieces including the video projector and computer with all its accompanying stuff and the High Priest Robes for the Sanctuary Seminar to be held in the Hyderabad Central Church on November 1, and of course, the dried nuts and fruit we bring to supplement what we can buy in India for our two meals a day.) They rechecked the two larger pieces for us to Hyderabad.
We expected to be met in Hyderabad at 1:50 p.m. Oct 25 by our host J.G. Paulson as per the info we emailed him months ago. But he was not there. He had been attending various meetings and didn’t have that email copy with him. We couldn’t use our cell phones here and in the rush of things before leaving Gentry had neglected to write down his phone number (if we ever got it). So, what to do? Fortunately, Glenn had copied some of the emails to our Laptop and one of them had the number of Victor Sam in Calcutta. We thought we knew him from previous trips. We had to work fast with the computer on the little reserve power it had left from London. The man was gone from the telephone place temporarily but a kind man who had a cell phone made that call for us and we discovered that the Victor Sam we reached did not remember us. (He was another Telegu man by that name). However, he did have a source for J.G. Paulson’s number and said he would have it if we called back in five minutes. So, we finally reached Paulson and discovered why he was not there at the Airport.
Other airport helpers connected us with a taxi that could take us to the Harsha hotel where we spent last night. Paulson and his lovely wife Shyla came to the hotel to confirm plans for us to leave this morning for the Week of Prayer at a school 100 km (60 miles) from here. He also got us some bread, tomatoes, bananas and apples along with bottled water to provided an evening meal. This morning we are supposed to get a complimentary breakfast at the hotel at 7:30.
Prices have increased dramatically since our last time in India. Then we paid about $10 to $15 a night for lodging. Last night will cost us $45. Hopefully the other places we will stay will be less. The Taxi ride from airport to hotel was $29 with good guidance from airport helpers. We had changed some $ to Rupees at the airport in time to meet these needs. With the “backsheese” tips and phone calls to get it all worked out we spent about $80 our first day in India. Paulson also changed some $ for us at a better rate and used some to buy us a cell phone here for about $66 which he will activate today and give a means of connection with the rest of the people we need for our future itinerary.
With last night’s rest we are moving slightly out of the “zombie” stage from lack of sleep even before the jet lag of the last two days. Plans have had to change RE the church dedication we were to conduct Nov. 15. The funds we had brought together to complete that church were detained at the Division and so will not arrive until later—too late for completion of the church while we are here. Also Paulson has to hurry on to some Division meetings and would not be able to accompany us by train to Vizianagaram and the churches we had hoped to revisit while here. So we may be able to fly to Calcutta rather than take the two day train ride we had anticipated. It may be for the very best that it is working out this way. The Lord is in charge of it all and we well remember how He changed our plans in previous trips to accomplish more than we had intended originally. It is so nice to be able to trust Him with it all.
So many special things have worked out to make this trip possible and we will share those at another time.
One last minute surprise was an unexpected gift from Dr. Roger and Marcia Van Arsdell (brother of Faith Sampson in Gentry, and schoolmates from college days who also worked with us in previous evangelistic meetings in India). He phoned to say that he had money with the Division here and wants it to be released for our series here. He had intended it for a later series in February for another person, but says he can replace it by February and insisted on doing that. So now, we can meet other unexpected needs of the evangelistic series here to hopefully make it more fruitful. That will ease the pressure on some of our personal funds we would have used for that but now can be available for such things as the air tickets rather than train tickets to Calcutta. The Lord knew all about that but didn’t tell us until the night before we left Gentry.
If this is to be sent out this morning I’ll close for now. We can buy internet connection here at the hotel for about $2.50 for an hour.
Thank you for your prayers and other support to make this trip possible.
In His love,
Mom and Dad (Glenn and Mary Alice)