Our Time In Chandigarh

It's not often that I pull an all-nighter. In fact, I have not done that for years... that is until last night. I am sitting at the Delhi airport typing this, and it's about 5:15 in the morning.

We arrived back in Delhi last night after our six hour train ride from Chandigarh. We never got back to our guest house until almost 2:00 this morning, and with the repacking that needed to be done, their was just no time to sleep.

But enough about that.

Our time in Chandigarh... in one word... WOW!

Backing up a bit... the main reason I decided to go to Chandigarh on this trip was to see Amethyst, one of the girls who was supposed to be in the 2009 India Children's Choir. She is a very sweet, outgoing girl, and I got to know her pretty well during our time in India last year. I had heard about the work going on there, but didn't know much about it and didn't know anyone else who lived there.

Amethyst's parents are missionaries who work for Bibles For The World doing Bible distribution and church planting. Her father is an incredible man with a heart for ministry and the people he is called to minister to. Our group and the family hit it off right away.

We arrived in Chandigarh on Friday and were received at the train station and then spent the rest of the day getting to know the family and settling in at their house.

On Saturday is when the "WOW" happened. Soon after our arrival in Chandigarh on Friday, Thanga told us that their was a lot of literature from Bibles For The World that was being delivered to a town about an hour and half away and wondered if we wanted to go and with him there. Of course I jumped at the chance since Chandigarh Bible distribution was one of the projects we promoted while I was on the road with the India Children's Choir. We arrived in the town just after the truck had been unloaded and had lunch with the local pastor there. There are a lot of new converts in that area and a growing church, primarily among the religious group of Indian people that wear the turbans. They are not Hindus, but a movement that broke away from the Hindus.

We met some of the other people there, and were just getting ready to leave when our missionary friend, Thanga, told us that some people had come and wanted to pray for two of their children... twins who were crippled. We prayed for them, and then someone else brought their elderly mother who was sick, and we prayed for her. We prayed for a few boys who were getting ready to take an important exam in their schooling. It was a neat experience.

And then it happened... we were just finishing up praying for the people, and as usual, a small crowd had gathered. Thanga came and told us that a family in the crowd, from the "turban" religion, wanted to become Christians! Father, mother, and a teenage son sat and listened as Thanga explained the salvation of Jesus Christ to them. He prayed with them and then we prayed with them. It was an amazing experience! Pray for this family... they cannot read or write. I don't know their names, but pray that they could grow in faith and knowledge. These people, like a lot of the others who have come to Christ, have no knowledge of Christianity whatsoever.

On Sunday, we attended a small church house service at Thanga's house and then spent the rest of the day relaxing there. On Monday, Thanga took us out sightseeing in Chandigarh. First we went to the mall and spent a little time there. We went to the lake... a beautiful man-made lake on the edge of the city, and then visited the Rock Garden, and incredible masterpiece of man-made rock formations and designs made with trash... literally. Broken toilets, plates, cups, floor tile, old bracelets, etc. It was quite intriguing.

Later in the evening, we said goodbye to our new friends and boarded the train back to Delhi.

Well, I've got a flight to catch.

Until next time,

Michael