Hyderabad to Bhopal

Today was a long day for everyone starting with a plane ride from Hyderabad to Bhopal, checking in at the Jehan hotel, meeting the brethren at the church building, then going out later in the evening to preach at Indian homes.  The Jehan Numan Palace Hotel is an old but beautiful hotel with many relics and pictures of historic Indian/British royal history.   However, Bhopal seems somewhat more impoverished with disintegrating streets and no less people.  The streets are packed with the same amount of cars, motorcycles, and pedestrians and most shops are just small duffs along the side of the road, and many tent type homes along the road side where families live.  With the help and support of US congregations, brother Vijay Das and his wife Annapourna live in a building that supports their home on the first level, the church auditorium on the second level, and the future school of preaching on the third level that should have construction done later in the year.

In the evening Jerris and I split up with our drivers and interpreters and went to different homes where Indian families desired to have us visit and preach the word of God in their homes, while the ladies stayed at the church building stayed and prepared food for Ladies Day tomorrow.   Jerris visited the home of a man whose husband was semi comatose in the back room after falling in his bathroom area and injuring his head. The drive to my location was to say the least an attention getter at night.  It seemed ghetto like and while the structures are on the outside seem cold and unwelcoming, the warmth from the family and their guests on the inside made most of that concern go away.  We meet in a small front alcove with the ladies sitting a carpet on the floor, and some of the men there with them and some close chairs and small bed.  After sharing the gospel and prayer, the woman of the house brought out some small cake segments, small biscuits and banana chips.  Like before, these people didn’t want you to leave.  Each took their turn asking me to pray for a particular family member or friend.  The experience I describe as nothing less than precious.

Tomorrow (which is actually today Saturday) we will meet with many from the area.  The ladies will have a Ladies Day with food, fellowship and teaching, and the men will engage in teaching classes and sharing some time together.  I’ll try to have more pictures of the hotel and surrounding area.  Below are some of the bretheren, with the preacher ViJay Das and his wife to my right.  Our welcome poster was a bit more humbling with "most" of my head in the shot, and althought you can't see it,  the spelling of our last name was, well...close!  The beautiful rose flower set was a gift from Annapourna to Renee.