Vijayawada Day 3 Update

It was certainly a busy day. We made our way to a store opening for a man who belongs to Pastor Ragendra’s church. He asked us to come and celebrate the grand opening of his new store, to bless it and share a few thoughts and then be part of the ribbon-cutting ceremony. It was a cool thing to do and to be invited to be part of. While there they gave us drinks and a nice spicy-sweet snack. I have to say my mouth was on fire, but I am a spice-wimp.

We then went shopping at the local “Walmart” to get some candy bars to give away at the schools. It was interesting to be inside a store like that, much like our Sam’s clubs/ Costco back home. While we waited for Pastor to check out, a guy asked for a photo of Brandon and I as we stood by. We have been asked for pics quite often in our last coupe of days being here. Perhaps people are just intrigued?

We left for the home of the man who just opened the store to have a meal at his house. It was also his wife’s birthday so we shared a meal and birthday cake. One of the funny things they do is feed each other cake, much like we do at our wedding ceremonies.

Then we left for the Christian school, which was about a 20 minute drive. Once we got there (we were running a little late), the students were all sitting quietly and patiently awaiting us. Each of us shared a few words and then we gave them some candy. It was great seeing their reaction to the Shark Song.

After a quick visit there with some pics, we left for the next school and made another stop at a public school. Students were again very quiet and ordered as they waited for us. We all shared a few words and thoughts from our personal experiences with God and then I shared the Shark Song once again. And they loved it!

Being not very far from the orphanage at this point, we went to see the area where Pastor is building a park/Bible institute. He has the walls up, with the first level nearing completion. The playground is not yet set up because the land has to be leveled and other work has to be done before it can be properly installed. However, the work is moving along nicely.

To wrap up the long day, we had a meal at the orphanage and then had the outside meeting. About 200 people were attending the service where there was lots of music. Brandon shared a song, Al shared a brief word of encouragement and I shared some WAVE songs along with preaching. The response to all of it was very good and people seemed to be encouraged and blessed. After the service most of the people waited in lines for us to pray for and over them.

Overall the trip has been very productive and fruitful. I am still suffering from jet lag and a lack of rest. Since arriving, we’ve only had about 5 hours of sleep each day, as we haven’t quite made the 10-hour adjustment yet. There were a couple of times, I thought I was just going to pass out from sheer exhaustion but I recovered long enough to speak/sign and make it to the house for bed. God has been good and my body is feeling better today. Please pray that our health holds up and that we get 100% energy before the weekend as Sunday will be an incredibly busy day with us traveling between 6 different meeting/ speaking locations. The church services begin as early as 6am and we will not be back to the house until closer to 11pm. Needless to say, we need to be rested for that day!

We are going to another school for performing and sharing this afternoon and then to meet with teachers. This school will be a catholic school, so we will have some good freedom to talk as we desire. Then I think there’s a youth event tonight where we will share once again.

I’ll update you as I have time. Until then, take care,

George