I feel much better...

But now I am alone. The teams that have been here for the past three weeks have boarded their planes. Dr. Thom is still in D.C. So who is left, you ask? Linda, Thom’s wife, their live-in housekeeper Kheem, and me. When idealizing how my time in India would pass, this interlude surprisingly never came to mind. Needless to say, I was disappointed when I realized that I would have about 5 days without any of the friends I have made these past two weeks I have been here and without the mentor I traveled half-way across the world to learn from.

But God is faithful. This week has been somewhat testing and discouraging with the absence of Thom, the wrapping up of all the other team’s activities and their debreifing, and my getting sick. It was definitely a change of tempo. Moreover, with the conditions of the upcoming week being as I described above, it should prove to be much more mellow. On the contrary, I am very excited about the week to come.

I told you a few blogs ago about a 24 year old Aussie I met named Clifton Shipway. Well, let me tell you a little bit more. He was born and raised in Tasmania, but made frequent trips to Northern India to visit the orphanage his grandpa opened in the 40s. His mother became his grandfather’s partner, but when he died Clifton became his mother’s partner. So short story – long, he and his mother run an orphanage in East Delhi, along the border of Nepal with, according to him and the pictures I have seen, the Jungle and the Himalayas in his backyard.

He made a trip to Delhi about 10 days ago and stopped at our place for dinner. Him and I got to talking, and the next day a few of us went with him to the market to get a few things. We got along pretty well, and when I mentioned that I would be here with little to do for a few days, he seemed pretty excited about the idea of me checking out the orphanage.

I take a bus that leaves at between 8 and 10 PM and will arrive between 7 and 10 AM the next morning (how’s that for Indian time?). Please keep me in your prayers for safety and health. I hope to deliver a great report to you when I return!

A theme that has been recurring throughout this trip is the idea of God going before you, setting up and preparing events and circumstances before you ever arrive. I think this is a perfect example of God’s faithfulness in that respect. He is a personal God who was well aware of my disappointment regarding the situation that faced me this upcoming week. And he is a sovereign God who, I believe, ordained this opportunity before I ever conceived its possibility. It is incredible to see the infinite power and the personal sensitivity of God highlighted in a single situation. How much more incredible is it that I am privileged to call a God with such favorable attributes my Lord! He is good.

If you want to see where I will be this week check out the orphanage’s website listed below.

http://www.indianorphanage.com/

Also- Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you for your emails and comments the past couple days!! Hearing that you are praying for me to feel better and how you have called others to pray for God's work here in India has been more encouraging than you will ever know! God is so good to put people like you in my life.