Mystery Lunch and Refreshment Seminars in India

I was able to sleep most of the day today, so I am feeling much better. Joe and I will be eating dinner tonight with our church planter and his family. Tomorrow morning, we will head out to the first village. There is supposed to be about 300 people there that are believers/new believers. Joe and I will be walking them through the discipleship principles from Acts chapter 2. We will be teaching them a Bible story for each principle. Hopefully, they will be able to remember the stories well enough to pass along the discipleship points contained in the stories.

These training sessions are called "refreshment seminars" here in India. I would relate them back to an old fashioned tent revival back home. Picture a tent or a small room, and then pack as many people as you can possible squeeze into the tent or building. It will be people sitting on the floor shoulder to shoulder. There will be people standing in the door ways. There will be people standing outside looking and listening through the windows. It is really something to see.... There will be worship with instruments of different kinds with a small praise team. Believe me, these new believers can teach us some things about worship. They are all in...After the worship, Joe and I will teach for about an hour at a time. After the first 2-3 hours, comes the highlight of my day.

That is lunch time.... My stomach is turning just thinking about it. God bless them, these ladies in the village spend all morning preparing this special food for us and the people in the seminar. Yes, we pay for it, but they do all the work. This is one of those times when you NEVER want to know what you are eating. It will be rice, with incredibly hot and spicy sauces, with "mystery stuff" mixed in for good measure. Now, I am sure there are insects and parts of other things mixed in there... Yummmm. We just are not sure. Some of my friends would say it is just all the parts of a chicken, but I am not so sure... I am sure some of you are thinking, Kevin, you are nuts, now is the time to be fasting and praying. Just tell them you are not hungry. Well, that might work in the states, but not here. Not eating what they place before you is an insult to them and would hurt those nice ladies feelings. Also, before you say, well I would just kind of move the food around on my plate to make them think I am eating... Well, the problem with that is a lot of times they watch you eat to see your reaction to make sure you like it. If you just move it around on your plate, they will simply give you more. Last time I was here, my friend Joe that is with me now, was putting his food on my plate when I was not looking. Pay back is coming! After lunch, we will continue to teach until about 4:00pm and then start the exciting journey back to hotel.

Please pray for our safety. This is an exciting opportunity to teach a group of people that really want to learn. It is an honor to be here. Even with all the "stuff" involved, it is awesome to think that God would allow me to be one of the people that brings his good news to a very dark and lost part of the world. Some people do not understand why we do what we do, well, I just cannot help myself. I must go and share. It is who God has called me to be... I love you all!

Kevin