January 1979
Hi.
Greetings in Jesus' name from Nagpur, India.
I do trust that all of you survived your Christmas dinner. To speak for myself, this year four chickens went into the ministry …
December proved to be quite a busy month in terms of traveling. During the first half of the month I went to Bombay and during the second half to Mussoorie. On both trips I was accompanied by Reshma, one of our “family members”. For him both trips were quite an experience. His first time in a lift sort of left him speechless for a minute …
You probably heard the story of the villager who came for the first time to the city. He came to a door that said PUSH. He did push and to his delight it opened. Then he came to a door that said PULL. He pulled and lo and behold it too opened. From what I have heard he is still standing in front of a door that says LIFT …
Another experience that caused him at first some apprehension was a two-hour boat trip in the harbor of Bombay. It was his first time ever in a boat and the waves, though scarcely higher than an active 5 year old can produce in a bath tub, caused him some anxiety . . . For him the highlight of the Bombay trip was the return journey by plane to Nagpur. His eyes were glued to the window watching the world slip by beneath the plane. I was glued to my seat - wishing it would slip by faster …
For me the highlight of that trip was that we finally got the comic book on the life of Moses of the press. It was nice (an understatement) to see the booklet off the press after waiting for it for so long. Upon our return to Nagpur we found that the local press had completed the first jungle doctor story. Now we are in the process of getting the 2nd one ready. Mathew will be living in one of the Mawchi villages to test the primer and see what needs to be changed and improved. Then we hope to get about a thousand copies printed. Susan will go home to Kerala because she is expecting about March.
A week after my return from Bombay, I received a telegram from Kent Gordon (SLL/BT translation consultant) asking me to spend Christmas at his home in Mussoorie, North-eastern India.
He suggested I bring one of my co-workers along so we could go through Mark again. The lot fell upon Reshma who had not worked on the translation before and was therefore the least biased. On the 17th we took the train to Delhi reaching there early the next morning. From there we back-tracked to Agra, to see the Taj Mahal (for Reshma's sake). Then returning to Delhi, that same afternoon, we caught the overnight train to Dehra Dun some 200 miles north-east of Delhi. From there an hour's bus ride, which was far from pleasant and had all the sea-sickness-producing-ingredients of a boat ride in a turbulent sea, brought us to Mussoorie; and a short taxi ride followed by a short brisk walk, brought us to the Gordens - 7000 above sea level … Though much closer than Nagpur to the sun, we felt rather far from it … was really cold up there. However it is beautiful up there and we had an enjoyable time. Besides that we got the job done we se out to do. On one occasion while climbing a hill, I saw, some figures in white moving about on the summit. My first reaction was, oh no, you climbed too high … But as it turned out they were only nuns …
Things are gong well with us; the Lord has been exceedingly faithful in looking after us - all ten of us … It is thrilling to see Him at yelling and screaming father has to do … we get along well.
During Sep and Oct we had the odd foreign visitor. On one occasion a young chap saw the boys eating hot peppers (chilies); he insisted on trying one. (Against my good advice) He did … When he got his breath back he groaned “I knew you preached hell fire, but I didn’t know you carried any samples with you.
I am planning to make a short visit to Mawchi land towards the end of the month. I want to meet the committee and also Matthew and the Buhlers. The committee is checking Acts; we reworded Mark for the nth time; apart from that we are still busy with the O. T. Panorama. Devdas completed the rough draft of Matthew and we also did a series of about ten very short biographies on famous Indian men and women.
Well I must close his. Thank you for caring for us, praying and giving. It has meant a lot to us and though I don’t always get around telling you - we are very very, grateful.
With lots of love in Jesus
Frank
Dilip, Arun, Reshma, Gawli, Rekya, Devdas |
