February 1980

Dear Saints.

Greetings in Jesus' name from India.

I finally get around to thank you for your generous gift which I received some time ago. Thank you very much for your kindness uswards. The mouths of my ever increasing family are - "ever open doors ..." 

Since my last newsletter in November, three more doors' were added ... Jivlya (14), Dadu or Benjamin (8 - 9), and Lekharam (17). In May we'll add one more 16 year old Mawchi and then - I'11 go and get my operation for family planning ... I will not bore you with sob stories about the background of some of them it is enough to know that they are needy and that God in His mercy, through your kindness enables me to help them. Thanks again.

The other work is however not suffering because of the kids, actually we are moving ahead at great speed and get lots done.  I had the translation committee here towards the end of January for about 9 days and - almost worked them to death ... I am simply a slave driver ... We managed to get all 7 items on the agenda done, though some of those were small 'fishes'.  The 55 page booklet "The Heart of Man" will be off the press in about a week. One of the Jungle Doctor stories in about two weeks, a tract called "Four things God wants you to know" is already with the people, a little Scripture Gift Mission booklet, "The ten Virgins" is with the press in Bangalore (South India), another comic book on the life of Moses will go to the press in Bombay as soon as my bank informs me
that the money for it has been deposited; Acts, the Pentateuch part of the 0. T. panorama, a daily devotional guide and five biographical sketches are still with me because I simply ran out of money.  At the present I am running off 100 copies of our 65 page pre-primer cum primer on the duplicator.  Besides Matthew and Susan we will have four more literacy teachers to get the programme moving ... I made a short visit to the Mawchi area and was not very happy about the way Matthew had been slacking off. Anyhow he duly repented and is back on the move again.

I took Jivlya with me on that last trip because he was a bit homesick and wanted to see again his father and assorted relatives, his mother died a couple of years ago.  While there I acquired Dadu ... The return trip with the two kids wasn't too bad except we were unable to get berths and so had to sit up all night even though the kids managed to spread out somehow.  What made things a bit unpleasant was that a large family of bed bugs had put me, without prior notice, on their menu ... My posterior looked like a new dart board - after a major competition ... I think you can definitely go to far in that business of turning the other cheek ...

On our return trip we made a 'slight' detour and visited Kurien who is taking a
course in linguistics and Bible translation at Nasik.  We felt that this would be more beneficial for him and the Gospel to take that course and the one that follows in June.

All the kids miss him but that can’t be helped.  He is doing very well, studies hard and,  unlike me, is nice to everybody ...

Summer has returned to Nagpur and with it some discomforts.  However it my seventh in Nagpur and so I should have gotten used to it by now or at least should stop complaining about it.  The weatherman tells us it is only 34.4° Celsius and still far away from the usual 43° and the possible 48° C and so we rejoice in small mercies ... We have started to sleep on the roof again which, and here is another small mercy - is flat.

Well I better close this for now.  I am expecting some kids later on and like to freshen myself up with a semi-cold bath.

Yours in His love

Frank.