December 2002

Dear Saints and Aints.                                      

Shalom.

"I shall awaken the dawn." Kings David's words come to mind as I step out into the brisk cold morning air. It is still dark and definitely chilly. The moon shares the sky with a bright star which I assume to be the morning star. The rest of the heavenly bodies are barely visible.

Though fascinated by space I know very little about "heavenly bodies" but in contrast a lot about the little and slightly bigger ones that at the moment sit huddled on the playground going through the motion of morning devotions ... My only prayer is that some of the truths from the Bible presented by the young man in charge will penetrate their skulls and hearts by osmosis - the only way they possibly could by looking at the kids. Long years of experience have taught me not to trust the hearty amen at the end of the prayer to be indicative that they heard anything. But raising kids is a long-term project and certainly takes more effort and patience then growing cabbages ... and so we work and live by faith - and hope - that they did hear and will grow to become people for God.

Watching Yohan at work one cannot help but see it is not just his job - it is his life. He is not just the president - he is the new dreamer, the new force. You can trust a man who does what he does for the love of it and in his case - for the love of those under his care. His marriage too is a success. They are both very happy even if Priya is not in the best of health.

He has been working hard the past month to get the place spruced up for Christmas. We also had expected the 12 district superintendents of the PAOC (Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada) for a visit in February but were told that there was not time as they had to attend important meetings elsewhere. But we did have Dave and Pat Ball from the head office here for a delightful visit and for this I am grateful. Anyhow, Yohan hired painters, plumbers, carpenters, and masons etc. to make the place look good and - he is succeeding.

While kids have little interest in broken windows, askew hanging doors, dirty walls, and part of their anatomy showing through their clothes, they are interested in food. Yohan who spent more than 20 years here knows all about that. And so, menus are planned, sweets and fruit and other things purchased for the great Christmas dinner. I am not sure how many chickens will "go into the ministry" this year ... The excitement is palatable ...

Some question my faith as being presumptuous not just in relation to the kids but the way I spend money - for the kids. I believe that God loves a "cheerful spender" and maybe Saint Paul had that in mind when he wrote that "whatever you do, do it with all your heart" - which must include spending money ... But if presumption it be, so what? Cannot a child presume upon the love of His Father? I wholeheartedly believe it can - and act accordingly. When God "gave" His Son He taught us the meaning of giving. May be that is why there is so much joy associated with giving - the spending of ourselves and of our substance for others.

Early December I finally took the drive to Kanyakumari at the southern most tip of India accompanied by Sudesh a college student. It was something I dreamt of doing as soon as I bought the car. The 4000 km - 9 days' - round trip was an endurance test yet one I gladly took. The scenery unfolding before ours eyes was often breathtakingly beautiful. Though roads and traffic left a lot to be desired with disappearing in potholes, head-on collisions, and coming "headlights to eyes" with animals an ever present possibility.

The corpses of dogs at intervals on the road prove this and also the wisdom not to bet four legs against four wheels. Sometimes a crow dining on a dead dog, either too old, too fat or too slow or all three of them joins the dog and - the diner becomes part of the dinner ...

While we were excited to have been at Kanyakumari, we enjoyed Goa. It is beautiful and the beaches are gorgeous. Sudesh who never seen the ocean didn't want to come out of the water.

Somewhere between Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu and Panaji in Goa I dropped my pouch with some 15,000 Rupees ($500), my credit car, driving license and debit cards. Fortunately I had given the petrol (gas) money to Sudesh already and forgotten my passport at a hotel in Hyderabad on our way down. In regards to the latter - God cancelled one stupidity with another ... The passport would also have been in the pouch. Yohan arranged to get money to me in Goa where we enjoyed a three days' holiday on the beach waiting for it. The debit cards had left only the value of the plastic they were made of and the credit card was at nil too. My driving license is replaced. The only hassle is to get everything back. In regards to the loss of money I told the kids that I give money to everybody why not to the guy who found the pouch? We all had a good laugh - what else to do? I did not loose it on purpose.

One of God's greatest gifts to me is that He does not spare me difficulties and hardship, joy and rejection, pain and suffering, showing myself wise one minute and utterly foolish the next. While on the beach in Goa, looking where I had no business of looking, a wave caught me unawares, threw me all about till I did not know where up or down was. Arms and legs flailing about. Water and sand in every orifice. When it receded it left me lying panting in the sand. My life, I thought looking gratefully again at the blue sky and the blazing sun. Just the way my life is. I grin weakly while waiting with mixed feelings for the next wave to pummel me.

Christmas ... What fascinates me about the Son of God becoming man most is that he came in at a low level unprotected from the common hardships, problems, pains etc. that the rest of mankind has to endure. He tasted life to the full - the sweet and the bitter. No shortcuts for Him whether in birth, life or death. No status, no position but the incredible power and authority of a man at one with God. A Savior Who understands - a Leader worth emulating.

In closing let me thank you for your friendship which delights, encourages and blesses. Thank you for your gifts in kind, letters/e-mails, money, and prayers. In terms of gifts from you - we have Christmas all year round ... Many, many thanx.

In His great love.

Frank and the whole Prem Sewa Gang.