Subject: India today (Sunday: Ben + Stephanie)

They drowned Durga today. Finally. We have been here during this nine day Hindu festival and we have seen the fevered buildup in its entirety. We witnessed the "making" of Durga by the various villages we passed. Made of mud by human hands we have oft thought to Moses coming down from Sinai and Paul in Athens. In India idols are a real deal.

The making of Durga is a collective effort. After her dried mud shape of a woman with 8 arms she is painted brightly and set in her "box". Sometimes it is a just a concrete bunker others an elaborate shrine. Either way as the festival came to a cllimax, there were strands of lights and banners around each shrine and there was an air or expectancy-much like the buildup of Christmas at home.

Sometime this afternoon amidst our scurry to the train station thousands of Durgas all over India were put into the local body of water for her to return back to mud. All of her shrines now stand empty. And the one true living God is still on His throne! Jamisiki!

We are in Bhopal today, a huge city of about 2 million.

We worshipped this morning as a divided team. Half of us went to Christ Church (aka "the industrial church") where Ben preached. We were once again greeted in the traditional way-leis of yellow mums, .red .roses and orchids. Today was youth Sunday and we we're blessed to see a very good amount of young people and for them to lead the worship. There was an air of sadness as the senior pastor who is 75, lost his son and ministry partner 10 days ago to a heart attack. This leaves a void in ministry to a congregation of about 250. Ben's message today was a real comfort I think, as he encouraged us to remember the gifts we have in the Lord: contentment, joy and peace. Greg brought the greetings on behalf of the US churches.

The other half of our team went to what is called the City Church where Phil and Chris's friend and CICM evangelist, Harris Walter is the pastor. Phil spoke today on "I love the church" to about 300 folks. There were a lot of children and youth at this church as well. Chris brought the greetings from Countryside and Julie brought greetings from Mountain. Tom did the communion meditation.

After church we met at the hotel with five pastors who have been working to establish churches in Bhopal. Pradeep Luther just got out out the hospital after a bout with malaria, but was eager to share the work he's doing. 90 percent of his church are former Hindus who have seen the light of Jesus. His wife Lena was a member of a Brahman family -- the highest caste. Her influence is significant. Others are working among the very poor -- "rat pickers" and street people. One young man, Shailendra Ladge, has been working among street performers and the extremely downtrodden. We are grateful to God for these who being the hands and feet of Jesus. Mountain is excited to be partnering with CICM to plant churches in this area.

We are aboard a fast moving train -- about 6 hours to Agra where we will spend the night. Our mission work on this trip is largely completed -- except for the other opportunities the to be a witness the Lord opens in the final travel days.

As we prepare to head home after some sight seeing and shopping, we are all struggling to process all we have seen, seeking to understand how God is wanting to change us. Know that we are mindful of you, our friends and family, and eager to share with you in person very soon.

Ben and Stephanie for the team