Asia

It was organized excitement!   Half the people moved outside, under the tents, to enjoy their meal on a fresh banana leaf.

With well planned efficiency, huge scoops delivered fresh steamed rice in buckets to each banana leaf. Then came vegatable gravies ("sambhar"), each with a different flavor,

Events of this summer confirm the importance of moving as quickly as possible toward a Ministry Center building replacement in Bangalore for World Cassette Outreach of India (WCOI). ASM missionaries, JP and Katy Sundararajan, just returned from a 6 week stay in India and saw firsthand the need that exists there.
JP and Katy sat down to explain the wonderful opportunities in India.

It’s the beginning of the month of August.  The days have been getting more and more pleasant.  There is almost always a breeze blowing away the last remnants of the stifling heat from the summer months.  The sun is hidden by the clouds that begin to gather.  These ominous clouds bring with them rain from hundreds of kilometers away.  The pregnant clouds unload halfway across the Indian peninsula.  The rains are heavy.  Getting caught in a thunderstorm in India is akin to being pelted with thousands of water balloons.  You get drenched within the first 20 seconds.  Rain has always been good for the dry, parched land that always seems to want more.

In a few years, India will be the most densely populated country in the world. As a country that is only about 1/3 the size of the US, it hosts a startling 1.15 billion people. Within India, 460 million people over the age of 15, or 40% of the population cannot read.