India

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,

JP Sundararajan, our India-Asia Director, has been closely following the situation that has been developing in the eastern state of India, Orissa.    Orissa has historically been infamous for the persecution of Christians.  It earned its dubious honor especially after the brutal murder of missionary doctor Graham Staines and his sons Philip (aged 7) and Timothy (aged 9) back in January of 1999.  

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 the first three months of 2008, we had already distributed more Scripture kits than we have in most years. Here is a small excerpt from a recent report from World Cassette Outreach (WCOI) in India.