We are half way through the Bible School week. It is going so well. God has given Sal strong vocal chords.
His schedule is pretty challenging. I am teaching one class a day while Sal teaches four. We start at 9:30 AM and end at 5:30 PM. When I am not teaching, I am behind the scenes helping anyway I can. Dinner is served at 7:30 PM. After dinner we usually chat with the students and find out more about their lives and the challenges of ministry that they face. They all are excited for the tools they are learning to be better teachers and preachers.
Drought Update
As I shared in a previous blog, India is experiencing a severe drought. Currently, the water supply to the local village has been shut down.
A truck comes to each home and rations water. Paul Samuel told me this morning that the well that supplies water to his home at Brookside has run dry. There is very little vegetation for the animals to eat. Most of the goat and sheep herds are chewing dead branches. My friend, Annama, has lost 10 of her cows. Pastor Victor told me 100 cows have died in his village. It has been reported that some farmers have committed suicide because the crops have failed.
Each night after midnight we are wakened by the trumpeting of elephants that are invading neighboring farms looking for water. Sam, a worker here at QCI, told us an elephant broke the window of his home and reached in with it’s trunk to steal fruit on the kitchen counter. The monkeys have become quite bold as they come closer and closer to humans to forage through any scraps of food or water left around.
Soon the hot season will arrive. March through May is very warm. Soon forest fires will begin. Things will only get worse without rain. It makes me sad to see the land suffering from drought. And I am reminded of Habakkuk. He could only stand by and watch as his country and people where attacked and left destitute by their enemies. Yet he constantly sought the Lord. May we also pray for mercy that He who reigns above the earth would send the rains to India.
- How long, O LORD, will I call for help, And You will not hear? Hab. 1:2
- “For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea. 2:14
- His splendor covers the heavens, And the earth is full of His praise. 3:3
- Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. 3:17-18