Aap kaise hain?  Mai achcha hoon.  Mai admi hoon.
(How are you?  I am good.  I am a man)

That's the extent of my Hindi, so far.

Sometimes, when I don't understand the Indian's English, and they don't understand my Hindi, I just speak Spanish.  

And that actually usually solves everything.

Just kidding.

So I have had a bit of homesickness this week, being that i was, well, sick.  The crazy pollution + too much sugar one night = a mild cold that turned into a hacking cough.  But i'm alive, and all better!  And overall, i'm really loving it here.  What we're doing with the curriculum and the slum school really excites me.  The people i'm working with, too, are all really great people.  I'm learning so much about life from conversations i've had with them.  The kids, too, are nothing short of precious.  All of them.  The local pastors here too have showed me nothing but kindness, and delicious Indian home cooking!  It'll be nice, though, to have some of mom's spaghetti when I return.  

And see blue skies again. 

As far as what is upcoming, i'm hoping to finish the curriculum by early December, so we can actually use the curriculum to preach at the churches here in Delhi.  Like some Christians in America, a portion of the more wealthy Christians here tend to overlook the plight of the oppressed.  In addition to that, the general culture here, fueled by Hindu religion's belief in reincarnation, sees status as something you've earned from another life.  The malnourished child, the street beggar, or the child forced into prostitution deserves to be where they're at because they were bad in their previous life.  Christianity here doesn't preach that, and the majority of Christians here are more aware of the plight of the poor,  but sometimes the worldview of the general culture leaks into the church. 

Like in Germany during the Nazi regime, when all but Dietrich Bonhoeffer and a small band of Christian separatists, pledged their loyalty to the Nazi party and the eradication of the Jewish race.

Or in America, in the 1800's when Southern preachers would distort the Bible to say that slavery is Biblical and should not be abolished.

Or in America today....you can fill in the blank.

I'll start with two, though...

"Some of us reduce love to tolerance"

"Some of us think that the only successful way of Christianity is one that depends on how big your church is, or how well your "worship band" performs. "  

I just wen't on a tangent.

Basically, me and another intern want to preach to the rich here who i'm told are are unaware or unconcerned with God's idea of justice, then challenge them to go and help bring God's justice to those very people in their backyard who are in poverty and vulnerable to exploitation.  

And i'll probably use the book of Amos in at least one of the sermons!

If you haven't read that book lately, I encourage you to do so now.  It will challenge you.

Goodnight everyone, or should I say, good morning?  (It's a 13 hour time difference)

Sleep awaits