What a week in Bangalore, India! We arrived late Tuesday night (or early Wednesday morning) and will be returning home Monday.

Thanks for praying for the training.  It went very well.  We actually covered more ground than I thought we’d be able to.

How can I describe the people, the sights, the total experience here?  This video might help a bit.  I captured this on my phone while we were driving down the street – weaving around several cows just out for a stroll.

In the video, you don’t get the full range of sounds and smells that come with this city.  Here are a few word pictures which add to the story:

~ Horns honking all the time

~ Traffic is insane (the video clip doesn’t do it justice)

~ Street vendors, garbage and dogs all compete for street space

~ Warm, friendly and often quiet people

~ People are gracious in manners and service:  I haven’t been called “sir” so often ever in my life.

~ They are incredibly fast learners

~ Seems to be much chaos here, yet much productivity emerges

~ Extreme poverty contrasted by booming economy

~ Bangalore is one of the fastest growing cities in the world

~ Over Half a Billion cell phones in this country!

~ Islam rising very rapidly here

~ Jesus is also moving mightily: New churches are planted almost daily

~ Opportunities for global influence from this country are beyond plentiful

~ Truly, the Good Shepherd is calling his sheep here; and many new flocks are multiplying

Our time with the Campus Crusade staff was humbling and encouraging.  There were 12 staff who attended our training.  They came from places all around India and also Nepal and Bangladesh.  Several traveled for a day or more by train.

Impeccably Hospitable: All of them were incredibly gracious, and went much out of their way to make us feel welcome here.  I was expecting to be intimidated by them but they acted as if they were intimidated by us.  Yet we all connected well and the Spirit ministered to another as we helped each other learn, serving one another and enjoying different perspectives on reaching our world for Christ.

To see my entire set of photos and videos from the Bangalore experience, visit the album here.