Silver Pomfret with Pea Pilaf

For  Sunday  lunch I  made

fried  silver Pomfret  with

fresh  green  peas  pilaf.

I  cooked   the pomfret for   the  very   first  time.

It  is  a  sea  fish and  we  can only

get it  in  frozen  form.

My sister Anjali 's  mother-in-law

Aunty  Saro  used  to  make 

super delicious  pomfret in Mumbai  and  Chennai.

Pomfret   and  all  frozen  food

is  frightfully  expensive.

This  was  a gift from Ash and Megan.

I  visit  the  frozen  foods  store  very  rarely

and  buy  the  tiniest  packets.

Ash and  Megan  bought  me 

so  much. I  was  joking  later  on

The  guy  in the  store doesn 't  consider  me his 

most favourite  customer but   when  I 

went  with Ashish  and  Megan

he  must  have  thought;\Today she  has  come with 

the right  type  of customers LOL.

Thanks  guys.

PRAYER  REQUEST  FOR  ANJALI

Please  pray  for  my  sister  Anjali,

Asish' s  mom.

Tomorrow  , Thursday March 17th,

she  is  having  a  colonoscopy

and  upper  respiratory  scan.

The  doctors   found  her  highly anaemic.

Pray  the  results  may  come  out  clear..

Following  up  on  the Japan news

is  so  alarming and  worrying.

It seems  both  the  fury  of  nature  and

vulnerability of technology

(radiation leaks)

have unleashed  themselves

against  that  nation

and the  world  too.

The  whole  world  is  nervous.

We  can  only  say

On Christ  the  Solid  Rock

I  stand

All other  ground 

is  sinking  sand

Are  your  feet  firmly  planted

on  the Solid Rock?

Sunday Blessings - Father and Son

This rickshaw man took his little son along for a ride while transporting me to the market.

I asked the little guy to smile but he wouldn 't - camera conscious he was.

I do hope he goes to school and his future will be brighter than his poor illiterate father

Seeing he was wearing a watch made me glad.A man like him can buy a cheap watch for about 4 or 5 day 's income.

I read the following story in a little booklet I bought recently. It teaches a beautiful lesson

In ancient Salem lived two bothers, one with many children and the other single and alone.

During harvest time they gathered wheat and put it into two piles.

One night the single brother thought,"My brother has a large family and needs more wheat than I do., I will put some of my sheaves on his pile.

One hour later the married brother woke up and thought,"My single brother lives alone and doesn 't have anyone to help him till the land.Something must be done..." and taking some of the sheaves from his store he carried them to his brother 's pile and left them there.

Next morning they were both surprised to see that both the piles were still the same.

It has warmed up since the past 2 days and now the weather is very pleasant temp is in the 70s during the day.

PRAYER REQUEST

My church is launching on a new enterprise to help us generate funds for the upkeep and maintenance of our 200 year old property. We are a small independent flock. The ground work has been done. There are some enemies of the church who can try to foil our attempt and create mischief and trouble for us.

The devil wants us to be frightened and not take any step towards development. But we are moving forward...walking by faith and not by sight. I am reading the story of Jacob and it is encouraging to see how God was with him all the time. How Jacob prospered and was blessed.

I ask for that same favor upon our Church and campus. Pray along with us for guidance, wisdom and protection.

Be Warned

These knitting pieces are from BRUTAL KNITTING which features funny crazy sci-fi inspired headgear. Click on the link for more.
If there are any aliens reading my blog - they 'd be surely interested . Space tourists will find it easier to identify with little green men and such like when they have close encounters of the third kind. (Smile)

I wish people came like this - showing their real horror faces. But the bejewelled Venetian masks they wear hides their twisted visage and intentions. They are wolves in sheep 's clothing, the Bible calls them that.

I have has two such people in my life and although I got glimpses of their wolf nature several times I ignored it having a patient, long suffering and magnanimous nature.

I was also trying to avoid conflict, and I find it difficult to assert myself due to my physical limitations. I recently read a book called Conflict by Joyce Hugget.

She says in chapter one, 'Conflict can be horrid hurtful harmful, disruptive of relationships and personal well being.....The Chambers Dictionary similarly claims that conflict means 'a trial of strength between opposed parties or principles, a violent collision, a struggle or contest, a battle to fight, contend, to be in opposition, to clash, to be at odds with...

Such disharmony, such clashes, such violent collisions, such fights for supremacy's often over power us with the suddenness and force of an tornado.They catch us off guard and leave such havoc in their wake the many Christians assume that conflict is innately sinful and something to confess.

But is this assumption correct?

In Team Ministry Justin Dennison challenges it by suggesting that conflict is neutral (neither good or bad),natural (not to be avoided or denied), normal (neither your particular problem nor necessarily your fault); and indeed healthy (part of being a human being) As such conflict should be viewed as being common to all human relationships as people interact closely with each other.

He goes on the insist that our goal "should not be to ensure the absence of conflict,but to be equipped with the ability to handle and resolve conflict in an honest and healthy way. It is unresolved conflict , not conflict as such that can damage relationships.

Surely Justin Dennison 's observation must be correct. After all Jesus was so frequently locked in conflict and indeed often initiated clashes that for him, living with disharmony and disagreements could be said not only to be the morm but even necessary.

Conflict then cannot be innately sinful. Rather it is the way we handle collisions and contests that determine whether or not sin creeps into the equation. Jesus skillful handling of power struggles demonstrated the news that surprise some

-that all conflict, whatever is the source is potentially creative.

It is creative because it faces us with a choice to respond in a way that strengthens and builds up relationships ,promotes the kingdom of God and causes individuals concerned to grow in Christ likeness and maturity or to act and react in a way that disrupted friendships and fellowships inner peace and integrity."

I found this passage from Huggets book very helpful as we are in tte throes of conflict. For a long time I tried to ignore it but now I cannot. The opposite party is scheming against the church- making moves to acquire church property illegally. When I prevented them from doing so they called me insulting , denigrating names - referring to my disabilities in from of the servants. Literally making fun of my disabilities.

In front of me they are all sugar and honey but they are stabbing me behind my back. I cannot take this anymore so firm action has to be taken against them. I have already spoken to their superiors and are in full sympathy with me and Will support me. I have to make a written complaint against them. Then they will be shown the door.I gave them unlimited chances to improve but they did not avail them . I have to save my church and mission.

Some difficult and tough days are in store for me. But I will step forth in the strength of the Lord. The valley of Elah looms large before me- and the hulk Goliath. I have 5 smooth stones and a slingshot as my weapons.

I covet your prayers for Mama and me as we face difficult, threatening , hostile and lonely situations- physically challenging too. I need supernatural power from above.

I ma confident in the lord. He will bring us through. Please pray for Mama all this is intimidating and bewidering for her.

God Will Make A Way

My dear friends thank you so much for praying for me. Troubled as I was, I could hardly sleep last night , but I prayed and read from the Holy Book. I read the story of Peter walking on the water. In order to do that he had to get out of the boat and fix his eyes on Jesus.

I have to walk by faith and not by sight in my circumstances. God gave me peace and wisdom and literally what to say to a person.

We are dealing with wolves in sheep 's clothing. God revealed the wolf 's garb to me. The clouds are parting but we have an steep uphill journey.

I have peace. God will provide help in His way and His time.

The following devotional from Joni Eareckson Tada blessed me.

Sometimes due to my physical limitations I feel like a caged bird. But God has taught me how to sing in that cage.

The life of Madame Guyon has inspired me tremendously. She was ill treated by her family, husband and the church yet she held on. Please get her biography and read it.

We had a huge rain storm this evening and were without electricity for 2 1/2 hours. Praise God we got it back. I was going to make pizzas (from scratch) had to scrap that plan, so I used the dough to make poories, like tacos.

God's Hedge

He has walled me in so I cannot escape; he has weighed me down with chains.-- Lamentations 3:7

The four walls of a sick room can be so confining, even if you're there only stuckthere for a short time. Whether in the hospital or at home, we long to escape those suffocating walls. At such times, you may be tempted to cry out as Jeremiah didin our verse for today, or as Job who groaned, "Why is life given to a man ¼ whomGod has hedged in?" (Job 3:23).But it's God's hedge and his walls. Only when we view our restricting circumstancesas being placed there by God can we find courage to face the wall or hedge. That'swhat Madame Guyon, a French noblewoman who was confined to a dungeon for ten years,managed to do. She penned these thoughts:

A little bird I am shut from the fields of air;

and in my cage I sit and sing

to him who placed me there

Well pleased a prisoner to be,

because my God it pleases thee.

Naught have I else to do,

I sing the whole day long,

and he whom I most love to please

doth listen to my song.

He caught and bound my wandering wing,

but still he bends to hear me sing.

My cage confines me round;

abroad I cannot fly;

but though my wing is closely bound,

my heart's at liberty;

my prison walls cannot control the flight,

the freedom of the soul.

The hedge cut off Madam Guyon from the world and confined her on every side. But even a high hedge cannot shut out our view of the sky or prevent the soul fromlooking up into God's face. Because there is so little else to see, when you are hedged in, you view God more clearly than those who move about unconfined. With a hedge around you, the only way "out" is up!* * * * *

My loving Father, help me to remember that hedges and walls protect as well as confineand that your good pleasure is to use whatever means necessary to turn my gaze to you.

Need Prayer

Dear friends please pray for my mother and me. We are facing a trial of faith.

I feel like Elijah by the brook Cherith

Job on the pile of potsherds

and Jonah under the broom tree.

The burden seems heavy on my heart and shoulders.

But God will make a way when we seem to be groping in the dark.

Plesae pray for us.

Walking Alone

Please pray for me . I am facing a very spiritually oppressive and difficult situation. The Lord has comforted me. I need Him more and more.

The following devotional from Joni Earckson Tada blessed my heart.

EAGLE MEN

But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.--Isaiah 40:31
Eagles are solitary birds. They never fly in flocks. At times God asks us to forego human companionship to experience divine fellowship so that later, we have the strength to give to others. "God seeks eagle-men," writes Mrs. Charles Cowman in Streams in the Desert. "No man ever comes into a realization of the best things of God,who does not, upon the God ward side of his life, learn to walk alone with God."
Scripture is replete with such men: Abraham living in a tent; Moses herding sheep;Paul alone with God in Arabia. God then often takes those whom He has sheltered in solitude and thrusts them out to minister to others.
Author Caryll Houselander writes of these eagle-souls:
There are those who must live, as it were, in other men's hands; whose success,even if it be of a spiritual order, must be paid for in a suffering of poverty far more terrible than material poverty, a poverty of not having themselves, not having anything of their own - not time, or solitude, or their thoughts, or even their senses: their hearing filled always with other men's troubles, their eyes with the face of other people's sorrows...

Many times you may feel there is no rest: hurting people call you on the phone or appear at your door; your children clamor for attention and love; your spouse wants to spend time with you when you have no time; your boss adds to the piles already on your desk. Only someone who has spent solitude with God can respond as an eagle,mounting up with a reserve of energy provided by the Almighty. Quiet time with Him isn't an option; it's a necessity.
* * * * *
Father God, teach me to come to you for strength when I feel as though I have none.In this way, I'll have strength to dispense love and care on others.
Blessings,
Joni and Friendshttp://www.joniandfriends.org/

Better Red Than Dead

A few days ago my poor Sheeba wa s caught in the heat of the battle.

A stray dog was found wandering behind the house and Sheeba did a 'charge of the Light Brigade" unisol (Universal Soldier) type of thing. The feral dog was no Miss Tootsie, he charged back . Sheeba was taken aback as she is a very gentle peaceful animal. The wild dog got a mouthful of her fur before she rushed indoors encouraged by my frantic screaming.

Later on I gave her a sanctifying shampoo bath.

Sorry for the blurry cell phone photos.

This is Mr Naughty Wilde. The wandering packs of stray dogs have chewed him up quite a bit.

PRAYER REQUEST

I need your prayers. I have a nasty pustular boil on my back. It is very sore and painful and burns.

Trips to the hospital usually get me infected.

It was just a tiny thing and I thought it would heal, but last night it developed into a big hard lump. It hurts so much I feel feverish. I am taking antibiotics for it. Started today.

Lord have mercy.

Rock-a-bye Baby

Hello friends, here are some cute baby pictures sent in an email.

This entry was meant for Wed. 30th, but just as I was composing it the

lights went out and I was unable to continue. I was too tired by the time normalcy was restored. A man who had been to the power supply center (sub station) said in the heat the instruments and system gets very hot and they have to switch it off to cool it. Gotta believe them.

A Quote-

"I am done with great things and big plans, great institutions

and big success. I am for those tiny invisible loving human forces

that work from individual to individual,

creeping through the crannies of the world like so many rootlets

or like the capillary oozing of water, which, if given time,

will rend the hardest monuments of pride."

-William James

Yes friends, humour lightens the load at times and you can see diamonds in the raindrops.

All day yesterday, after our expected 3 hour power cut we had frequent interruptions. In the afternoon when I tried to rest there was a untimely phone call and visitor which gave me a throbbing headache. I took a painkiller which I normally try to avoid. I felt better after that and a strong cup of coffee.

Aunt V was supposed to be discharged from hospital yesterday but the docs extended her confinement by 2 more days.She has a potassium deficit - she 's 84 years old. No one to care of her, but us and church folk.

Please pray for my Pastor Shailendra , he has swelling in his kidneys and even after a whole battery of tests and scans the doctors don 't know what is causing it.All his tests came out clear. The doctors may hospitalize him for closer monitoring.

God teaches us such lessons. I am amazed. A few days ago a couple came to us all ornery and agitated like an angry thunder cloud ready to burst and flash.

But we handled the situation with restraint and self control and the man said ;We came here to say something else , but find things are different. Later on he asked me to pray for them. Two days later he said he felt tremendous peace since the prayer. Glory be to God.

This morning the sky is dark with heavy clouds and we 've had a light shower. Maybe there will be more rain later on.

But I hope it doesn 't rain too hard in the morning because I have to go to the district courthouse to represent my church.

Choices

Sometimes God prepares us for what is coming later on in the day by a godly word. I received the following devotional in my email which calmed my spirit and made me put on the whole armour of God (Eph 6) when my mother and I came under heavy spiritual attack tonight.The Lord helped us to hold up the shield of faith to deflect the flaming arrows of the enemy.When the enemy comes like a Tsunami wave my anchor holds fast.
Thank you to THE SOLID ROCK.



I choose love . . .No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves.



I choose joy . . .I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical . . . the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God.



I choose peace . . .I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live.

I choose patience . . .I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I’ll invite him to do so. Rather than complain that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clinching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.



I choose kindness . . .I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. Kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.



I choose goodness . . .I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will confess before I will accuse. I choose goodness.



I choose faithfulness . . .Today I will keep my promises. My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates will not question my word. My wife will not question my love. And my children will never fear that their father will not come home.



I choose gentleness . . .Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice may it be only in praise. If I clench my fist, may it be only in prayer. If I make a demand, may it be only of myself.

I choose self-control . . .I am a spiritual being. After this body is dead, my spirit will soar. I refuse to let what will rot, rule the eternal.
I choose self-control.
I will be drunk only by joy. I will be impassioned only by my faith. I will be influenced only by God. I will be taught only by Christ. I choose self control.



Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. To these I commit my day. If I succeed, I will give thanks. If I fail, I will seek his grace. And then, when this day is done, I will place my head on my pillow and rest.



From When God Whispers Your Name Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 1999) Max Lucado

Aunt Virginia was moved out of Intensive care today and hopefully she will be discharged from hospital day after tomorrow.

But please keep on praying, she is being very difficult and creating problems for everyone involved in looking after her including us.

Please pray for my mother and me as we face spiritual attacks.

Update

Early this (Sunday am) morning I admitted Aunt Virginia in the hospital. Two church brothers helped. She seems to be stable .
I feel much better now that she is in hospital. I will stay with her the whole day. Please continue to pray for strength and healong.

Prayers needed

Aunt Virginia is not doing very well. She is the widow of my Dad 's elder brother - about 84 years old. Last month she was hospitalized with UTI. She recovered and came back. Don 't know how much time she has left.

She is very difficult to deal with. Refuses all help. Her mind is also fading . I am doing all I can for her-everything she will accept. My mom and I are the only relatives who care. Her nieces and nephews don 't bother and don 't want to be involved. They were only interested in her stuff and money and when they got that , their attitude changed. Aunt V has 24 hr assistants , they complain of her being very difficult.

I wish my family was close by- but everyone is so far away. My mother is very nervous , stressed and anxious ( she will be 79 yrs. on June 23rd) I am worried and under tremendous pressure, but have to be strong because of my mother.

My Pastor on whom I depend is on on vacation for 10 days. There are other church people and relatives to help in the worst case scenario.
Just pray for God 's mercy.
I feel physically weak.

Need prayers desperately.My Mom is having dizzy spells because of the tension.
_____________________
Thank you for praying for the strife situation we were facing a while ago. Our friend 's attitude was changed when they returned from their trip. We communicated better. They harvested about 20 kgs of mangoes from their tree and gave us 4 magoes.

The Needle Work Class

At the convent school where I studied we had needlework classes twice a week.
We started in Grade 4 right up to Grade 8 thereafter it was Home Ec.

The needle work nuns were all very stern, staid and strict. I remember Sister Maria Gouretti . She was kind. She gave me Cs when I deserved Fs.

Because of my poor eyesight to handle a needle and thread was a formidable and clumsy task . It frightened me , I felt inadequate and nervous in a midst of a roomful of clever and nimble fingered classmates. (I felt the same in the P.E. class - a headless squid)I did not fit into the classic, archetypal, regular, typical standard female mould. Remember in 'those days ' there were very few women rocket scientists. or Tomb Raiders. The epitome of femaleness were the abilities of sewing and cooking -the ones who possesed these charms were my goddesses.
The feminine skills of cooking, stitching, knitting and housekeeping etc. were expected to be inherent in the female DNA , chromosome or what have you. And if you lacked this charisma, people could either undermine you or pity you. Everyone had to fit into a prescribed box. The un-boxed ones were either weird or plain rebellious.Individuality was not encouraged. Disability was not acknowledged, specially the unseen ones.

So how did I survive in the jungle of needles and thread, paint brushes, pots , pans and laces? I plunged into the world of music,poetry and literature. I still wade into it occasionally.

God has handcrafted each one of us uniquely and has bestowed special gifts and talents to us all.It is ours to discover them and encourage others to develop their skills and abilities. This way we can help each other grow.

Psalm 139 says,

13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

Today the sky remained overcast, maybe a precursor of the approaching monsoons. The west coast is having heavy rainfall. We were sans electricity for 6 hours. My blogging is slow because of that and I also like to watch a bit of football- the beautiful game everyone is calling it that- Pele 's moniker. I don' t know why football is nicknamed the beautiful game -that 's a subject for another post.

PRAYER REQUEST

Please pray for my sister Namrita. She' s been having vertigo spells with some vomiting. She is confined to her bed and can hardly eat or even talk on the phone. Her school has closed for 2 weeks , so that is a relief, She has to mark test papers, but can hardly read as her head feels like a rock. Please pray for her healing and relief.

Storm Tossed

Since the past few days I have felt like a storm tossed boat dealing with
hurts
hostility
sadness
anger

Mama, Sonia and I have taken a battering
mentally
emotionally
and spiritually.
Our faith is being tested.
Goliath looming large on the horizon is challenging the servants of God. A spirit of strife wants to rip us to pieces.
Sometimes I feel as if I am walking through the valley of the shadow of death.
Please pray for us.

These verses give us courage and strength

Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it.

1 Peter 3:9

______________________________

1 Peter 1:4-7 (New International Version)
4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
_________________________

2fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 4You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin

(Hebrews 12)

Prayer needed.

Any buyers for these ideas?

I 've got a cold and an itchy throat

so I wouldn 't mind having this contraption-

I might make it on the front page

of the newspaper too.

I can 't eat piping hot food -

so this will work for me.


Spreading butter would be so much easier.

Isn 't he cute

This is a real comforter

Now you cab catch your forty winks

while travelling in the metro.

The anti-splash umbrella.

_______________

Dear friends, I not feeling

too good I have a cold

and sore throat and the heat

doesn 't make it better.

On Sunday morning by God 's grace a

major fire was averted on our church campus.

On Sunday evening I went to visit

little Simran who got severely burnt

when she accidentally spilled hot tea over herself.

The poor child is suffering.

Please pray for her recovery and relief.

Her parents are far from God and living very irresponsible lives.

It is heart wrenching to see

their condition.

But misfortune and hardship is

finally making them to

see the light.

For the first time Simran 's mother asked me to pray for them

She used to mock God.

Now she is going to church

and sending her children too.

The door is opening a tiny crack.

Please pray for them

the parents are Bunty ( father)

and Shaloo (mother)

Simran (daughter 9)

and Babu (6)

I took them veggies from our garden,

cookies for the kids,

2 large bags of clothes

and a little money.

Its heart breaking to see

people suffer because

of the wrong choices they have made.

------------

I went to the district court

yesterday on church business.

Just got myself fried in

44*C ( 110* F) heat.

No air conditioning in the transport or buildings.

Then we had a Pastor 's family visit us

in the evening.

______________

This evening Aunt Maya came

wanting me to take her to visit

2 senior church ladies

who are ill and house bound.

We went to their place

to encourage them and pray for them.

Maya aunty wants to

spend the day with

us tomorrow and wants

me to help her with some bank work.

Not a very pleasing prospect in the

heat and with my cold.

But have to do it.

Romans 12;1 (New Testament)

I get tired easily.

Say a little prayer for me.

I will post photos of the fire and garden later on.

Fire-Wall

My little campus is the Valley of Elah

where David fought and defeated Goliath as I say in my blog description. Yesterday and today I encountered several battles

outside and inside the valley.

Last evening a CNG (compressed natural gas)operated car

burst into flames on our street.

The gas cylinder exploded due to some unknown reason.

Mercifully the occupants of the vehicle escaped

unhurt or un-singed I should say,

otherwise it would have been a terrible tragedy.

The car was fairly new and insured.

There was a huge commotion on the street with the fire brigade,

police, media and on-lookers.

So I also joined the group for some photos.

I have never photographed an accident before.

The UN conference on Global Warming is going on in Copenhagen

and people are looking for solutions for a greener earth.

CNG is one of them

Compressed natural gas, or CNG, is natural gas under pressure which remains clear, odorless, and non-corrosive. Although vehicles can use natural gas as either a liquid or a gas, most vehicles use the gaseous form compressed to pressures above 3,100 pounds per square inch.
It is quite popular in India , its much cheaper than petrol

and causes less pollution.

Most vehicles in New Delhi run on CNG.

But it can be disastrous if the engine and equipment has

not been installed properly.

This car was not hit by anything.

How the cylinder burst remains a mystery.

Our electricity was turned off
till the flames and smoke subsided completely.
The cable also snapped off so my
poor mummy had to watch a boring cricket match for
an hour or so.

Peace returned after a while

and we were glad that no one

was injured.

The second battle was much closer to home.

The battle for the wall

In the morning men from the municipal corporation

came to check and told us that

the height of the wall was above the stipulated elevation.

This is not true, our wall is half a foot below the standard height.

But you can 't argue with these people.

These mischief makers were looking for a bribe.

But we would not bribe them and in order

to quell the intimidation our workmen lowered

the height so the men went away empty handed.

They were threatening to bull -doze the wall.

Our wall is not the wall of Jericho,

it is Nehemiah 's wall

They left us in peace.

Yesterday a member of a local mafia gang(goonda)

tried to bully our workmen into paying him a "fees".

Our pastor was watching from a distance

and sensing what was happening ,praying

silently in his heart.

Our men answered him boldly and confidently and as Pastor moved

forward to speak to the gangster,

he got on his motorcycle and left.

We are on the winning team.

This is our completed front wall

It is topped with fierce looking jagged glass splinters

like shark teeth to discourage

unwanted people from jumping over it

and into our campus.

On Sunday afternoon a group

of boys kept throwing rocks

at our house and garden for 45 minutes.

My mother and I tried to stop them, but they wouldn 't

so we had to ignore them till they

got tired and went away.

The boys belong to a cluster colony (sagar pesha)

behind our house.

Its a place where low cast , blue collar workers live.

The Bible says the devil prowls around

like a lion to find whom he may devour.

God is our protection

and our fortress.

A mighty fortress is our God.

A bulwark never failing

Our helper He amid the flood

Of mortal ills prevailing;

For still our ancient foe

Doth seek to work us woe;

His craft and power is great,

And armed with cruel hate,

On earth is not his equal.

The last battle of the day was a battle of faith.

A third section of the wall has to be built and we have run out of

money.Our pastor is adamant that we should go on with the building

although our purse is empty.

All this made me very nervous, tense and apprehensive and sick too.

I felt like an Israelite on the shore of the Red Sea.

Crying to Moses;why have you brought us out of Egypt?

Behind us is Pharaoh 's army and before us

the

roaring waters.

Going for the third section of the wall will be like drowning

ourselves.

But Pastor said we will borrow money

and the Lord will refund us.

We need Rs 80,000 at least.

May the Lord part the waters and

lead us through dry land.

Please pray for us.

My cold is not any better,

but for the sake of my mother

I have to pretend that it is

otherwise it will upset her and make her sick.

The wall issues have caused us

enough anxiety already.