Diarrhea, Zulma, Mice, and Jesus

People here talk about diarrhea as if they were talking about a common cold.
And toilet paper is like GOLD. We are currently ripping off pieces of a napkin to suffice. BUT WHO KNOWS what we'll do when that runs out.....!!!!! haha

Zulma Fernandez CANNOT come to India because every step here is steep and made of concrete. I think of her everytime I walk a flight of stairs, which is often.

Today we were sitting with our friend Naomi while she was eating lunch in the house when she picked something up from her plate and started laughing. It was a mouse. A cooked mouse. A spicy cooked mouse. The tail was a dead give away. I'm pretty sure it wasn't supposed to be there...unless that's the type of meat we've been eating all along.
Later I saw a live mouse running through the house. Of course no one saw it but me. It was probably looking for its friend.

The last two days we've gone to a "cell group". Its basically like a home group branched off from the church. People gather outside of church at different houses once a week for fellowship and bible study. There are many many cell groups. The two we attended so far were so different from each other. Yesturday the group was very large. There were people of all ages, including a lot of kids. And it was held in a tiny room. It was so hot. And when we stood to sing a few worship songs, it was like standing in a mob. But the people were so genuine. They don't care how uncomfortable it is.. they do it every week. They are all about Jesus. No fluff to get more people to come. They gather, they pray, they worship, they study, they pray, and they pray and thats it.
The cell group we attended today was in a bigger, wealthier lady's house. There were about 15 women.. and a few infants. So the mood was a little different. The women sang loud and passionately. We spoke to them about what God has been showing us lately...about TRUST. And then we prayed... a lot. That's one thing I want to change by the time I get back..the way I pray. Everytime people here pray, they are passionate and strong and full of faith...they know the power of prayer...and they act like it. The first woman to throw out a prayer request asked that we pray for her relatives living in another part of India..because they were being persecuted for being Christians....THEY WERE GETTING THEIR LEGS AND ARMS CUT OFF AND THEN BEING HUNG ON TREES...some were still alive after going through it! When I was asked to pray for them I didn't even know how! Please ask God to send mighty mighty angels to bind the evil things going on over here...and remember martyrdom is not something of the past! It is happening all over the world. And think, Christianity isn't even illegal here and people are getting killed for it still.
The real praise report here is the impact of the cell groups. Pastor Daniel was telling us that because of them, the name of Jesus is being spread like wild fire. The groups are growing every week! For some people, its the only way they are hearing the Word because the church is too far..or else their parent of spouse won't allow them to go to a "church". Our friend Ashan leads four a week!

Miss you!
Kate