A Day of Rest.- Sunday

We spent a wonderful morning at a Chinese Movie Theatre yesterday, in church. The Powerhouse Church is just as billed, a great worship team combined with solid teaching, all done in a new Chinese motif theatre. Dragons on the walls and a gold Buddha impression on the wings of the massive screen were no match for the Truth presented. Everywhere we have gone we’ve been very welcomed by local believers and the numerous ex-pats that we find in local churches and here was no exception. One ex-pat noticing the cultural diversity of our team noted that we must be from the corners of the globe. Not really we’re just from the West Coast. As we ended our time, we were hurried out of the establishment by an old woman carrying burning incense in a large iron caldron. The smoke spewed out of the hallway and shooed us all away.

Deciding to visit a local mall for much needed shopping opportunities we crammed into a cab: 4 in the back 3 in the front, including the driver. Alas our team has bonded, at least as far as the cabs are concerned. But we were missing a couple from our group, as sickness set in. We have had several team members sick or feeling sickly, but this weekend seemed to be a bit more severe for a couple of us.

Shopping was a treat, and the mall was packed. The City Center Mall was very Western with several trendy shops and a large food court, we took the opportunity to try some different foods than strictly Indian flavors. Young people, families and couples fill the isles and it seems much like home, except for the ride home. As we climb into the cab heading back to the Beverly we drive around the outside of the mall and pass literally hundreds and hundreds of motorcycles (two wheelers) that encircle the place, no SUVs here. It seems like a Harley convention only these bikes are much lighter. They say there are 2 million motorized vehicles in Chennai with over 1.5 million being two wheelers. The vastness of the parked bikes simply illustrates the large and growing population of youth that cover every block of this massive city, quite a sight to behold.

We spend the evening debriefing for the week and wolfing down some delivered Smokey Joes Pizza, (a prior clients establishment) we talk and pray for several hours, mostly talk, but realize in prayer what a special time we’re having and are expectant for the final week ahead.

Phil Curran