"A home away from home"

Dear Friends,
I am doing really well today. I feel like I am running around enjoying the best of everything. Ministry has begun, and we are loving it. Our mornings consist of one of us preaching. So far, I have preached twice. Uncle Augustine is really impressed with our sessions; in fact, he is so impressed he told us to write out our sermons in essay form so that he can publish them in "Word for the World's" English magazine. I felt like a rockstar after he told us this, and it was very humbling for him to lean over after one of my sermons and really encourage me with some kind words. After the morning sessions, the headaches come as we tackle the language of Tamil. We have a ton of fun as we three try to pronounce the words. The Indians just have a fits of laughter as we are trying to say one word and accidentally end up saying another word. We eat lunch next and watch a cricket or cartoons. Then by three o'clock, all the young boys are done with school, and English class begins. Kristen takes the lead in this area; all though I find my knowledge of English grammar not to be too rusty as I occasionally can dish out a particular "part of speech." After English class, I am asked to do five different things for the fun portion of the day: cricket, chess, TV video games, or "business" (Monopoly with ruppies).
Like I said, life seems to have become normal, and our team is just fitting in, like we belonged here all along. If I am not teaching or preaching, then I am reading "The Way of the Shepherd," listening to my pastor's sermons on I John, or just hanging out with the young men. Last night, I dressed in my red kurta and went to a wedding of about 2,000 people. As some may know, people excite me. After the wedding, there was an incredible reception. It was not long before I went exploring and tried to fully experience my first, ever Indian wedding. I drank three cups of purple Kool-Aid, ate a bag of pop corn, ate some cotton candy, and had three bowls of ice cream after eating Breannie-a traditional wedding meal; it is chicken with rice...very good and very hot, hence the three bowls of ice cream.
After singing the doxology, I remembered "I'm in India...oh no...wait...I'm at a wedding in India!" This place, the people, and the times are starting to feel like "a home away from home." For this, I am very grateful and encouraged. I know I am starting to fit right in when I can fall asleep on the way home from the wedding. When we got back to the apartment, I leaned on the gate excitedly as Benesh talked to the woman who lives behind us, who seems "very much in the know of things." She was talking about the young lady, who lives beneath us, who was going to get betrothed soon, but complications have arisen. Before the night was over, the lady, a Hindu, asked us to pray for the money to send her children to a good school, bought us some ice cream, and finished up her thoughts on the engagement situation.
If you were to call tonight and ask, "So Seth, what's been happening lately?" I would simply and
happily respond, "Oh, you know, just life."
In Christ Alone,
Seth Flores