"Mumbai"

Dear Friends,
What can I say? I have been in India for almost six weeks, and I am beginning to live life here very casually. As I am living my life day-to-day, I find that I am reminding myself, "Oh, wow, I almost forgot; I'm in India." This has happened more than I can remember.
I have finished my ministry in Mumbai, and it was incredible. I stayed with Uncle Pepin and his family, which included his wife Fatima, who I call Auntie, his daughter (Selena), and his son (Phillip). We taught in the slum schools every morning from 8-12:15.
I taught the 8th and 9th standard; there were about nine boys in the class and two girls. Andrew and Kristen both tackeled the 5th and 6th standard, and although teaching the 8th and 9th standards was hard; after hearing Andrew and Krsiten's repeated war-cries to quiet the class, I was very thankful for my bunch. My students did not get a break with me being the teacher; I thought to myself, "No blood, no foul," so I brought the heat.
I taught grammar, which included all eight parts of speech; I included infinitive verbs, linking verbs, gerunds, and participles. I taught "Maths" as they call it. We did problems usually for an hour straight with every other four or five being increasingly harder. We covered science--the solar system, the three laws of reflection, the parts of an atom, and the interior of the Earth (crust, mantle [magma is made here in some chambers; it surfaces as lava], outer core, and inner core). We covered composition and communications, as they wrote a page-long story with the words I gave them, and then presented it to the class. As a leader, this was rewarding. One day, we covered all the continents, oceans, special countries and their languages. Another day for History, we covered the fall of the Babylonian Kingdom by the Medo-Persian Empire. Let's just say, when it was push-up time (PE time), my kids were thrilled.
The kids were wonderful, and the ministry with Brother Lemma was incredible. He is a man, who has led most of all the believers in one slum, to the Lord. He walks around saying very loudly, "Praise the Lord," and funny enough believers on the street repeat it back to him, and then come to shake his hand. We did some house to house visits in the slums. We prayed over everyone who had us in their home. On our first Sunday, we three students ran around Mumbai preaching. We did this at four different churches! I preached twice, and Andrew and Kristen both preached once. This was a tiring day. At the end of our time in Mumbai, Dr. Matt Benson and Bonnie-Marie have come to take us back to Chennai. Their company has been incredible. I find myself thinking and speaking very fast English, because I have, for so long, been speaking so slow. This is my story for thelast two weeks. Maybe soon, like tomorrow, I can write some of things I have learned recently. Until then, I hope you enjoyed a little glimpse of our crazy, and yet, wonderful time in Mumbai.

In Christ Alone,
Seth Flores