Visit to India and Thailand

Jan - Feb 2008

I spent a few weeks visiting friends and business acquaintances in Thailand and India, and spending some time at their workshops.

Great time, with the opportunity to go sight-seeing and also being invited to preach at some church services and baptise some people. ( I am also an ordained minister :-)

I even had a ride on an elephant with a good mate Dave. It's amazing, the cattle, sheep, goats and cows just roam around the streets!

Found these little baby monkeys at a road side stall. I bought one for 50 Rupees, but knowing I couldn't bring it home - gave it back to the owner.

Photo on the right is after I was invited to baptise these two old woman. When they saw me, the one on the right gasped, and said in broken English, 'Just like the white people on TV!' She had never seen a white person before.

What was so cool about this baptism, was breaking the Muslim chain/necklace from around her neck,

and setting her free in the Name of Jesus.

Jeremiah 30:8

This photo is at a school hostel.

Several years ago (2002) a team of workers came out from NZ and built a swing set for this hostel, which houses around 50 children from ages 4 to 9 - as they attend a local boarding school.

These kids live in conditions we would consider as almost inhumane, and have very little apparant joy in the lives.

The main joy - their swing-set - had broken around 3 years ago and been chained up ever since.

It was so simple to repair, just requiring a bit of Kiwi improvising. Adapting padlocks for U-Bolts (which are unavailable in that area of India), I soon had the swing set fixed and ready for fun.

I invited the kids to have a go, expecting just one or two to jump on it.

15 kids immediately jumped on the swing and began jumping for joy and pure delight!

Let me share a true story with you.

I believe it was a miracle.

Arriving in Agartala, I was invited to preach at a church service.  Problem was, that after writing my message on my PDA - it was stolen from our Guest-House! To top it all off - I came down with a terrible head cold and chest infection.

So - there I was - arriving at this church in the middle of India, without even a hanker-chief and a Bible!  I didn't even have a pen to write some more notes to preach from.

When I arrived, the church was packed, and I was ushered to a spare seat that wasn't reserved for me. Sitting down, I felt very alone and abandoned - even by God!

Then, looking at the pew-rack in front of me - there was a brand new hanker-chief, a ballpoint pen from NZ, and a Bible - in English!!!

What are the odds of that happening?

Now that - despite what you believe about God - is a miracle!