First Day in Bangalore

We finally had a semi-leisurely schedule yesterday as we travelled from Bhubaneswar to Bangalore. There are many on the team with sore throats, sinus colds and coughs, although all are well prescribed & dosed it still takes a day or two for recovery - please continue to pray for good health and a strong finish to the mission.

The medical teams finally worked independently for the first time here in Bangalore. The Bethesda Ministries of India organization, who coordinate some of our clinic activity, led by Pastor Christopher Moses, is well-organized and they have 5-6 years of experience working with us. Here we always find ample translators and support staff in all the appropriate languages for this region (Kannada, Tamil, Telugu & Hindi). The most exciting aspect of working in this region is the opportunity to directly share the gospel of Christ and even to pray with our patients. We will report on the number of those that prayed to receive Christ later this week.

Today was an awesome clinic day, our combined teams saw over 800 patients bringing our mission total to just over 4600 to date. We finally received our one lost piece of luggage which contained eye glasses and began to prescribe these today. Our pharmacists will be up late tonight restocking medical bags from a record number of prescriptions over the last two clinic days.

Should be an exciting next few days. Keep us in your prayers as we minster to this community.
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The link below will take you to Today's photos: http://flickr.com/photos/94059942@N00/sets/72157594475118555.
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The link below will take you to the video updates for Joy India team (requires Quicktime): http://www.firstdallas.org/Missions/

Hello Delhi - A Foggy Arrival

Although dense fog at the Indira Gandhi Airport delayed some flights, all team members have safely arrived in Delhi.

This afternoon following our first team meeting we set off for a brief tour of Delhi. Our first stop was the Sikh temple "Gurudwara Bangla Sahib". Among many things for which this temple is known it feeds approximately 15,000 people daily from a large publicly staffed "soup kitchen". It also contains a large pool of holy water in which devotees drink and bathe.

We also toured a local souk near the Jama Masjid mosque where we were treated to a bicycle rickshaw tour through the amazingly crowded narrow passageways.

Tomorrow we begin our first clinic day. All the teams will work together in the Rohini section of North Delhi. We will setup in a local civic center for the day.

Pray that all weary travelers get rest this evening and that all logistics go smoothly as we begin the 2007 Mission.

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Below is a small picture archive of today:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/94059942@N00/sets/72157594456983959