From: elaine [mailto:writersinfonetwork@juno.com]
Hello friends,
i feel your prayers i know God is answering and I'm so glad
i'm not doing this alone.
after emailing yesterday, beryl, lauren and i retuned to our
hotel to rest and chat. we ended up having a great time of sharing
our concerns and observations for the various ministries we
are involved in. and then God's presence came as we spent
a lot of time in prayer, worship, and singing. it was so good.
lauren felt led to pray specifically for my healing as she anointed
me with oil -- to be well, able to speak and continue with all my
duties. well, God heard her prayers and those of all of you. PTL!
even though i coughed and sputtered much of the night, at
4:30 am God awoke me to spend time with him and prepare
my thoughts for what i was to say at the St. Thomas Tamil
Anglican Church. It is more than 200 years old, majestic,
very traditional and filled with about 250-300 people. By 7:00 am,
i had carefully written out 5 pages of my prepared talk. and just enough
time to get ready before jacob picked up beryl and I for the sunday
morning service. Well, my voice was loud and clear, even though
i managed to knock the microphone off the stand with one of my
exhuberant hand motions. BUT, God took over my thoughts and
my 15 minute talk -- and I never even glanced at my notes.
Although the people are very quiet and somber, rarely cracking a
smile, many smiled and made eye contact as we walked down the
aisle when we had to leave the service early. (and yes, i wore my
bright blue india punjabi that i don't know how to keep the scarf in
place and properly draped from my shoulders!!!)
The rest of the team: Steve, Lauren and Beryl, went with Jacob to
the leprosy colony today to do a Sunday Service. I made the hard
choice to stay behind, go to the huge Assembly of God 9:30-11:30 am
service with Nicole, have lunch with her, and take her shopping for some
more necessities for her house. Hopefully i'll also get in a good afternoon
nap and some prep time for the Writers Workshop that starts tomorrow.
We are now at Nicole's office at Person to Person Counseling Services
and using their computers. Then we will walk to her home and drop off
all the purchases before going back to the hotel.
You'd be amazed at how adept i'm getting at jumping in and out of the
little auto rickshaws. and I'm not even squimish at the cars, motorcycles,
and buses headed right at us. i've ran across 6-8 lanes of traffic and somehow
all of this hustle, bustle, and people of india seems normal to me. (yikes!)
We have more invites for dinners at homes of friends and Writer Students
than we can possibly accept. So pray that all will accept our gracious decline
and not be too upset with us. Some of the expectations and demands of the
Indian culture are hard to understand, and of course viewed differently than the
way we do things. We're learning and adapting but it takes a great deal of time
and patience.
Steve did a fantastic job teaching at the Sunday School Teachers workshop
saturday morning. They all begged him to come back and teach them more
next saturday, but that probably is not possible.

There will not be enough time, money or energy to do all and meet the needs
of all that we see and are being asked for. Please pray that God will give us
wisdom and we will hear from Him as to how exactly to distribute His resources
that you entrusted us with.
With humble thankfulness for each of you,
elaine

elaine colvin
www.christianwritersinfo.net