It's been awhile and too much has happend to catch up with. There seems to have been alot of heartbreak lately. I was in a village where a few of us found this precious little girl named Regeni. We thought she was a baby of about a year and half old. But as we treated a gaping wound on her forehead that was infested with flies, we learned that she was actually 5 years old. this little girl had lost her mother at the age of 4 months and been left to lay in the dirt by her father for the past 5 years. Her grandmother does all she can to care for her but is so blind and frail that she can hardly care for herself. Regeni's perfectly healthy, cared and provided for 6 year old brother attepmts to give her food sometimes. But she is so terribly malnutritioned and full of worms as a result of eating dirt that there is little to be done. When I picked her frail little body up I could feel her lungs rattling every time she sucked air into them. We were broken and ready to do anything to help her. But the greatest tragedy is that her family refused to let us help. Refused to let us pay for a doctor or even bring a doctor to the village. The situation became dangerous as tempers and words flaired and we were forced to leave the village. Now all we can do is pray. It seems like so little yet I know it is so much. I actually pray for Regeni to be in the arms of her heavenly Father, free from her suffering.
Suffering, such a prevalent thing in this place. I have a friend Onita who lives at the Mother Theresa house. A few weeks ago I held her while she writhed in pain as my friend Silvina dug worms and magots from her open wounds. Onita is healing so well now and her smile is returning. Her body is still skinny beyond what you can imagine. But as I sang a Christina Aguilera song to her yesterday about how beautiful she is, she couldn't stop grinning. It was truly beautiful. Onita bonita, it rhymes so well. Still more suffering. I lost my Aunty Pam. I really love that woman. But as my mama said, she has gone home to be with the Lord, she is done with earthly pain and suffering, no more for her, only paradise and praising the Lord. Yes my heart aches and my tears have been my food for days now but I will yet put my hope in the Lord and lead the people into the house of the Lord with shouts of joy and singing.

Smells Like Curry

My hand that is. I know it sounds sick, but my right hand has this permanent odor of curry wafting around it that I just can't seem to scrub away. It kind of cracks me up how I indulge in the guilty pleasure of eating with my hands with such gusto. At every meal time I find myself glancing around to make sure dad isn't going to get on my case for not having proper manners. Hee hee. Well, ministry has finally been picking up since we got through the busyness of Christmas and trying to move house for the YWAM base director here. Yesterday I spent some time at the Mother Theresa house here in Kanpur. It houses mentally and physically handicapped adults. I was able to help my nurse friend Silvina dress a womans wound. This woman Onita who I was able to pick up with one arm has an open wound 10 inches long down the front part of her right leg across her foot and under the foot. Her bone is completely exposed all the way down as are the bnoes in the side of her foot and her pinky toe. Last week Silvina dug magots and worms out of the wound for a half hour with tweezers. This week the wound was much better and we only needed to clean it. I spent some time helping Onita move her legs. She needs to do this because her feet are completely swollen due to a lack of movment. I feel such a burden to help the faithful nuns who are so overwhelmed with to much to do and not enough time to properly take care of their patients.
I have still not had the chance to visit my friend Soni who I met when I was last in India. Soni's husband had tried to burn her alive so that he could getanew wife. Silvina and I found her and got her into a hospital where she was able to recover somewhat. Silvina told me that Soni's throat is much worse though. The burns fused her chin and neck together and she needs an operation to seperate them but of course her family can't afford it. Please pray for Onita and Soni. I am looking forward to spending more time with them and sharing more about my Jesus with both ladies.
So new years day I got to go to a party with a bunch of Hindu college students. It was unlike any college party I could have ever imagined. Think ballons, musical chairs, guys dancing like monkeys, a 70's dance floor complete with color block lights, hindi dance mix and chowmein. Very junior high in some ways. Happy New Year!