Random Bits from India

So for those of you that aren't quite sure what to picture in your minds when I tell you I'm in India, here's some random bits about it.

1. There are monkeys here. Real wild monkeys with long tails walking around on the streets and tops of buildings. And they are in the city - not just some remote villages!

2. Men commonly relieve themselves on the side of the road. No matter how busy of a street or how many people are around.

3. The food is SPICY! They love flavor and so all 3 meals every day are full of flavor and spices.

4. People eat with their hands. No silverware. When you are done eating, they bring you a bowl of hot water to rinse your hands in. We like to call them "finger spas"

5. Everybody everywhere wants you to pray for them. This is completely awesome and (although I'm bad at estimating numbers) I would imagine we have laid hands on about 1,000 or more people so far.

6. People are not touchy here. Not even the kids. They don't even usually hug you. There are rare exceptions but you are more often to get a bow or handshake rather than a hug.

7. Women have to wear skirts or sarees and keep their legs, and shoulders covered, and their heads must be covered when in church services or while praying. This makes for some intense heat, considering it's about 110-115 degrees here and extremely humid.

8. The people are absolutely beautiful, especially the women. They love lots of color, so the sarees and churches are covered in bright colors and lively patterns.

9. There is an interesting mix of smells. Gross smells of urine and trash are intermingled with smells of fresh jasmine that the women commonly wear in their hair, and spicy food smells from local food vendors to create an ever changing assortment of aromatics.

10. Jesus is here. I feel more like the church that God created in the book of Acts than I ever have in my life. People are receptive to prayer and the Word of God, and He does miraculous things because of it.