Friday was another project day at the pre-vocational school. We followed through with our plan from last week to batik dye the hankies with the children. We used "holy" coloring powder which you can get in all different vibrant colors mixed with water, vinegar, and salt. They really enjoyed dipping the hankies in the color and then using rubber bands to create rings of the first color when we dipped them into the second color. They came out beautifully, and because the project was multi-step, it was a very successful project day that held their attention.

I went into the city on Friday night to get dinner and read up on the news. Unfortunately, the English newspapers aren't very good here. Even The Times of India has very short and not well-written pieces. They also tend to be light on international news. But I still wanted to get a sampling of what newspapers are like in India. I went to one of the news stands and bought a few, and then went to sit at a favorite cafe of ours in the city center.

On Saturday we had a base cleanup at both schools. Once a month we try to do a really thorough cleanup where we disinfect all the toys and materials and try to get some yard work done as well. With so many of the teachers present, it only takes about 2 hours to clean both schools. In the afternoon I went with Laura, Jana, and Hannah to the Mysore Silk Factory, something that Hannah wanted to see on her last weekend. She leaves for Germany on Wednesday.

Mysore is famous for its silk, used to make beautiful sarees and scarves. They say that you can be sure it's Mysore silk if you can fit the entire saree through a wedding (or any other, I guess) ring. The factory is completely operational, but not very visitor friendly. Although we were able to see the raw silk threads, the weaving, dyeing, and drying process, and the finished product, there was no one to explain to us what was happening. My favorite part was watching them prepare the vats of brilliantly colored dye and dip the cream silk fabric in to absorb the color. After they spin the excess dye off in a machine, they hang them up to dry in a large open room. The long pieces of colorful fabric waving in the breeze were beautiful.

Today I went with John to Mysore Grace Bible Church, which is another church where he preaches once a month. Their service is conducted primarily in Kannada and Tamil, but when John speaks they also translate into English. Messages have to be kept a little bit shorter because it takes a lot of time to deliver the entire thing in three languages. It's also really hard to follow the train of thought. It must be really difficult to translate for people! After the first church service we went to Hema's church where they had a giant birthday celebration for their Pastor Joel. There were probably 200 people there, and they prepared lunch and had a gigantic cake big enough for everyone, plus leftovers. Joel has been a really influential Pastor for so many in this congregation, and I've heard stories of his impact from Hema. She really looks up to him as a strong male figure in her life since both her father and husband are deceased.

In the evening we (the Locklears, Shiro, Joshua, and Rachel, and I) went to Sunita's parents farm, which is about 20 minutes away. This is where John and Sunita have the land where they hope to build the new BGSS soon. Mr. and Mrs. Peters (Sunita's parents; Tata and Agi to me) run an orphanage and school with their one son (Sunita's brother) who recently moved back to India from the states. The school is called Benson's and both the facility and the work they do are amazing. About 30 orphans live in two dormitories and receive a full education plus Bible instruction. There are also many more students, like Hema's two sons, who come during the day only for school. We arrived just in time for me to come to the chapel service that the children in the orphanage have on Sundays. Their singing was so joyful, and I loved hearing them recite their memory verses for Tata as he quizzed them on the Bible knowledge he has been teaching to them. We ate dinner at Tata and Agi's house, which was amazing. Seriously, Indian food is the best. Sunita's parents are so great, and I wish that everyone could meet Agi. The best word I can use to describe her is regal, but she is also so warm and loving. I'm jealous of Harley and Hayden who get to have her as a grandma.

I miss you all so much! Please pray for a good week at school as I finish the curriculum and for my planning for this next school year coming up. God is in control of everything!