Happy Independence Day from India! Unfortunately, I experienced nothing resembling the traditional American celebration today, but that was fine. Meat is scarce here, so making a hamburger wasn't even really a possibility. I'll just go eat a mango instead.

I had a really nice and relaxing weekend just doing some cleaning in the apartment, communicating with some of you back at home, and doing some exploring as well. On Sunday morning I went with John to a local brethren church where he speaks once per month. It was similar to my experience in Ireland, at least the head coverings and gender separation and only men sharing during worship. It's a Kannada-speaking assembly, so John had a translator (one of the elders, named Franklin, whose English and Kannada are both quite good). I was so blessed by their hospitality, kindness to me, and fervent worship. Franklin and another elder (plus their wives) had me stay for lunch, and even got a Dominos pizza for me because they were worried that I wouldn't like Indian food. They had nothing to fear, however, because Franklin's wife Flora is an exceptional cook. It was so nice to meet them and share about what I was doing and hear about their plans to finish a more permanent building, as they currently meet in the upper room of Franklin's house.

Today Sunita and I met to begin planning some curriculum for the language class. Unfortunately, many of the parents whose children attend our pre-vocational school have given up hope that their child will learn much beyond a pre-school or first grade level. They would prefer that we focus purely on job-related skills so that each child might be employed and a little more independent in the near future. BGSS has a cut-off at 18 years, and two of the boys currently enrolled (Kevin and Harsha) are 17 years old. We really have to assess where they are currently and what might be achieved before they leave the school. Planning and setting goals for the children who are younger (like Nireeksha, who is only 8) is much easier. We have higher hopes for what they might be able to learn in their time at the school.

BGSS currently owns a sizable piece of farmland about 20 minutes from their current location where they hope to build a handicapped-accessable and fully-functioning school by the end of 2012 or beginning of 2013. The process in India for rezoning land from farm to commercial use is really difficult and lengthy, but paperwork has been processing and things are poised on the edge of a new start. This would mean individual classrooms where students could be fully focused on their work (instead of now where they are distracted by other children through the simple partitions) and even apartments for international teachers. Sunita asked me tonight about my plans for the future and told me that BGSS is very interested in having me sometime in the not-too-far-away future join as a long-term teacher to help both staff (all of whom are not native speakers) and students with English. Obviously, this is a thrilling possibility that requires tremendous amounts of prayer. I'm content to begin by praying that this new and much-needed facility can be built in a year or so.

Please continue to pray for my effectiveness in the school this week and for a clear mind about future work with BGSS. God has a plan for everything!