From Joey Reim

This is our third day in India. Right now we are in the city Gunter, near the CLCI headquarters and orphanage.

I love everything about India! Despite the garbage and waste that lines the streets, and the stench that often accompanies it, this place is beautiful. Everything is colorful: the shops with clothes, fruit, flowers, and jewelry, the women's clothes, the billboards, the trees, and the buildings. I love how, in some ways, the people are so different! For example, we nod our heads up and down to say "yes" but they shake theirs side to side. And the traffic is crazy, they can get away with things that would get us a pretty hefty fine in the US. They signal with their horns, so there is a constant honking and beeping noise on the streets as cars swerve around each other on every side of the street. The people are so much like us in some ways too. The little boys flirt with and tease the girls, and they have stores like Levi's, Baskin Robbins, Pizza Hut, etc. here. These people love to smile, too. Smiling at them and waving seems to make their day.

We visited the orphanage last night. Their welcome was quite impressive! They had the area outside the orphanage covered in lights, and they welcomed us with banners, gifts, songs and dances by the Sunday school children. It's wonderful to see them praise the same God that we do in their own way, a reminder of how God's Word has been spread across the world. We are all His children and brothers and sisters in Christ.

Today we are splitting into smaller groups to travel to the different churches. I am excited to feel the people's enthusiasm for God's Word as we share it with them in the coming weeks!