This is Adele writing. I bring you greetings from Visakhapatnam.

Today was our first day of running “Creation to New Creation” for pastors and their wives. There were thirty men and fifteen women, who had travelled up to 7 hours to be there. I have two words for you. Exciting. And challenging.

My first shock was finding out to my dismay that I had spent last night preparing phrases in the wrong language. It turns out that these people speak Odia – not Telugu; because they come from a region called Aurissa. But it’s okay because I’ll still be able to use my notes. Next week we will be working with a group who will speak Telugu. Here’s hoping that we can be fluent in Telugu by then.

The people were really excited to be there and to see us, and we were warmly welcomed with beautiful flower garlands. Very beautiful, fresh flower garlands. I felt as though they weighed about 2 kgs each. And we were seated as honoured guests out the front of the pastors, facing them.

Before we began the coursework, there was singing with clapping and very skilled tambourine playing. Then Roy presented his testimony and gave a Bible talk using the interpretation model that we will be teaching later on in the week. After this, Pastor George presented the material for Unit 1. This went for about 45 minutes, and then we spent the following hour or so in smaller groups going through the corresponding discussion questions. There were three groups of men and two groups of women. There was a morning tea break and then we studied Unit 2 in the same format, with Pastor Mike guiding us this time.

At lunchtime Pastor Benny introduced us to the art of using flexible forks. Our hands! This was lots of fun to try. It is a good thing that lunch was so energizing because it was a big afternoon as well. The pastors had a 30 minute exam to test them on what they had just learnt, and then we finished up with Unit 3. All in a day’s work! But it’s reassuring to know that we have the easy job with presenting the message; it’s God who is using our ministry to help people grow and change on the inside.

Prayer points:

• Thank God that everyone arrived safely and keen to learn.
• Ask God that He would give us wisdom to speak His Word clearly and faithfully throughout the rest of the week.
• Ask God that He would be at work in the hearts and minds of the pastors and allow them to grow in their understanding and faith in God’s Word, so that they might share this fantastic news effectively with many others in their own communities.