India

Maranatha! The Lord has been putting India on my heart for quite some time. I don't know all the reasons to be honest, but I know that He is giving me love for that country in general. I know it's partly because the country is so needful of Jesus and it is open, something becoming more rare in our world. The other night I sat up in bed and was up to 3:00 a.m. thinking and praying about India, specifically Mombai and Kashmir. I didn't know much about those areas specifically at the time but I knew that the Lord wanted me to pray that the Gospel would be preached there. I later learned that Gospel For Asia has had missionaries go into Jummu/Kashmir but it's a war torn place and because of the Islamic agression there, not a lot of people visit much. A GFA missionary was killed there a while back. I will continue to pray.

At any rate, the Lord has graciously provided me with an opportunity to go India on business. I'll be going to Bangalore, in Karnataka state (Southern India). What an answer to prayer! I hope to connect with the Calvary Missions group that is operating there if possible. I don't know how I can be helpful, but I want to be available for the Lord to use and not be a hinderance in anyway to people who give so much to honor their guests. The wonderful thing is that the Lord arranged the trip through work so I don't have to pay for it! And I will be able to get a Visa, which often takes time, but because I'm going for work it will happen quite quickly. I love it when the Lord puts things together. I know He will use it for His purposes, whether that is to serve the Indian people somehow or to be changed personally as a result of getting to experience their culture. I'm open to whatever He wants to do.

Though I've prayed for boldness in sharing my faith, I feel that the Lord convicts me that it's about love more than boldness, though He gives us both. May we have the love of Christ as we step out to serve and tell people about Jesus wherever we are.

1 John 4:15-19 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. (16) And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. (17) Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. (18) There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. (19) We love Him because He first loved us.

A friend at work is from Bangalore and she provided me with the following information about her home town that may be interesting or helpful to others:

Travel & General:
http://www.virtualbangalore.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangalore

Karnataka State Tourism Development Corp: I would take day trips through this agency. They have bus tours to most tourist spots around Bangalore. Or ask your hotel concierge if you want to hire a private car.
http://kstdc.nic.in/

Popular spots:

• Bannerghatta national forest for tiger sightings 25 km from B'lore
• St. Mark's church, Hudson church, Dodda Ganesha gudi (temple), Lalbagh botanical garden etc in bangalore
• Mysore - Palace, Chamundi temple, Zoo, St.Philomina's church, Nanjungud temple
• American expat in Bangalore writes ... http://www.chillibreeze.com/articles/Top10Trips.asp

Shopping:

• M.G. Road
• Commercial Street
• Shoes on Brigade Road
• Bangalore Central Mall, Forum on Hosur Road, Garuda Mall on Magrath Road, Prestige Eva Mall off Brigade Road, Sigma Mall on Cunningham Road

Food:

• Groceries at Spencers on M.G Road, any Food World stores. You can find reliable bottled water, milk, juice, fresh fruit, crackers etc.
• Try fast foods like Masala Dosa (rice crepes with spicy potato filling), idli (Steamed rice-lentil cakes), vada (fried savory lentil doughnuts) at any restaurants that end with "Darshini" or "Sagar" or "Darshan". Typical meal would be less than 50c. Take your own fork.
• Bakeries have a good selection of bread, and buns. White bread is sweet and so are regular buns. There are also spicy buns called khara buns and potato filled buns called palya buns:-)Typical snack would be less than 50c.
• Indo Chinese is good too - I like Oriental Spice near Ganjam's Jewellery on Infantry road; Rice bowl on Lavelle road. Typical meal would be about $10.00.
• Pizza - pizzahut. Price similar to US prices.
• Authentic Local Food - MTR, South Indian Thali at any good restaurant (can't think of specific restaurant). Typical meal would be about $3.00.
• Nice restaurants - Tandoor on M. G Road, Tycoons, Ebony at Barton Center Plus any restaurants associated with the hotels. $25 - $50 per person.
• I used to love the cake fudge ice cream at the Corner House on Residency Road.
• More restaurants at http://www.karnataka.com/tourism/bangalore/burp.shtml