Chris and Kris in India 20

Welcome,

Well another month has flown by, spring has sprung and the weather is now cool at night hot in the day. That's 60degF at night to 80degF daytime. Like the best English Summer you ever had. Today is overcast and cool, gardening weather so we will be sowing corn today, yep another experiment!

This month we will look at our church now one year old, our garden and the bees. A piece on Cannabis including a very brave testimony from an ex user. Comments from Kris. Plus one or two other things as they occur to us.

So, welcome, firstly my look at the ten (or should it be 12) commandments (Ten O/T two N/T)

This month:

The 9^th commandment.

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

Easy this one isn’t it, don’t lie, or does it mean more than that?

O Lord, who may abide in Thy tent? Who may dwell on Thy holy hill? He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart. He does not slander with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbour, Nor takes up a reproach against his friend; In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, But who honours those who fear the Lord; He swears to his own hurt, and does not change; He does not put out his money at interest, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken (Psalm 15).

O Lord, who may abide in Thy tent? Who may dwell on Thy holy hill? He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness. 

Integrity and Righteousness, for a moment please just consider this; is our society living up to this very simple command?  Are you? Jesus said to love thy neighbour as thy self, do we? Are our laws just? Our politicians honest? Our police without bias? Our courts places of truth and justice? Do we do unto others as we would be done unto? Can a young woman walk in town at 11pm in safety? Sadly I feel the answer to all the above is a solid No.

How many feel drugs and drink to be the centre of their lives? How many live in Sin through ignorance?  Even our churches seem to have abandoned ‘bible classes’ the simple teaching of God’s word……..WHY?  The answer from some church goers is 'we now live in the new covenant' (the new testament) so we don't teach the old Testament any more. What? That's like saying we teach history but only from AD 1, no history before then mattered,? So many run away from the debate in Genesis, how God made the world, what about the escape from slavery of the Jewish people? Its almost as though a' Modern charismatic church' is in some way divorced from the Old Testament stories and seem reluctant to say Christ was a Jew! The bible ALL of it is the story of God, Jesus is part of that story and we should not ignore this.
Still that is a debate for another time for now lets remember that none of us live as we should nor can we without adhering to the commandments given to Moses by God.

True testimony is essential for the administration and execution of justice and justice is the outworking and result of righteousness. You cannot separate the two. Lawyers try, politicians try, we all try but only by being truly honest in an honest society can there ever be true justice for all.

False witness bears testimony to the wrong people. True witness takes up the matter with the offender first, and then with those in authority, and finally, before all if necessary.                  
False witness neglects the God-given process; true witness begins with the individual and ends with a public proceeding, if required. Evidence and testimony is carefully scrutinised.

False witness seeks the harm of the innocent and the practice of evil; true testimony seeks to protect the innocent, to preserve justice, to restore the sinner and to remove unrighteousness.

False witness seeks to make a matter as public as possible; true witness makes sin only as public as is required. Put differently, love seeks to cover sin, while animosity seeks to publicise it.

False witnesses sometimes keep quiet when they should speak out; true witnesses speak out, even when it is painful to do so.

False witnesses are motivated by evil; true witnesses by their love for God, for good, and for justice.

False witness tears down and destroys others; true witness ultimately edifies others, even if it is initially painful and unpleasant.

False witness is selfish at its root; true witness is selfless and sacrificial.

Wise words: Author unknown.

Kris and I had a situation that tested us severely of late, we spoke as Christian Brother and sister to another who we felt was in sin, that person refused to alter their behaviour or admit what they were doing was sinful and so we had to take the matter to the church Elders, nothing seemed to be happening despite a promise to keep us informed of progress, by the conclusion we were willing to put the matter before the church as a whole.

The situation was dealt with and it was not necessary for us to ‘go public’ however we were both guilty of anger and impatience. Having witnessed and put the matter in the hands of our pastor we should have stepped back………..we didn’t , and by so doing allowed our personal feelings to drive us, not the Lords word.

We, for a while lost sight of the true purpose of our actions so be careful, to testify to the truth and to uphold Gods Law to fight for your beliefs even if based on God’s word is not without pitfalls for the unwary. The dark one uses every opportunity to cause harm, so even if the intention is for good beware his influence. This lesson God has taught us.

So where does this lead us, suppose your friend was accused of a crime, perhaps all he needs is for you to say ‘he was with me, so couldn't have done it’ would you?

Would it depend on the crime? Speeding or paedophilia does the crime matter to how you would act?

Does your unshakable belief in your friends innocence matter, no, and it must not, however tempted you are by the devil to lie to protect him remember in righteousness there is justice.

To give false witness is a sin, if you falsely accuse ‘the false witness must be punished for the same crime about which their testimony bore witness’ (Deut. 19:16-20).

This is no small thing, this is critical to a righteous society. Without a true witness, without fair law with prejudice for none we are all at the mercy of a corrupt system that is bound by man’s sinful nature to favour the rich and powerful to be influenced by fear, bribes, or blackmail, all of which have changed many a verdict. A jury member is influenced; perhaps two or three and the guilty walk free. Look at our laws, our courts, do you see man’s law at work through sin or do you see Gods eternal law and righteousness?
Do not pretend ignorance or look away, one day you will have to answer 'why' to your maker.
In 1521 Martin Luther used these words when he refused to recant his faith, I feel if we all adopted this attitude the world would be a far better place ' Here I stand, I can do no other'. Will you stand? Or will you look away?

In the Book of Revelation, our Lord is called, “the faithful and true witness” (Rev. 1:5; 3:14).

Jesus says to his disciples;

“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come” (Matt. 24:14).

(You are) My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

They were eyewitnesses to His life, His ministry and the miracles He performed as the messiah, His death, burial, and resurrection.

This was not witnessed by a few but by hundreds many of whom died under torture rather than deny what they knew to be the truth.

Jesus came as a witness, and when He departed from the earth, He left His church behind to be His witnesses. Thus, in the Book of Acts, the believers were frequently described as bearing witness to their faith and the fact of the resurrection. “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses” (Acts 2:32). It was this testimony which the Pharisees sought to silence by their persecution and intimidation (Acts 4:15-18), and yet the apostles could not cease to share what they had seen and heard (Acts 4:19-20). In answer to their prayer, the Holy Spirit came upon these witnesses, giving them boldness to speak the word of God.

(Acts 4:27-31).

It really does matter how we live our lives, how we witness to the truth at all times no matter the personal cost, better to lose all in this life than to bear false witness before our Lord.

Kris and I try daily to wake and thank the Lord for the day, we pray together for his guidance and protection from evil, we ask Him to help us this day live as He wants us to, act as He would ask us to, witness to all without fear for He is with us always. We fail daily to live up to His standards, but by trying we are blessed and He supports us and walks with us all our days.

If you are not ‘a believer in God’ then I ask you this: Look at your life, yourself, your treatment of others, are you content, are you living the best way for your fellow man, do you truly live a righteous and just life? Are you honest with yourself and others? Do you reject an afterlife?

It could all change for you, I know you may not believe me but in this but I truly am being “The faithful and true witness” Jesus requires me to be, and it feels so good to be free of deception and lies. No I will never be perfect, but in trying there is great joy and peace.

My life went from deep sin to the light of his love; I know how I have changed, I became a new person with a new life when I accepted Jesus as my saviour. If asked now I will tell the truth, I will not give false witness, sometimes that simple statement is so hard to live up to, but I try and in so doing move closer to God.

Around The Garden

Tree Shortening for beginners, 

or, 

How to convince the neighbours you have gone silly in the head!

First remove a section of trunk, cutting V's to aid joining of the

       top of the tree with the now shorter trunk.

                  Mix soft clay and water         Apply a splint to the join

         

                             Apply the clay mix over the splint

           Finally seal with cling film          The now shorter tree

Unfortunately we have to report that the patient developed an infection and had to be painlessly dispatched.

Still on the bright side we have three of its offspring growing elsewhere in the garden! AND about 20 seedlings in a tray.                  

                                                 

Loki on the vine, can you spot two?

This is our Mango tree, 6 months old and now 24" tall.
If it continues to grow we may get fruit in a few years.
People around here seem surprised its growing, fingers crossed that it survives summer.

Geranium grown from seed.

Roof tomatoes, far superior to the garden ones
better flavour and sweeter (same variety)
More sun here and pest free.

This is going to be our melon patch, (2nd attempt)
Through failure we progress!

                                   This area in sun is where we are
                                    planting corn.(Note the corpse)

Fruit this year (tree is 6 months old!) Pappia
tree, we have two more but a bit smaller than 
this one.

Sweet peas, going well, planted at the end of the monsoon

One of two Strawberry planters

The prickly patch, these will grow into large cacti

  

The Herb garden

growing things (don't ask me)

Drive and flower beds

 Four different varieties of cabbage

Small Cherry tomatoes, really nice
we have had pounds from them

Kitchen salad garden to be

Garden grown tomatoes

Indian Radish, 12" long

Bringle

Front door, seed trays, Garage

Bees
or 'Our girls'
Well so far so good, they are working away and seem to have settled in, although until we open them up for a look we don't know if they are just surviving or are storing food which would mean they are getting plenty of pollen. If this works it will be the basis of our planned bee project but for now we are just learning. The commercial hive doesn't look very attractive so we have been building them a new home, or to be more accurate a cover for their present home. The top lifts off and the front slides away leaving the commercial hive in place and undisturbed.

Many many man hours

Sorry sweetheart I borrowed your studio again

The 'inner' commercial hive

                                    Chris's  latest creation
                              

DANGER painter at work

Looking very smart in the garden

Our Church

How would you describe a church? Early Gothic; Wren with his Dome at St Pauls; The typical English country Parish Church; The Jewel and gold encrusted splendour of a cathedral, our home church at the Durham Centre? 

Or………none of the above!

A Church is the people who attend, who come, form and maintain it, who together worship, be it a grand domed hall or a shed in someone’s garden. God doesn't care.

Recently Kris and I had a discussion with a Christian couple who described our church as ‘Indian’ presumably because we are in India, so Indian rules and etiquette should apply within it. We were at pains to point out that the location didn't matter it was the people who made a church, so no it wasn't an Indian Church, a British church, nor African or any other race, it was Gods church..

We are proud to be able to say we are a multicultural family church who looks to Jesus our Lord for our guidance and strength.

We were formed just over a year ago and have moved buildings once since and have been steadily growing.

We began in the Gospel Centre in Udaipur, an L shaped room where half the congregation couldn’t see the other half!

The worship team led by standing in the corner, very funny when it came to shouting greetings to each other. But we filled the place with praise for our lord.

Our new meeting place is in one of the rooms of a shopping Mall, at first only half filled then little by little it grew. I remember well one Sunday when our Pastor was running around worrying that we didn't have enough seats…………what great news! Now we all but fill it.

We have a children’s ministry organised by Kris that is also growing, now about six children depending on who comes. Of late she has been offered help by one of the young men who come so that’s good. Our music team is great; they work so hard and rehearse every week at a friend’s flat. We also have a laptop to use the projection system and a sound system recently donated by one of our group, so as it says in the good book….we make a joyful noise!

We are very open to testimony and gifts from our Lord, as with all groups like this we try to have some sort of schedule but God often has other ideas.

Kris and I leave refreshed and recharged every time we attend. About every other Sunday we visit other Christian groups, a couple of weeks ago it was a small local School celebrating Independence day, this week it was to a bike group in another town where we had the chance to testify and make many new friends. 

Not so many weeks ago the debate on a name for our church ended, how it was concluded I have no idea, but it is spot on, officially now it is

 'City Church'.

The sign reads 'City Church.....A multicultural family church,
Meet Jesus Here, ALL Welcome

Some of our diverse group at our first birthday

                          there was a really good party atmosphere

 Getting ready to rock Pastor Manu sorting out his sounds

Sister Janet, the backbone of the worship team
and a great example to all the women there.

 

This is City Church's own Barber shop group

 
        
      A whole family                         singing together       

Pastor Paul giving the word.

 
 

  He has a lovely voice, Janet will be after him now for the music team!

 



This came with song and a national dance 

                             Love the moves girls they were great

 
           

      Making that joyful noise! 

These guys can really sing pity we could not record it

 

This has got to go down in history as 

               'The Tonga Rock'

       Pastor Manu giving it some.
      

                                Jean organising the Line Dancing

 
Some American line  dancing, odd, far less chaos than anticipated.

The majority of people joined in the line dancing I (Kris) did not want to twist my knees (knee replacements are precious to me) so watched well that is my excuse and I am sticking to it.

 

 

 Who says white people cant dance!

            YE-HAW!

                          Yummy

 
 Three of our younger girls all looking  lovely

                 I still hate my photo taken especially when eating! ta Chris

One bits good, two bits are better

Wonder where he gets it from!

This couple were just visiting and got a little more than they were expecting

 

                               Chilling out with friends and food 

This month was our Churches Birthday, someone thought up the idea of coming in national dress, or performing for the church a national song or dance. I decided I would do the photographs as I can’t sing or dance! Well that was my excuse at least!

Pastor Manusiu
Here is MY MISSION STATEMENT for the church and this is my dream and desire. I hope you understand what I mean because the church's MISSION STATEMENT should come from the church's leadership/elders but this is how I envision  CITY CHURCH.

"UDAIPUR CITY CHURCH TO LEAD ALL PEOPLE TO A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST. To BRING (Evangelism) ALL PEOPLE into the family of God and DISCIPLE ALL PEOPLE to obey ALL His commands and TRAIN ALL PEOPLE to fulfill their ministry in the Church and to SEND  ALL PEOPLE to GO and MAKE AN IMPACT in every spheres of the society and beyond".

Pastor Manu leads our church with support from Pastor Paul and others but it is his fire, strength and dedication that so often fuels a meeting and gives us all the courage to allow the holy spirit in. He is always a true Christian brother never wavering in his love of Christ or his devotion to his flock. His wife Puii is steadfast in her support of Manu, the church and three fine children (sorry .....young people!) They are a great couple who we enjoy having visit us very much.
On a lighter note: he does a mean Tongan Rock!




Cannabis.
As an ex user, dealer and general dope head I feel qualified to comment on cannabis abuse. So much has appeared on the web in favour of legalising it as a safe way to get stoned. I feel I must speak out against it. Let me be clear If you are an adult you have the right to abuse your body any way you want to.
Its children reading the rubbish like the add below and being led by lies and half truths into believing cannabis to be safe that infuriates me. Why do we allow our children to be exposed to this stupid nonsense! If your child uses Face book or any of the other social networks please be aware of the dangers of the misinformation and downright lies that is put out by believers in legitimising cannabis.
I used it for many years, including 'good' skunk, the price for doing so I still pay. Skunk, a form of cannabis that has been bred to have approximately four times the level of THC (the compound that hits the brain to give the stoned feeling) in it.

Its not addictive: MYTH.                                                                                                          I regularly used cocaine and for a while was injecting amphetamine sulphate (speed) as an addict, walking away from both was easier than cannabis, because you become mentally dependent on it to live a stable life. You are depressed so have a joint, want to really get into some music, have a joint, going for a night out you have a joint or two to 'get you in the mood'. It gets into your life like no other drug.

Every day I wake up, I long for a joint

Every cigarette I smell,, I long for a joint

Every meal I eat, after it, I long for a joint

Every beer I drink, I long for a joint

Every time I am stressed, I long for a joint

Every time I think of the old days, I long for a joint

Every time I see others smoke it, I long for a joint

I know that for the rest of my life in everything I do I will always long for a joint..................including right now thinking about it!

This is a common fake add in favour of cannabis, by blurring cannabis and hemp together people are led to believe they are the same. They are not. Hemp IS legal to grow, farmers grow tons of it. The adds like that above attempt to link cannabis to hemp so it all appears safe. Cannabis is not legal to grow. They are from the same genus but so is a cauliflower and a cabbage and they are not the same either.

Here are some common misconceptions.

People who smoke the stuff or use it as a recreational drug will do so anyway whether or not it's legal. If we ban this, why not ban alcohol? or tobacco? or knives? or cars?! or solvent glue?! they all kill people. However knives, cars and solvent glue just happen to be incredibly useful, as is this plant and the cannabis variant. 

We do ban Knives, Alcohol, Tobacco, cars and solvent glue. We ban children from using them.

Making it completely legal will rid us of a criminal underworld who want it illegal so that they can keep their businesses going. Making it legal will also give those who do want to get stoned a legal safer alternative to some of these deadly synthetic legal drugs that keep popping up.

Again, speaking as an ex dealer I sold at least two Kilo a month of Cannabis to regular users, the majority were ordinary people who wanted to just get stoned. Amphetamine sulphate and coke used to sell well at the weekends for party people. The people who used class A started with cannabis, they moved onto class A for the better hit, they first used it at parties given them by friends……NOT the dealer that is a complete myth put about by ill-informed people . Make it legal you just increase the number of users and they will go down the same route! As a dealer I would have been very happy to have it made legal my customers for class A would shoot up and that’s where the real profit is, not in cannabis. As for deadly synthetic drugs, that is frankly a meaningless comment, common table salt is a synthesis of two compounds  2Na + Cl₂ → 2NaCl,      sulphur dioxide S + O₂ → SO₂  even good old rust  4Fe + 3O₂ → 2Fe₂O₃. Nuff said!

There are however many therapeutic benefits to using it, especially in alleviating some chronic conditions like cancer and MS in it's raw form or as an oil.

This overlooks the deadly side effects, psychosis and depression if eaten, lung cancer as well if smoked. And yes you can smoke the oil.  Look at the rate of mental illness and suicide among users. However if you are an adult, you make your own choice, just keep it away from children. I know if I was dying from cancer I would use it to help with the pain and to make my days more bearable.

Why is ANY plant illegal? They are on this planet for a reason. This one plant could stop the worlds deforestation and provide many many benefits. The only reason this it is either controlled (in the UK) or illegal (in the USA) is that it is a massive threat to big business and removes our dependency on them.

Deadly nightshade, Flyagaric, Deaths head mushrooms, Willow,Ivy do I need to go on! Every plant can have benefits,I would have thought the best way to stop deforestation would be to plant trees., there are many plants  however that are lethal in their raw form as is Cannabis.Why are they illegal? Because the overwhelming evidence shows that if people are left to eat, drink or smoke whatever we like we will not think of the long term harm, only the short term benefits.

If tobacco was discovered now would we allow it? Heroin was developed to help addicts get off Opium, Methadone was developed to help Heroin users get off it, methadone is addictive....the list of human mistakes in this area is almost endless.

Cannabis causes harm to the developing brain, the most at risk from it are our children. They see friends do it so peer pressure and misinformation leads to its use. 
If you are between 15 and 25 the harm caused to the cognitive areas of your brain is permanent.

Parents please don't think its like it was in my day, the cannabis available now is NOT safe, its four times stronger and causes more cancer than tobacco. 
(as a ratio of tobacco smokers/cannabis users)

Please don't just believe me in fact, DON'T believe me find out the truth for yourself!

Check it out with the British Medical Foundation or any reputable drug counselling service, 

DON'T BE A DOPE! YOU DON'T NEED DRUGS, YOU DO NEED YOUR BRAIN!

This testimony was sent to me by a man living in Co Durham UK. This is again experience speaking.

          

My struggle to get off drugs

I am a 66 year old ex toker (Slang for drug user, Chris) who was addicted to speed (Amphetamine sulphate) for a lot of years.

Following a brain operation,I became Clinically depressed,because I was told by my consultant following brain operation that I had several malformations of the blood vessels in my brain which were not treatable at the present time,which to my mind was like having a time bomb inside my head,I started to feel really anxious and nervous that I would kick the bucket at any moment and not see my children grow up.

I took care of life insurance and anything else I could think of to help my family in the event that I did drop dead,I then thought about how I was feeling and after discussions with my wife presented myself to the doctor.

He told me that I was suffering from depression and that I needed to start taking antidepressants which I did and for the next 12 years I suffered anxiety and extreme nervousness episodes which I attributed to the depression,upon revealing my thoughts to the doctor he advised that counselling sessions were called for,he arranged the first session and I was talking to a very pretty young lady who was dressed in goth clothes with accompanying make up in about our third session I revealed to her my feelings proper that I had suicidal thoughts and was feeling really angry that I was in a situation beyond my control  my children were being bullied at school and I tried remonstrating with the education board to no avail. during one of our sessions I revealed my addiction to speed and that I smoked cannabis she presented me with lots of evidence that the drugs  I was using could be causing my feelings. I ignored her  evidence thinking it was a government ploy to try and reduce the amount of drug dealing going on.

It was not until I moved to the other side of the country in an attempt to get my children a decent education that I started to feel that perhaps I could stop taking antidepressants I  approached my doctor with my thoughts he agreed to reducing my dosage,then my marriage broke up leaving me feeling even worse it wasn't until I had left home to go live with an old mate that I stopped the antidepressants totally I then realized that the feelings I was experiencing the day after smoking blow where exactly the same as depression anxiety  and nervousness I would wake up in the middle of the night worrying when my life was back on track and I had nothing to worry about so I made the decision to stop using all drugs.

6 months later and feeling fine I realized that it could have been the drugs causing my symptoms all along ,even a small spliff and the symptoms were back so that confirmed it in my mind and I have been off drugs for 2 years now and still feeling on top of the world .my name is Les Batty my mates call me bat and I hope that my story can help if you want to get off drugs.

Thankyou Les, it takes courage to walk away from cannabis, well done. never go back. Chris.

Comments from Kris

Well here I go again, I am still finding some things here difficult to understand and I expect that will continue for many years to come, different climate, culture etc all being contributing factors.

One thing I find difficult and rather annoying is when you are in a shop or supermarket and a total stranger just reaches into your trolley or basket and either picks out your item for themselves to have or just to see what you are buying. They never say anything and look baffled when I say sorry that is mine and nay you cant have it. I am still trying to learn Hindi and as I get older it is not as easy as I would like. It seems acceptable for all castes to just think they can either take what you have chosen or just pick it up and examine it without even asking first. I still cant get my head around this one as it happens frequently, last time it was the assistant who got annoyed at the customer and took my item from her and put it back in my trolley apologising to me for the customers rudeness. I must find a way of countering this behaviour or just accept it as the norm. I will ask Janet if this happens to her. I have seen them do it to other Indians so I know it is not just because I am a westerner which is quite reassuring.

I am so excited still with watching our girls (honey bees) collecting pollen and going about their business every day and I really think their new home is terrific, it looks superb and there were many hours of labour of love put into it by Chris and I. Chris did the main building and I painted it. They seem to have been well received by our neighbours who remain fascinated by watching them fly from flower to flower collecting the pollen. Some remain a little cautious in case they get stung, but so long as you remain calm and steady and don't scare them they are domesticated. We do have the correct gear for anyone who wants to use it to see inside the hive when we open it up. We are still trying to find flowering shrubs and plants that the bees will like and this will continue for some time to come.

Wednesday I just got back from work, I travelled on my scooter when we had to go out again via taxi, I told Chris I thought it was going to rain, but no it didn't. Instead we were inside the taxi just near home when the heavens opened up and some of the largest hailstones I have seen came down it was very scary for our driver who pulled over as he thought it was unsafe to drive. Chris reassured him that if he drove slowly and carefully he would be ok. This was the first hailstones he had seen in his life and for many it was both fascinating and scary with many people hiding or peeping out of doors to watch it. Climate change is definitely coming to us.

A week ago we visited friends in Ahemadabad which is a large city in Gujarat the next state to us, we travelled by car with a friend as Chris is still unable to ride for health reasons. But soon he will be on the road again Hooray. We stayed overnight at our new friends flat which turned into an impromptu party that went on till 3am and we had to be up at 6am but it was fun. It was just a brief visit to celebrate with Royal Enfield Royal Riders Motorcycle club who were celebrating their 4th Anniversary. We have become friends with the dealer and his wife through a mutual friend and they had a stunt show then all 100+ bikes rode to Abod where there was a horse show, on a dried up river bed filled with sand. The stunt show was great 2 guys and a girl doing stunts, Unfortunately our driver got lost so we did not catch up with the bikes till we got their, but our friend waited for us and arranged for someone to guide us to Abod. We then returned to the showroom where they had samosas and a huge cake to celebrate the anniversary. They also sang Happy Birthday to Chris as it was his birthday and he was asked to cut the cake, which he did with the help of a young boy the youngest bulleteer there. I think that was a lovely touch. We then went for ice cream and travelled home getting back about 8pm to me waking up outside our house I had dozed for the last half hour. I thought I was dreaming as I saw Mrs Gandhi smiling at me through the windscreen, I was puzzled why was she here I must have imagined it but no, the next thing her husband tapped on my window opened the car door and with a huge grin said welcome to Udaipur. I still did not know why they were here although they are always welcome, it turned out the IBRMC Udaipur Chapter our bike club had organised a surprise for Chris and several other bikers all turned up sorry guys too many to name you all here but thanks again. They had brought a birthday cake for Chris with our Bike club logo on it. I was blown away so was Chris. It was a lovely end to a great time with like minded people, and we had many opportunities to talk about our faith and compare it with our friends who were keen to know more about us. I also met some great biker girls and a fun time was had by all albeit not a lot of sleep was had.

Chris has been writing a hymn/ song for a year or so now and he left it when he got to a point he could not move forward in the direction he wanted. Well since his near death experience he had inspiration and I am very pleased to say he has finished it. It is biographical and if anything reminds me of the honesty in John Newtons Hymn Amazing Grace, I really love Chris song which he has named Freedom. We joined the worship team this week to get them to practice it and with their tweaking of the chords and music it sounds great, all being well we are going to sing it in church this week. Chris remains a little embarrassed about it as he is not good with these things, he may appear confident but he is not when it comes to this kind of thing. I remain very proud of him he says I am his greatest fan, However if I thought it was bad I would tell him to save him the embarrassment until he got it right. Lets see how it is received but it gives god the Glory which is the main thing.

We had a couple of friends visit last night from the USA, they came with Janet. It was great to spend time with Chuck and Jim and I think we all had a great evening. They are only here for a brief holiday so will probably not get to see them again before they leave, other than at church this Sunday.

This weekend we are to attend a local wedding a retired Major and his wife who live near us their son is getting married and it is going to be a great celebration over several days, we are going to our first of 2 invitations this evening which will be a formal cocktail party, the main wedding celebration is tomorrow evening with dancing and a dinner among other things, not sure what they will be yet will let you know in the next blog, as no two weddings we have attended have been the same. I will be wearing sari's for both events which is expected. I still get very nervous as I am not good in groups never have been.

Well thats all from us this month, hope you enjoyed the read
God Bless
Chris and Kris