I have already had so many wonderful moments on this trip,
and today was no different. We spent our entire day at the Bethel Bible College
in Gunter, praying with, eating with, learning with and playing games with the faculty
and students at the college. The day began with chapel, and moved into lectures
on Lutheranism in Andhra Pradesh, Hindutva, Women and Gender Issues in the
Indian Church, and Caste and Christianity in India. But the day included far
more than lecture. We were able to meet with and get to know the students. The
College has 120 students all studying Theology. The students were from all over
India and included students from Burma. Out of the 120 student 22 of them are
women. I most enjoyed my conversations with these wonderful ladies. Their deep
sense of faith and gratitude for their education was inspiring. We were also
able to play volley ball with the ladies from Burma, and after three great
games the win went to the BBC ladies. It was also a great joy to learn the game
of Cricket. I had never played Cricket before and this was a great treat. I don’t
think that any of us will be going professional in the sport anytime soon, but
we enjoyed learning and some of us got some good hits in. The night continued with
a cultural presentation from the students who shared songs and dance from their
regions. A dinner at the Presidents home concluded the evening.
I was touched throughout the day by the warmth and the
wonderful hospitality that we received. Everyone seemed sincerely excited for
our visit and they went the distance to make us feel truly welcome. I hope that in the short time, some bonds were
made for continued relationships with those that we met.
It was another great day in Incredible India!
Amanda
Weinkauf
Submitted by Robert Pitts
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