Day 10 - Bangalore

The train ride was not so bad despite our initial reactions. We got in real early and headed to our friends place. Again, we are being spoiled by such a nice place! And, their 2 super cute little girls are so fun!!!

We went to a church service today. It was such a blessing - there's something amazing about praising with brothers and sisters from around the world, sharing very different backgrounds but the one common thread of JC that binds us all together as one. It was a very contemporary service with a pretty good praise band - neat to see Indian brothers and sisters rocking the drums during the praise set. Was cool. As we walked in, we were singing "I am free". The lyrics go:
"Through you the blind will see. Through you the mute will sing. Through you the dead will raise. Through you all heards will praise. Through you the darkness flees. Through you my heart screams I am free... I am free to run. I am free to dance. I am free to live for you. I am free."

This song had a new meaning for me this time round...after witnessing the poverty and the injustices people face everyday during my time in Delhi and Calcutta, I couldn't help but think of the poor women and children who are not free to run or dance or live. Many are enslaved by society's ills and injustices and are not physically free. Yet despite that, some have this unexplainable joy that can only be from the true freedom through JC. Unfortunately, there are even more that have neither physical nor spiritual freedom.

After church, we went down to "downtown" Bangalore - MG Road and ___ Rd. It was awesome! Shops, food, fun, everywhere. It reminded me of a big city in the states, but with auto rickshaws on the streets. After that, we headed back to the house and relaxed, took care of some stuff, and played with the girls. Tomorrow we start real early - leaving the house at 4AM to drive out to Wayanad where Profugo's first Center of Development will be based. We've got a couple meetings set up with some NGOs there, and will be spending time there talking to people, learning, observing, understanding and assessing opportunities and challenges, and exploring. I'm really glad we can be part of this exploration into this new territory with Profugo.

I still owe pics and backlog of blogs which I will get to when I have a free second (who knows how long that will take).