I don’t know that either one of us will ever look at driving in the same way again. Here in India, traffic is an amazing ballet of horns, nods and near-misses! Each driver seems to use the sound of the horns as radar — constantly updating his mental map of the location of other vehicles by the sound of the horns. Today, we saw something new. We saw a drivers education vehicle! The white knuckled young man behind the wheel was staring straight ahead and moving slowly while the “horn ballet” was whirling around him! The scene above is a part of the moment by moment routine of driving in this area.

Note the following post will have pictures as soon as they can be transmitted.

We arrived safely at Trivandrum airport on Wednesday.

[traffic pics]

and were immediately introduced to Trivandrum traffic. The picture with the bus was taken while we were moving at about 35 mph. As you can see from the pictures, the traffic is amazing and exciting, but honestly, some of you would say it is horrifying. Let us just say that there are very few dull moments!

[PD preaching/ men students/]

Thank you for praying for us! We are rejoicing in the Lord! After some initial sickness, we are pressing ahead. I spoke four times on Thursday, three times on Friday and once on Saturday. Most of the messages lasted 45 minutes and the listeners are very eager to hear the message. There were many professions of faith after the third message. Also there have been many re-dedications among these eager listeners. Harriet has been meeting with 40 music students who have had no musical training whatsoever. She is helping them to read music for the very first time! My texts have included James 1:18-25. 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Ephesians 4:21-32, 1 Corinthians 14:24-25 and Psalm 73. As more pastors from the area have come in for the meetings, the crowds have swelled from 250 to about 400 so far. Next week, we are expecting pastors from around the nation. The auditorium could probably hold about 700 and the pastor says that it will be full.

[Pastors, college building, students playing volleyball between sessions]

The food is spicy hot and delicious and we are enjoying it very much.

Tomorrow we will be in two churches and finish the day at the southern tip of India at the convergence of the oceans.

Pastor and Mrs. Dickson have arrived in India.

A more complete update should be coming soon (with pictures).

…this must be Chennai. We arrived in India this morning. Both of us are very tired, but rejoicing in the Lord. We will be resting for the next few hours and then flying on to Trivandrum. Pastor Nair just called. I will be speaking four times tomorrow.

Psalm 62:5 has been a great help to us once again.

“My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.”

When we arrived at Detroit airport, we learned that we had to forego what we had planned to take as a carry-on because of security issues, especially going through London. So we had to make choices quickly and live with them for the next 24 hours. The Lord uses this to help us trust more fully in Him. Just ask the Carriacou tower team!

I asked several of you to pray that I could sleep on the plane (which I’ve never been able to do before.) Thanks for praying! I was able to sleep for at least three hours and actually felt refreshed when we arrived in London.

Below is a picture of the arrivals area at Chennai airport.

“As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me.
 Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.” Psalm 55:16-17

  The “Take Ten” prayer project is designed to help each participant to abide in the Lord. We are asking each participant to pray for 10 minutes each morning, 10 minutes at midday, and 10 minutes each evening. This project will continue through May, 2008.  We would ask that each participant earnestly pray for revival. Those members and regular attenders of Calvary Baptist Church who commit themselves to this project will receive the book Prayer and Spiritual Warfare by Spurgeon to encourage them in the project. You may sign up for the project during any regular service.

Our last “Take Ten” project produced some amazing results in our congregation — leading up to the ten day meetings led by Dr. Les Ollila. As your pastor, I want to encourage you to exercise the privilege of prayer and invest your energies here.

Sincerely,

Pastor Gordon Dickson

 Our missionary, Jan Milton, and his medical team have just returned from Honduras. To see his report and pictures from the trip, check out this link:

http://teamorh.com/

or his main site at

http://operationrenewedhope.org/