Dad and I scootered early to go to church. Dad taught Sunday School. About 15 people showed up. He taught on 1 Corinthians.
Pastor "E" gave a long sermon on evangelism. He exhorted SBF to do more in the area of reaching out to the growing English-speaking community of Hyderabad, Secunderabad, and soon-to-be Cyberabad. We sang hymns out of an 50-year-old Baptist hymnal that had "America the Beautiful" and "The Star-Spangled Banner" in it.
While leaving, I took some pix of Secunderabad traffic. I didn't notice this before, but there is a HUGE squatter area right across the street from SBF. Several acres covered with small huts where families lived.
During the afternoon at home, we watched "Mr. Bean" on TV.
Around 4:30 pm, Dad and I joined "Y" (one of Dad's workers and a mid-20's pastor of a church reaching out to the poor) and some of his colleagues to visit some families who lived in a nearby squatter area about 2 km from Dad and Mom's home. There were 4 small, A-framed huts there. A covered latrine sat nearby. Chiseled stones arranged in circles provided the families with fireplaces. Litter was strewn about. Pigs and chickens wandered through towards the nearby Kalyan "downtown" area. The fathers of the families, along with their kids, came to listen to Dad speak on various topics. I told the little story about the boat and the lucky T-shirt to the kids, using paper they provided (Dad wouldn't let me use the paper scraps strewn about the ground). The kids really like seeing their pics on "L's" digicam. It started to rain a bit. Dad and "Y" passed out candy. Four Bibles were given to four men (presumably the dads). We left shaking hands with everyone. The kids said in broken English, "Thank you, sir" and "Bye, bye". The families, I learned, had attended "Y's" church once. They are of Hindu background. "L" and Mom said that many such families don't try very hard to take themselves out of poverty because of their Hindu beliefs in karma and of the caste system. Some still spend lavishly on Hindu festivals, in spite of their indigent state.
