A young woman named "Chandrika" dropped by to chat. She lives around the corner. She came to our reception on the 26th and gave us a little swan she knitted over a light bulb. She came by to give us another one. "Chandrika" was recently baptized as a Christian. Her family is Hindu. When she told them of her decision to be baptized, they told her to leave the home. Right now, she wants to stay with her aunt, who is Christian. This aunt is staying with her grandmother, who is Hindu. They live about 4 hours away from Hyderabad. A difficult situation, indeed. We lifted "Chandrika" up in prayer. Mom sensed "Chandrika" was hiding her sad feelings about the situation.
"L" and I took a walk to the grocery store. We passed through the Maoist community across the street. Wet, colorful clothes hung on the barbed wire fence along the road to dry in the sun. Chickens and children scurried to and fro along the way.
Dad and I scootered to the train-ticket purchasing office. We bought four RT fares from Hyderabad to Goa on 2nd-class with AC for Rs. 10,000. That's about US $250. We'll be leaving Feb. 7 and returning Feb. 13.
