Gift Delivery Hits Snags, Telephone Wires, Tree Branches....

Happy birthday, Dad!!!!

Dad and I scootered out to the training center. The container shipment with the Samaritan's Purse gifts arrived and were being delivered. We spotted the container and truck. It was the size of a regular semi-tractor-trailer (which I haven't seen any of around India yet). It was huge! Too big, in fact, for the neighborhood it was trying to navigate. It took down a few telephone and cable lines, as well as numerous tree branches. The truck driver was inching his way through, while his partner used a loooong wooden "fork" to push power lines and tree branches out of the way. It was painstaking, but eventually it made it to the training center. The truck backed up over a vacant lot next to a very nice mansion (across the street from the training center and the colonel's home).

Meanwhile, the container truck was drawing a lot of negative attention. Several neighbors, including the woman residing in the "very nice mansion" complained loudly. Some were wondering what was being transported. Dad didn't give them any specific details about the container or the training center's purpose. He told me later that he was worried that the neighbors (most were Hindu) would turn the situation into a religious feud and use that reason to shut down the training center. Eventually, officials from the Sainikpuri compound drove up asking Dad to come to the compound office. Dad and I went to the office. The main official gave Dad a firm, but gentle reprimand and request that he repair the lines that went down.

We scootered to several places looking for linemen who would attend to the downed lines, but we found none. We went back to the training center, hearing that the ashram staff felt less nervous with Dad around. The ashram staff hired some men (mainly Hindus) to move the boxes from the container into the training center.

Tough way to start out a birthday, but Dad and I went back home in time for a lunch-time birthday celebration with neighbors, friends, and colleagues that met him there. Lots of food, cake, and a good time had by all.

Dad and I scootered out to meet "Y", Isaac, Paul, and the truck drivers to exchange paperwork, take pictures, and pray. I don't think the truck drivers are Christians, but they prayed along with us anyway.

Some linemen had stopped by, hearing that Dad was looking for them. Dad said they'd agreed to help out and not to worry about the work. Dad had given them some gifts from the Samaritan Purse in the past, so their rapport was quite good.

On TV that night, we watched "Discovery Channel", showing a colorized version of WW2 and a feature on terror sleeper cells in the U.S.