We Have Arrived!

Hello to all! After a 2 hour bus ride, 6 hour flight to London, 9 hour layover, 9 hour flight to Hyderabad, 2 hour wait for our van, and an 8 hour drive to Donabanda--we have arrived on Harry's 65th birthday! Tired, but safe! Our 20 pieces of checked luggage all arrived with us, which is always a plus! Our wonderful Pastors Mark and Prakash met us at the hotel with garlands of flowers. It was so good to see them again! Turns out the hotel Vuma is an overpriced, aging former resort with dirty bathrooms! We were told we could stay on the Nuzvid hospital grounds instead. It would be half the distance to our village meeting site--saving a lot of time and gas ($ 4 gallon!), half the price, and we could eat at the hospital nursing school cafeteria. It was a no-brainer! So we spent Wednesday relocating to the hospital. Harry and I, Beckie, Katie, Emily and Heather are sharing a vacated doctor's house. It has lots of room, but there is no shower. It's strictly cool water bucket baths--6 of us to one working bathroom! But we're all doing well. Bob and Sondi, Phil and Steve are in 3 of the hospital guest rooms--no hot water there either, but we all are comfortable enough. We ate at the cafeteria (a loose translation!) for breakfast. It was really delicious, if a bit unorthodox for the American breakfast. We had whole wheat chappatis, yellow lime rice, some sort of lentil dish with tomatoes, and a hot drink called Bon Vita made with water buffalo milk! We are right near the huge Nuzvid 3000 member church, where another team is holding revival meetings. Our 5 villages are out in the rural area. We start out meetings tomorrow night. Pray for us. Everyone is adjusting well, and we want to do our best for the Lord.