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Today Pastor Arnold and I finished the first of the three cities we will be conducting the Small Groups Conference in. It's hard to believe that already we have completed our time with our dear brothers in Cuttack. Many friendships were renewed and deepened. The wonderful love and hospitality these people have shown us remind me why I care for the people of India so dearly.

By now many of you are aware that my father has been diagnosed with cancer. The word that a tumor had been found came on the day I left the U.S. for this conference. The confirmation that it was cancer came in the middle of the Cuttack conference. I shared this with my Indian brothers, and the response was overwhelming. By the end of the conference, pastor after pastor came to me to tell me that their familes and their churches were already praying intensely for the healing of my father. Today during the session on worship we observed the Lord's Supper. In the prayer time that followed these men prayed with loud passion and great anguish on behalf of my dad. Even though I could not understand their words I knew exactly what they were praying when they started praying for him. It was so overwhelming I could hardly stand. One pastor afterward came to me and gave me 500 Rupees (about $11) on behalf of his church to go toward his treatment. These people who have so little are so willing to give everything of themselves. I saw generocity, compassion, and the love of Christ today like I've never seen before. I cannot wait for the moment that I can put that 500 Rupee bill in my dad's hands. I have a feeling it will be framed and kept in a very special place in his home as a reminder of the people around the world who prayed for him during this difficult time.

Please continue to pray for these dear pastors and their ministries. I met another pastor who I don't recall speaking to in detail last time who was displaced in the murder and rampage against Christians in Kandhamal last year. This AG pastor had to flee in the middle of the night with his family to Cuttack as they were after him trying to kill him. The mob destroyed his house and his church in the village. The conditions are still too dangerous for him to move back permanently. He goes periodically into the village to meet with people in their homes, but never stays overnight. We in America have no idea what it means to be truly persecuted for our faith. These guys are my heroes. I can only hope if I were tested as they have been that I would measure up to the great example they have set for us all.

Tomorrow we travel to Khurda to start the conference all over again with the next group of 50 or so pastors. If the seminar is as well received there as it was in Cuttack, we will have another terrific experience over the next three days.

Thank you all for your love and support, for being there for my family while I am gone, and especially for the prayers for my father. You can't imagine what they mean to us.

Blessings to you all,

Pastor Steve