Final Bangalore Update

It is now Saturday morning here in Bangalore...

We concluded the conference at lunchtime on Friday, with the final 3 hours being a great commissioning service. The worship leader cracked our team up because he didn't feel like the pastors were "awake" when we started, so he would just stop the song, have a little "encouraging chat," and then start again...while we laughed, it worked. He truly knew how to draw everyone into worship together and the worship time proved to be powerful.

I (Matthew) combined my last teaching session with a commissioning message due to some schedule changes late in the week. We also prayed for every participant in groups and our team gave each one a small cross necklace as a parting gift. As always, they showered too much praise and attention on us, including presenting prayer shawls, cards signed by the pastors, and small gifts to each one of us.

We also had a concluding communion service together, then the goodbyes began.

Most of us went into Bangalore on Friday afternoon/evening for a quick shopping tour of one of the markets, then off to dinner with the local leadership team...About 16 of us packed into a Chinese restaurant for a nice meal and then overran the small Baskin Robins shop next door--this has become somewhat of a concluding tradition for our trips here.

After that, Arnold and Jamey were taken to the airport while Christopher and I returned to our lodging. I did not receive a call on my cell phone during the night, so they should be on their way home without incident.

Thanks again for your prayers throughout this assignment. It is always a great privilege to serve these pastors and your prayer support is critical.

I hope you will mark your calendars now for the public debrief of this team on Sunday, October 21st at 1:30 PM. Watch "Get Connected" for the exact location.