Picture time!

We are in Korea! We'll update you on Korea later. For now, enjoy few pictures from our time in India. All photos courtesy of John K. from our team.

Dimapur, Nagaland (Northeast India)


Dimapur is a city of about 30,000. It is in Nagaland, a province where there is currently a separatist movement from India. We had to get special permits to enter Dimapur, and our identities were thoroughly checked at the airport. The Naga people are ethnically distinct from the Indians. They speak a variety of tribal languages, Nagamese (mixture of the tribal languages and their trade language), and English.

Nagaland has been evangelized by missionaries. However, there is a high percentage of nominal Christians, and the Christianity is mixed with tribal animism. The purpose of our TERM seminar was to help the Naga people gain a clear understanding of the Gospel and be able to teach it clearly and effectively.

TERM Seminar in Dimapur, with about 70 attendees. There were pastors, Bible college staff, missions board leaders, and Bible college students. They were a responsive crowd. At the end of the seminar, many expressed immense joy in having their confusions cleared and seeing for the first time how the Bible fit together as one picture.

John and Derek taught the seminar, while Corrie and Chantal took turns reading Scripture verses. We used more than 70 visual aids.

Some Naga TERM participants. They looked more Chinese than they did Indian! We were often mistaken for being Naga. We will miss the Naga people's warmth, sincerity and friendliness. TERM participants also included two ladies from Myanmar and one man from Nepal.

Kolkata - formerly Calcutta (West Bengal, West India)

We only spent one night in Kolkata en route to Dimapur, but it was a memorable one.

Our host, Dr. Jay, had told us that Bombay is the commercial capital of India, Bangalore is the technology capital, New Dehli is the administrative capital, and Kolkata is the crime capital!

This picture was taken in outside the first hotel we stopped at. We changed hotels because that first one had some pretty serious hygiene issues. It was late at night when we finally located a second one -- and we were a bit concerned about the safety there (there seemed to be quite a number of men loitering around in the lobby and second floor). We were, however, thankful that we were able to get the sleep we needed that night. Later, we found out that four planes had been canceled at the Kolkata airport that night and so most of the hotels in the area were already fully booked.

Later, as we transferred again in Kolkata on our way to Singapore, the airport staff were on strike and the whole airport was in a state of confusion (no luggage handlers and carousel operators so you had to pick up your own luggage from the plane, no fans/air conditioning in a stuffy room full of hot and sticky travelers, trash cans overflowing, stores closed). Despite all this, our flight was on time! We thank God that He takes care of all the details.

Chennai (Tamil Nadu, South India)

Chennai is right by the sea. And it was hit by the tsunami in 2004. However, the city and its fishing industry have largely recovered.

Colorful saris on the streets of Chennai. Chennai is a large and fairly modern city, with a population of more than 6 million. The spoken language here is Tamil.

Teaching the TERM Seminar in Chennai. About 50 pastors, youth workers and missionaries attended the seminar. Since southern India is predominantly Hindu, John was able to test out his new book targeted to polytheists. The teaching was translated into Tamil. Chuck M. (one of our co-laborers in India) is teaching here.

Derek helped teach and Chantal helped out with Scripture reading.

This is one of the local pastors who attended the seminar. "I've learned more in the past 4 days than I've learned from 4 years in seminary," he told us afterward. We praise God that many were able to see the whole Scripture fit together as one complete picture for the first time.

Bangalore (Karnataka, South India)

Bangalore was our first stop. We stayed with our host, Dr. Jay, and his family. We were able to meet up with members of NTM India and taste some wonderful home-cooked Indian food prepared by Dr. Jay's wife, Auntie Prema.

Hanging our laundry out to dry on the rooftop!

Chantal celebrated her birthday at the Singapore Changi Airport international terminal en route to Bangalore. Derek got her a cake and candle and all! It was a memorable one.