Friends abound

It's 645am your time Thursday morning as I write.

We arose 11am after 6 hours of sleep. I'm feeling the urge for a nap, and Jill may have succumbed, but we're trying to not mess up the jet lag recovery by sleeping too much during the day. It's 4:15pm, and we've enjoyed coffee, mango, pomengrate, eggs and a special macaroni dish w/ meat and spices as our hosts way to "break us in". tonight appears to be chicken something...it's all very good.

Loren and Pat are amazing people, helpful to many in many places, they specialize in leadership training to teach others to help others as they have. The breadth and depth of their experience lends to hours of conversation. They've arranged an opportunity for us to meet a large group of their friends Sunday evening who are interested in the work we do with relationships, particularly marriages. Thankfully, the thoughts we've had about what to share and how to share it pass Loren and Pat's discernment. They say that relationship education was unheard of in India until about 10 years ago. Now there is a bit of counseling, but much more and more approaches needed.

John and Hazel are sharing the hosting responsibilities. We will be moving to them on Sat or Sun. in the meantime they are moving to a new flat. We offered to help them tomorrow.

Saturday evening is dinner w/ Mac, a Texan experienced in community development and a counselor trainer. Stories of how his unique approach to counseling has been used by numbers of students are "fascinating" according to Loren. Fajitas are on the menu, made from scratch, so don't feel sorry for us. It doesn't appear that we're at risk of starvation.

The singular thing that makes this so enjoyable is that everyone we are meeting shares a passion to help others. It is what their lives are all about. Everything else is a means to that end, instead of an end in itself, if that makes sense.

perhaps a bit more later tonight.

We have good internet connection for the next few days, so don't hesitate to write email if you are inclined.

Jeff