Sep
22
Written by:
David Strickland
9/22/2010 1:45 PM
Red tape seems to be the theme of the month. We started two months ago attempting to get a car loan and after numerous trips to the bank the paperwork is still processing. Hopefully we'll hear something in the next few weeks. At the same time about 2 months we attempted to transfer some money from our account in America to our bank account in India. The transfer took about 6 weeks to process and more red tape then the car loan.
Last month we started to shop for land to build a church building, widows home and orphanage. We have found that banks in this area do not issue loans for property. You can get a house loan if we own the property but not a property loan.
The girls are doing well in their new school. They enjoy life in Kotagiri much better then they did Bangalore. The level of education at the school is more in align with what they understand and the language they use in the schools is closer to the language they grew up with. The pace of life here is slower. It feels a lot like it did when we moved from New Orleans to Iowa. we are all able to live at a slower pace.
God's hand of protection is on us every day but we often notice it more when life brings it to a point. Late one evening the 220v power that comes into our house crossed phases and became 440v. Light bulbs popped and electrical lines all over the house began to smoke. By the time we got the mains cut the smell of smoke filled the air but we couldn't see to tell much of what had happened. With a prayer we went to bed and the next morning when we could see the damage we realized that though we had lost every light bulb in the house that was on at the time the only things to melt down where 3 power strips and some ac/dc adapters. No appliances were damaged and by the grace of God the house did not catch a light. The next day DJ and I went on the motorcycle to buy some of the parts we needed for repairs. When we pulled up to an intersection and stopped the shoulder of the road gave way and DJ and I fell into the open sewer beside the road. The motorcycle lay on my legs my head down but DJ sat astride me on my chest without so much as a scratch.