From Dani Beekman

Tuesday. July 17 8:20 PM.

Don't worry the BELC 1 team is not lost. We are all alive and well. We are in Chennai. This is our last night. We have taught 3 VBS classes already. It's getting a little easier. Who knew that hundreds of big beautiful brown eyes could be so intimidating. Danielle and I have been composing a list of things that are coming home with us. I think we started off with a few orphans. Our list has grown. We currently have a cow, a puppy, a cat, a frog, a millipede ( it was red and black) Danielle thought it was neat, and maybe a rickshaw. We have a couple dozen kids, the albino man that was at the top of our steps when we arrived in Chennai, and the little doorman that greets us every time we come into the hotel melody with a salute, we name him Sarg. We are also contemplating bringing home some marsala lemonade or maybe just some gutter water. So that we might invigorate all of your senses with the sight, taste, and smell of Chennai. Danielle and I also decided that it would be really nice to be able to flush with confidence. That was what Danielle said, I can not take credit for that genius phrase. It is so true though. It would be nice to flush the toilet without having to turn on the water first, then push the little lever, then watch the water go round and round, while you stand there contemplating when it will ever go down, then you begin to wonder: where is that water going? Then you tell yourself not to think about it and eventually the toilet is flushed. This afternoon the four of us ( Lee, Rick, Danielle and myself) went to the Koenig's flat and hung out with Mary. She is amazing. She is in the process of making some 900 plaques for Bible classes, so that they can paint them. Lee and Rick got the dirty job of making some of the plaques, Danielle and I got to paint some samples for her. I felt like I was in VBS again. It was great. Then we went out for lunch at this crazy nice mall. It is better than any mall in the US. Danielle and I saw our first grocery store in India in there, so of course, we had to go in. We bought snacks. They had Cadbury chocolate bars. FANTASTIC!! We ate at a Subway in the mall..it was amazing. Mary is really amazing. I admire her so much. It really takes alot of trust in our Lord to do everything that she and Missionary Koenig are doing. It was great to sit there with her and have a normal conversation, where I could say more than "is ok" or "No." There has been so much going on if I were to type it all I would be in here all night, and quite frankly I don't really want to do that. So until next time, keep up all the prayers.

In Christ, Dani