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To our Quiet Hour family of staff and supporters:
This is quite the little city: shops and vendors for the main Hindu temple, where the population swells to 1.5 million for ten days of pilgrimage for religious festivals. Fortunately, we are in a quiet time, so we are not contending with the large crowds.
  Our group is, for the most part, very accommodating, and seem to be adjusting. Except for the four-hour ride down from Bangalore that seemed to cause Dené to get temporarily sick, we all made it OK. Finding nature’s restrooms along the way was an interesting experience, but needs were supplied. We enjoyed banana vendors, too. Arriving in this city, we immediately were drawn to several magnificent ornate towers at the compound of one of the Hindu world’s revered places of worship, the vast Arunachaleswarar Temple, to the worship of Shiva, one of the five main deities. As one of the five largest temples in India, this sprawling compound sets the stage for one of the main centers of Hindu worship. We are staying only a stone’s throw away, in the Trishul Hotel.
We have already had several prayer seasons, recognizing that this is one of those challenging areas where the local brethren are hoping for a breakthrough and where several truth-seekers will be released from the bonds of this pagan worship.
We have found a few challenges already with “brownouts” (electricity going off during the day), and great difficulty of changing US currency into rupees. This appears to be more political than them not wanting our money. We went to four banks and all of them would not deal with us. We finally found an investment institution that would change our money. We have had to find voltage stabilizers for each of the sites to help protect the electronic machinery. We found them and God brought us to a place where we purchased them for $22/unit. We will see how they hold up, but so far they have done well in testing.
We had a team orientation with Don Folkenberg and me leading out. This was a shortened version compared to past experiences. Don and the others appreciated beginning tonight’s first message with the focus on “Jesus—History is His story.” There is great anticipation for each one.
The Indian food has been too hot for some, so we have arranged with the hotel management to feed us “non-hot” food, western style. It has been good. There seems to be no lack for bottled water, and with the temperature beginning to warm up from a “cold spell”(low 80s) to the 90s, we will be drinking more water.
Our accommodations are adequate, but some of us are enjoying “cold showers” — when we have water — which so far has been sufficient. Compared to some places we have been in the past, this is a nice place. Our bodies are slowly beginning to catch up to this time zone, and so we will launch the program tonight.
Pray for the team continually that we will represent Jesus in the clearest and most loving way. We believe that God is going to do something special here. Already some of the hotel staff have been very interested as we practiced the sermons in the banquet room that is reserved for our worship, orientation, and sermon practice area. The local people have been very solicitous and hospitable.
Thank you for caring and for supporting this evangelism endeavor by your prayers, your funds, and your participation. We will keep you informed as often as we can find a successful place to send these communiqués. So far, sending messages from our hotel is next to impossible.
Blessings and thanksgiving from our team to you,
Bill, Jackie, and Dené and group
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