January 2007 Team Letters and Photos
Friday, January 5
Dear Friends,
Our first day in India is swiftly flying by. Thank you for all of the prayers that got us safely here.
The team left the U.S. on Tuesday, January 2nd. Our itinerary included an 18-hour layover in Singapore before catching our connecting flight to Chennai, India. After the long flight from San Francisco, everyone on the team welcomed our stay in the transit hotel at the Singapore airport. We had a chance to sleep for several hours, shower and put on a fresh set of clothes. Ahhhh!
Team members Neil, Mike, Sally and Donna enjoying Singapore en route to India
We went on a free tour of colonial Singapore that included a ride on the river in a "bumboat." It was fun to learn about the history of Singapore and see some of the buildings that were built in the 1800's. Singapore is a beautiful city/country and the people we interfaced with were all so nice. At first 18 hours seemed like a very long time for a layover, but God used that time for the team members to get to know each other better, pray together and share our faith.
Our flight from Singapore to Chennai was uneventful. Daniel Victor, of Agape Rehabilitation Center, was waiting for us when we came out from customs with all of our luggage. We got to our hotel about midnight last night (January 4th) and settled in for a good sleep.
Today, Avitha Victor, Co-Director of Agape, met us to take us out to do some shopping and exchange our dollars for rupees. Before we went shopping, Neil spent time video taping the street scenes, especially the traffic, near our hotel. The traffic is like nothing I've seen anywhere else! It has to be seen to be believed: so many cars, scooters, buses, bicycles, motorcycles and pedestrians all over the roads. It's amazing!
Daniel will be joining the team for the rest of the time we are in India, traveling with us. We are all glad for the chance to spend time with him. We will be traveling together by train tonight.
Again, thank you for your support and prayers.
Blessings, Donna and the team, Mike, Sally, Neil and Daniel