We had arrived late night on the plane from America to India so it was a short night our first night in India but not without surprises! Madras or Chennai as it is now called had a population of around six million people yet it seemed like the good old rural farm life being raised up on a farm in Nebraska! About four in the morning I was awakened by this squeaking noise? Come to find out is was the pulley on the rope and bucket the servant getting water from the dug well which they did about that time every morning! Since I was awakened I thought I would use the bathroom. On the way to the bathroom I went by the kitchen. There was a small light single bulb hanging from the ceiling by a single wire. As I walked by the light cast a shadow on the wall by my side but there was a shadow of something circling over my head? It was a bat! I looked down on the kitchen floor where there was a pot of rice that had been cooked for the next days food. On top of the mound of rise in the pot was sitting a frog! King of the mountain you might say! Now I felt more challenged to use the bathroom for would it contain more surprises for me? Just a lizard on the wall. The rest of the night remained uneventful but early morning was not going to disappoint me! The roosters started crowing about five! I think everyone owned a chicken? At daybreak the vendors in the streets selling fruits and vegetables and meat began to shout in the streets selling their produce door to door! Breakfast was eventful for me! As the servant poured my milk out of a pitcher into my bowl of cereal luck would have it a roach was riding the wave of milk stream much like a California surfer right into my cereal bowl. He was riding the wave of milk on his back legs! It all seemed to happen so fast! Then the roach disappeared into my cereal! It was hard to smile as a guest in the home across the table from our hosts and pretend everything was alright? A rat scurried out the front door! I bet he does not even pay rent! Later the servant brought a snake out of the back bedroom on a forked shaped wood stick and threw it out into the front yard! Why me Lord? Never should have bought a one way ticket to India but it was all the money we had! Three more years of this will we survive! We did! Even the 107 degree temperature I had with malaria! To take the Gospel to the ends of the earth requires sacrifice but remember the Kingdom of God is a sacrificial system where God sacrificed his life for you on the Cross! The highest form of love is sacrificial love! Not getting but giving! James & Hamsa Sasse. WhoisGod.in