HomeE-Mail Pete: Peter Ray
On Monday September 28 Steve, Aaron and Peter Ray Cole left for a month long mission to the people of India. Please check back for more details.
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I am sorry I haven't sent another update since my last one but we have been pretty busy the last couple of days trying to wrap this trip up. We stayed in Markapur through Sunday and came back to Hyderabad on Monday. It is about a 6 hours drive so it was early Monday evening by the time we arrived back here. We had a good work in Markapur with all of us speaking three or four times a day every day we were there. It is a good area to work because there are a lot of places within reasonable driving distance where we can have good meetings. Ron had the biggest meeting while we were there, with somewhere between 750 and 1000 people. I believe there were over 40 responses to the invitation of Christ at that meeting. I believe between Aaron, Peter Ray and myself we have spoken about 170 times and have seen close to 700 responses, if not more. (All the reports are not in yet). We will spend most of the day today packing and getting ready to head to the airport. We will leave here Weds. evening (India time) fly to Mumbai where we will have about a 6 hour layover and then it will be early Thursday morning (India time) we leave from there. Two of the full time workers for this team (Ben Rennegar and Jerry Edwards) are also here in Hyderabad and will be flying with us all the way to Detroit. There are now 7 visiting Americans working with this team in the country and it has been a real challenge for Ron to get all the details worked out. It will probably take a truck and two cars to get us all to the airport because between the five of us we will have 12 or 13 trunks, maybe more. It takes a little time to get all that loaded, unloaded, checked in and ready to go. Then in Mumbai we have to switch to another airport, gather up the luggage and check it again. After that we shouldn't have to touch it again until Detroit, where we gather it up, go through customs, and then recheck it one last time for the final leg to Pittsburgh. You are pretty tired of handling those trunks by the time you gather them for the last time in Pittsburgh. I have been having some allergy problems that has caused my to have throat issues and was forced to cancel my last meetings yesterday. I was supposed to hold three or four meetings, but I knew there was no way my voice was going to last that long. It was going to be a pretty long drive out of the city to get to where the meetings were to be held, so I just told the Indian brother to send someone else to make sure they were taken care of properly. I spent the evening visit with Monic Rao and his family and spoke for a few minutes at a birthday party they were having for their oldest daughter. This is Stephanie's family and it gave me a chance to visit with her one more time before heading home. I asked her father and mother to think about letting her make a visit to the USA and they just smiled and said they would think about it. Keep us in your prayers as we begin the journey home. I look forward to seeing everyone on Sunday.
We are now in Markapur, having arrived late this evening. We left Hyderabad yesterday and drove to Macherla where we held night meetings and then spent the night. Our accommodations there left something to be desired, but since the room was less than $20 I guess we can't complain too much! We actually had four rooms for us, our drivers and translators and the total bill was less than $50. Our room was the most expensive one of all. We got an early start from Macherla and stopped by the children's home in Thubadu for a short visit and then drove to Kunta where we stopped and held night meetings. After our meetings we finished driving to Markapur. It was a long day and we are tired, but we had good meetings with very positive results. We will be in Markapur until Monday morning and then will head back to Hyderabad. Once back there we will only have a couple of days before we start home. We are all well and can't believe the trip is almost over. The time really goes by quickly when you are as busy as we try to stay while here. Keep us in your prayers that our few remaining days might be good ones.
Peter Ray and Aaron arrived back in Hyderabad late Tuesday night after a good work in the Bidar area. They were kept really busy teaching classes and holding meetings. Peter Ray actually spoke 7 times two days in a row! Our plans were to leave today for another quick roadtrip but we are now waiting to see if that is going to be possible. I am not able to go into detail in this update but we have received a message saying it may not be advisable for us to come there at this time. We are trying to get more information because we really needed to visit the area we had planned to visit. We have already contacted some men in the Hyderabad area to start putting a back up plan together in case we are not able to go on the road. Keith Ball is back in Hyderabad and another American, Mark Bass, has arrived and is going to spend a week working with Keith before going to another part of India to teach in a school for three or four weeks. There are now five of us sharing the apartment, but it is not a problem because it is a good size apartment. Keith and Mark are taking a train today to Belgaum to hold meetings and teach classes there. I will have an amazing story to share with you when I get back about the man who was beaten and had his house and church building burned last year. Keith has been in touch with him and he is doing very well and something very good has come out of a terribly bad situation. We are what they call "short timers" now with less than a week to go before we start home. I am hoping we can stay busy and end this trip on a good note. It has been hard for the Clayton's, trying to get settled in their new apartment, trying to make plans for 6 or 7 Americans, and just take care of daily matters that never seem to end. They have done a good job and Karen even fixed an outstanding meal for all of us last night. They really go the "second mile" in taking care of us when we are here. I will be in touch again to let you know what the final few days are going to have in store for us. See you soon.
It has been kind of slow for me the last three or four days. As I stated in the last update Aaron, Peter Ray and Keith all went on the road but I stayed behind in Hyderabad. I have not been able to speak a lot these last few days, mainly due to Dahwali, but have been able to meet with a few Indian brethren and discuss the work and some of their needs and concerns. I was able to be out and hold a couple of meetings yesterday morning and one of them was at a large denominational church and it went very well. MJ (my translator) has been working with the preacher there and believes he is making some inroads, but asked me to please be "gentle" in my teaching and simply try to encourage them to forsake man made religion. I used a sermon I have on John 17 and Jesus prayer for unity and stressed that we are not united and the only we can be is by getting back to the Bible. It was extremely well received by the congregation and the local preacher. I am hoping to hear in the future that he has accepted the truth of N.T. Christianity and is doing all he can to lead his three congregations to a greater understanding of what it means to be a Christian. I spoke with Aaron this morning and he had the incredible experience of seeing an entire congregation of people express their desire to become N.T. Christians. He told me that after he finished the local denominational preacher got up and started speaking and Aaron was afraid he was trying to undo what he had done. He asked his translator what he was saying and he told Aaron, "he is telling them that what you have taught is the truth and they need to become Christians as it is taught in the Bible." It is hard to imagine that kind of response in the USA but we have seen it many times here in India. As it looks now I will probably be here through Tuesday and then Peter Ray and Aaron will come back and we will make plans for another road trip before starting the long journey home. So far we have not had anybody to the doctor or hospital and for that we are extremely grateful. I understand it has been rather cold there, but here we are still having air conditioner weather! I am planning to get back to holding regular meetings tonight and I am looking forward to that. We only have 10 days left on this trip and that will pass very quickly. Pray for our continued success and that we might end this mission on a very positive note. I look forward to seeing all of you on November 1st.
I am sorry it has been several days since my last update but I didn't have access to a computer and really didn't have a whole lot of time. We stayed very busy in Suryapet, following the typical pattern of teaching preachers classes during the day and then holding two or three meetings at night. One of our translators and Aaron came down with some stomach problems, but both are feeling better now. On one night in Suryapet, we had about 125 responses to the gospel of Christ in the meetings we personally held. We stayed there through Weds. night and then headed home after our night meetings and arrived in Hyderabad shortly after midnight. We were happy to see that Keith Ball had just arrived from the states at almost the same time we pulled in. It was great to see him and now that he had a safe journey here. We took Thursday off because we were all kind of tired after a very busy 9 day road trip. On Friday Peter Ray and Aaron headed out for Bidar for 3 days or so and Keith took off for Gulbarga. I would have loved to gone on either of those road trips but I stayed behind in Hyderabad because Ron and I have some things to discuss about the work and I also needed to meet with a few Indian brethren who wanted to talk to me. The big Hindu holiday of Dhawali begins this weekend so it is going to be noisy and a little challenging trying to hold meetings, especially here in Hyderabad. The official holiday is Sunday but they were setting off firecrackers last night and it will get progressively worse through the next two days. I am hoping to be able to hold a couple of meetings tonight and then speak two or three times Sunday morning, but I have little hopes of being able to hold meetings Sunday night. As it stands now I hope to be back on the road Monday or Tuesday but am not sure if I will hook up with Aaron and Peter Ray or go some other direction. There are six Americans in the country now, not counting Ron, Karen and Kyle, and that becomes a nightmare sometimes as you try to plan for transportation and translators. Ron always manages to get something worked out, though. The trip is well past the half way mark so it won't be long until we are on the way home. Keep us in your prayers.
Bidar MapI thought I would send another update while I had the opportunity. We are wrapping things up here this morning and will be making our way to Suryapet sometime around noon. It is not a very long drive so I am anticipating we will have meetings scheduled for us this evening in that area. Our three day stay here has been very successful. Yesterday was kind of a slow day for Sunday in India with each of us speaking only three times. We had excellent meetings, though, with a lot of results. I believe all of us had two "church meetings" (gatherings of primarily Christians) and then one "gospel meeting." (Where most in attendance will be the unconverted). What we found yesterday, however, was that there were several at our church meetings who had yet to obey the gospel of Christ. As a result we saw several responses to the gospel at these meetings as well. All four of us worshiped with the congregation here Sunday morning and Ron did the preaching. As soon as that service was over we took off for our individual meetings. When we regrouped last night and gave reports. Approximately 55 requested to be baptized into Christ as a result of our evening meetings. We will spend three days in Suryapet and plan to head back to Hyderabad after our night meetings on Wednesday Brother Keith Ball will coming in late that night so we will have a chance to visit with him a day or two before we all hit the road again. After that I am not sure what the plans are. I will stay in touch when I can. Continue to keep us in your prayers.
It is early Sunday morning here and I thought I would send an update before the days activities started. We are still in Nereducharla, but today should be our last day here. We are planning to leave tomorrow for Suryapet and spend three days there. A new church building/preachers home was just completed here and this is where we have been staying. Two guest rooms were included in the plans so visiting preachers and missionaries would have a place to stay while working in this area. We have been busy, teaching preachers classes during the day here at the building and then holding two or three meetings a night each night. I am sure today will be busy as almost all Sundays are. I spoke last night at a Pentecostal church and spoke about Jesus prayer for unity. When it was over the local Pentecostal preacher ask me to come to his house for refreshments (bananas and tea) but he also invited me to speak to his congregation again today and told me he would like to learn more about the church of Christ and N.T. Christianity. I do not know what the "program" for today is so I don't know if I will get to go back or not, but I will certainly have some of the local preachers here visit him and study with him. We are having good meetings here and again seeing good results. Aaron, Peter Ray, Ron Clayton and myself are all here and it takes a lot of coordinating to arrange meetings, transportation and drivers for all of us. One of our regular drivers has started to translate a little and he translated for me at both my meetings last night and did an excellent job. It is a real blessing to have a man who can do both! It rained again last night, but not for very long and I am hoping that the worst of the rain is over. It has been very warm and humid but at least we have been able to do the work. I will try to send an update from Suryapet if I can. We are all still well physically and please pray that trend continues. Tomorrow will make two weeks since we left West Virginia and the time has passed quickly. Before we know it we will be boarding a plane to start the long journey back home. Look forward to seeing everyone soon.
I am sorry I have not been able to send an update for a couple of days but I have not had access to a computer until now. We are still in Khammam and will be here tonight and then leave in the morning for Nereducherla for three days. We have been very busy here since arriving Tuesday afternoon. We each had two meetings on Tuesday night and then on Weds we taught two sessions a piece at three different one day preaching schools and then each held two meetings that night. Today we have had just one meeting a piece during the day but will have at least two meetings a piece tonight. This is a good area where we always have good meetings and see good results. At my meeting today and old gentleman expressed his desire to become a Christian and cried like a baby while doing so. He was deeply touched by the message of God's love as shown through Jesus Christ. It was an incredible experience for me. This area has not been bothered much by the flooding but I understand the death toll may have reached 200 by now. The rains have stopped and the water is receding but there has been a tremendous amount of damage done. We are all still doing well, health wise, and are enjoying the work here. The first few days were terribly slow so it has been good to get back to the kind of work we expect when we come here. I will send another update as soon as I can.
We are in the process of packing and getting ready to take a road trip for the next several days. The Indians call this "going out of station." We are heading to Khammam and will be there through Friday if things go as planned. We are not sure where we will be going after that because flooding is still a serious problem. We have heard reports that this is the worst flooding this part of India has experienced in more than 100 years. I have not seen the weather forecast but it is still very overcast and I am afraid the rain is not done. We had 4 meetings a piece on Sunday and we held meetings again last night in the Hyderabad area. We will have meetings tonight in Khammam and then will teach preachers classes during the day and hold meetings at night the whole time we are in that area. We worked in this area last year and had very good meetings so we are anxious to go back and work with the brethren there once again. It has been a little discouraging so far because we have not been able to do as much work as we normally do. We come here expecting to preach several times nearly every day and it is difficult when conditions beyond your control prevent you from doing that. Hopefully, we will stay very busy from here on. I had another fun experience Sunday night. Talon was playing in a football game Sunday afternoon and I was able to listen to a radio broadcast on the internet of the game. It was 11 PM here when the game started but I was more than happy to stay up and listen! What a treat that was for me. It is hard to believe how much things have changed since 1991. When I first came you couldn't even call home without going to a special phone center and now I am in touch every day through the internet or a cell phone. I am still not sleeping well at night and keep hoping that the next night will be the night I get a full nights sleep. Maybe a change of scenery will help. I need to get with Ron and get my instructions concerning this road trip. Keep us in your prayers.
It is about 6:30 Sunday morning and I am working on my lessons for today and I thought I had better sent a quick update.We are still in Hyderabad and will be today and possibly tomorrow. It has continued to rain every day and it is causing a lot of flooding in different areas and even where there is not flooding it makes it more difficult to travel and discourages people from being out. We are still holding meetings, but not as many as we normally would and are not seeing as many people at the meetings as we normally do. Our plans were to leave tomorrow for a road trip but the areas we were to visit are flooded so we are not sure what we are going to do. We are going to watch the weather reports today and try and get some reports from various areas and see what we can figure out. I am not sleeping well and that is not normal for me. I usually fight "jet lag" when I get home but typically get over it quickly when I get here. The last two mornings I have been up at 2:30 and 3:30 and have not been able to go back to sleep. Saturday morning when I woke up at 2:30 I got a book I brought to read and thought that would make me sleepy. I ended up reading the whole book! We have a busy day schedule today with all three of us having at least 4 appointments and possibly as many as 6. Hopefully there will be a little down time and I will be able to get a nap! Health wise we are all fine and are hoping to be able to hit the road soon. I will stay in touch as much as possible.
Had a special treat early this morning. We have a good internet connection here so I got up at 5:00 in the morning to see if I could find the WVU game on the internet. I did and the three of us listened and cheered on the Mountaineers. It was a lot of fun to listen to the game and not have to wait until some time later to see how it turned out. Our plans for the day got canceled because it is a holiday honoring the birth of Gandhi. Peter Ray had a meeting tonight and I went to a special gathering for a young lady I have known for at least 15 years who is now married and expecting her first child. I thought it was just going to be a meal and a time of fellowship, but I was asked to speak a little about the blessings and responsibilities of bringing a child into this world. You need to always be ready to speak over here, because you never know when you are going to be asked and what they might want you to speak about. As it stands now we will be in Hyderabad through Sunday night and will leave Monday morning for an extended road trip that will cover three or four different cities. I am looking forward to that trip. The Claytons are still moving in but have made a lot of progress. Everyone will be staying in the new apartments but not everything has been moved yet. It is a pretty big undertaking to move two families and an office. We are all well and enjoying our being here. Keep us in your prayers.
We arrived in Hyderabad around 8 a.m. (India time) after stops in Detroit, Amsterdam and Mumbai (Bombay). We were tired but had really nice, smooth flights with no problems at all. The planes were not full so we were able to spread out a little and that always makes it nicer. Ron and Karen are in a new place, as far as living quarters as concerned. They are renting an entire apartment complex that has four apartments in it, on four different floors. The first floor has become the office, the second floor is where guests will stay, Kyle and Sony will be living on the third floor and Ron and Karen are on the fourth floor. It is a nice arrangement that gives everyone some privacy and eliminates having to drive to the office through incredible Hyderabad traffic. The monsoons are running a little late this year and it rained a good bit of the day yesterday. Because of the rain and also because we were very tired, we chose not to have any meetings last night. We should up and running today, however. Karen is a little under the weather and has a doctors appointment today and we are hoping she can get straightened up. She has had a really bad cough for sometime now and has finally decided it is time to see a doctor. One interesting experience we had on the flights over took place in Mumbai. After we landed an announcement was made that the airplane had to be disinfected. While we were waiting to exit the plane a fine mist of some sort starting coming through the air vents and I am assuming it as some kind of antibiotic spray. They are very concerned about the swine flu here and I am sure that was the reason for the spray. We had to fill out a questionaire before leaving the plane stating we did not have any symptoms that might be the swine flu. A lot of the employees in the airport were wearing masks. Our longest layover was in Mumbai, about 6 hours, and we killed the time playing UNO and eating hot dogs! Glad to be here and looking forward to getting to work today.
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
27 |
28Leave Pittsburgh 3:20pmArrive Detroit 4:28pm Leave Detroit 5:45pm |
29Arrive Amsterdam 1:40amLeave Amsterdam 4:30am Arrive Mumbai 1:45am Leave Mumbai 8:55pm Arrive Hyderabad 10:10pm |
30Hyderabad |
1Hyderabad |
2Hyderabad |
3Hyderabad |
4Hyderabad |
5Hyderabad |
6Hyderabad |
7Khammam |
8Khammam |
9Nereducherla |
10Nereducherla |
11Nereducherla |
12Suryapet |
13Suryapet |
14Suryapet |
15Hyderabad |
16Hyderabad |
17S HyderabadA & P Bidar |
18S HyderabadA & P Bidar |
19S HyderabadA & P Bidar |
20Hyderabad |
21Hyderabad |
22Macherla |
23Markapur |
24Markapur |
25Markapur |
26Hyderabad |
27Hyderabad |
28Leave Hyderabad 8:30amArrive Mumbai 9:45am Leave Mumbai 3:20pm |
29Arrive Amsterdam 1:15amLeave Amsterdam 3:30am Arrive Detroit 12:30pm Leave Detroit 3:20 Arrive Pittsburgh 4:23 |
30 |
31 |
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