Salt and Light have worked in India on four occasions, and are about to book to return at Easter 2010.  We have been really blessed by the warmth and welcome of the people with whom we have worked, and are hugely impressed by the work that we have observed.

Once again, it is our privilege to work mainly with the disadvantaged and the poor, and in doing so have enjoyed our association with a local Assemblies of God church.

During our visits we have visited wonderful orphanages run by the El Shaddai charity which is in partnership with the Assemblies of God.  We have also worked with Shallom house, an inspirational group of orphanages that is in association with the Elim church in India.

We've also juggled at a number of day / night shelter for homeless children in various parts of Goa, spoken at a rally for supporters and potential supporters of one of the groups of orphanages, preached on Easter Sunday at the Assemblies of God church, and spoken at a Bible College.

Pete  leading a teaching session at a Bible College in Goa

Pete and Maggie absolutely adore India and the people whom we have met there.  There is clearly much poverty in the country, and we have heard the heart rending stories of some of the children that have been rescued by the workers in the orphanages.  We are greatly encouraged, however, by the ambitious plans that the homes have put in place to further help those in their care.

El Shaddai have built a wonderful school that will provide a first class education for their children.  It is such a thrill to be involved with these caring people, who give - and love - sacrificially.

We ask that you support the work of El Shaddai and Shallom in your prayers, as well as the work of The Salt & Light Company.

2008 VISIT

In 2008 Maggie and I made our fourth visit to India, and it proved to be our most productive trip so far.  Please have a look at the gallery where you will find photographs of the school mentioned above.  It is now complete and in full use.  We each spent half a day teaching and will remember this as one of the highlights of our time in India.

We visited all of the places that we had been to before, plus another night shelter.  In addition, we were invited to the opening of a new nursery school / adult education centre in a terribly poor area of Goa.  We discovered that there was a very high level of crime here and that the people really were in a desparate plight.  I spent around an hour working with local children and we had a great time juggling and playing together.

Perhaps my most pleasurable experience of the trip, however, was a couple of visits to a Hindi church in the centre of Panjim.  I preached here on both Sundays and despite the complications of translation I found the time spent with these wonderful people totally inspiring.  Their Pastor, Stephen, and his wife Siya are lovely people and my prayers are with them as they continue to teach and lead their congregation.

We have already made plans for our 2009 visit, when I have been asked to spend a day conducting a management training session with leaders of the El Shaddai organisation.  What a privilege that will be, and what an exciting business serving Jesus can be! 

2009 VISIT

Well, we did it again and have just returned from another thrilling, educational and inspiring visit to India.  The best news is that Pastor Stephen and his wife Siya are celebrating the birth of their second daughter.  What a lovely family this is! Please pray for them as they adjust to the new situation and as Siya returns home.

2009 was our busiest year thus far so it was absolutely brilliant that our son, Ben, was able to join us for the fortnight. He is a teacher and a good juggler so we were able to work together. His contribution made everything work really effectively. It was so nice to have him with us and we hope and pray that he will be available in 2010.

We returned to all of the places mentioned above, except for the Shanti Niketan school and the nursery school / adult education centre.  Both of these were closed for the Indian summer break and we missed them because Easter was a little later this year.  U.K. school holidays start in March in 2010, which will be better for us.

One highlight of this year's visit was the Easter Sunday sunrise service.  Pastor Stephen's church was given the use of a huge floating restaurant for the morning and a large crowd of local people crowded onto it for a fabulous voyage up the Mandovi river.  As we sailed we were surrounded by mangroves, early morning fishermen and other river traffic. I just can't imagine a more atmospheric place to celebrate and worship the risen Son of God, Jesus the Messiah.  We sang, prayed, shared scripture and I preached.  A little later, I juggled and told a story to the children on the boat as we shared breakfast together. Wow!

This year we visited an El Shaddai day/night shelter in the city of Margao for the first time, I spoke at a local church men's meeting, juggled for a new slum children's charity and preached to a Portuguese group of Christians who happened to be staying in our hotel!  Their Pastor asked a member of the senior management team at the hotel whether she knew of a local church that had a service on Easter Sunday evening.  She couldn't help but she thought she knew a man who could and scoured the hotel for yours sincerely!  I phoned my contacts and found that all the churches had a morning and afternoon service rather than an evening one, so Pastor Normando hired a conference room and asked me to speak to his group of around 25 Portuguese Christians.  It was a great experience and I am so grateful for such an opportunity.

As soon as I can I will post some photographs of our Indian visit on the gallery page.