Despite being in the country so long, we finally got to worship at the Christian Media Center just this morning. Vaan Malar Lutheran Church is the church that operates out of the CMC facility. Before the service began attendance seemed pathetic, to be frank, but like good Lutherans people drifted in slowly after the service began until the sanctuary was overflowing. Most of the service was held in the Tamil language, but John and Chuck read the Bible passages, Steve gave the sermon, and the team sang a song for the service.

At the end of the service, the team was honored with gifts from the church. We all received wall hangings adorned with pictures of horses, camels, butterflies, and elephants. After the service, we had the pleasure of visiting with the congregation, eating idly and sambar, and having delicious south Indian coffee.

After church, the team went back to the hotel to rest. The David's and Chuck sprung Gary from the hospital. I won't go into our final costs for the hospital stay, but I will say that if "Health Care Reform gets us these prices, bring it on! Once Gary was comfortable and we had ordered him a steak from room service (I've stayed at this hotel for a total of 3 1/2 weeks and I just found out they have steak!) the rest of the team joined the David's at a local hotel for a Kasmir-based buffet lunch.

After lunch, Steve wrangled the forces of Emirates Airlines to try to get a better seat for Gary on the plane. Because his leg must be elevated during the flight, we were trying to get him into business class. Unfortunately, an upgrade was cost prohibitive, but we think we have him in a seat that is going to work for him. Promises won't be made by anyone at Emirates until we get to the check-in counter, so prayers are needed still. Pray for safe travel for all of us, but especially for comfortable travel for Gary.

In the afternoon, we went out for more shopping, once again hitting the clothing stores for sarees, salwars, and kurtas. At this time, we're just hanging out at our hotel, resting up for a final half day of work before six of us prepare to leave in the early hours of Tuesday.