Hello from the Jungle! - Steve

Typing this from our air-conditioned room at the Srikrishna Palace Hotel in Narsipatnam (who says you have to rough it in the jungle?). Just got here and the room is OK, but there are NO covers--not a top sheet nor a blanket. Kind of weird.
We had a great time in the village today (the names of all of these villages are invariably difficult for us to pronounce and remember). We had a much larger crowd than expected. When people saw the "white people" arrive, many non-Christians came to see what was going on. We brought a box of 60 Bibles to hand-out, but there were at least twice that many people that wanted them, so we ran out. Sad, but nice to see so many people thirsting for God's word!
Daryl and I both preached reruns (Ricky asked us to preach these here): Daryl on "The Bible as God's Word" and me on "The Story of the Bible." I think they complement each other very well. Ricky wants us to preach those same lessons again tomorrow at the next village.
After we concluded today, 13 came forward to be baptized (although one later backed out)! We all loaded up and drove to a mountain stream (through a GORGEOUS valley--lush green rice fields dotted with palm trees and surrounded by green mountains) and watched the birth of two new brothers and ten new sisters in Christ! Not a bad day!
Although we hope that our preaching helped, I know that the preacher and brethren there have done a lot of work and planted a lot of seeds before we arrived. In any event, what a thrill to be present for the harvest! Afterwards, numerous people came forward asking us to pray for them and their families (sometimes without even a translator) and to inscribe their new Bibles. Very humbling!
Bye for now! Daryl will post more after we eat dinner. Love you all! Special love to Samantha, Emily and Anna Kay! I miss you! Thanks for your notes!