Discipleship Program, Durham, North Carolina

My final mission in the United States was in Durham, North Carolina and though it was a wonderful mission—Discipleship Program, Prayer Meeting, Counselling—I was glad when it was over. Though people may not have realized it, I was close to exhausting my reserves of energy and if I had one more such mission I believe I would have collapsed through it. My hosts/organizers—Charles and Stella, Melvin and Preeti, Josy and Maria—were warm and wonderful and will always be fondly remembered.

Discipleship Program, Vancouver, Canada

Immaculate Conception Church, Vancouver, British Columbia

The Discipleship Program in Immaculate Conception Church held from September 15-18, 2008, Vancouver was one of the best ever, attended by nearly 500 people of assorted races, all of whom seemed struck by a bolt of lightning. I was very tired, but very happy by the end of it, and only wish I could have started off the School of Discipleship here but I had to leave for North Carolina the following morning. There is a good chance that I will set up a second base of operations in Canada, though, so that might happen some time soon.

Discipleship Program, Seattle, Washington

A new family in Seattle, Washington

Invitations kept coming my way at the very last minute, which meant I couldn't plan my trip very well. Consequently I found myself criss-crossing back and forth across the continent! Fortunately, I could plot in Seattle immediately before Vancouver (they couldn't arrange a program in the Church for me last month), so for a change I could take a bus rather than a plane.

My host here was another Matthew, who had also organized my mission for September 12 and 13 in his prayer group. Predominantly Indian Malayalees, they were a warm wonderful bunch of people who took me into their hearts, and I them. Matthew's wife Maria, who showed me some of Seattle's sights on the free day that I had, is on the bottom left of the picture.

Discipleship Program, Houston, Texas

Discipleship Program in St Thomas Aquinas Prayer Hall, Houston

A short session in Dallas, Texas

My first mission in the United States began with the Discipleship Program in Houston, Texas at St. Aquinas Church. It was a terrific start to the mission, and though the crowd wasn't too large, the parish priest was in attendance and he invited me back to Houston to do the Program on a parish level some time next year. He also said he would like to start an HSI Community in Houston. Matthew, my host, who had arranged my program, said that he would arrange missions in other parishes in the region the next time I was down. He and his wife are wonderful people, totally on fire for God, and I was blessed to be with them.

I flew the following morning to Dallas where I gave a talk to a small group of people, some of whom I knew in my younger days, including host Percy Pinto and his lovely wife Charmaine. There were also a couple of protestant ministers present, as well as some who were non-Christian, and I figure God knew better than I did why they were there.

I flew back to Houston from Dallas, slept for four hours, then retraced my journey back to Canada with three separate flights to Phoenix, Portland and finally Vancouver. I made a little calculation and estimated if all the hours I spent travelling was put together I spent a total of between two two to three weeks either at an airport or in an airplane this year!!!