"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."Col. 3:17

Last year at this time we wrote about a few of the people we were thankful for as we were settling in and adjusting to our new work and roles here in India.This year we would like to express our gratitude for two other people.These two are our American Baptist missionary colleagues who also serve here at Kodaikanal International School, David and Susan Brown.

Susan has been working tirelessly for the past few weeks with the elementary school choir to put on a production of a Christmas musical, Angels Aware.David is providing the musical accompaniment for the program. As Dave and I lent a hand during the dress rehearsal today I was struck by the wonderful witness of the musical, which tells the story of why God would send His Son, Jesus, to earth.The cast is made up of children from around the world:India, Bhutan, Korea, USA, England, Germany, and Bangladesh.They come from a variety of faith backgrounds besides Christianity, including Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam.What a wonderful way to witness to the saving love of God, our Father, to these children and the other students, staff and parents who will be coming to watch the performance tonight and tomorrow night.The songs, which Susan has worked so hard to teach the children, will remain in their hearts and minds for a long time.We pray that these seeds will bear much fruit.

In Richard Foster's book on Prayer, he write, "The work of our hands and of our minds is acted out prayer, a love offering to the living God."We are so grateful for the love offering that Susan and David Brown give through the work they do here at Kodaikanal International School in the ordinary, teaching moments in the classrooms, as well as the extra efforts of leading musicals and cantatas and other worship music.

Betsy Perkins