Really cool people

I want to remember Monday night forever. We went to one of Matt's co-worker's apartment for dinner. The family is from India, and they cooked some of the best Indian food I have ever had. More than anything, though, I really loved hearing stories from their lives.

The best story they told us is the story of how they met and got married. Vivek saw this beautiful woman across the street at a bus stop one day. He felt an immediate emotional connection with her, so he followed her on to the bus and around town. He finally got to contact her at one of her family's sightseeing stops. She stratched out the address of where she and her family were staying. Unfortunately, there three different possible addresses that he could determine from her hasty handwriting. He stood outside of all three addresses for hours and days until he finally found her. They threw messages back and forth until she had to leave. He wrote to her (at her friend's address because his pursuit was a cultural faux pas) for many months. She didn't write back. He got so impaitent that he decided to go to her city to talk to her. But the day he was going to leave, he got a letter from her that said not to come. He went anyway and stood outside of her friend's house for hours. He finally got to see her, but she told him that she didn't want to see him again. He became so upset that he actually became suicidal! Fortunately, his friend that came with him was there to hold him back. For a couple more years, Vivek wrote to her. He learned that her brother had found a suitor for her. He finally became so intent on marrying her, that he took his savings and got support from his parents and went to get her--he was going to kidnap her and marry her. Her parents did not want him to marry her, and she wouldn't marry him in the Hindu temple because she wanted a legal court marriage. He and his friend didn't know what to do. They were at a local restaurant, brainstorming and calling all of their contacts in the city. The restaurant owner overheard their situation and told them about a magistrate who could be bribed for a marriage certificate, but that they would have to hurry because it was a Saturday and the courts were closing. They didn't make it in time, but after offering more money, they were able to meet the magistrate at his house and get the marriage certificate. (In India, it takes about a month for an application for marriage to be approved, but Vivek had found the one magistrate in the country that could be bribed for the certificate.) Vivek took the certificate to her house and presented it to her parents. They were very upset, but the new couple left to go back to Vivek's home. It took a couple of months to reconcile the family (her brothers were especially angry).

They have been married for a little under 20 years now. They both came to know Christ a few years into their marriage. Vivek was called into the ministry and started his schooling at a seminary in the Phillippines. Now they are here in the United States, and are looking to start a church for internationals in Boston. Their faith is inspiring. They had to go through a lot of hard times together. They are generous with their hospitality and their love of other people.

I love being at the seminary. People have very distinct callings into the ministry. I love being around people who ardently love doing God's work. It's encouraging and inspiring.