Friends

How precious friends are. And how few we all seem to have when it gets down to the nitty-gritty. Being real. Being part of our lives. Being there.

John and Nalini Gabriel fit the bill. When we came to Mumbai 6+ years ago they were part of the local Hebron assembly we attended – and lived just round the corner from us. With a daughter Asha’s age – and then adding another to complement our Enoch’s arrival – we were blessed to have such a loving couple who took us in and were there for us.

Enoch, Jasper, Asha and Nikita get ready to dig into some rice and prawn curry!

We are a good 5 years on since moving over to Thane – and our friendship still holds. The years have seen some difficult times in the lives of both families – but it has been a privilege to keep growing with each other.

This past week Asha and Enoch spend 3 days with their dear friends Nikita and Jasper. Being the last week of their summer holidays the kids had a ball.

The Eicher and Gabriel kids dig into all natural ice-creams - Asha's bear Gloria and Nikita's Twixie are also on hand.

As parents we were able to meet and participate in a prayer meeting at John and Nalini’s place when we went to drop off the kids. Though mid-week, we were able to spend the night with our friends (including a trip to a natural ice-cream parlour at 10.30 PM) before an early-morning bus took us back to Thane.

Asha had had appendicitis the week before. John and Nalini’s prayers were among the first and most fervent. We are so glad Asha recovered so fast (and without surgery – though it seems we may have to go for it later). Seeing her tuck into Auntie Nalini’s prawn curry, you would never have imagined that this was the same girl in such pain just a week prior!

We know that God does not bring us randomnly into people's lives - and vice versa.

Thanks John and Nalini - for being friends. We are so grateful to God for you!