Good friends

One way to know who is a good friend: if they drop in unannounced - do you rustle up something to make sure they stay for dinner - even if you have already eaten yourself.

Drs. Santosh and Vanita Matthew and their amazing kids Grace, Mark and Nancy meet that test and surpass it by a mile.

photos courtesy Dr. S.P. Matthew
- here the Matthew clan cheerfully eats our kichidi and egg bhujia!

The good doctors run the Ashok Hospital in Dahisar - and are involved in many other amazing activities. One of them is that they are home-schooling their threesome - which is still something of a novelty here in Bharat-land.

Grace and Mark are holding their own pretty well - especially with the dedicated inputs that their parents put into them - and Nancy has recently blossomed into a lovely little girl - spunky, talkative, full of fun and caught up in the whirl of whatever is going on.

We have gotten to know the Matthews as a family at the church camps over the past couple of years - and know the senior M's from their involvement in the fledgling greater Mumbai chapter of the Evangelical Medical Fellowship of India.

Mathew is a fearless thinker and speaker of his mind. Always willing to learn. Always looking to see how he can serve God more. I have been deeply challenged by the way he is willing to be radical in his obedience to Jesus.

The sum of their lives can be seen in their family. What a joy to be with. Would that they were neighbours instead of living on the other side of the great urban sprawl that Mumbai is.

But then again we are deeply grateful for their stopping by - and heading off for home well after 11 PM on that fateful night last week.


Our prayer is that our next gen Matthews and Eichers will continue the pilgrimage together.

Its a great life!