February 22, 2026
Family Talk
By Dave Phillips
Sundar Maddala and I had an excellent teaching trip to India. We traveled safely, with only the usual travel adjustments that are seemingly unavoidable when we purchase tickets far in advance in order to get better selection and prices. The result is usually only minor additional hours spent in layovers, or, at times, can be re-routed schedules. In this case, we had an additional day in New Delhi, which turned out to be educational for me in many different ways.
We expanded to two workshops instead of one, and ended the week with their customary annual Sunday morning worship service in the park which rests in the middle of Rajahmundry. This is not a gospel meeting effort, but rather an annual worship service that ends with a fellowship meal like I’ve never seen before. We’ll just have to show pictures rather than describing it. Over 350 people were in attendance, however, and the spirit of the people in the assembly was unforgettable. I was asked to preach while Sundar translated and I don’t believe I’ll ever forget the experience. It was a marvelous experience.
I am grateful to the congregation at Germantown for allowing us the opportunity to go. Yes, it was a lengthy trip, but the joy of meeting new preachers on Thursday in Visak, India, where 120 (invited preachers) assembled for a discussion of the gospel of John, and then come to Rajahmundry where 160 other (invited) preachers came to discuss the same topic was such a blessing. So, the Sunday morning experience was an added serendipity. The tent where we worshiped and then ate together was filled with an assembly ranging from small children to senior saints- and everyone in between. (Sundar’s mother reported the count to me and she stated it with such certainty that I did not question it.)
A long trip lasting 11 days. A lifetime of memorable pictures of the people in India, the church in India, and the interest in serving God more effectively. We’ll share some pictures we made at a Sunday night service in the near future. We are so privileged to have Mark McInteer with us all day long. He is not a stranger to Germantown but I’ll tell you more about him during our worship.
