The final part of my plan for this year.

 I never knew back in 2025 that a major portion of this year would be spent making plans to settle in South India. However, here we are! The boys, along with Oskar, will be arriving in about 8 days from now. I am happy to resume loving them, teaching them, and supporting them.

In Lucknow, it was VERY frustrating as family thought the ways of a dying system of things while seeing it hurt their own, while at the same time trying to suggest we follow a similar path. 

One such conversation: Dad tells me how the boys can join the Indian military for an easy way into employment. This makes no sense to me as IF we were thinking along those lines they would be joining the US military. Of course these are bad choices when we need to cast our vote for Jehovah's kingdom, and live lives that loudly display that choice. 

I tried to explain to him that if they really had a hard time landing a job they could always go to the States. I tried to tell him that as full time preachers of the good news they are employed. He did not understand and I ended the conversation stating that as Americans they have options that Indians do not have easily. 

I look forward to joining together in pure worship and to guiding them closely. People back in Lucknow do not fully understand that it is returning to Jehovah full hearted that helped me, motivated me to make these changes. In our family in Lucknow, I was the only one who might take a stern stance, or even raise my voice. I tried to do this very carefully. The result? Mom and Dad said "You have changed and become so humble and loving". I really hope they remember those words and my answer: that I am following bible principles. 

They read their Bible daily, yet the peace of their house surges and then ebbs. When it ebbs it is like the peace was never there before with shouting and on occasion violence becoming a possibility. 

So with Jehovah's aid we will be together again and like Korea our mission stays the same. We put the kingdom first knowing that Jehovah God will sustain us!

/tata

God's way or Man's?

 Since the beginning of man-made governments, people have suffered. Some people feel that this is just a normal part of life. 

I find it strange, as they will complain about rules, laws, and taxation. All the while living in a world where those with money can circumvent all of those laws. Call it bribery or lobbying; it is all extremely unfair, with some very strict rules for entry.

Sometimes these rules were put in place hundreds of years ago. Others are put in place by successive governments, and if you look closely, they are strict and unfair. The laws are so confusing when dealing with large sums of money that many who get entry into the club of the wealthy end up in jail. 

God's way or rather, we should use his name, which he wants us to use, Jehovah's way, is perfect. 

In South Korea, many students commit suicide when they score poorly on their version of the SAT. The government response? In many areas, law enforcement distorts suicide deaths, calling them "accidents".

One student told me on a Monday, looking very disturbed, that he saw a person jump from an apartment. We found out later that it was a female student who was "studying" in a hallway in the apartment. She wanted to "get some fresh air" and moved a chair next to the window as it was high up. She then stood on this chair to "get some fresh air" and fell to her death. 

It was explained to me that this was done to protect property values and the image of the local society. 

Jehovah is love. In the Bible, we are given guidelines and basically told what we should and should not do. We are given so many examples of people who did wrong or practiced what is right. We can see it as an open-book test where, if you follow the faithful and discreet slave, the answers are well outlined for you. 

In this man-dominated world, tests never have the answers given freely. If you can afford it or if you are in one of those groups that are privileged. These are some of man's rules even though they are unlawful nonetheless they are rules that govern how things happen in this system of things.

I am sure it the workplace in South Korea and India, there are groups that make sure their kids get the nice positions, while a "token number" of normal high scorers are allowed in the door. You can see this when people in government jobs simply do not know their job. This is so unfair. We work around this in different ways, but it means they have to work harder and, in many cases, take time away from family to maintain or get that good job.

Man's way leaves people feeling empty on a regular basis. It leaves people with a false sense of security that is easily cracked and undermined. For myself, I was always very close to anger, frequently taking my frustrations out on my wife and children. In my family publicly it looked nice. But in reality it was rotten.

Now, I am following Jehovah's way (not perfectly) and I have a true sense of peace, meaning in life, I am no longer raging or close to intense anger. I often find myself using Jehovah's word when I am upset with my wife over something. THIS DOES NOT MEAN I DO NOT MAKE MISTAKES! However, peace is always with us. I am learning to not be so prideful, and assume I know a lot. I am in a mode of wanting to learn and use what I learn in a positive way. 

/tata

Modern education sucks!

 Recently, a young man came to the school and gave sweets to all of the teachers and staff. The reason? He was accepted into a very nice university with a bright future ahead of him. But there are some issues with this. Today, across India, many people in IT fields are losing their once-good and stable jobs. 

Years ago when I was a kid high paid jobs fled the USA. This was due to better robots. Automation reached such a point that these workers were not needed any more. 

In the 1990's another job that employed millions of Americans but was lost due to cheaper labor in other countries was call center jobs. Basically, you have a problem with your order from the shopping magazine you talk to them on the 1-800 number provided. Your computer is acting strangely? Back in 1995, call that 1-800 number and they will help you. If your order is late, or there is some issue with it yeah, call that number. You are booking a flight, hotel, rental car or some other service...you get the idea. These people worked in cubicles answering phones all day and night. 

Poof today they are mostly gone in the USA. 

Tracking the exact cumulative number of U.S. call center jobs lost to overseas outsourcing is difficult due to changing definitions and decentralized corporate tracking, but labor unions and industry estimates place the losses in the hundreds of thousands over specific multi-year periods. The Communications Workers of America reported a loss of 500,000 U.S. customer service and contact center jobs over a four-year period alone as operations shifted to countries like the Philippines, India, and Latin America.

These are also lost to A as well. By the way AI provided the information above.

Basically, no job is safe when it comes to A.I. There will always be people working BUT there will be a need for far fewer workers. 

So, that young man who visited the campus was smiling, but his eyes were red. He looked very tired. What will happen in 3 to 5 years when he is ready to look for work and well out of 100 classmates only 15 get really good paying jobs. 50% stay home and study some more, while the remaining ones seek any jobs to at least help out at home.

These jobs are service jobs mostly. Call center jobs in India are everywhere BUT few have the skills to take those jobs. This I know from experience. Most can not stand the hours, others are older workers but they lack the skills the needed accent training and so there are always openings.

India, like South Korea has a problem with young people ending their lives because the education they worked so hard to get isn't worth the paper the degree is printed on. 

Recently, over 100 million students need to retake an extremely stressful exam when it was found that test papers were leaked. This will effect when they graduate and can start looking for jobs later. AI helped me get this information as well. I did not need to search the internet for this information. The AI bot just collated it and gave me an answer with links to where it found the information.

My nephew Enoch will be in for a rude awaken when the field he wants to join is dominated by 10 humans controlling thousands of bots, more likely monitoring them. There are loads of jobs now to help train these AI bots in MANY DIFFERENT FIELDS. These jobs pay well too! But they are temporary. Maybe today they need 2 million bot tests. Tomorrow they will need 20000. With 5000 others monitoring the bots. 

Modern education sucks!!! The future we will more of what we see in the USA. Young people staying home because it is hard to find a good job. I mean it is already here in India, and South Korea. Tomorrow, it will be worse!

/tata

Money matters

 I was talking to the students last week here in Kerala, and they told me that people are becoming more and more like those in the West. 

What do I mean by this? Well, due to testing and preparations for yet another event, there were a few students in the class. They asked me about my smartphone. They were very impressed, as it is considered extremely expensive here.

In the past I would have basked the adoration and their impressed expressions. Not anymore! I saw it as a potential stumbling block for them and myself. I quickly told them that while it might seem so special here it actually isn't. I told them about how they depreciate in value very rapidly. (I love this as I can get older folding phones cheaply). I explained that all smartphones are amazing. I then explained how a large portion of the USA is actually poorer than they think. I explained how in USA and South Korea based on my own experiences how people are actually poor but they look rich. 

I am teaching my sons these things as well. Actually, patience helps here as well. Today, that thing we like 100 dollars. But 6 months later they release a newer version and boom you can get it for only 30 dollars. Second hand markets are one way we can deal with these times that are critical and hard to deal with. 

In, South Korea in 2024 14872 people killed themselves. I am sure the actual number is much higher, and I am sure the love of money hurt a number of these people. I hope Jehovah gives them a chance to see the real life we have in store under his tent. 

I am constantly looking at ways to reduce costs. I am currently looking at second hand desktops that are cheap that when you add a GTX 1070 or GTX 1060 6gb card plus plenty of extra ram over time you get a cheap but very solid system. I need to over haul George's smart phone (new battery), and replace Jeyo's with a solid second hand unit. In the coming months likely near the end of this year the fold 6 and fold 3 will be looked into. But, we will see at this time they are on lower priority. High priority is setting this place up here and getting the boys here. All the while being busy in the ministry, making meetings, and spending time with our brothers and sisters. 

I must put the kingdom first! If I do not I am just wasting time. 

/tata

Update time!

 The boys are still in Lucknow, but they have been getting ready by packing and looking into the papers Oscar needs to travel with. Yogita and I have been getting things ready here by seeing how systems work here. Shopping is a breeze, and shops will bring chicken, beef, seafood, or mutton to your doorstep. The price? Very affordable. In fact, prices here are much better than in the North. We will get a desk and cot with mattresses for the boys soon. I might do this as they are heading down here via train. It would give me more time to find something nice and even have a shop keeper order something that meets our needs.

So right now we have completed about 1.5 months here and the next phase will be getting the boys down here while learning more and more about this region and passing that information on to the boys.

I am happy that they are excited to come but I am also happy that this experience is helping them to practice patience. If this were South Korea, we would have moved together. Here, patience is needed. Even for myself, I have to practice this fruitage of the Spirit. When I rushed and did things, I failed. When I took time, things turned out so much better.

For example, my GPU. I always wanted this graphics card. I learned it is better to just wait and keep an eye out. During COVID, that is back in 2020 GPU prices jumped to crazy levels. I was walking through the neighborhood and saw a pc shop that was always closed. This time I walked in with Yogita and saw that he was selling GPUs of course not the one I wanted. But it was cheap! I bought it and it will be used in the boys next desktop. It took about 10 years for me to finally get the GPU I wanted. I even bought it at the same price I got the gtx 1060 I bought on that walk with Yogita. By the way I got those back in 2019 the GTX 1060s. So they are sill running strong seven years later. Patience really does pay off.

So unlike South Korea's rush rush culture here in India things take more time. It is not like 13 years ago, but still what can be done on the spot in South Korea or the next business day. India, it might take two or three days to complete. 

So phase one is complete and phase two is underway. 

/tata

Jehovah supports us all. An encouraging visit.

So it was a Sunday and after the meeting a couple invited us over to their home. 

They have a very nice comfortable home. They never once bragged about it or told us how much it is worth. They were very down to Earth. 

We ate a very tasty lunch together and talked at length about thier experience. I wanted to share ours but I discerned it was not the time for our story to be told.

Our sister has a background that would make is difficult to learn the truth about the bible and Jehovah's will for us on Earth.

She prayed to Jehovah to help her. She received the help she needed. But she had to really work hard and think outside of the box to take advantage of the help she was given.

She then had to make a choice to give up her comfort at that time, rely on Jehovah and take a leap of faith. She did this and every prayer was answered.

Every, single, one, was answered. The prayers were not only answered in a timely way others were taken care of before she made the request of Jehovah. 

This experience has taught me by yet another living account that our prayers are answered. Just not always in the way that our lower level of thinking and knowledge feels it needs to be answered. At the end of her story she was living comfortably with her husband thankful to the true source of her comfort.

/tata

Teaching here shows us a reality.

Teaching in South Korea is good way to support oneself or a family.l

In, South Korea there was a prestige that came along with it. The community gave a lot of respect to teachers. Now, over 26 years later teachers are getting little to respect. They are bullied by students and parents. 

Today there have been a few famous cases where teachers have committed sucide. They did so in such a way that the school authorities could not cover it up 

Now, we do not work for private institutions. We work for a private English Medium School.  

The education is terrible. There are so many events that take time away from education. Frequently, we have to pause what we are.doing. Many of these events have no real educational purpose. Teachers often use the time to chew the fat and just relax.

In South Korea many private schools rely on what I call a script. As students learn it or rather memorize it they become like parrots. They seem to understand but ask them anything outside of that script and they are like a person who never never spoken English before.

Here, teachers have such poor English, they pass poor English speaking habi5s to the students. It is crazy. The principal sees it and tries to turn things around.

This tells me one thing; we do not know what we are.doing. The bible tells us that learning needs to be at home. Most kids I see really want to spend time w8th thier families. 

Where I was in South Korea wasting class time checking homework here I am in another broken system. We need Jesus's kingdom to show us how to live.

We have no clue!

/Tata