So what happens when a bunch of overprivileged Hollywood folks (actors, screenwriters, a grad student, a cameraman, an IT nerd with lots of tattoos, a nurse, a full-time mom, and a purveyor of homeopathic remedies) trek through India to meet with people fighting slavery, poverty, and oppression?

God only knows.

This blog and www.justice4india.blogspot.com is where the answers will be revealed.

What unites us is some sense of conviction that as followers of Jesus it's unacceptable to stand by while people suffer. And people aren't only suffering in India - they also are here in Los Angeles. So we hope not only to discern how to support our Indian friends, but also to return with new tools to alleviate some of the suffering that characterizes the other side of Hollywood.

In preparation, we fasted. And by "we" I mean Ecclesia Hollywood's 10-member team that's going to India, plus the men of The Lodge (the monthly men's group from Ecclesia), and anyone from church who felt so led. The point was to remember, in our hunger, to pray. The trip only lasts two weeks, but we don't quite know what we'll encounter.

Sunday evening was the last meeting of the India team before we leave on Friday. We turned in the rest of the funds we've raised, our immunizations are done, and most of us have cracked books about India or memorized some Hindi phrases. (Uh, some of us, anyway...)

Bob Massey is a screenwriter living in Los Angeles. He is traveling to India with a team from Ecclesia Hollywood.