Our friends from Bible Faith Lutheran Church and Moriah Home and School.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Photo Memories from Chennai
Great to see posts from Pastor Mike with photos from northern India, and hear that the group arrived home safely yesterday. Seeing Mike's photos from Chennai (from the previous week) reminded me of a few more....
After we arrived early Saturday morning (1/26), we had the day to wait for the rest of the group to arrive at 1am Sunday. So Rajesh and I took an autorickshaw into town -- that's when I was able to get online and post from Chennai. In the afternoon, though, Dad went through all of his digital photos and Ragesh helped him identify the people in each of them. They also compiled a list of pastors from each congregation we visited.
The refreshment stand at St. Thomas Mount sold "Diet" bottled water. We all had a good chuckle over that one. Maybe that's why I lost so much weight? ;)
We stayed at the Guest House at St. Thomas Mount, located about halfway up the hill. This is the view from the Guest House, looking down the single road that winds up the hill. In the mist beyond those trees is the flight approach to the international airport, so you could stand here at an altitude of about 200' and watch planes approach the runway at 150' a few miles away.
And turning the other way, this is the view looking uphill from the Guest House. There are statues everywhere, donated by groups to commemorate visits by VIPs like the Pope.
Further down the hill, I found this lone statue overlooking the city.
I think this was when we were all loading up to head to Evans Beach. The plan was to head directly to the train station after the beach, so this was goodbye to the Guest House.
After our disasterous collective travel experience, it seemed like it was in everyone's best interests to get new nicknames. This is "Bagless Bob" getting ready for sleep on our overnight train to Guntur -- proud owner of the only nickname that stuck.
A tired "Broken Mike" Weaver next to his sleeper compartment -- no, that name didn't stick.
Look at Aaron's eyes here and then take my pop quiz: does Aaron look a) well-rested, or b) like a guy who was on a plane from Thursday night through Saturday 1pm, then stayed up a most of the day Saturday only to wait with me at the Chennai airport all night Saturday night, then take on a jam-packed schedule all day Sunday?
After we arrived early Saturday morning (1/26), we had the day to wait for the rest of the group to arrive at 1am Sunday. So Rajesh and I took an autorickshaw into town -- that's when I was able to get online and post from Chennai. In the afternoon, though, Dad went through all of his digital photos and Ragesh helped him identify the people in each of them. They also compiled a list of pastors from each congregation we visited.
The refreshment stand at St. Thomas Mount sold "Diet" bottled water. We all had a good chuckle over that one. Maybe that's why I lost so much weight? ;)
We stayed at the Guest House at St. Thomas Mount, located about halfway up the hill. This is the view from the Guest House, looking down the single road that winds up the hill. In the mist beyond those trees is the flight approach to the international airport, so you could stand here at an altitude of about 200' and watch planes approach the runway at 150' a few miles away.
And turning the other way, this is the view looking uphill from the Guest House. There are statues everywhere, donated by groups to commemorate visits by VIPs like the Pope.
Further down the hill, I found this lone statue overlooking the city.
I think this was when we were all loading up to head to Evans Beach. The plan was to head directly to the train station after the beach, so this was goodbye to the Guest House.
After our disasterous collective travel experience, it seemed like it was in everyone's best interests to get new nicknames. This is "Bagless Bob" getting ready for sleep on our overnight train to Guntur -- proud owner of the only nickname that stuck.
A tired "Broken Mike" Weaver next to his sleeper compartment -- no, that name didn't stick.
Look at Aaron's eyes here and then take my pop quiz: does Aaron look a) well-rested, or b) like a guy who was on a plane from Thursday night through Saturday 1pm, then stayed up a most of the day Saturday only to wait with me at the Chennai airport all night Saturday night, then take on a jam-packed schedule all day Sunday?
Some of our work with BFLC
Bob interviewed pastors from the Bible Faith Lutheran Church for a story he's writing for the Columbus Dispatch. Here's he's interviewing Sudheer, the pastor at Nachugunta.
Aaron found himself playing volleyball with some of the kids from the Moriah Home one afternoon.
At one of our island church visits, Eric greets the church that gathered that evening to meet our group.
Regularly we'd find Jim engaging in conversation with people. Here he is with a group of seminary students and pastors.
And me? I taught at the seminary the first week we were there. Here I am with John Babu one of the BFLC pastors.
Pictures from St. Thomas Mount, Chennai, India
Here are a few pictures from our visit to St. Thomas mount where, according to tradition, Jesus' apostle Thomas was martyred in 72 a.d. We were able to walk where countless pilgrims from across the centuries, including the likes of the explorer Marco Polo, once walked.
Place where Thomas died. He was speared at the bottom of the hill, but crawled to the top of the hill to die. There is little historical record of Thomas' visit to India, but there is evidence. In an Indian antiquities museum is a carving mentioning Thomas' visit to one of the rulers of India in the first century.
Catholic Church on St. Thomas Mount
Our group on the mount, our first full day in India. Notice the beautiful view of the city of Chennai from the mount.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Back home again
"Hey it's good to be back home again"
John Denver
We made it safely home today from New Delhi. As was the case with the Whiteheads last weekend, our flights home were uneventful. We said goodbye to Zakkiah last night and headed to the airport from the hotel. Even as I write, Zakkiah hasn't made it back to Guntur. His train was to leave at 11:30am, New Delhi time and arrive 24 hours later in Vijaywadda and then another hour drive to Guntur by car. Most likely he'll get back to his house sometime Sunday afternoon with will be the wee hours of Sunday morning for us. Zakkiah and the others in Guntur we met are friends to us. We return richer, not only for the experiences and places we saw, but more importantly for the friends we developed as a gift from God.
Thanks for reading.
Mike
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Delhi
Our last full day in India...in New Delhi. It has been quite a remarkable trip for all of us. Last night we had a moment as a group to reflect on our time here. I asked, "What is the first thing you will tell folks when you get back to the U.S. What stands out in your mind?" We all had different answers: taking communion with the Christians in the village of Upumalaguru celebrating our unity and God's grace for us all, playing volleyball with the kids, the church visit to Rompercherla where 63 people greeted our group in the middle of the day on a Monday, the smiles of the children at Moriah Home and School that warmly greeted us many days...and on and on. Our experience was blessed and rich and full of signs of God's gracious love.
For me, this third visit to Guntur and the BFLC has been great. My visit to churches and understanding the mission of the BFLC wasn't new to me as it was to Aaron, Bob and Jim. This visit for me was renewing and continuing friendships here. Friendships with people like Zakkiah who has traveled with us to Delhi to see us on the plane, and Rajesh, a young and emerging leader within the BFLC. I count these two men truly brothers in Christ among many others not named. We learned a bit of Telugu along the way as well from our friends here. By the way, the Telegu word for lizard is bali. No go impress your friends with that one!
We arrived in Delhi yesterday by train from Agra. Our visit to Agra was good. We were able to see the Taj Mahal and other historic s
ites from India's past (12-14th centuries). All of the sites we've seen thus far in Agra and Delhi yesterday were buildings and palaces built by Muslim rulers when they ruled India during that time period. They are quite impressive.
Today, before we leave, we'll see a bit of old Delhi as well. Aaron is feeling much better.
While it's been a great experience, we're all looking forward to seeing our friends and family in the U.S. again. We arrive Saturday morning in Columbus. Please pray for our safe journey. I'll post pictures on this blog once I get back to the U.S.
See you in Ohio.
Thanks again for reading and your comments to the blog entries.
In Christ,
Mike
For me, this third visit to Guntur and the BFLC has been great. My visit to churches and understanding the mission of the BFLC wasn't new to me as it was to Aaron, Bob and Jim. This visit for me was renewing and continuing friendships here. Friendships with people like Zakkiah who has traveled with us to Delhi to see us on the plane, and Rajesh, a young and emerging leader within the BFLC. I count these two men truly brothers in Christ among many others not named. We learned a bit of Telugu along the way as well from our friends here. By the way, the Telegu word for lizard is bali. No go impress your friends with that one!
We arrived in Delhi yesterday by train from Agra. Our visit to Agra was good. We were able to see the Taj Mahal and other historic s
ites from India's past (12-14th centuries). All of the sites we've seen thus far in Agra and Delhi yesterday were buildings and palaces built by Muslim rulers when they ruled India during that time period. They are quite impressive.Today, before we leave, we'll see a bit of old Delhi as well. Aaron is feeling much better.
While it's been a great experience, we're all looking forward to seeing our friends and family in the U.S. again. We arrive Saturday morning in Columbus. Please pray for our safe journey. I'll post pictures on this blog once I get back to the U.S.
See you in Ohio.
Thanks again for reading and your comments to the blog entries.
In Christ,
Mike
Nachugunta Photo Memories
The new church at Nachugunta at Dawn.It's far easier to upload photos to the blog when you are here in the U.S. using a fast connection. So here are some photos that I haven't posted yet from our overnight in Nachugunta.
On our way to Nachugunta Thursday (1/31), we had to wait for a ferry to take us across to the island. A nearby Catholic prayer tower provided this view of the Krishna river flowing toward the Bay of Bengal.
My dad's journal described how our car got stuck on our way back to Nachugunta, but what he didn't mention was the herd of goats that had to navigate their way around our dirt-digging project.
Deciding on a plan for the day. (Dawn, Friday 2/1. L-R, Mike Weaver, Jim Sexton, Aaron Shank, Bob Loomis.)
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Wishing Aaron Good Health
Bummer to hear about Aaron's illness during the trip ride. 24 hours of being sick on a train with Indian restroom facilities? Yeah, that pretty much blows.
My dad was sick Monday and Tuesday after he got back, too -- pretty wiped out from the flights. We all got a decent sleep last Wednesday night, but from there on we traveled all day Thursday and spent the night in Nachugunta, traveled all day Friday, left Saturday on the train at 1pm and were on the road until 3:30am Saturday, at which point we boarded the plane. Then he (we) got whatever sleep he could for the next 8 hours, followed by another 8 hour flight.
So that's really 1 good night's sleep from Thursday morning to Sunday night -- no wonder he arrived in Minnesota and went straight to bed. Mental note to avoid such scheduling next time.
My dad was sick Monday and Tuesday after he got back, too -- pretty wiped out from the flights. We all got a decent sleep last Wednesday night, but from there on we traveled all day Thursday and spent the night in Nachugunta, traveled all day Friday, left Saturday on the train at 1pm and were on the road until 3:30am Saturday, at which point we boarded the plane. Then he (we) got whatever sleep he could for the next 8 hours, followed by another 8 hour flight.
So that's really 1 good night's sleep from Thursday morning to Sunday night -- no wonder he arrived in Minnesota and went straight to bed. Mental note to avoid such scheduling next time.
Wednesday, Feb. 6--Agra
We arrived in Agra by train at 3:3oam and taken to our hotel. Unfortunately, Aaron was sick the entire trip from Guntur to Agra. We all said however, if there was a day to be sick it would be the travel day. He slept almost the entire 24 hours on the train.
On Tuesday morning at 2:15am we were awakened by what sounded like a party by the neighbors of the BFLC seminary where we had been staying. The loud dance music served as our alarm. We were supposed to be up by 2:3o anyway to take the hour journey to Vijaywadda to catch the train to Agra. Turns out, the music we heard was from the Safari the BFLC folks had rented to take us to the train station. Greeting and seeing us off were Rajesh, Bishop Shalem, and Zakkiah's family. Pastor Zakkiah had never been to Agra or Delhi so he's been our traveling companion on this leg of our journey. I think the music was Rajesh's idea. He's a 22 year old pastor of the BFLC and very fun loving. Many times he greets us with a smile and a hearty laugh. He's one of our favorite guys. Karuna Dasari also got up early to say good-bye as did the ladies who cooked all our meals for us (Nirmala, Neloni, and Susthi) and gave us a big bag of food to take on the train. It's was a nice send off from friends made here in India. Karuna is such a wonderful hostess, genuinely warm and welcoming. When you stay with the BFLC you feel like family with Karuna. We said our good-byes and off we went.
We left Guntur with mixed feelings, satisfied with the work we had done, encouraged by many people, and a bit burdened by the many, many needs facing the BFLC churches and the Moriah Home and School. The list
is long, with needs ranging from general maintenance and upgrades to the school, challenges in paying a competive wage to qualified teachers at the Moriah School, and need for a new worship space in a couple of congregations. The needs are great but the finances aren't always there. For example, when the Moriah School recently needed to replace one of their two school buses, Karuna sold a piece of property she owned to pay for it. It was great sacrifice on her part because she understood that unless another bus was bought, 60-70 kids wouldn't make it to Moriah School at all. Parents just couldn't put them in the car to drop them off. They don't have cars to drop them off. Why did Karuna do it? Her deep belief in the mission of the school and the reality that the current BFLC budget wouldn't cover it. Much prayer is needed for this worthwhile mission that God continue to provide generously to this mission so that poorer kids are educated well and the gospel is preached effectively in rural villages.
Since we arrived so early in Agra today, we took a short two hour nap and jumped in a taxi to see the Taj Mahal. Truly it is one of the seven wonders of the world. Unfortunately, it was a big foggy/smoggy here today so most of our pictures of the Taj are shrouded. Getting there early aloud us to fight the crowds, but we sacrificed good pictures for it.
Mid morning we picked Aaron up from the hotel because thankfully he's feeling better and we were off to the Red
Fort, a gigantic complex built by various Moguls in the 16th century. After lunch we drove an hour outside of town to see a royal palace and religious area built by Akbar in the 15th century. He ruled the area for nearly 50 years. At five foot three, he was a small man in stature, but he made up for it in the size and granduer of his royal palace. The interesting thing about Akbar is that he had three wives, one Hindu, one Muslim and one Christian. Only one of the three gave him a son to carry on the family name, the Hindu. Guess which one got the biggest palace on the grounds?
It's nearly dinner time here and we're all hungry. We looked into celebrating Ash Wednesday in a local Christian congregation, but we didn't return from Akbar's site until late. We'll have a worship together as the six of us in our hotel room marking the beginning of lent for all of us.
Tomorrow off to Delhi. More from there. Thanks for reading.
Mike
On Tuesday morning at 2:15am we were awakened by what sounded like a party by the neighbors of the BFLC seminary where we had been staying. The loud dance music served as our alarm. We were supposed to be up by 2:3o anyway to take the hour journey to Vijaywadda to catch the train to Agra. Turns out, the music we heard was from the Safari the BFLC folks had rented to take us to the train station. Greeting and seeing us off were Rajesh, Bishop Shalem, and Zakkiah's family. Pastor Zakkiah had never been to Agra or Delhi so he's been our traveling companion on this leg of our journey. I think the music was Rajesh's idea. He's a 22 year old pastor of the BFLC and very fun loving. Many times he greets us with a smile and a hearty laugh. He's one of our favorite guys. Karuna Dasari also got up early to say good-bye as did the ladies who cooked all our meals for us (Nirmala, Neloni, and Susthi) and gave us a big bag of food to take on the train. It's was a nice send off from friends made here in India. Karuna is such a wonderful hostess, genuinely warm and welcoming. When you stay with the BFLC you feel like family with Karuna. We said our good-byes and off we went.
We left Guntur with mixed feelings, satisfied with the work we had done, encouraged by many people, and a bit burdened by the many, many needs facing the BFLC churches and the Moriah Home and School. The list
is long, with needs ranging from general maintenance and upgrades to the school, challenges in paying a competive wage to qualified teachers at the Moriah School, and need for a new worship space in a couple of congregations. The needs are great but the finances aren't always there. For example, when the Moriah School recently needed to replace one of their two school buses, Karuna sold a piece of property she owned to pay for it. It was great sacrifice on her part because she understood that unless another bus was bought, 60-70 kids wouldn't make it to Moriah School at all. Parents just couldn't put them in the car to drop them off. They don't have cars to drop them off. Why did Karuna do it? Her deep belief in the mission of the school and the reality that the current BFLC budget wouldn't cover it. Much prayer is needed for this worthwhile mission that God continue to provide generously to this mission so that poorer kids are educated well and the gospel is preached effectively in rural villages.
Since we arrived so early in Agra today, we took a short two hour nap and jumped in a taxi to see the Taj Mahal. Truly it is one of the seven wonders of the world. Unfortunately, it was a big foggy/smoggy here today so most of our pictures of the Taj are shrouded. Getting there early aloud us to fight the crowds, but we sacrificed good pictures for it.
Mid morning we picked Aaron up from the hotel because thankfully he's feeling better and we were off to the Red
Fort, a gigantic complex built by various Moguls in the 16th century. After lunch we drove an hour outside of town to see a royal palace and religious area built by Akbar in the 15th century. He ruled the area for nearly 50 years. At five foot three, he was a small man in stature, but he made up for it in the size and granduer of his royal palace. The interesting thing about Akbar is that he had three wives, one Hindu, one Muslim and one Christian. Only one of the three gave him a son to carry on the family name, the Hindu. Guess which one got the biggest palace on the grounds?It's nearly dinner time here and we're all hungry. We looked into celebrating Ash Wednesday in a local Christian congregation, but we didn't return from Akbar's site until late. We'll have a worship together as the six of us in our hotel room marking the beginning of lent for all of us.
Tomorrow off to Delhi. More from there. Thanks for reading.
Mike
Monday, February 4, 2008
My Return to Columbus
I'm back (Eric) in Columbus now, but the rest of the All Saints group continues on to the city of Agra in northern India. Since my Dad and I have both visited Agra and the Taj Mahal before, we headed back to the U.S. while Aaron, Mike, Jim, and Bob caught the 24-hour train north.
Hopefully Mike will be able to post some pictures with his blogs from Agra.
Our flights home were uneventful, much to my surprise. We even got our luggage. As I return to "normal" life this week, I'll continue to post my thoughts and photos from my experiences in India.
Hopefully Mike will be able to post some pictures with his blogs from Agra.
Our flights home were uneventful, much to my surprise. We even got our luggage. As I return to "normal" life this week, I'll continue to post my thoughts and photos from my experiences in India.
Monday, Feb. 4--final visit
Over the course of our time here, we've visited nearly 20 congregations of the BFLC. Today was our last visit in a rather large town called Tenali. It is a congregation of 30 people that meets in a small building in a residential neighborhood. Started in 1985, it was the first Christian congregation in Tenali (now there are a number of them from multiple denominations) and one of the first three started in the BFLC.
After lunch we were honored guests once again at the Moriah Home. They gave us a wonderful send off and many wishes of "Happy Journey" were given to us. We felt blessed.
Tomorrow morning, very early...ah hem...4am...we catch the train for Agra and arrive there Wednesday morning at 3am.
Our time in Guntur has been wonderful. As always, the people here are humble and a blessing to us. Over dinner I asked us all to reflect on what God has been teaching us during our time in Guntur and visiting the churches. The common refrain was simplicity and unity. As Aaron Shank so aptly put it, "I've realized it doesn't take much to grow a church." Indeed. Since the beginning of this movement, Jesus Christ was all and enough. No wonder Jesus sent the people out two by two saying to them, 'When you go, take nothing with you..." All we need are two primary relationships...with God and with one another. The rest begins to take care of itself.
More from Agra...
Mike
After lunch we were honored guests once again at the Moriah Home. They gave us a wonderful send off and many wishes of "Happy Journey" were given to us. We felt blessed.
Tomorrow morning, very early...ah hem...4am...we catch the train for Agra and arrive there Wednesday morning at 3am.
Our time in Guntur has been wonderful. As always, the people here are humble and a blessing to us. Over dinner I asked us all to reflect on what God has been teaching us during our time in Guntur and visiting the churches. The common refrain was simplicity and unity. As Aaron Shank so aptly put it, "I've realized it doesn't take much to grow a church." Indeed. Since the beginning of this movement, Jesus Christ was all and enough. No wonder Jesus sent the people out two by two saying to them, 'When you go, take nothing with you..." All we need are two primary relationships...with God and with one another. The rest begins to take care of itself.
More from Agra...
Mike
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Sunday, Feb. 3--worship and church visits
If you've not done so already I encourage you to read the previous posts from Eric Whitehead from his father, Bruce, about the island visits. It is a very good summary of our time on the islands.
We traveled an hour and a half out of Guntur to the village of Uppumaguluru for worship. We arrived at noon and soon thereafter worship began. Pastor Johann the church's pastor told us that nearly fifteen families were not around that day because they traveled to other villages for work harvesting cotton. The area around the village is mainly fields of cotton, red chilis, and rice and a bit of rock quarries. The people of this village are all farmers, day laborers who work in the fields. Despite the absence of fifteen families, nearly 60 men, women, and children joined us at worship.
I had the honor and privledge of sharing the message with the people, basing it on God that Father's words in the transfiguration story, 'This is my son, the beloved, listen to him' and the teaching from Jesus in Matthew 5 on his people being salt and light. The town is made up of the dalit caste, the lowest caste. While the caste system is illegal and has been since 1947, it still remains as a functional reality. The dalits are also called the untouchables in Indian society. The words from Jesus to them and all of us giving us identity as salt and light is quite radical. Jesus raises our status by giving us purpose and identity in this world. He holds us precious just as we hold salt and light precious. I don't know why these people were Dalits and it is a shame. If you would see them and experience worship with them as we did, then you would hesitate like we to see them as anything other than people loved by God in Christ.
Since it was the first Sunday of the month, we had communion. "I was really glad we had communion together," Bob Loomis said. We all agreed. It is a chance for us to receive Christ's body and blood, but also share the One we all hold in common whether from India or the U.S.
As is the custom, each of the people in our group brought greetings to the church on behalf of All Saints. I taped them and was hoping to transcribe their thoughts for you, but haven't had a chance to listen to the tape as of the writing of this blog entry. The thoughts are yet to come. Suffice to say, Jim, Bob, and Aaron all shared from their heart and were quite good.
After worship we visited three other congregations: Gangapelem, Thatapudi, and Ganapavarem. The last of the three stood out the most. The congregation began just three years ago led by their Pastor, Prasada JT. Over those three years they have grown from zero to seventy worshipping people and have outgrown their worship space. Two years ago when I was here, we dedicated their new building. In just two years they have outgrown it and Sunday after Sunday the people cram into a tiny space as much as they can, while the other sit outside in the hot sun. They need a bigger space for worship. Each night, the pastor told us, members from the congregation gather in the sanctuary to pray for needs in the congregation, those of their Hindu neighbors, the growth of the church, and literally for a bigger worship space. Every night. We were impressed and we prayed with them as well during our visit. There was a vibrant sense about this congregation and their pastor unlike others in the BFLC. I attribute it to their devotion to prayer and reliance as a community of God to provide for their needs and their neighbors.
The members of this congregation all work in the local textile mill. The plant manager, a Hindu, has been very supportive of the congregation. At the dedication two years ago, he came and offered words of encouragement and gave a gift of 7000 rupees to its mission. Over these past two years, he remains in support of the mission of the congregation. Another testiment to the work of God.
All for now.
Thanks for reading.
Mike
We traveled an hour and a half out of Guntur to the village of Uppumaguluru for worship. We arrived at noon and soon thereafter worship began. Pastor Johann the church's pastor told us that nearly fifteen families were not around that day because they traveled to other villages for work harvesting cotton. The area around the village is mainly fields of cotton, red chilis, and rice and a bit of rock quarries. The people of this village are all farmers, day laborers who work in the fields. Despite the absence of fifteen families, nearly 60 men, women, and children joined us at worship.
I had the honor and privledge of sharing the message with the people, basing it on God that Father's words in the transfiguration story, 'This is my son, the beloved, listen to him' and the teaching from Jesus in Matthew 5 on his people being salt and light. The town is made up of the dalit caste, the lowest caste. While the caste system is illegal and has been since 1947, it still remains as a functional reality. The dalits are also called the untouchables in Indian society. The words from Jesus to them and all of us giving us identity as salt and light is quite radical. Jesus raises our status by giving us purpose and identity in this world. He holds us precious just as we hold salt and light precious. I don't know why these people were Dalits and it is a shame. If you would see them and experience worship with them as we did, then you would hesitate like we to see them as anything other than people loved by God in Christ.
Since it was the first Sunday of the month, we had communion. "I was really glad we had communion together," Bob Loomis said. We all agreed. It is a chance for us to receive Christ's body and blood, but also share the One we all hold in common whether from India or the U.S.
As is the custom, each of the people in our group brought greetings to the church on behalf of All Saints. I taped them and was hoping to transcribe their thoughts for you, but haven't had a chance to listen to the tape as of the writing of this blog entry. The thoughts are yet to come. Suffice to say, Jim, Bob, and Aaron all shared from their heart and were quite good.
After worship we visited three other congregations: Gangapelem, Thatapudi, and Ganapavarem. The last of the three stood out the most. The congregation began just three years ago led by their Pastor, Prasada JT. Over those three years they have grown from zero to seventy worshipping people and have outgrown their worship space. Two years ago when I was here, we dedicated their new building. In just two years they have outgrown it and Sunday after Sunday the people cram into a tiny space as much as they can, while the other sit outside in the hot sun. They need a bigger space for worship. Each night, the pastor told us, members from the congregation gather in the sanctuary to pray for needs in the congregation, those of their Hindu neighbors, the growth of the church, and literally for a bigger worship space. Every night. We were impressed and we prayed with them as well during our visit. There was a vibrant sense about this congregation and their pastor unlike others in the BFLC. I attribute it to their devotion to prayer and reliance as a community of God to provide for their needs and their neighbors.
The members of this congregation all work in the local textile mill. The plant manager, a Hindu, has been very supportive of the congregation. At the dedication two years ago, he came and offered words of encouragement and gave a gift of 7000 rupees to its mission. Over these past two years, he remains in support of the mission of the congregation. Another testiment to the work of God.
All for now.
Thanks for reading.
Mike
Saturday, Feb. 2--Our luggage!!
It was off to Hyderabad for Bob and I on Saturday to retrieve our luggage. We received confirmation on Friday while were at the island congregations that our luggage had indeed arrived. So, with Rajesh, we made our way to the Guntur train station at 5am to buy ticket for the 5:40am train to Hyderabad. After five hours we arrived in Hyderabad, made our way to the airport by autorickshaw, enjoyed lunch at a local restaurant, listened to Rajesh argue with the autorickshaw drivers about the fare to and from the airport and restaurant (we had no idea what was being said since it was all in Telugu) and then back to the Hyderabad/Secunderbad train station for the 3:15pm train back to Guntur. Whew. We arrived safely back to Guntur at 9pm, tired from traveling and hungry for dinner.
I was so grateful to have my luggage after one week, I put on every shirt and pair of pants...at once...just because I could. Kidding. It is nice to have more than two shirts and two pairs of paints and sandals. But, you know what, I survived and so could we all.
On Wednesday I spoke with Zakkia about our luggage situation and he told me, "You know, we all kind of think this is kind of good that you don't have your luggage. After all, there are many Indians in rural villages who only have two shirts and two pairs of pants and some sandals." Good point. As Paul says, 'I have learned to be content in all circumstances...'
When Jesus sent his disciples out to do ministry and told them not to take anything with them, I didn't think he meant me and Bob! I didn't think he was serious....sheesh. I do believe that our week without luggage was God's work in a very gracious way.
I was so grateful to have my luggage after one week, I put on every shirt and pair of pants...at once...just because I could. Kidding. It is nice to have more than two shirts and two pairs of paints and sandals. But, you know what, I survived and so could we all.
On Wednesday I spoke with Zakkia about our luggage situation and he told me, "You know, we all kind of think this is kind of good that you don't have your luggage. After all, there are many Indians in rural villages who only have two shirts and two pairs of pants and some sandals." Good point. As Paul says, 'I have learned to be content in all circumstances...'
When Jesus sent his disciples out to do ministry and told them not to take anything with them, I didn't think he meant me and Bob! I didn't think he was serious....sheesh. I do believe that our week without luggage was God's work in a very gracious way.
Thursday, Jan. 31--Nachugunta and goats
My apologies for this late entry. We’ve had a few busy days of late and I haven’t had a chance to post an entry on this blog.
My teaching at the seminary ended on Wednesday afternoon. Before I had left the U.S. I had prepared for a series of lectures to give to the students, but once I arrived I was worried that I wouldn’t have enough material for the time allotted to me. God is good. We finished class at 4:30 on Wednesday afternoon and I had just the right amount of material. No coincidence…only God’s providence.
Thursday morning we left in two vehicles for visits to four congregations on the islands in the Krishna River delta. Our first stop was Nachugunta. As you might recall, All Saints provided funding through the BFLC to construct a new building for worship and finish the parsonage. Both were completed in late summer, early fall of 2007. We’ve received pictures of the buildings at All Saints, but none of us had seen the actual buildings. Last January when I visited, the walls to the new space were only have way completed.
All of us were excited about going to Nachugunta. The purpose of our visit was to dedicate the facility with the congregation and pastor. It would also serve as our overnight accommodation Thursday night. (No Motel 6 here…only cots in the new sanctuary for us.) We entered the village and were all struck by its remote nature. It is accessible only by ferry. Our cars turned the corner on the “street” (which serves 99% of the time as a dirt sidewalk for cattle and people) and were greeted by the congregation and the reality of the newly constructed building. We got out of the cars and simple stood amazed. The pictures we had seen were now in 3D. After a few minutes of everyone saying, ‘Wow, look at this place…’ we had a group photo with the congregation members who were present. Most of the congregation greeted us, but some of the men were working that day out on the Bay of Bengal as fishermen.
The worship service was wonderful. Since my luggage hadn’t arrived yet, my robe and stole were not available. Zakkia, a BFLC pastor, loaned me his robe and stole for the ceremony. It was an honor to wear his vestments that day and the share worship with such wonderful people and their pastor Sudir. After some music and greetings from each person in our group to the congregation, I shared with them a message I had prepared for this event. Normally (read…never) I don’t prepare a manuscript for my sermons. I usually have an outline of key points. This time, for this event, I wrote what I said (clearly an act of God) and am able to share word for word what I shared with them. Before you read it, I would suggest you now sit on the floor on a mat just as the Christians in Nachugunta do because there are no pews or chairs in the worship space. I’ll wait while you make your way to the floor….……………………….Ok, here’s what I said,
It is our pleasure and joy to be with you today in this beautiful house of worship. Last year when I was here, the walls were only ½ completed. It is nice to return to stand in and worship with you in his space and to see the completed parsonage. Last year as well, we only had a few minutes to spend with you because we were on a tight time schedule. As we left some of you escorted our group back to our cars. One of you said to me, ‘Next time, please stay longer.’ By God’s grace I am pleased that today we can stay longer and enjoy this time together.
It is appropriate today as we from All Saints Lutheran Church gather with you to read Psalm 133,
‘How good and pleasant it is when brothers and sisters live together in unity!
It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on Aaron’s beard, down upon the collar of his robes.
It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.’
Our unity today witnesses to the gospel of Christ everywhere. As Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth,
‘To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours.’
Together, from India and the U.S. are called to be God’s holy people.
The people of All Saints have prayed for you and pictures on this new building hang outside our sanctuary. Together, we praise God in unity for the blessing of today.
What does God enjoy? Unity. When his people gather in peace and unity, as Psalm 133 says, there is abundant blessing. Why does God love unity so much? Because it is the nature of God. The Holy Trinity is itself community; three persons made one. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit unified and yet distinct in their roles. The Father creates, the Son redeems, and the Holy Spirit makes clean. But, all create, all redeem, and all make clean. Where one is, there the other two are.
So it is with us…Christ has made us one. As Paul wrote to the Christians in Ephesus,
‘You are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.’
Christ has broken down the dividing wall between us making us friends and no longer strangers. We who are separated by language, custom, and color of skin are unified in mystical union in Christ. We share a common life in Christ with you and together we are built, as Paul says, into a beautiful dwelling place for God, more beautiful than this worship space. We dwell with you in this moment and as we return we dwell with you in prayer.
‘Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine, according to the power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever! Amen.’
(Ephesians 3:20-21)
May this congregation be a place for all generations and people.”
The entire sermon was translated in Telugu to the people. The next day Pastor Sudir mentioned to me that the congregation appreciated the message. I am simply grateful to God that I had the opportunity to share it.
(pictures of Nachugunta and the congregation will follow on this blog once I return to the U.S. Right now I am unable to upload the pictures from my camera to this computer. Check back after February 10)
Following worship and lunch at Nachugunta we visited four other congregations for the remainder of the day. On our return to Nachugunta for the night, we found the one lane rural road blocked. We had passed earlier in the day a road crew putting down by hand a new layer of gravel on the road to smooth it out (believe me, it needs it badly). As we were driving, we found six large piles of rock in the middle of the road waiting to be distributed the next day. Since there are very, very, very, few cars on the island this is no problem…except for us. There was no turning back because this road was the only way to get to Nachugunta. So we all got out of the cars to investigate and ponder solutions together (as men do), some in Telugu and others of us in English. The only solution was to take the SUVs down the right side of the road along one side of the gravel piles. Mind you, there was just enough space for the vehicle. Since this is a rural road, there was no shoulder or berm. The only thing on the other side of the vehicle from the road was a deep ditch. We waited at one end of the piles while our driver tried to make his way through the piles. He got stuck on pile two.
Yikes. No we’re stuck in the middle of no where, literally. I mean, we’re somewhere on the globe, but with no street lights and villages near by at night, you pretty much feel like you’re in no where. Two options: try to dig the SUV out or let it sit until daybreak while the group walks the 8km back to Nachugunta. We try option one. One of the pastors reached the pastor at the congregation we had just visited, maybe 5 km away. The second SUV went back and picked up a man with a shovel who would help dig the stuck SUV out. Upon his arrival, he quickly dug the SUV out and smoothed a path ahead of the two vehicles so that we could pass. Someone in our group mentioned that we should pay the man for coming out to help, but Zakkia said no. He did this out of the kindness of his heart. He has recently converted to Christianity and was happy to serve our group in this way.
The classic moment for us while we waited was the arrival of the goats. We stood by watching the digging happening and next thing you know, here comes a herd of goats with its goat herder. The goats meandered through the piles, undisturbed by us. Only in India would we be stuck and a herd of goats passes us by. As the goat herder walked by us with his walking stick, the words from the Christmas story came to our heads, ‘And there were shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night…’
Thanks for reading.
Pastor Mike
My teaching at the seminary ended on Wednesday afternoon. Before I had left the U.S. I had prepared for a series of lectures to give to the students, but once I arrived I was worried that I wouldn’t have enough material for the time allotted to me. God is good. We finished class at 4:30 on Wednesday afternoon and I had just the right amount of material. No coincidence…only God’s providence.
Thursday morning we left in two vehicles for visits to four congregations on the islands in the Krishna River delta. Our first stop was Nachugunta. As you might recall, All Saints provided funding through the BFLC to construct a new building for worship and finish the parsonage. Both were completed in late summer, early fall of 2007. We’ve received pictures of the buildings at All Saints, but none of us had seen the actual buildings. Last January when I visited, the walls to the new space were only have way completed.
All of us were excited about going to Nachugunta. The purpose of our visit was to dedicate the facility with the congregation and pastor. It would also serve as our overnight accommodation Thursday night. (No Motel 6 here…only cots in the new sanctuary for us.) We entered the village and were all struck by its remote nature. It is accessible only by ferry. Our cars turned the corner on the “street” (which serves 99% of the time as a dirt sidewalk for cattle and people) and were greeted by the congregation and the reality of the newly constructed building. We got out of the cars and simple stood amazed. The pictures we had seen were now in 3D. After a few minutes of everyone saying, ‘Wow, look at this place…’ we had a group photo with the congregation members who were present. Most of the congregation greeted us, but some of the men were working that day out on the Bay of Bengal as fishermen.
The worship service was wonderful. Since my luggage hadn’t arrived yet, my robe and stole were not available. Zakkia, a BFLC pastor, loaned me his robe and stole for the ceremony. It was an honor to wear his vestments that day and the share worship with such wonderful people and their pastor Sudir. After some music and greetings from each person in our group to the congregation, I shared with them a message I had prepared for this event. Normally (read…never) I don’t prepare a manuscript for my sermons. I usually have an outline of key points. This time, for this event, I wrote what I said (clearly an act of God) and am able to share word for word what I shared with them. Before you read it, I would suggest you now sit on the floor on a mat just as the Christians in Nachugunta do because there are no pews or chairs in the worship space. I’ll wait while you make your way to the floor….……………………….Ok, here’s what I said,
It is our pleasure and joy to be with you today in this beautiful house of worship. Last year when I was here, the walls were only ½ completed. It is nice to return to stand in and worship with you in his space and to see the completed parsonage. Last year as well, we only had a few minutes to spend with you because we were on a tight time schedule. As we left some of you escorted our group back to our cars. One of you said to me, ‘Next time, please stay longer.’ By God’s grace I am pleased that today we can stay longer and enjoy this time together.
It is appropriate today as we from All Saints Lutheran Church gather with you to read Psalm 133,
‘How good and pleasant it is when brothers and sisters live together in unity!
It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on Aaron’s beard, down upon the collar of his robes.
It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.’
Our unity today witnesses to the gospel of Christ everywhere. As Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth,
‘To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours.’
Together, from India and the U.S. are called to be God’s holy people.
The people of All Saints have prayed for you and pictures on this new building hang outside our sanctuary. Together, we praise God in unity for the blessing of today.
What does God enjoy? Unity. When his people gather in peace and unity, as Psalm 133 says, there is abundant blessing. Why does God love unity so much? Because it is the nature of God. The Holy Trinity is itself community; three persons made one. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit unified and yet distinct in their roles. The Father creates, the Son redeems, and the Holy Spirit makes clean. But, all create, all redeem, and all make clean. Where one is, there the other two are.
So it is with us…Christ has made us one. As Paul wrote to the Christians in Ephesus,
‘You are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.’
Christ has broken down the dividing wall between us making us friends and no longer strangers. We who are separated by language, custom, and color of skin are unified in mystical union in Christ. We share a common life in Christ with you and together we are built, as Paul says, into a beautiful dwelling place for God, more beautiful than this worship space. We dwell with you in this moment and as we return we dwell with you in prayer.
‘Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine, according to the power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever! Amen.’
(Ephesians 3:20-21)
May this congregation be a place for all generations and people.”
The entire sermon was translated in Telugu to the people. The next day Pastor Sudir mentioned to me that the congregation appreciated the message. I am simply grateful to God that I had the opportunity to share it.
(pictures of Nachugunta and the congregation will follow on this blog once I return to the U.S. Right now I am unable to upload the pictures from my camera to this computer. Check back after February 10)
Following worship and lunch at Nachugunta we visited four other congregations for the remainder of the day. On our return to Nachugunta for the night, we found the one lane rural road blocked. We had passed earlier in the day a road crew putting down by hand a new layer of gravel on the road to smooth it out (believe me, it needs it badly). As we were driving, we found six large piles of rock in the middle of the road waiting to be distributed the next day. Since there are very, very, very, few cars on the island this is no problem…except for us. There was no turning back because this road was the only way to get to Nachugunta. So we all got out of the cars to investigate and ponder solutions together (as men do), some in Telugu and others of us in English. The only solution was to take the SUVs down the right side of the road along one side of the gravel piles. Mind you, there was just enough space for the vehicle. Since this is a rural road, there was no shoulder or berm. The only thing on the other side of the vehicle from the road was a deep ditch. We waited at one end of the piles while our driver tried to make his way through the piles. He got stuck on pile two.
Yikes. No we’re stuck in the middle of no where, literally. I mean, we’re somewhere on the globe, but with no street lights and villages near by at night, you pretty much feel like you’re in no where. Two options: try to dig the SUV out or let it sit until daybreak while the group walks the 8km back to Nachugunta. We try option one. One of the pastors reached the pastor at the congregation we had just visited, maybe 5 km away. The second SUV went back and picked up a man with a shovel who would help dig the stuck SUV out. Upon his arrival, he quickly dug the SUV out and smoothed a path ahead of the two vehicles so that we could pass. Someone in our group mentioned that we should pay the man for coming out to help, but Zakkia said no. He did this out of the kindness of his heart. He has recently converted to Christianity and was happy to serve our group in this way.
The classic moment for us while we waited was the arrival of the goats. We stood by watching the digging happening and next thing you know, here comes a herd of goats with its goat herder. The goats meandered through the piles, undisturbed by us. Only in India would we be stuck and a herd of goats passes us by. As the goat herder walked by us with his walking stick, the words from the Christmas story came to our heads, ‘And there were shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night…’
Thanks for reading.
Pastor Mike
Wednesday, January 30
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
I forgot to mention yesterday that I’ve been teaching the seminary students as well. The classes began Monday and Tuesday afternoons for two hours, and all day today. My subject, ‘Ministry in the Image of God. How the Trinity informs the way we work as pastors.’ It’s been a valuable time with these pastors.
We still don’t have our luggage. Yesterday was a roller coaster of a day in this regard. Around midday I made calls to the Air India baggage services in Chennai and they told me that the bags had been flow to Chennai on Monday. That was the good news. The bad news was that someone would have to go to Chennai (a 6-8 hour train or car ride) to retrieve them. However, the baggage services man told us that they haven’t officially been checked through customs in Chennai, so we would have to wait for final word from him that our bags are in fact in Chennai. We began our plans to send a couple people down today (Wednesday) to retrieve them. Since I’m teaching I couldn’t go down today, so someone would have to do so in my stead. We would have to get a legal document from the court here in Guntur, have it notarized and signed by me authorizing a person to retrieve our bags. Fortunately we have a lawyer with us on the trip, Aaron Shank, who was able to write up the document for us in proper legal jargon. After class yesterday, Bob, Aaron, Jakkia (BFLC pastor) and I went to the notary.
However, while the afternoon classes were in session, Aaron had called again to Chennai to confirm our bags had arrived. They had not. We would have to wait until today to find out for sure. It was a disappointment for Bob and me because it means we wouldn’t be getting our bags until the weekend. Tomorrow and Friday we’ll be visiting Nachugunta and the other island congregations and thus won’t be around to get our bags.
So, we prayed together that the obstacles in our way in this process would be removed. Literally, Paul’s words from 2 Corinthians 4 kept coming to mind, “We are perplexed but not in despair.”
After we prayed, some of the obstacles began to be removed. We found out who from the pastors would graciously head down to Chennai for us (that was a complete unknown before we prayed) and we found out how (by car. There was some debate about a train or car and we were simply stuck before we prayed).
The notary was another obstacle for us. We weren’t guaranteed that he would approve our document. Aaron left a blank about who would retrieve our bags for us…who would be our agent. At that point, we still didn’t know who that person would be, so we were honest…we just didn’t know. The notary was very hesitant to approve our documents, but did with reluctance. As he told us, if we were to lose this document and someone would find it, they could just fill their name in and steal our bags. It was as if he was notarizing a blank check. Thankfully, he approved.
Today, we face our last barrier, whether the bags are in Chennai at all. We’re trusting in God.
Bob conducted interviews with seminary students and Sudir, the pastor at Nachugunta yesterday. Aaron put his attorney skills to use for us, and Jim has been a great conversationalist with many of the pastors and others. Bruce Whitehead gave an interesting presentation about Israel yesterday morning about Israel. Eric and the rest of us toured the Moriah school to determine needs. The list is long. There are a number of physical needs to the classrooms that need addressed soon. Honestly, it was eye opening and depressing to encounter the need. The children make do with what they have, but their classroom spaces can improve dramatically with a bit of focused effort and money.
All for now. More later.
Thanks for reading
Pastor Mike
I forgot to mention yesterday that I’ve been teaching the seminary students as well. The classes began Monday and Tuesday afternoons for two hours, and all day today. My subject, ‘Ministry in the Image of God. How the Trinity informs the way we work as pastors.’ It’s been a valuable time with these pastors.
We still don’t have our luggage. Yesterday was a roller coaster of a day in this regard. Around midday I made calls to the Air India baggage services in Chennai and they told me that the bags had been flow to Chennai on Monday. That was the good news. The bad news was that someone would have to go to Chennai (a 6-8 hour train or car ride) to retrieve them. However, the baggage services man told us that they haven’t officially been checked through customs in Chennai, so we would have to wait for final word from him that our bags are in fact in Chennai. We began our plans to send a couple people down today (Wednesday) to retrieve them. Since I’m teaching I couldn’t go down today, so someone would have to do so in my stead. We would have to get a legal document from the court here in Guntur, have it notarized and signed by me authorizing a person to retrieve our bags. Fortunately we have a lawyer with us on the trip, Aaron Shank, who was able to write up the document for us in proper legal jargon. After class yesterday, Bob, Aaron, Jakkia (BFLC pastor) and I went to the notary.
However, while the afternoon classes were in session, Aaron had called again to Chennai to confirm our bags had arrived. They had not. We would have to wait until today to find out for sure. It was a disappointment for Bob and me because it means we wouldn’t be getting our bags until the weekend. Tomorrow and Friday we’ll be visiting Nachugunta and the other island congregations and thus won’t be around to get our bags.
So, we prayed together that the obstacles in our way in this process would be removed. Literally, Paul’s words from 2 Corinthians 4 kept coming to mind, “We are perplexed but not in despair.”
After we prayed, some of the obstacles began to be removed. We found out who from the pastors would graciously head down to Chennai for us (that was a complete unknown before we prayed) and we found out how (by car. There was some debate about a train or car and we were simply stuck before we prayed).
The notary was another obstacle for us. We weren’t guaranteed that he would approve our document. Aaron left a blank about who would retrieve our bags for us…who would be our agent. At that point, we still didn’t know who that person would be, so we were honest…we just didn’t know. The notary was very hesitant to approve our documents, but did with reluctance. As he told us, if we were to lose this document and someone would find it, they could just fill their name in and steal our bags. It was as if he was notarizing a blank check. Thankfully, he approved.
Today, we face our last barrier, whether the bags are in Chennai at all. We’re trusting in God.
Bob conducted interviews with seminary students and Sudir, the pastor at Nachugunta yesterday. Aaron put his attorney skills to use for us, and Jim has been a great conversationalist with many of the pastors and others. Bruce Whitehead gave an interesting presentation about Israel yesterday morning about Israel. Eric and the rest of us toured the Moriah school to determine needs. The list is long. There are a number of physical needs to the classrooms that need addressed soon. Honestly, it was eye opening and depressing to encounter the need. The children make do with what they have, but their classroom spaces can improve dramatically with a bit of focused effort and money.
All for now. More later.
Thanks for reading
Pastor Mike
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Wednesday - Friday
Continued from the previous post, here's more from my Dad's journal....
========
Wednesday, January 29
This was the day when the school had to give us our "send off" even though four of us were staying another week. It was somewhat different from the one for Pastor Daniel the previous week. Reaction was very positive for the truly ethnic dances, somewhat cool to the ones in which Western influence is creeping in.
The sendoff lasted until almost noon. This would be my last time to photograph all of the members of the Seminary so I arranged that quickly and had them captured by 2 pm.
Thursday, January 30
The departure for the islands was scheduled for 8 am but it was about 9:30 before we actually got away. We were accompanied by Zechiah and Bishop Shalem, soon to be joined en route by several other pastors. We travelled in two SUV-sized vehicles (which turned out not to be 4-wheel drive) that came with drivers.
We began gathering our data when we stopped at a church in Tenali, a city about an hour from Guntur. As we were taking the GPS reading and some photographs the pastor appeared so we were given a tour of the building and a list of needs. Then we continued on our way to the islands.
Since 2004 they have added a very long and impressive bridge across the Krishna River which shortens the drive significantly. Instead of going to the boat dock that I remembered, we went to a ferry dock a little east of the previous one and put our vehicles in line for a crossing to an island I had not previously visited. Also lined up for the ferry crossing was a huge gravel truck with a load of reddish crushed rock to be used on improving the roads on the island and a farm tractor pulling a trailer filled with concrete blocks. We all fitted when the ferry arrived, although the wait and the crossing must have taken an hour.
We drove directly to Nachagunta, the place where the new church building funded by All Saints in Columbus had been built, and launched into the dedication service. The singing was impressive, particularly when a man was introduced and sang a new song that he had composed for the occasion. I videotaped the whole thing so that people in Columbus will be able to see it. Unfortunately, the power went off during the service so the PA system did not work. It did not dampen the spirits of the congregation, fortunately.
When the dedication was over we left our luggage in the sanctuary and departed to see three other churches on the island. In the middle of nowhere we encountered a road construction crew. The roadbed must have been elevated 8 to 10 feet above the rice paddies and they had dumped many loads of crushed red rock which they were spreading and leveling. The big roller was at the far end of the project. Gingerly the driver pulled the SUV up on the freshly levelled gravel and we got through - even past the big roller.
The first two churches that we visited were at Brahmayagarimula and Gollamanda. We took our readings and photographs quite efficiently and moved on. The last was Vellaturu and we were welcomed by a significant number of congregation members. We all went in and were introduced and I think they sung a song for us. It might have taken half an hour. I know that we had been concerned that the sun was setting and outside photographs would be of less use. The other obligatory thing in these stops is that we must sit down and have a bottle of cola or 7-up. I suppose in the days of the British "occupation" it would have been tea.
Anyway we headed back to Nachagunta to sleep (in the new sanctuary.) It was dark and the road was very bumpy. I was in the second car. Before long we saw that the first car had stopped and there was a group of people gathered around it. In fact, it was outside the Gollamanda church. It turns out that the church members knew that we had stopped at one of the other churches and wanted us to stop at their's too. So we piled out of the cars and had another round of introductions. Bishop Shalem spoke for a bit and Mike was asked to, but gave a prayer instead.
We were late and dinner was awaiting us a Nachagunta. Back in the cars we hurried along the bumpy roads and came back to the road construction project. The roller was parked and the crew were off for the night. However, fresh gravel had been deposited in piles that did not leave enough room for our vehicles to get by.
The driver of the first vehicle decided to risk it anyway and got stuck in the soft soil. As I had said, the vehicles did not have 4-wheel drive so he quickly spun one back wheel which dug a deep hole. This hole was precariously close to the edge of the embankment and we worried that the vehicle would roll do into the rice paddy.
Soon we saw the lights of a vehicle way beyond where we were stuck. It appeared to turn around but was to far to tell exactly. Then we realized that it was getting closer, slowly. It finally dawned on us that this was the gravel truck, the one from the ferry, arriving to dump yet another load to block passage. So it came, dumped its load and left. I could not tell in the dark whether anyone had talked to the driver or not.
There were a number of efforts by the young bucks (not me) to lift the back of the SUV and move it away from the dropoff and out of the hole. They did not succeed in getting the wheels off the ground.
Our driver was sent back to Gollamanda to get shovels. He returned with a man and an "Indian shovel", a tool that looks as if someone shortened the handle of a normal spade and then bent the metal back on itself to be almost parallel to the spade part.
The man lept into the problem and quickly cleared the loose gravel from under the vehicle, then reshaped all of the gravel piles ahead of us to provide a reasonable driving surface. This time the young bucks had more confidence and did succeed in lifting the back of the SUV out of the hole, which was quickly filled.
That did the trick. The two vehicles moved past the blockage and we got in. I asked whether we should pass the hat to compensate the shoveller and was told that he was a believer, a member of the congregation in Gollamanda.
We arrived at Nachagunta at 9 pm for a quick dinner and bed. They had cots but the bedding was whatever we had brought. Eric and I had each grabbed a sheet and pillow from the Seminary but had to share a towel.
The power went off at least 3 times that night which meant that the overhead fans turned and it got a bit close. The outages lasted for about 15 minutes and might have been planned load shedding.
Friday, January 31
We woke fairly early and asked about washing up. The pastor had arranged for groups of two men to be taken to different parishoners' homes. At each home they were heating the water in a big kettle. When hot enough they poured it into a bucket and placed it in the shower/toilet room. With enough hot water available, you could wet yourself, work up a soap lather and then rinse it off. I skipped shaving.
Breakfast was similar to the one at the Moriah Home: french toast with jelly and peanut butter. This time there was no scrambled egg. And there was coffee, of course, but served in very small cups so you had to ask for seconds.
At this point we had "done" that island and were committed to lunch on the next island. But first, would we like to see the Light House? It was advertised as a two and half hour boat ride each way and we declined. Then they said that we would see a little fishing before descending on the village. It turns out that one of the pastors with us, Johann, had previously been a fisherman right there and knew everyone.
We were riding in a very large skiff (pointed at both front and back) with a built-in single stroke engine. We motored down the river to a place where fishermen were gathering in the net. The net looked to be half a mile long with floats every 8 or 20 feet. From one point on the bank they had stretched it out across the river then pulled to free end upriver and wrapped it back to shore to a second team. The teams were several hundred yards apart and each was pulling in the net. It was slow, hard work. There were about 10 men in each team and it looked like it would take the rest of the day to pull the whole thing in with the fish. Our fisherman pastor said it would take about 30 minutes.
We were given a choice, stay and watch the fish come in or motor to the mouth of the river and see the ocean. The concensus was go to the ocean. It took another 45 minutes but we were all glad that we had made that choice.
The tide was low and we came upon a huge expanse of sand with modest breakers visible off in the distance. Taking a closer look at the sand, we realized that it was crawling with speedy red crabs. When we stepped ashore to get a better picture, they all disappeared into their sand holes. We had a very enjoyable time being the only people in miles, strolling along the beach accompanied by 3 porpoises about 15 feet offshore. Which ever direction we went, they seemed to follow.
Apparently, the huge sandy area that we visited is underwater at high tide. We had to give up our plans to put tourist hotels there.
As we started back in the boats, we encountered another fishing boat our pastors struck up a conversation and before long they had been given two pan-sized fish which they dumped in the wet bottom of the boat. Then we made a detour to a group of nomads in tents on the other side of the river and Bishop Shalem waded in, negotiated, and returned with a armload of dry brush.
They produced an old steel tire rim and set it on the back deck, poured a half cup of gasoline on it and soon had a pretty nice fire. The last step was to put the fish on the fire, whole. In a few minutes they passed the fish around for us to "have a taste." It was pretty good.
Ellachetla Dibba is the place where we stayed overnight in 2004. The church building may be the largest in the BFLC. As we embarked I realized that things were different from my last visit. We tied up to a concrete dock with a concrete ramp to walk up. Later we learned that the area had been damaged by the tsunami and they had installed a big concrete breakwater to protect the village. I also learned that all of the fishing boats had been lost and the ones they used now, including the one we had just left, were given by the fishermen of Britain. That explained the fiberglass hull.
This church visit was a little longer. There were songs and some short talks and once again we were all given a lei and asked to say a few words.
When we left, the fishing boat took us directly to the mainland where our cars were waiting with out bags. This avoided a ferry ride across the river, a long car ride to the first ferry and what could be an hour wait for it.
There was a man on this trip who was not a pastor, more of a historian. He was saying that Christianity was brought to Andra Pradesh by Canadian Baptist Missionaries. Curious, I asked whether the name Archibald McLean ever came up and he responded "Oh yes and I can show you a picture of him!" The more we talked, the less I believed that my ancestor and he were thinking of the same person. Archibald McLean certainly sent many missionaries all over the world but I don't think that he ever served in the mission field himself. As the man recited the name it began to seem more like McLaren rather than McLean. Anyway, we stopped in a village on the way back to Guntur to see the closed Canadian Baptist Mission school where the man had lived. I think he had a family and real descendents. Archibald McLean was a batchelor, the brother of my great-grandmother Christine McLean Whitehead.
The stop was not totally lost as one of the SUVs had a bad tire from the drive on the island. Believe it or not, the tire had an inner tube. When it was fixed we got back on our way home.
Baggage Update - It was on the way home that Aaron got confirmation that the two bags that did not make it last Sunday had arrived in Hyderabad. The plan is that on Saturday Bob, Mike and Zechia will catch the 5 am train the Hyderabad and retrieve them. We got away without collecting ours in person but they did not want to take the chance.
========
Wednesday, January 29This was the day when the school had to give us our "send off" even though four of us were staying another week. It was somewhat different from the one for Pastor Daniel the previous week. Reaction was very positive for the truly ethnic dances, somewhat cool to the ones in which Western influence is creeping in.
The sendoff lasted until almost noon. This would be my last time to photograph all of the members of the Seminary so I arranged that quickly and had them captured by 2 pm.
Thursday, January 30
The departure for the islands was scheduled for 8 am but it was about 9:30 before we actually got away. We were accompanied by Zechiah and Bishop Shalem, soon to be joined en route by several other pastors. We travelled in two SUV-sized vehicles (which turned out not to be 4-wheel drive) that came with drivers.
We began gathering our data when we stopped at a church in Tenali, a city about an hour from Guntur. As we were taking the GPS reading and some photographs the pastor appeared so we were given a tour of the building and a list of needs. Then we continued on our way to the islands.
Since 2004 they have added a very long and impressive bridge across the Krishna River which shortens the drive significantly. Instead of going to the boat dock that I remembered, we went to a ferry dock a little east of the previous one and put our vehicles in line for a crossing to an island I had not previously visited. Also lined up for the ferry crossing was a huge gravel truck with a load of reddish crushed rock to be used on improving the roads on the island and a farm tractor pulling a trailer filled with concrete blocks. We all fitted when the ferry arrived, although the wait and the crossing must have taken an hour.We drove directly to Nachagunta, the place where the new church building funded by All Saints in Columbus had been built, and launched into the dedication service. The singing was impressive, particularly when a man was introduced and sang a new song that he had composed for the occasion. I videotaped the whole thing so that people in Columbus will be able to see it. Unfortunately, the power went off during the service so the PA system did not work. It did not dampen the spirits of the congregation, fortunately.
When the dedication was over we left our luggage in the sanctuary and departed to see three other churches on the island. In the middle of nowhere we encountered a road construction crew. The roadbed must have been elevated 8 to 10 feet above the rice paddies and they had dumped many loads of crushed red rock which they were spreading and leveling. The big roller was at the far end of the project. Gingerly the driver pulled the SUV up on the freshly levelled gravel and we got through - even past the big roller.
The first two churches that we visited were at Brahmayagarimula and Gollamanda. We took our readings and photographs quite efficiently and moved on. The last was Vellaturu and we were welcomed by a significant number of congregation members. We all went in and were introduced and I think they sung a song for us. It might have taken half an hour. I know that we had been concerned that the sun was setting and outside photographs would be of less use. The other obligatory thing in these stops is that we must sit down and have a bottle of cola or 7-up. I suppose in the days of the British "occupation" it would have been tea.
Anyway we headed back to Nachagunta to sleep (in the new sanctuary.) It was dark and the road was very bumpy. I was in the second car. Before long we saw that the first car had stopped and there was a group of people gathered around it. In fact, it was outside the Gollamanda church. It turns out that the church members knew that we had stopped at one of the other churches and wanted us to stop at their's too. So we piled out of the cars and had another round of introductions. Bishop Shalem spoke for a bit and Mike was asked to, but gave a prayer instead.
We were late and dinner was awaiting us a Nachagunta. Back in the cars we hurried along the bumpy roads and came back to the road construction project. The roller was parked and the crew were off for the night. However, fresh gravel had been deposited in piles that did not leave enough room for our vehicles to get by.
The driver of the first vehicle decided to risk it anyway and got stuck in the soft soil. As I had said, the vehicles did not have 4-wheel drive so he quickly spun one back wheel which dug a deep hole. This hole was precariously close to the edge of the embankment and we worried that the vehicle would roll do into the rice paddy.Soon we saw the lights of a vehicle way beyond where we were stuck. It appeared to turn around but was to far to tell exactly. Then we realized that it was getting closer, slowly. It finally dawned on us that this was the gravel truck, the one from the ferry, arriving to dump yet another load to block passage. So it came, dumped its load and left. I could not tell in the dark whether anyone had talked to the driver or not.
There were a number of efforts by the young bucks (not me) to lift the back of the SUV and move it away from the dropoff and out of the hole. They did not succeed in getting the wheels off the ground.
Our driver was sent back to Gollamanda to get shovels. He returned with a man and an "Indian shovel", a tool that looks as if someone shortened the handle of a normal spade and then bent the metal back on itself to be almost parallel to the spade part.
The man lept into the problem and quickly cleared the loose gravel from under the vehicle, then reshaped all of the gravel piles ahead of us to provide a reasonable driving surface. This time the young bucks had more confidence and did succeed in lifting the back of the SUV out of the hole, which was quickly filled.
That did the trick. The two vehicles moved past the blockage and we got in. I asked whether we should pass the hat to compensate the shoveller and was told that he was a believer, a member of the congregation in Gollamanda.
We arrived at Nachagunta at 9 pm for a quick dinner and bed. They had cots but the bedding was whatever we had brought. Eric and I had each grabbed a sheet and pillow from the Seminary but had to share a towel.
The power went off at least 3 times that night which meant that the overhead fans turned and it got a bit close. The outages lasted for about 15 minutes and might have been planned load shedding.
Friday, January 31We woke fairly early and asked about washing up. The pastor had arranged for groups of two men to be taken to different parishoners' homes. At each home they were heating the water in a big kettle. When hot enough they poured it into a bucket and placed it in the shower/toilet room. With enough hot water available, you could wet yourself, work up a soap lather and then rinse it off. I skipped shaving.
Breakfast was similar to the one at the Moriah Home: french toast with jelly and peanut butter. This time there was no scrambled egg. And there was coffee, of course, but served in very small cups so you had to ask for seconds.
At this point we had "done" that island and were committed to lunch on the next island. But first, would we like to see the Light House? It was advertised as a two and half hour boat ride each way and we declined. Then they said that we would see a little fishing before descending on the village. It turns out that one of the pastors with us, Johann, had previously been a fisherman right there and knew everyone.
We were riding in a very large skiff (pointed at both front and back) with a built-in single stroke engine. We motored down the river to a place where fishermen were gathering in the net. The net looked to be half a mile long with floats every 8 or 20 feet. From one point on the bank they had stretched it out across the river then pulled to free end upriver and wrapped it back to shore to a second team. The teams were several hundred yards apart and each was pulling in the net. It was slow, hard work. There were about 10 men in each team and it looked like it would take the rest of the day to pull the whole thing in with the fish. Our fisherman pastor said it would take about 30 minutes.
We were given a choice, stay and watch the fish come in or motor to the mouth of the river and see the ocean. The concensus was go to the ocean. It took another 45 minutes but we were all glad that we had made that choice.
The tide was low and we came upon a huge expanse of sand with modest breakers visible off in the distance. Taking a closer look at the sand, we realized that it was crawling with speedy red crabs. When we stepped ashore to get a better picture, they all disappeared into their sand holes. We had a very enjoyable time being the only people in miles, strolling along the beach accompanied by 3 porpoises about 15 feet offshore. Which ever direction we went, they seemed to follow.
Apparently, the huge sandy area that we visited is underwater at high tide. We had to give up our plans to put tourist hotels there.
As we started back in the boats, we encountered another fishing boat our pastors struck up a conversation and before long they had been given two pan-sized fish which they dumped in the wet bottom of the boat. Then we made a detour to a group of nomads in tents on the other side of the river and Bishop Shalem waded in, negotiated, and returned with a armload of dry brush.
They produced an old steel tire rim and set it on the back deck, poured a half cup of gasoline on it and soon had a pretty nice fire. The last step was to put the fish on the fire, whole. In a few minutes they passed the fish around for us to "have a taste." It was pretty good.Ellachetla Dibba is the place where we stayed overnight in 2004. The church building may be the largest in the BFLC. As we embarked I realized that things were different from my last visit. We tied up to a concrete dock with a concrete ramp to walk up. Later we learned that the area had been damaged by the tsunami and they had installed a big concrete breakwater to protect the village. I also learned that all of the fishing boats had been lost and the ones they used now, including the one we had just left, were given by the fishermen of Britain. That explained the fiberglass hull.
This church visit was a little longer. There were songs and some short talks and once again we were all given a lei and asked to say a few words.
When we left, the fishing boat took us directly to the mainland where our cars were waiting with out bags. This avoided a ferry ride across the river, a long car ride to the first ferry and what could be an hour wait for it.
There was a man on this trip who was not a pastor, more of a historian. He was saying that Christianity was brought to Andra Pradesh by Canadian Baptist Missionaries. Curious, I asked whether the name Archibald McLean ever came up and he responded "Oh yes and I can show you a picture of him!" The more we talked, the less I believed that my ancestor and he were thinking of the same person. Archibald McLean certainly sent many missionaries all over the world but I don't think that he ever served in the mission field himself. As the man recited the name it began to seem more like McLaren rather than McLean. Anyway, we stopped in a village on the way back to Guntur to see the closed Canadian Baptist Mission school where the man had lived. I think he had a family and real descendents. Archibald McLean was a batchelor, the brother of my great-grandmother Christine McLean Whitehead.
The stop was not totally lost as one of the SUVs had a bad tire from the drive on the island. Believe it or not, the tire had an inner tube. When it was fixed we got back on our way home.
Baggage Update - It was on the way home that Aaron got confirmation that the two bags that did not make it last Sunday had arrived in Hyderabad. The plan is that on Saturday Bob, Mike and Zechia will catch the 5 am train the Hyderabad and retrieve them. We got away without collecting ours in person but they did not want to take the chance.
Thursday - Tuesday
In a previous post I mentioned that we were unable to post before we left for Chennai. Here's the entries from my Dad's journal, covering from Thursday (before our Chennai trip) up through Dad's Israel talks on Tuesday. As usual, I added the photos from my camera.
=======
Thursday, January 24
In my last account I gave a very professional list of the crops we see in the rich agricultural land by the sea. Unfortunately, I forgot the two largest crops, rice and cotton.
The cotton is picked by hand and gathered into bundles in a large "bedsheet." The bedsheet is probably some kind of hemp cloth. The corners are gathered to make a huge ball that looks quite heavy. A number are then loaded on the back of a truck to be taken to the mill. A truck load of raw cotton is very wide because as many balls as possible are tied to the sides of the load. Overtaking one of the trucks you wonder whether you are going to scrape a bag or one might just break away and fall on you.
Friday, January 25
After three days of travel gathering information on the churches, we spent Friday in Guntur addressing minor problems like a power strip to plug in chargers (laptop, cell phone, camcorder, Pauls digital camera…), parts for the computer that Eric brought, etc. We solved most of the problems but have to wait until Monday when orders come in. Planning next week's schedule has taken up most or Eric's time.
We have decided that because of Karuna's lung infection we should move to the Seminary when we return from Madras.
We had some shopping to do and did not want to be chauffeured everywhere so we took an autorickshaw (know here as simply "auto") to the shopping district. It was my first ride in one and was amazed at how maneuverable they are. The steering is done with handlebars directly connected to the front wheel so it is more like a bicycle. I still compare them with bumper cars at the midway.
For some reason our travel to Madras was moved up to Friday. Joined by the young pastor in training who had retrieved our baggage in Hyderabad (Rajesh), we boarded an 11 pm overnight train. We were able to get our three seats in the same compartment and met the fourth passenger, a man who works for Indian Railways, the largest employer in the country. He was mainly a troubleshooter. His office is in Guntur but considers Madras to be his home. Talking to him it became clear that English, not Hindi, is really the common language of India. People in Madras speak Tamil, in Guntur speak Telegu. Hindi is the language in the north west cities like Bombay and Delhi and Bengali is the language in Calcutta.
Saturday, January 26
We pulled into the station after a pretty good sleep and grabbed a taxi. Our directions were to the Guest House near St. Thomas Mount which did not seem adequate for the driver. He finally let us out at the big Catholic church at the top of the mountain and we worked our way on foot down the mountain asking directions. Before long we found a hostel operated by the Daughters of Mary Immaculate. They had thought that we were to arrive in the evening instead of 7 am and claimed to be full until we contacted the relatives of Aaron, one of Eric's friends from Columbus, who magically said the right words to the receptionist and we were in.
Everything is clean but austere. We were expected to bring our own soap, towels and washclothes, which we had not. Each room has two cots with interesting "hangers" at the head and foot. We learned that there were mosquito nets in the drawer which could be spread over the hangers. Food is available but you must let them know ahead of time if you plan to eat there. We decided to eat out for both lunch and dinner as we expected to meet Aaron Shank who had arrived earlier in the day to visit his wife's family.
Eric was thinking that a nice dinner might be appropriate, and something modest would do for lunch. We asked the "auto" driver to take us to a place that was recommended and as we got out, Eric said that this was the place he had picked out for dinner. We are here so let's try it for lunch instead.
This was the most luxurious place that our pastor-in-training had ever seen. The buffet would put to shame any of the ones in Ixtapa. There were gardens and a swimming pool and all of the luxury you could imagine. We were pleased with the food but when we got the bill were glad that we had only had lunch. We had a perfectly adequate dinner in a modest Indian restaurant at one fifth the price of lunch.
Aaron showed up in the late afternoon and moved into a second room in anticipation of the arrival of the others. Eric and Aaron went to the airport to meet the others on the 1 am flight from London. They returned at 4 am having never found their friends.
Meeting a flight here is not quite like meeting one at home. You wait on the sidewalk outside the terminal. You do not get any flight arrival information and you cannot talk to any authorities about arrivals. You cannot meet people in the baggage claim area.
They called everyone at home that they could think of and no one had heard about any missed plane or change in travel plans.
Sunday, January 26
After Eric had had a brief sleep, he and Rajesh took an autorickshaw back to the airport, checking both the international and domestic terminals. It was about 10 am when we received a call from Tally that the three men had indeed landed in Chennai. We could not reach Eric. By about 10:30 Eric and Rajesh returned empty handed. When we gave them the news, Eric and Aaron headed back to the airport and found the group. Apparently, the call to Columbus that they had arrived was long before they could exit the airport and be met. Of course they arrived without luggage.
Apparently there was a snowstorm in Chicago and they sat in the plane on the runway for 4 hours, thereby missing their connection in London. So it goes.
Our plans for Sunday went by the way. We had a very good mid-afternoon meal at the restaurant Eric and I had visited Saturday and people caught up on sleep.
I did not give much detail about the place where we stayed in Chennai. It is a hostel operated by a Catholic organization called DMI (Daughters of Mary Immaculate). The cost was modest. Meals were available but you must notify them 4 hours ahead of time so they know how many they will serve. Each room had two cots and a private bathroom and there was a fairly large lounge where we met some quite interesting people. I was most impressed with a glossy book on the table describing all of the programs that DMI and its brother organization, MMI, conducts in India. They have colleges and hospitals, etc. Of all of the Christian organizations with outreach programs in India, the Catholic programs are the most prominent. BFLC explains that Rao Dasari focused on the remote villages that the big programs did not reach.
Aaron wanted to attend the 7:30 Anglican service at the military garrison at the foot of the mountain, but his plans to get driven there by his wife's cousin got delayed and he arrived "in time for the sermon." The rest of us caught up on sleep.
By noon we all were on the top of the mountain (hill) where a Catholic service was in progress. The views in all directions were spectacular. The airport is close so the planes flew right over our heads.
The other thing we wanted to see in Chennai was the beach. We packed up and moved out of the hostel, rented two SUVs with drivers, and set off for one of the finest beaches in India. It was already dark when we arrived but the beach was lit by all the activity including hawkers with ears of corn that they would cook in a charcoal fire. Several of our group tried some cooked fish which they found to be excellent.
The beach is very deep; you walk a long way from the street to the nearest water. I am sure that the number of people wandering around was huge but they were dispersed enough that it was not a problem.
The ride from the beach to the train station took us through the tourist parts of Chennai so we felt that we had seen it adequately. Our train left at 10 pm giving us 6 hours of sleep before arriving at 4 am.
Monday, January 28
Eric and I moved over to the Seminary which was more adequate for the six of us westerners. We still got our meals at the Moriah Home.
Once again the first item on the agenda was getting lost bags. We learned that Air India would not forward them once they arrived in Chennai and they insisted that they could only be picked up by the owners. Once again, they admitted that they could release them to an agent if he carried copies of the passports and claim documents, this time notarized.
After breakfast, Pastor Mike Weaver fell ill for a while and had some difficult moments but managed to teach his class on Monday. Eric worked on trying to get the computer that he brought to work.
In the midst of our tiredness we went off to visit a congregation due west. It was one that does not have a church although the congregation is quite large. We participated in a short service sitting on the entry porch of the pastor's rented house, visited a large site that they have acquired for a church, and had our mid day meal.
I knew that I was to talk about Israel on Tuesday so spent my time polishing the pieces. They rented a projector and screen which worked very well. The screen was a large piece of heavy white cloth which stretched the entire width of the chapel!
By late afternoon I found that my lingering cold was getting worse and went to bed, skipping dinner.
[Eric] In the evening, Aaron, Mike, and I went into town to find some clothes for Mike, who had additional classes to teach.
Tuesday, January 29
The cold seemed better in the morning and I launched into my first talk, the one to the Seminary students. The focus was "What Would You See That was Related to the Bible if You Went to Israel Today?" To make the helicopter video more understandable, I preceeded it with some maps comparing the size of Israel with this region of India, then photos of places from our 1998 trip that will show up in the video. I think that it went well although I did not get many questions. At 2 pm the entire Moriah School of 350 kids arrived and filled the floor. They were seated shoulder to shoulder squirming like a slowly boiling calderon. I actually got more reaction from the kids. They saw a whole lot of things that they had never seen before, like a stunt plane and sky divers, and you could hear their excitement as each new scene appeared.
The downside of the second talk was that it took a toll on my fragile voice. By about 5 pm I called it quits and crawled into bed. Soon after Eric too crawled into bed complaining of cold symptoms and a possible fever. Neither of us planned to go to dinner, but a little after 8 the young women who made the meal came over to the Seminary and told me I had to have their chicken soup.
=======
Thursday, January 24
In my last account I gave a very professional list of the crops we see in the rich agricultural land by the sea. Unfortunately, I forgot the two largest crops, rice and cotton.
The cotton is picked by hand and gathered into bundles in a large "bedsheet." The bedsheet is probably some kind of hemp cloth. The corners are gathered to make a huge ball that looks quite heavy. A number are then loaded on the back of a truck to be taken to the mill. A truck load of raw cotton is very wide because as many balls as possible are tied to the sides of the load. Overtaking one of the trucks you wonder whether you are going to scrape a bag or one might just break away and fall on you.
Friday, January 25
After three days of travel gathering information on the churches, we spent Friday in Guntur addressing minor problems like a power strip to plug in chargers (laptop, cell phone, camcorder, Pauls digital camera…), parts for the computer that Eric brought, etc. We solved most of the problems but have to wait until Monday when orders come in. Planning next week's schedule has taken up most or Eric's time.
We have decided that because of Karuna's lung infection we should move to the Seminary when we return from Madras.
We had some shopping to do and did not want to be chauffeured everywhere so we took an autorickshaw (know here as simply "auto") to the shopping district. It was my first ride in one and was amazed at how maneuverable they are. The steering is done with handlebars directly connected to the front wheel so it is more like a bicycle. I still compare them with bumper cars at the midway.
For some reason our travel to Madras was moved up to Friday. Joined by the young pastor in training who had retrieved our baggage in Hyderabad (Rajesh), we boarded an 11 pm overnight train. We were able to get our three seats in the same compartment and met the fourth passenger, a man who works for Indian Railways, the largest employer in the country. He was mainly a troubleshooter. His office is in Guntur but considers Madras to be his home. Talking to him it became clear that English, not Hindi, is really the common language of India. People in Madras speak Tamil, in Guntur speak Telegu. Hindi is the language in the north west cities like Bombay and Delhi and Bengali is the language in Calcutta.
Saturday, January 26
We pulled into the station after a pretty good sleep and grabbed a taxi. Our directions were to the Guest House near St. Thomas Mount which did not seem adequate for the driver. He finally let us out at the big Catholic church at the top of the mountain and we worked our way on foot down the mountain asking directions. Before long we found a hostel operated by the Daughters of Mary Immaculate. They had thought that we were to arrive in the evening instead of 7 am and claimed to be full until we contacted the relatives of Aaron, one of Eric's friends from Columbus, who magically said the right words to the receptionist and we were in.
Everything is clean but austere. We were expected to bring our own soap, towels and washclothes, which we had not. Each room has two cots with interesting "hangers" at the head and foot. We learned that there were mosquito nets in the drawer which could be spread over the hangers. Food is available but you must let them know ahead of time if you plan to eat there. We decided to eat out for both lunch and dinner as we expected to meet Aaron Shank who had arrived earlier in the day to visit his wife's family.
Eric was thinking that a nice dinner might be appropriate, and something modest would do for lunch. We asked the "auto" driver to take us to a place that was recommended and as we got out, Eric said that this was the place he had picked out for dinner. We are here so let's try it for lunch instead.
This was the most luxurious place that our pastor-in-training had ever seen. The buffet would put to shame any of the ones in Ixtapa. There were gardens and a swimming pool and all of the luxury you could imagine. We were pleased with the food but when we got the bill were glad that we had only had lunch. We had a perfectly adequate dinner in a modest Indian restaurant at one fifth the price of lunch.
Aaron showed up in the late afternoon and moved into a second room in anticipation of the arrival of the others. Eric and Aaron went to the airport to meet the others on the 1 am flight from London. They returned at 4 am having never found their friends.Meeting a flight here is not quite like meeting one at home. You wait on the sidewalk outside the terminal. You do not get any flight arrival information and you cannot talk to any authorities about arrivals. You cannot meet people in the baggage claim area.
They called everyone at home that they could think of and no one had heard about any missed plane or change in travel plans.
Sunday, January 26After Eric had had a brief sleep, he and Rajesh took an autorickshaw back to the airport, checking both the international and domestic terminals. It was about 10 am when we received a call from Tally that the three men had indeed landed in Chennai. We could not reach Eric. By about 10:30 Eric and Rajesh returned empty handed. When we gave them the news, Eric and Aaron headed back to the airport and found the group. Apparently, the call to Columbus that they had arrived was long before they could exit the airport and be met. Of course they arrived without luggage.
Apparently there was a snowstorm in Chicago and they sat in the plane on the runway for 4 hours, thereby missing their connection in London. So it goes.
Our plans for Sunday went by the way. We had a very good mid-afternoon meal at the restaurant Eric and I had visited Saturday and people caught up on sleep.
I did not give much detail about the place where we stayed in Chennai. It is a hostel operated by a Catholic organization called DMI (Daughters of Mary Immaculate). The cost was modest. Meals were available but you must notify them 4 hours ahead of time so they know how many they will serve. Each room had two cots and a private bathroom and there was a fairly large lounge where we met some quite interesting people. I was most impressed with a glossy book on the table describing all of the programs that DMI and its brother organization, MMI, conducts in India. They have colleges and hospitals, etc. Of all of the Christian organizations with outreach programs in India, the Catholic programs are the most prominent. BFLC explains that Rao Dasari focused on the remote villages that the big programs did not reach.
Aaron wanted to attend the 7:30 Anglican service at the military garrison at the foot of the mountain, but his plans to get driven there by his wife's cousin got delayed and he arrived "in time for the sermon." The rest of us caught up on sleep.By noon we all were on the top of the mountain (hill) where a Catholic service was in progress. The views in all directions were spectacular. The airport is close so the planes flew right over our heads.
The other thing we wanted to see in Chennai was the beach. We packed up and moved out of the hostel, rented two SUVs with drivers, and set off for one of the finest beaches in India. It was already dark when we arrived but the beach was lit by all the activity including hawkers with ears of corn that they would cook in a charcoal fire. Several of our group tried some cooked fish which they found to be excellent.
The beach is very deep; you walk a long way from the street to the nearest water. I am sure that the number of people wandering around was huge but they were dispersed enough that it was not a problem.The ride from the beach to the train station took us through the tourist parts of Chennai so we felt that we had seen it adequately. Our train left at 10 pm giving us 6 hours of sleep before arriving at 4 am.
Monday, January 28
Eric and I moved over to the Seminary which was more adequate for the six of us westerners. We still got our meals at the Moriah Home.
Once again the first item on the agenda was getting lost bags. We learned that Air India would not forward them once they arrived in Chennai and they insisted that they could only be picked up by the owners. Once again, they admitted that they could release them to an agent if he carried copies of the passports and claim documents, this time notarized.
After breakfast, Pastor Mike Weaver fell ill for a while and had some difficult moments but managed to teach his class on Monday. Eric worked on trying to get the computer that he brought to work.
In the midst of our tiredness we went off to visit a congregation due west. It was one that does not have a church although the congregation is quite large. We participated in a short service sitting on the entry porch of the pastor's rented house, visited a large site that they have acquired for a church, and had our mid day meal.
I knew that I was to talk about Israel on Tuesday so spent my time polishing the pieces. They rented a projector and screen which worked very well. The screen was a large piece of heavy white cloth which stretched the entire width of the chapel!
By late afternoon I found that my lingering cold was getting worse and went to bed, skipping dinner.
[Eric] In the evening, Aaron, Mike, and I went into town to find some clothes for Mike, who had additional classes to teach.
Tuesday, January 29
The cold seemed better in the morning and I launched into my first talk, the one to the Seminary students. The focus was "What Would You See That was Related to the Bible if You Went to Israel Today?" To make the helicopter video more understandable, I preceeded it with some maps comparing the size of Israel with this region of India, then photos of places from our 1998 trip that will show up in the video. I think that it went well although I did not get many questions. At 2 pm the entire Moriah School of 350 kids arrived and filled the floor. They were seated shoulder to shoulder squirming like a slowly boiling calderon. I actually got more reaction from the kids. They saw a whole lot of things that they had never seen before, like a stunt plane and sky divers, and you could hear their excitement as each new scene appeared.
The downside of the second talk was that it took a toll on my fragile voice. By about 5 pm I called it quits and crawled into bed. Soon after Eric too crawled into bed complaining of cold symptoms and a possible fever. Neither of us planned to go to dinner, but a little after 8 the young women who made the meal came over to the Seminary and told me I had to have their chicken soup.
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