Updates Sent from India and Sri Lanka
Subject: Update #1
Dear Family and Colleagues:
Carol is along on the first two weeks of this trip, as well as two student
mentees. We have completed our visit to Sri Lanka and will be headed
to Chennai , India , tomorrow. I will be returning here with the
Mission Board executives the beginning of March.
It's been striking to find the same campaign against Christian missions
here in Sri Lanka as there is in India , with many of the same reasons.
In SL, it is the Buddhists who feel threatened. They see the current
Christian missions as another in the series of attacks on their culture
from the West.
In the past, it was the Dutch and the Portuguese and the British.
They feel that these colonial powers tried to entice people into Christianity.
Now they accuse primarily the Pentecostal missions of doing the same,
offering televisions to converts, I heard. Just
as in India , the religious leaders now are processing legislation to
outlaw any conversions that involve "enticement." Our
partner church leaders here agree with the concern, but they fear that
it will be implemented in a way to thwart any evangelistic work.
Our "Rethinking Forum" in India agrees that there should be
minimal cultural change involved in conversion. I'm sure the same
rethinking would be useful in SL. I don't know who's doing it here,
though.
As in India , a further factor is political challenge that comes with
the growth of Christianity. In SL now, the population has now moved
to 80% Buddhist/Hindu, 10% Muslim, and 10% Christian. Primarily, the
Christian growth has been through the
work of the Pentecostal churches. Often they can be very strident
and confrontative in their approach, so it produces both results and alienation.
I had good meetings with the Lanka Lutheran Church leaders. With
the help of LCMS World Relief, they are hoping to add 5 pre-schools a
year over the next three years. The work here is among the tea plantation
workers. It's spectacular scenery, but the workers
are right at the survival level. Many plantation managers are
inviting the church to start pre-schools. The church, though, wants
to give priority to locations where they have congregations or preaching
stations, as then they can provide an integrated ministry of social uplift
and spiritual uplift. They started two new congregations last year
in the
plantations where they began pre-schools.
Another initiative they are planning is a one-year training course for
lay evangelists. We struggled today to figure out how to make the
program self-supporting, as the 30 congregations here can't support even
the workers that they presently have. We've thought to provide a stipend
for 3 years following the course, but in that time each evangelist would
be expected to work out his own means of self-support. The program
comes to $10,000 a year, so I hope we can get the funding. If the
church is going
to be able to respond to all the invitations from the plantations, they
will need these additional workers.
Another major need they have is musical training and instruments.
We need to send talented youth from each congregation for training and
then provide them with
harmoniums (small, hand-pumped organ) and tabala drums. Music
is so important for uplifting worship, so I hope that we can carry the
program out.
God bless.
Herb
Subject: Update no.
2
Family and Friends,
I'm finally back to a city with e-mail. I have much to report from my
travels, but I'll try to keep this update within limits. It's been great
having Carol with for these first two weeks. She leaves tonight, and I
head to North India next. The two students have been doing well, learning
a lot and contributing a lot to the ministry. One of them just had his
moneybelt (with passport, tickets, etc.) stolen and then miraculously
retrieved. Praise God!
We had an interesting conversation with a church member as we were leaving
Chennai the first time. He spoke how his ancestors had lived in "a
caged land" as outcastes. These people are so grateful to the church
and the Gospel for the dignity they have in life. This man was from a
family of nine children, and all have come up in life; whereas their grandfather
had been a despised untouchable. He joked how I had taken his father in
my missionary car, and now he was taking me in his car.
As we were with the students, I asked him to share what he felt was
the secret of a happy life. He said, " Family devotions." He
went on to speak of Ps. 103:1-2 which Christians here say at the end of
every prayer and function. They particularly emphasize the phrase "forget
not all his benefits." What a difference it makes in life when you
see things with a grateful eye. Christianity brings hope and the desire
for progress, primarily through education, for the oppressed. All they
need is an opportunity and some encouragement in the Lord and all their
abilities blossom.
It was encouraging to meet with the pastors once again. The Ambur Synod
is now about 90%
self-supporting. They also are very active evangelistically, with each
pastor reporting 30-50
baptisms last year. The pastors work so hard for so very little salary.
I meet so many of them to hear their struggles, and they are just grateful
to have someone care - even if these is so little that I can do to help
or change things.
In Nagercoil, we went to the famous "devadasi" temple at the
tip of India . This is the one from which Amy Carmichael rescued the young
s dedicated by their parents to sacred prostitution ("devadasis"
= "servants of the deity"). You can still see the dance hall
and the stalls where these s had done their duty for the male worshippers.
One aspect I had not realized was the "east gate." Dr. Siromony
of the seminary faculty explained that this gate had been reserved for
certain caste people, but the Maharajah of Tranvacore had closed it when
he saw that there was going to be a huge movement to Christianity a century
ago among the lower castes. By opening the temples equally to these lower
castes, he effectively defused the movement.
I didn't go along for the trip to the "half church" that St.
Thomas had built. (It's called "half"
because it is so small.) Carol reported another event that confirms
that St. Thomas really was here and built it in the first century. I had
reported in an Update a couple years ago how this building convinced me
that St. Thomas really had come to India because it was led completely
like a Hindu temple. (The only other possible origin of the strong, ancient
Christian community in this part of India were the Syrian traders in the
3rd/4th centuries, and they always built their churches in their Syrian
style.) The new evidence was that the walls had been plastered, and it
looked so much like a Hindu temple that local Hindus decided to claim
it as one of their own - even though the local Christians claimed it was
a Christian church built by St. Thomas . To prove
their claim, the Christians said that the Hindus should break the plaster
on a particular pillar. Sure enough, there was a cross carved out of the
stone, and the Hindus were convinced that it was indeed an ancient Christian
church.
We had another uplifting experience among the Christian villagers. Their
worship has so much
vitality. They sing with such gusto and devotion. In all the struggles
of their oppression and poverty, this faith is what gives them hope and
strength. The pastor said that about one-fourth of the worshippers are
Hindus. They hesitate to convert, however, because they will lose all
the government benefits (scholarships, reserved seats in colleges, reserved
government jobs, scholarships, etc.) if they get baptized.
I caused a bit of a stir at the seminary in my address to the community.
I pointed out that Jesus in His Great Commission said to go into all the
world and "make disciples" of all nations. He didn't say "make
believers" or "make congregation members." What is the
difference between these and being a disciple? Are we willing to be disciples?
On the train trip back, we had an interesting conversation with a Hindu
devotee. He had a picture of a swami and his wife whom he claimed to be
an avatar (incarnation of God) like Ram and Krishna . He said that this
man claimed to have been a disciple of Jesus in a previous incarnation.
He also said that in 2006 the world's magnetic field with begin to change,
and by 2012 the world will begin spinning in the opposite direction. With
that change, an age of peace
and prosperity will come on earth. Of course, we debated this, and he
went on to say that if people believe this it will take place. I rather
expect that his swami will eventually allegorize this claim when it doesn
take place physically in 2006-12, as other "prophets" have done
in the West with their unfulfilled claims.
For those of you who know Asian societies, you know their beliefs about
hot and cold foods. They believe that health is dependent on keeping one's
body heat in balance. Another passenger on the train trip here shared
about these beliefs. Here are the cold foods (that should be eatin primarily
in the hot months: citrus, tomatoes, pork, cocoanut, apple, dark grapes,
vegetables. The hot foods are: chicken, beef, pineapple, mango, egg. The
middle foods are: banana, mutton, fish, green grapes. One should eat no
fruit in the cold season.
God bless.
Herb
Subject: Update no.
3
Family and Friends,
I'm going to be off to the hinterlands for several days, so I thought
I would get off a brief Update
before I left.
On the train, we were sitting opposite an elderly Brahmin lady. She
had traveled around the world with her work. It was interesting to hear
her complain how things had deteriorated in India . Fifty years ago she
said things were harmonious and everybody knew their place and carried
it out. I told her that I thought a lot of the turmoil in recent years
was because of the oppressed classes striving for justice. She, of course,
as one at the top really didn't see it that way. It reminded me how many
people in the USA have lauded the 1950's as an age of stability and order
in the society. However, the fact is that there was a great deal of injustice
in that stability. The women's movements and civil rights movement and
environmental movement caused turmoil, but they were necessary to bring
about more justice.
I attended the wedding of a Hindu friend's daughter today. The cultural
dimensions are fascinating. The ceremony is set for a particular 90-min.
period that is established by astrologers as auspiscious. The hour-long
rite begins with the two families in turn escorting the bride and groom
to the dias and circling it. Then the bride and groom are ceremoiously
paraded in by their families and presented to each other. The couple then
does some ritual activities together before the priest. In traditional
marriages, these are the first activities they have ever done together,
as the union has been arranged by their parents. Then they finally sit
together, surrounded by their two families. One striking event was when
the groom answered his cell phone and conversed while the bride and everyone
else waited to continue the event. (Cell
phones are everywhere now and accepted intrusions.) Traditional wedding
music and instruments are playing all through this, crescendoing at various
high points of the ceremony such as when the tali (bride's wedding necklace)
is tied by the groom. (Traditionally the
first time he has ever put his arms around a woman other than his mother.)
Fire is a central symbol in Hindu worship, so a fire is at the center
of the dias, and the couple frequently gesture to receive God's blessing
from the fire. The ceremony concludes with the crowd (this time, about
a thousand) throwing rice and flowers toward them as a gesture of God's
blessing showering upon them and their future together.
Today, Jan. 26th, is Republic Day in India . It's like our Fourth of
July. I am staying at the home of a friend today before heading off to
North India early tomorrow morning. It was fascinating to watch the parade
from Delhi . The huge animated floats compare well with the Rose Parade.
It was a marvellous demonstration of the various cultures of India . So
many ethnic groups paraded along, showing their different music, instruments,
dances, textiles, sports, crafts, poets, ethnic character (bravery, exhuberance,
quiet, etc.), festivals, architecture, historic achievements, topography,
etc. India is indeed a civilization of rich heritages.
God bless.
Herb
Subject: Update no. 4
Family and Friends,
I am now in rural Punjab giving a 3-day seminar on Lutheran theology
to a group of churches that are considering to become Lutheran.
It's quite an undertaking, as this must all be done through translation
and in simple enough language that village people and village pastors
can understand. Keep me in your prayers. They want to translate
Luther's blue Catechism with questions into their native tongue, so that
should help a lot.
The group is amazing. The pastor has had several visions guiding
his work, from his call to his place of residence to his church location.
Twice radicals have sought to kill him, but now his work has gained spiritual
credibility. The breakthrough came when there was a girl close to
death whom God healed in response to his prayers.
At the start, he didn't have credibility because he and his wife did
not have a child for 3 1/2 years: "If your God cannot provide such
a basic blessing, why should we convert to him?" Then he had
a vision that he would have a girl first and then a boy, and that
their names should be "Vision" and "Witness," which
is what happened and what they are named.
Jesus is not just a suffering Savior among these people. He is
a living, ascended Lord. He is present and powerful. That
is the Gospel that they proclaim. Their worship is enthusiastic and emotional.
They want the solid theological underpinnings that a
Lutheran theology can provide. I certainly don't want to undermine
their powerful, Spirit-filled Christian life, however. Most of us
staid theological Lutherans could use the spiritual vitality they have.
Several people I have met here and in South India were well-placed professionals.
They left their secure, well-paying jobs to set off in faith in mission
work. Several are working among the most downtrodden of the society -
which a switch from the intellectual and
professional and business lives that they had been leading. Some
have also delayed their marriages so that they could do this ministry
and hopefully get themselves financially stabilized in ministry before
getting married.
Why is it that these Christians can be so self-sacrificing and dedicated,
whereas we in the West are so self-absorbed and complacent? Maybe
it's just that they see the needs so starkly before them, but we only
see them on TV and in magazines. We have so much
to learn from them about a meaningful life.
God bless.
Herb
Subject: Update no. 5
Dear Family and Friends,
One of the phenomena of India is individuals who experience the call
of God to establish churches. Some of them are quite blessed by the Lord
in this effort. Last year I did a two-day seminar on Lutheran theology
for the leaders of one of these independent
churches. The founding pastor of another set of independent churches
attended that conference, and he invited me to come there for a three-day
conference. I was there last week, in rural Punjab , not far from the
Pakistan border.
This Pastor Daniel Masih had actually studied the copy of Luther's Catechism
(blue one with questions and answers) that I have given out as part of
my teaching last year. He and his pastors had become convinced of
its truth, and they added the word "Lutheran" to the nameboard
outside their head church: "The Lutheran Church of Everlasting
Life."
You may recall in my previous Update that they have all kinds of visions
and miracles, but what they wanted from me - and from Lutheranism - is
a solid biblical, theological foundation for their work and life.
We certainly don't want them to lose any of their spiritual vitality and
get stuck in staid Lutheranism, but I certanly agree that they need to
keep in touch with classical Christan teaching.
Pastor Masih started his work in response to a vision from God nine
years ago. He has a wonderful musical gift, but none of the poor
people among whom he worked even knew how to sing. Now he has several
who play instruments, write songs, and even win musical awards in statewide
competitions. It's amazing how much talent is latent in these people.
All they need is the opportunity to develop their God-given abilities.
He now has ten pastors working under him, in 26 congregations.
Four more young people are in Bible School , including three women.
He would like to start his own Punjabi Lutheran seminary. There
are 30-80 in worship in the congregations, and he estimates that they
baptized 100 last year.
I asked him why people were coming to the faith. He said that
people see how much joy and contentment and confidence Christians have
in the midst of their struggles and sorrows. People want to have
that spiritual strength in their lives. The living Christ
is a central experience in their piety.
I gave my presentations, based on Luther's catechism, sitting on the
platform along with my translator, in the typical cross-legged position.
I wanted to conform to the traditional way Hindu teachers act. After each
session, people would come forward for individual prayer for 30-40 minutes.
I would be called to lay my hands on the person and pray for
their particular needs: things like studies and healing and an
abusive husband and alcoholism and spiritual growth. They also wanted
me to eat and pray in their homes, and usually I got back to my hotel
room only by 11:30 p.m.
Persecution is a given fact in their lives. Pastor Masih twice
experienced that people tried to kill him. Most of them have gone
through rejection and isolation from their families. One striking
fact is how often their worst persecutors eventually come to
learn more and some become the most loyal members. The Christians have
Christian symbols on their houses and gates, and the homes are filled
with Christian pictures. They certainly are not intimidated.
We have so much to learn from them.
The pastor would not allow me to pay for any of my expenses, even though
the people are very poor. Finally, I decided I could give a gift ($165)
at the
closing session, and he did accept that. The Punjabis are known
to be hardworking people who will do any kind of work (unlike most people
in India ), rather than accept a handout. The people typically earn
only $2 a day, but they tithe from that to their church.
The ministry among them was exhausting but exhilarating.
God bless.
Herb
Subject:
Update no. 6
Dear Family and Friends,
Tonight I'm in Varanasi , the most sacred city of Hinduism , on the
Ganges River . It's quite a contrast from the previous city I was
at, Chandigarh . As a specially created modern city, Chandigarh
has wide streets made for car traffic. It has planned mall
space, treelined fairways, roundabouts, and parks everywhere.
In contrast, Varanasi is like one huge village that has been invaded
by cars and trucks and all other kinds of traffic. It reminds me
very much of the great temple town in Tamil Nadu, Madurai . These
sacred Hindu cities are so oppressively conservative. They seem to intentionally
avoid any modernization. They are pervaded by the same rigid caste system
and poverty and grime. Nothing has improved, as if any modernization
will undermine their religious sentiments. It leaves a very heavy
feeling in both cities, a sense of spiritual darkness.
We went at sunrise today to the ghat (shore of the river). It
is very auspiscious for a Hindu to bathe in the Ganges at sunrise.
They also believe that if you die in Varanasi and are cremated and dumped
in the Ganges , you will be free from the cycle of rebirths. One striking
person on the ghat was a practitioner of the black arts. He was
quite a forceful personality, and one certainly sensed that he had demonic
power. He had a human skull on his little altar, and our missionary escorts
said they typically eat their meals out of the skull. Since all
is "maya" (illusion), they profess that everything that we find
disgusting
really doesn't matter.
We've now concluded our third seminar for the "Rethinking Forum."
I have teamed up with Swami Dayanand Bharati on these, and they have gone
well. Swami is a very powerful speaker and thinker, attempting to work
out the Christian faith in direct
expression of Hindu (Indian) culture. It's quite an undertaking,
and I'm pleased that Dayanand has found my contributions to the seminars
most helpful.
The major problem is that the institutional church is alienated from
the general culture of the nation, in its forms and practices. The
vast majority of the nation (the caste Hindus) simply do not feel comfortable
to participate in such a Westernized organization. The task now
is to work out structures and forms that will enable these believers to
express
and grow in their faith. We want them to be accepted in their
home families and communities so that they can be witnesses there.
My primary role in the seminars has been to present a theological system
that will relate to the Hindu mentality. There have been Western
young people at two of the seminars, preparing to serve as missionaries.
It's been striking how they have found this theological approach most
helpful for their own faith. This generation also feels alienated
from the
institutional church and from traditional theological thinking.
They kept saying, "This is so helpful. I so wish that I could
share this with my friends back home." I do feel it's the kind
of rethinking that we must do also in the USA in order to reach the Gen
Xers.
I mentioned that I am doing these four seminars with Swami Dayanand
Bharati. He is a Christian sanyassi. That means that he takes a
vow never to marry and to devote himself to teaching the faith.
It's been interesting to understand all the dimensions of this lifestyle.
Swamiji ("ji" is a term of affection) spends most of his time
traveling all over India visiting his disciples in their homes.
Some of these disciples live a three-day trip away, ending in a ten-kilometer
walk from the last bus stop.
His ministry is to build up these disciples in their faith. Most
of them are "Jesu haktas," believers in Jesus who do not want
to join the church. He answers questions that have arisen in their
Bible studies since his last visit. He helps them sort out issues
in their personal lives. He leads a Hindu-style worship for them
and their neighbors each morning. Swamiji is steeped in Hindu cultural
traditions and Scriptures. His approach is to show, as much as possible,
how the biblical teaching is supported by the Hindu tradition itself.
Swamiji conducts all of his ministry outside the institutional church.
He has developed a dramatic rite of baptism that makes the new believer's
family very comfortable and affirmative. Then, instead of alienating
the person from his family, they can affirm his new relationship with
Jesus, and he can remain as a witness in the community. Swamiji's
ministry is absolutely key to the development and extension of this movement
around India .
He abides strictly by the rules for the sanyassi's life in Hinduism.
He will not even sleep on a bed that has been used by a married couple.
He must become a master of Hindu cultural traditions and Bible teaching,
so that he is respected as authoritative both by Christians and Hindus.
He must be vegetarian. No one should touch him, except his disciples
may touch his feet in honor. No one is supposed to ask his name
or his caste or his place of birth.
Wherever Swamiji goes, he is recognized as a sanyassi because of the
distinctive saffron-colored (orange) clothes that he wears. It's
been striking to see how both Christians and Hindus approach him with
their spiritual questions and concerns. He is as besieged wherever
he goes all day long as I am when I am among the IELC in the South.
I really admire him - and the new Christian sanyassi that he has ordained
here in
Varanasi - for their total dedication to the cause of Christ in the
nation, particularly among those who have been least responsive and most
militant.
I'd better stop. I need to get to my host's home before it's too
late.
God bless.
Herb
Update #7
Dear Family
and Friends,
We have completed the four seminars on issues of faith and culture among
caste Hindus. Now I'm off to Kolkata and then on to a tribal area
in South India . India will stretch you emotionally, psychologically,
spiritually, and intellectually because it is so
diverse and complex.
I thought I would share with you a few of the vignettes from the seminars.
One participant was formerly a member of the radical Hindu organization
that has been involved in attacking Christian missionaries. He said
that he had been informed at
that time that Christian girls were very loose (probably bolstered through
our Western movies, which are considered to come from a "Christian
country). He decided to join a church and got himself baptized.
He then planned to get a relationship with one of the
girls in the congregation.
He then had a sudden vision of a figure in white calling him to follow
him. He had no idea what that was about, though he suspected it
might be Jesus. He decided to forget about it and continue his life
as a radical Hindu and as a pseudo-Christian. Then after
several months he suddenly had an encounter in which a voice came to
him and told him to leave all and follow him. He said he recognized
the voice but could not place it. Then it occurred to him that it
was the same voice that had called him earlier. This time he
felt he had no choice but to respond, and now he's a leading member
of the church here.
So many people from these high caste backgrounds have come to the Lord
through visions and miracles. In Hindu philosophy, there are three
ways to come to
spiritual truth. Scripture and reasoning are the first two, but
they must lead to the third: personal experience. Only when
you experience the truth will you know it is true. If you only have
Scripture knowledge and intellectual constructs but no real personal experience,
you do now know. It seems that God provides people with these personal
encounters, often quite unexpected and unsolicited. When they experience
His call personally, they feel they have no choice but to follow - no
matter what the cost.
A big problem that we have worked with in all four seminars is that
of arranging marriages when one of the people is a Christian. Church
rules are that a member must marry a Christian or they are excommunicated.
They use passages like "be not unequally yoked" and "keep
yourselves separate." However, the believers in the high castes cannot
find partners in the church, and people of their own caste will not marry
them and will even hesitate marrying anyone from their family. It
also is a great stigma on a father when he cannot marry his daughter.
Hindus believe that they will have very bad karma in the next life if
they fail in this duty. I know one father whose "Jesu Bhakta"
daughter had been convinced
by church members not to accept the arrangements he'd attempted for
her marriage. He now warns everyone near and far not to let their
daughters near any Christians, for they will turn them into rebellious
children who spoil their parents' lives.
Swamiji urges that we encourage Jesu Bhaktas to let their parents arrange
their arriages. He cites many examples where the spouse also has
come to the Lord. He related a neat story where one Jesu Bhakta on his
marriage night told his wife that he needed to share
one matter with her before they consumated their relationship.
She then said that she had a matter that she wanted to share first.
She said that she was a secret believer in Jesus. You can imagine
how he leaped from his bed with joy and hugged her. Swamiji
had told him to trust the Lord in all of this, and God had done far
better than he could have imagined.
The Pentecostal churches are spreading around the land. They hold
very strongly that people must separate themselves from Indian culture
after their conversion. Women in particular are to remove all the
evidences of their marriage such as bangles and
marriage markings. They are even to wear a white saree.
All of these markings are evidence in the Hindu society that the woman
is a widow. He said that in some parts of the country now Christianity
is getting known as the "widows' religion."
Swamiji pointed out how the church puts this special burden only on
women. He challenged that we should then also insist that men bear
some evidence of their
conversion, perhaps wearing a half-mustache or shaving their head.
But, then, men have made the rules!
It was fascinating to hear him share about his many encounters with
Jesu Bhaktas and secret believers around the country. He said he
knew of one Hindu priest and had heard of another who still carried on
their priestly rituals even though their own devotion
was to Jesus alone. He said the priest says that this is simply
his way of making a living.
One of the topics we have been discussing in the seminars is how Jesus
is a living Person in the experience of these Hindu converts. They
are not attracted particularly by the idea of escaping God's judgment
on sin or by Jesus' death and resurrection. They are convinced by the
personal relationship and experience that they have of Him now.
Swamiji related how he had arranged a seminary professor to speak to
a group of his Jesu Bhaktas. The scholar related for almost two hours
the many historical, scientific, literary proofs of Jesus' resurrection.
After he was all done, one of these illiterate Jesu Bhaktas simply responded,
"I don't know why I had to sit here and listen to all of this
for so long. Of course, Jesus is risen and alive. I just
talked to Him this morning!"
Swamiji really rails against the Hindu beliefs in astrology. He
takes them on whenever he can, saying that this is a system of belief
that enables people to avoid their own responsibilities in life.
Instead of blaming the catastrophes of Nature (earthquakes,
floods) on karma and the stars, we need to accept the responsibility
to build houses properly and in safe areas. When a son is rebellious
or not doing well in school, he urgest that we follow the example of Western
societies where the boy is sent for counseling, instead of doing pujas
to try to improve the boy's karma in life.
At this seminar
in Patna , I have been among the Bihari people for the first time.
The state is known for its terrible governmental corruption and uncontrolled
rowdies. We have been warned continually that we must stay up all
night as our train travels through Bihar ,
if we want to ensure that we will have luggage in the morning.
The trains also will always be delayed because people simply pull the
emergency chain whenever it comes near their village so they can get off
and walk home conveniently. Through all of this,
they have become survivors. They can manage their way through
anything.
As one goes across India , one recognizes how so much of the structure
of the society is the same: the shops, the animals, the housing,
the poverty, the caste system, the traffic, the infrastructure).
Yet, the character of the people groups is so different: their language,
their dress, their personalities. It's a living National Geographic experience.
God bless.
Herb
Family and Friends,
In Kolkata (formerly Calcutta ), we had the opportunity to visit the
Sisters of Charity, the
organization founded
by Mother Teresa. Her tomb is there, and it has become a pilgrimage place,
especially now that she is on the fast track to official sainthood. People
were there bowing at her tomb in prayer. We had the opportunity to visit
with a couple of the sisters and
to pray with them. The sister prayed through Mary, as this was the piety
of Mother Teresa.
She said they have three ministries in the city: care for the dying
(how Mother Teresa started out), for orphans, and for the handicapped.
We could only get to the center for orphans, as it was nearby. She said
they are about 200 sisters, and they have 50-60 short-term volunteers
from around the world. Her spirit lives on.
I always tell people that the first rule in India is to survive. We
definitely need guardian angels at
work. I had three mini-miracles of survival on this leg of my trip.
One was that our van broke down in remote Andhra Pradesh just as it was
entering the hotel where we were staying. We were in dacoit (lawless gangs)
country that day. The next was when I was traveling with others in an
autorickshaw (three-wheeler). We had all our luggage piled up. At one
swerve, my backpack fell out. I didn't even notice it, but, by God's grace,
the driver did in his review mirror. It would have been crushed in the
traffic or taken away in just a couple of minutes. I keep that bag with
me all the time as I keep all my irreplaceables in it. The third was that
I was able to sleep last night. I was on an all-night bus in the front
row. I had two terrible snorers behind me and beside me, a crying child
at the other side, and the flashing lights and horns of traffic in front
of me. One night of missed sleep can do you in. Join me in prayers of
thanks.
I had mentioned that I would be going to a remote tribal area where
one of our IELC pastors (who is director of an independent mission organization)
has been involved. You may recall that last year I had reported in an
Update how I had spoken with a pastor from this area where they practice
child sacrifice. You may recall that his own grandmother had tried to
take his daughter, but he had rushed back to the village to save her.
It was very moving for me to visit and see his grandmother, still living
with them, and to see the beautiful young girl.
The practice is that they must sacrifice a 4-5 year-old child during
the first week of June. People
line up for the opportunity to give their child. They believe that the
deity expects it and blesses them for their act of devotion. The selected
child is pampered for one month. His/Her head is taken to the center of
town and burned. (The IELC pastor has a photo of this horrendous scene.)
The body is taken to another temple about a kilometer away and buried
there.
Commemorative stones are erected.
We visited the site of the sacrifices. The stone altar is there, as
well as about 20 commemorative stones. It just tears your heart out to
be there. All we could do was silently pray. It is a heavy feeling to
be in a place filled with demonic activity.
Because of the influence of the churchworkers, the village did not carry
out the practice last June. However, two of the churchworkers died since
then. One in a bus accident, and the other in a post-operative infection.
(They don't sue doctors here, but the stories of incompetence are really
upsetting.) Now the village elders say that these deaths are because the
deity is angry at the workers, and they want to reinstitute the practice.
Please keep the churchworkers in your prayers, as they try to dissuade
them in the coming months. We were a group of IELC leaders on this visit,
and we encouraged the workers to consider starting at least a pre-school
for the village so that they see the value of their children. We also
discussed how they might work out a
"functional substitute" for this rite, perhaps building on
Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac of God's
sacrifice of His Son.
I also hope that we can help them start a regular school. They have
about 30 congregations now in the area, and several of them don't have
a school nearby. It's interesting to see how this works. Just as with
the first Western missionaries to India , one begin by proclaiming the
Gospel. The people gain new hope and confidence and worth. They then are
free from the fear and superstition and self-destruction that has been
binding them, and they can begin to develop their God-given abilities.
This area is also a heart of Naxalite activities. These are gangs that
raid wealthy people and buses. They share their plunder with the villagers
in these remote areas, and then live among them. We sure were glad that
our van didn't break down while we were there! The head pastor told about
how the state government had tried to set up a beachead to assert police
control in the area. They build a police post and officially inaugurated
it. The day before they came to occupy it the Naxalites blew it up.
If the villagers do not like somebody, they just take him outside the
village, kill him, and bury the body. When the police come to investigate,
of course, nobody knows anything. When they ask for names, they just tell
them the names of stones and trees. A tough place!
One of the most moving moments of the visit was when the father of the
head pastor spoke. It was his eldest son who died of that operation. The
father was the first convert in the village. He is a village elder so
has considerable influence and provides the local protection that the
churchworkers need. In his little address to us, he said: "I was
the first convert, and I faced a lot of opposition. However, I knew that
I would never turn back. Even my own older brother tried to kill me, but
I ran, and he only chopped off my little toe (which was indeed missing;
and later we saw this brother also in the village). The Bible says that
God does not want us to be lukewarm in our faith but will spit us out
(Rev. 2). I have lost my son, and now we have three grandchildren to take
care of. Please remember them in your prayers, and please keep our village
in your
prayers." What a saint!
The widow of the son is one who has received self-support help through
the Wheat Ridge Ministries "Cows for Kids" program. In this
dry area, they got her set up with a flour processing machine and an air
pump (for bike tires), instead of a cow.
His second son, who is the head pastor, told of an incident seven years
ago when the work began here. When the father converted, people pointed
to a lame boy in the village and challenged that Christians are supposed
to care for the needy, so what was he going to do. He responded by saying
he would give his daughter to marry him (which is a huge thing), and now
they have a handsome little son.
The son had been a government school teacher, which is a very good job.
He decided to leave that and work as a pastor to spread the Gospel in
the area. His father called the villagers to his home and announced to
them that his son had "gotten a promotion." He was now going
to work for the Lord!
They have a variety of congregations in the area, including some of
caste converts. One story was of a blind man who took baptism and got
his sight when he arose from the water. Some of the caste converts have
land, so about half of the property for the church sites has been donated,
including some from Hindus. People want the uplifting influence of the
church in
their depressed communities. The head pastor said that he started the
work in 1999
with only $1 in his pocket. God has richly blessed his faith, and he
is welcomed and accepted by all communities. He said that people judge
you by your attitude and your works, even if they do not accept your religion.
That is really true in India , and that is why it is important to do things
that really help the people with their problems. He said his groups meet
in unused government buildings on Sundays, and even one meets in a Hindu
temple. We're working on arrangements to complete this pastor's Lutheran
orientation. The work here would then come under the purview of the IELC,
and we as LCMS World Mission also could help.
One of the group of IELC leaders was a layman from the city of Bangalore
. He said that his Christianity until now had been simply an hour on Sunday
morning. Now he said he realizes what real church work is. He thinks more
urban Christians should be taken out to the villages to see what the real
needs of the nation are and what the real call of God's People is in the
land.
That's a message most Christians around the world need to heed.
God bless.
Herb
Subject: Update no. 9
Dear Family and Friends,
We just completed the 3-day Pastors Refresher Course for the pastors
of the India Evangelical Lutheran Church . We brought Dr. Dave Belasic
to give the presentations on the topic of "Stewardship." He
did an excellent job. We also had translated and printed his presentations
into the two major local languages of the church, so the pastors could
follow more easily and could take a packet back to use in their parish
ministry.
We also another minor miracle. I had arranged with Concordia Publishing
House, St. Louis , to send bags of materials (primarily their Pastors
Calendar book and the blue Catechism) by sea mail hoping and praying that
they would arrive in time for the PRC. I was disheartened when I arrived
back at the seminary last week and found out that they hadn't arrived.
But then just the day before the PRC, they turned up at the post office.
Praise God! Those materials are so
useful to the pastors.
We had circle reports on developments around the church. One new development
is the
involvement of foreign-based
mission societies. Four of them are working with out partner church because
they know their evangelistic zeal. We have eleven groups of lay evangelists
around the IELC who are brought on for two years of training and work.
In the reports, it seemed
that the groups had about 200 baptisms last year and about 60 new congregations
in the past 5 years. To become an official congregation of the IELC, they
must have at least 25 communicant members and be served by one of the
IELC pastors. Only a few have reached that level. The 17 probationers
have completed their 3-year service of church planting, and God has raised
up about 50 new congregations through their ministry.
One of the issues that the PRC had to work through was the arrangement
for the probationers' ordination. According to our Lutheran practice,
a pastor should ordained only when he has a call to a congregation. However,
the practice of the IELC in recent years has been to ordain the probationers
in each Synod as a group. The concern has been to protect these young
men from early struggles in their ministry. If they have to have a call
before they get ordained, they will easily be tempted to turn to political
influence and electioneering to get a call. Instead of the
wonderful unity they have now, they would be turned in competition against
each other, reduced to fighting like dogs over pieces of meat. Therefore,
we are going to hold group ordinations this Sunday, and I'll have to scurry
from one to the other to do my preaching.
I was moved that all the probationers got together at the end of the
PRC to approach me to say thanks for arranging the church planting opportunity
that they had through our LCMS Board for Missions and the India Mission
Society. Thanks to all of you also who made this great training experience
and Gospel event possible! Now the new set moves in while this set gets
settled into the regular church administration. However, their experience
and fervor will remain with them.
One of the unpleasant but inevitable parts of my work here is to be
a lightning rod. The leaders like to put me up front when there are controversial
issues. People need to express their opposition and anger on some issues.
It's easier for them to do it against me -- even when I'm only tangentially
involved - because they know I won't take any recriminations and I won't
take it as a personal insult. I even had one pastor suddenly approach
me during a session while I was sitting in the crowd, shouting that I
was in charge of this event and I had allowed people to treat him so disrespectfully.
Others whisked him away, and I had no idea what he was talking about.
I inquired later, and others said he was drunk and had a quarrel in the
lodge the previous night with one of the other pastors.
The vast majority of IELC pastors (and all Protestant pastors) are from
the "dalits," the
untouchables/outcastes of India . It is amazing how deep their anger
and resentment goes, even after they have come up in life to positions
of prestige and wealth. Socially, people in the general community still
look down on them, and it grates continually, especially sine they now
have the dignity of knowing they are a precious child of God in Christ.
They recount how their grandparents were treated, not allowed to wear
shoes, men not to cover their legs below their knees and women not to
cover themselves above the waist. If they would dare to read Hindu
Scriptures, their tongue would be cut out.
This discussion arose because the Lutheran Hour Ministries-related center
here brought three local IELC members who had risen to be noted musicians
in the country, even receiving Presidential Awards. They played the traditional
"karnatic" music, which is like our American Jazz, where you
have a basic structure but the skill is in your creativity and responsiveness
to each other in the structure.
It was pointed out how only a couple of generations ago the dalits were
not allowed to play any music. The church gave these men the training
and the opportunity, and their God-given talent took over from there.
It is no wonder why these people are so grateful to their church and to
their Lord. When they see how those still caught in Hinduism are treated,
they can only say, "There but for the grace of God go I."
One of the pastors had a dramatic application of the event when Jesus
cured a demoniac. He had been a wild, naked man living around the tombs,
even breaking chains that the people used to try to control him. Jesus
came and healed him. The pastor pointed out how Scripture records that
the people of the village come to see what had happened. Instead of being
happy that
the man had been restored to sanity and dignity, the account says "they
were afraid." When they heard that Jesus had done this, "they
were greatly afraid" and asked Jesus to leave their village.
The application is that this is exactly the situation of the Christian
dalits in India . Rather than being happy that the Christian dalits have
gained human dignity, people in power are afraid. They are trying to drive
Jesus out by persecuting the Christians, denying them any government opportunities
and aids. They are attacking the church workers, even raping and killing.
They have passed anti-conversion bills by which one goes to jail for three
years if one baptizes
someone without the government's permission.
In the story, the former demoniac comes to Jesus and asks if he can
join him and His disciples. But Jesus bluntly tells him to return to his
village and tell everyone the Good News. It's the same courageous call
that Jesus gives His Church today in India , in spite of all the rejection,
disrespect, and persecution. The absolutely amazing thing is that they
do it! In the face all of this they continue to baptize by the hundreds,
because they cannot allow their fellows to remain in bondage. They must
share the Good News as Jesus has freed them and commanded them.
Talking about demonic possession, one of the pastors told me of his
experience. There was a
demon-possessed woman in a village. He started a simple prayed, addressing
"Lord Jesus." Immediately, the demon screamed from the woman's
mouth: "Stop that. The name of Jesus is like a burning fire on me."
The demon left, the woman fell to the ground, and was free.
The seminary here is the key institution of the IELC. The pastors are
very concerned that it be kept in order inspite of all the administrative
chaos going on in the rest of the church. For the past five years, there
was no church administration to appoint a new Principle of the seminary.
After a year or so of chaos and tension, Rev. Joy came to be accepted
as the "Principle in Charge." The church has a mandatory retirement
as of your 65th birthday, and Rev. Joy's
was on Feb. 6th. At the end of Jan., I met with the faculty, and they
agreed to have Rev. Joy hand over charge to the faculty member who is
the most senior, with the understanding that the IELC will make a permanent
appointment once its elections take place - hopefully by April. The temporary
arrangements were announced to the Pastors Refresher Course, and the new
Principle-in-charge, Dr. J.Siromony, announced his intention to obey
whatever decisions the church eventually makes in the matter.
The pastors were all very relieved to know that things had moved smoothly
this time. They were very sensitive to see if the faculty and staff were
all working harmoniously together at the PRC. I so much respect these
people as they struggle with such complex, intense situations, dealing
both with their personal interests and the interests of the Kingdom.
Several of the seminarians are newly married. It's fascinating to see
how quickly they are emotionally committed to their wives. They hardly
knew each other before their marriage, but from that day forward they
know that their lot is thrown together and they are totally committed
to each other. The wife of one is ill, and the young man is desperate
to try to help
her get well. His pain for her isn't from some puppy love but from deep
loyalty. It's so much deeper and stronger than our approach of dating.
God bless.
Herb
Subject: Update no. 10
Family and Friends,
We had a disappointing development today. Both Bob Roegner and I get
bumped from an overbooked flight to Colombo , so we had to cancel our
visit to the church in Sri Lanka . There's a flight available tomorrow
afternoon, but that is too late to get up to the tea estates to see the
work and get back for our early morning flight.
Even more frustrating was that I could not reach anyone by phone there,
so the Lanka Lutheran Church leaders would have ended up standing at the
airport totally confused and frustrated. I feel so bad about that, but
there was nothing I could do. We're just heading to Bangkok tonight instead,
and heading home.
Bob's visit to the IELC went well. He had never given 7 days to a country
before, but the India Evangelical Lutheran Church is an important partner
and India is a challenging field of mission. One of my frustrations in
such a visit is that everything is taken up by church affairs. I would
love to show the visitor the broader culture and population of theland.
We had breakfast in the city of Kancheebaram on our drive to the Ambur
Synod area. That's a great temple town and a center of silk weaving for
the past 13 centuries. Bob was able to visit a silk shop and weaving center
and discuss with the owner.
The IELC has made great strides to self-support. Our LCMS Board for
Missions has a orldwide policy of roofing chapels and parsonages that
the people have brought to that level by their own contributions. We've
had dozens like that, and dozens more are waiting for us to come up with
the funds to complete their effort. One pastor told us how more than half
of his people participated in the congregation's program of donating one
month's income to expand their church building. He told them they have
to do this out of gratitude for all that God has done for them! I wonder
how many of our USA Christians would be willing to do that. He emphasized
that this was above and beyond their usual monthly tithe.
Once again, we came upon the phenomenon of Hindu believers in Jesus.
Once again, many were graduates of the local Christian school. One pastor
told how on average he has 25 Hindus in his Sunday service and 50 such
families are quite regular over the year. One headmaster told of a Muslim
girl who always stops in at the church on her way to our high school,
and she herself has started three prayer groups.
I was greatly encouraged that Bob realized the importance of upgrading
our Nagercoil seminary to BD-level. It's strange how our help for the
IELC to grow stopped around 1950 when the church became organizationally
independent. India kept on developing, but our institutions remained geared
only for an uneducated population. All the other denominations and religions
developed colleges and technical training institutions to meet the growing
need of the population, but we stopped with a few high schools. One faculty
member noted that ours is the
only seminary that does not now offer BD for our college graduates.
They must go to ecumenical seminaries for that. We do have one teachers
training institute for high school graduates, which is a great help, but
the other one was closed 50 years ago.
Aargh!
As we drove around to IELC's new mission work in the rural areas, Hindu
pilgrims were walking along the side of the road. They typically make
these long treks barefoot, as part of their suffering for the sake of
their god/goddess. It is interesting how people of all religions here
expect to suffer for their faith. Of course, the Christians' suffering
is not in some way to gain their god's attention and favor but as part
of the struggle to witness and to fight for justice that their faith calls
for.
One of the huge developments around India is the construction of six-lane
highways connecting all the state capitals. Two lanes are for cars and
trucks, and the separate outside lane is for carts and bicycles and other
slow-moving transportation. Right now, all of that mixture of traffic
is on the same two-lane (at best) road. It will be a great improvement.
It's come at a great cost of social disruption, however, as many homes,
shops, marvelous trees, and some of our IELC churches and schools have
been destroyed to make way. The Scandinavian company Skanda is doing the
project in the areas we traveled, including new bridges all along the
way.
God willing, I should be back Wednesday night. Please keep my travels
in your prayers. It's been an exhausting two months, but so far our Lord
has kept me in good health. I hope it all doesn't catch up on me once
I get back home. It will probably help that I'll have two months of e-mails
and mail to deal with, besides starting up my classes right away, so I
won't be able to totally relax. Thanks for your prayers all these days.
God bless.
Herb
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