Racism, revisited

Okay, so I know already that Jesus calls me to love without regard to any of the external trappings. That's not the point of my previous post. I know that such love is impossible without the grace of God available through faith in Jesus Christ. I know those things. That's not the point. In fact, given my international experiences etc., I would like to think that I do better at this than most people (although granted international travel alone does not prove anything). But again, that is not the point!

And I readily grant that the 2 situations are not the same. An African-American--or any non-White and/or Female--per se speaks from a different sociocultural context than I. Simply because she (refer to previous post) is female makes her context different. Add the fact that she is African-American and you have added a whole dumptruck full of additional issues. I recognize that. And I tried not to fault her for saying what she said. And my question about it being racism really was not aimed at what she said.

I was trying to address the mentality in our society that stands ready on a moment's notice to stone anyone who innocently says something that as of 24 hours ago was politically correct but suddenly without public notice became politially INcorrect.

Do you remember when we whites were informed that we should no longer use the "N" word? I grew up using it and it never occurred to me that it might be offensive. Looking back, I admit that it was so. And I regret having used it. But when I used it, I did so innocently. Then we were told we should say "Black" instead of "N" or "Colored." Okay. I instantly switched to using the word "Black." That lasted a few years. And suddenly--seemingly overnight--I was treated like a racist because I used the term "Black" in reference to a person of African ancestry.

I think I'm just trying to suggest that maybe all the politically correct police should take a chill pill.

Have I sufficiently muddied the waters even more?

What do you think?

ttfn

Racism?!

Well, it's been long enough since I posted that maybe no one will read this. And part of me wants it that way. But the other part (the part that enjoys good healthy discussion/interaction) wants this read, reacted, forwarded and noticed. So here goes....

We happened to drop in on the show "Duel" tonight. At one point an African-American lady won her round. So she got to choose her next opponent. For those who have not seen the show, 3 candidates are shown and she chooses 1. So there was a young white man (computer tech), an Air Force white man, and a young African-American man. The Black woman said, "I'll pick my brother." Does that sound racist to you? Probably not. And she almost certainly did not intend it as racist.

BUUUUUTTTTT, turn the tables:

If I were the contestant and won my first round and got to choose the next opponent, I might face this situation: A Mexican-American lady, an African-American man, and a White woman. What if I said, "I'll choose my fellow White."

Even if I meant it innocently, the press and public reaction would tar and feather me from Maine to San Diego. I would be called every name in the book. But especially I would be accused of Racism.

The point is this: The real racism is accusing every White person of racism every time we make an innocent comment but ignoring the correspondingly offensive words by people of color.

Well, like I said before, I'm sure this lady meant nothing more than, I can see that this guy is also African-American. But sometimes that's all we Whites mean when wesay something without anticipating how it might be (mis)interpreted by others.

Well, that's my rant for now.

What do you think?

ttfn

Nagpur Mercy Home

Maybe I should explain the comment in the previous post: I mentioned that the warden at the orphanage spoke no English. I meant to lead from that into a couple perceptions: 1. It would be difficult at best to conduct an interview with any of the children, because the adults either spoke no English or they spoke no Hindi and I needed someone who could speak both. 2. The one English speaker (seen in the previous post's first clip) commented that many people have already interviewed a number of the children. This second obviously negates the first perception; but it left me wanting to explore waters that had not been navigated so frequently.

At any rate, I did look into some of the boys rooms. Actually, they would normally look quite differently than shown here. But all 45 +/- boys had been squeezed into 1 room as had the 45 +/- girls. This was in order to accommodate the people attending the family conference Wed through Sunday.

This first pic shows what is intended as the main entrance, through a welcoming courtyard. Boys rooms on the left and girls on the right.

Children in 1 - 4 standards were on a brief break from school. So these boys were eager to mug for my camera.

This next shot looks across the campus to the dome at the top of the library.

Now let's go inside the library...

These last 2 shots give you the inside view of the dome of the library. To help you: The perspective is looking straight up--vertical--from the floor through 3 or 4 stories of the library to the dome. I hope you can get a sense of how impressive it is.

Thank you for reading!

Nagpur Mercy Home

One of the things RIMI wanted me to do during my visit was to explore the Mercy Home orphanage. In Jodhpur, I saw the orphans each day. But I was so busy with the classes that I did not get to interact with the children much at all.

So when I arrived at the seminary campus in Nagpur, I found an early opportunity to wander through the grounds of the Mercy Home and explore possibilities for interviews. It turned out that all the children were in school each day. And the "warden" (yes, that is the term they use for the adults who are responsible for the orphans and the orphanage) spoke absolutely NO English.

In fact, as soon as I started shooting this video, he vacated the room. Then shortly an American appeared and he returned. So this is the dining room for the orphanage. Well, I hope your monitor shows this with more light than mine does. On my screen it looks pretty dark. It's true that the overhead lights were off when I recorded this. But on my camera, the lighting appeared pretty good.

Well, I'll try another post with some still shots of the orphanage as well.

Meanwhile, I'll add this clip of the orphans at play. How many games of Cricket can you count? Trust me, there are more than a couple going on simultaneously.

I count four games going on simultaneously! An if you're curious about that white kids in this second vid: He came with his grandparents who are long-time supporters of RIMI.

FYI: I count at least 4 separate games. Plus, there might be a 5th in the distance near the beginning of the clip.

ttfn

Our New Condo, part 3

And now for the grand finale!

If you know bw, you know that the kitchen rarely looks like this. But, as I've said, we/she is still figuring out where to put everything. Anyhooo, it is a cozy kitchen (as they say). But we've been able to add a couple things to make better use of the space. The table at the lower right is an addition (from Ikea). It has wheels so that it can roll if we need it somewhere else. But usually it will sit directly in front of the automatic dishwasher. (As bw would say, "We don't need to get in there anyway!")

Looking South through the dining room to the library (?). Yes, that is our upright freezer sitting in front of the bookcase. Yes, it is for all intents and purposes in our living room. Yes, it is our freezer. You gotta problem with that? Do ya?
Our double loveseat with the back door, which opens to the South with a concrete slab/patio facing onto the common courtyard.
Looking East through the living room, with the piano, sofa, stereo and television.
Welp, that's all folks! This is home and we are feeling more and more relaxed in it every day!



Come and visit. We would love to see you all.



the end.

Our New Condo, part 2

Continuing the tour of our condo....

Would you like to see the CR? (That's what bw taught me to call it & if you don't know what "CR" stands for, you can ask your nearby Filipino/a friend.)

This is "mom's" room. Well, actually, it is the guest bedroom for whomever might stop by to visit. But since Mom is our most frequent guest and since she bought the bed, we call it "Mom's" room. But as you can see: For now during the settling in phase, it is the catch-all room where we put things that we have not yet figured out where to put them! And yes, there is a full closet, which was lacking in our previous "Mom's" room. :)
Below is a shot of the stairway going down (just in case you were confused about the perspective).
The front entrance to our home. And to the right is the downstairs' half-bath.
Number 2 of 3; still more to come!

Our New Home, part 1

By "popular demand" (of one person), I am releasing these rare photos of our new-to-us condo. As you will appreciate (and perhaps bw will not), we are still getting things settled and in their rightful places. But at least you will hopefully get a slight sense of where we live and call home!

Of course, one of us has to be at work and so bw drew the short straw.

Both of these first 2 pics (above and below) are in the same room. We call it the computer room. Not sure why. We could have called it the washer room. But whatever. It is upstairs and convenient for me to be working on the puter during the day and get some laundry done at the same time. I think I have successfully hidden the messy corner with the extra, unused puter awaits its fate. Eventually, I plan to cover the walls here with maps of the countries I/we have visited. Anyone have a spare map of India lying around? How about Guatemala?

Okay, these 2 are our "master" bedroom. It's the master simply because it's biggest. Anyhoo, you can see bw's triple dresser (above) on the right. I had to spray dissinfectant to clear the air after the movers finished with their comment about carrying a triple dresser up our narrow staircase! Just kidding; their language was that of perfect gentlement. But it was a tight fit. And after bringing a couple other items upstairs, one of them admitted that I had managed to make him sweat and few people have done that. :)
1 of 3; with 2 more to come!

Back in the Saddle

Well, the worst part of moving is behind us. And the computer is finally hooked up again. So I'm going to try to include a link here to where you can find more pics of my India trip. In fact, you can find more pics than you will ever want to see (in all likelihood).

Well, let me know if the link works. It should lead you to a slideshow of one of my webshots albums. And I think that from there you can check out even more pics on another album. And give another day or two and I'll have even more India pics (probably on more albums)!

ttfn

Mission India Leaders, finale

Many of these pics, I just took because the person or setting caught my eye--viz., this girl, who happened to sing a solo that night in the church service.

Some of the pastors.
Rajasthani pastors with their wives. On the Left, is the pastor and wife whose home was burned to the ground last year because of his witness for Christ.
Her name means "Sweet."
Long-time evangelist in Rajsthan who led most of the current team of evangelists to the Lord. Great is her reward in Heaven!

Mission India leaders, part 4

With about 1,300 people in attendance, you can imagine the task of food prep. Those of us on the staff (and with stomachs not accustomed to local food prep practices) ate in a separate house. But these pics show the process of preparing meals for all the others. Just in case, I'll add: I don't mean any of the above in a condescending manner. It's just that, if I/we had eaten their food, we would have gotten sick, and possibly vice-versa.

Mission India leaders, part 3

Pastor Sam Abraham, chair of the organization committee for the conferences, pastored previously in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Below, the missionaries/evangelists in Rajasthan. I had been looking for Raju for about an hour when he walked up, followed by his team pictured here.

Mission India leaders, part 2

More pics from the Leaders' Conference. The first is the introduction of one of the newlywed couples. Raju and Sini were also introduced. But their pic on this occasion did not turn out well. Plus, you've already seen them in other posts.

The remaining pics in this group show some of the people based in Nagpur with various positions related to the Seminary or administrative responsibilities.

Mission India leaders

These are just some miscellaneous shots taken during the leaders' conference, which preceded the Family Conference. The first shows the founder and president of Mission India (aka, Reaching Indians Ministries International). Rev. Saji Lukos (L, in white) illustrates a point with one of his pastor leaders.

All the leaders were men. But occasionally one or two wives would join the session.

Nagpur leaders

I realize that I'm jumping around chronologically in these posts. But at this point, I'm not sure what to do about that. Today's post has to do with the leadership meeting for all the Mission India leaders and their wives (if the latter could come). This occurred on Monday afternoon through Wednesday morning. This first vid shows the pastors on Tuesday morning. We had just had our "chai" break! And were coming back for another session. So this will give you a taste of their praise session at that point.

To this point all the singing I had heard about the believers involved either a capella singing, with clapping, or if a drum was available they would add that. (At Jodhpur's Bible school, they also used a tambourine.) I mention this because of the next video. As the second part of Tuesday session got under way, I realized quickly that they would be talking about budget matters. I tend to get lost with such discussions even in English. So I ducked out and explored the campus. I will post some still pics of the campus at a later time. But here I will add a video that shows the worship team practicing. These young people are all from the seminary where this conference took place. They took turns at each of the morning and evening sessions when the full conference got underway (Wed night through Sunday morning).

At first, I was attracted simply because they incorporated more musical instruments: electric guitars and keyboard, plus a wider variety of drums. But the more I've listened (both then and in the recordings), I realize they are adapting Western songs to Indian style. Plus, they are writing their own music in their traditional patterns. It makes for an exciting prospect when looking to the future of the Kingdom of God in this subcontinent.

Next time, some more still photos of some of the people I met.

Thanks for reading!

ttfn

Family Retreat

Mission India leaders met for planning, reporting and goal-setting for the first half of the week. All the other attendees arrived during the day on Wednesday. That night was an incredible service with about 1300 people inside and around the outside of the chapel. (If I remember, I'll post some pics of that event too.)

They announced that their annual "Parade of the States" would take place at the opening of the Thursday night service.



At 5:30, we started gathering outside the chapel. I had contacted Raju earlier in the afternoon to arrange that I would parade in with the Rajasthani group. They were thrilled. So I wandered around looking for them, until they found me.

Gradually, word started spreading directing us where we should go to line up. As darkness grew, we got in line behind the group from Punjab.




As soon as I joined them, they asked if I wanted to wear a Rajasthani turban like the other men had. Of course! So a lady hurried to her room and returned with a long scarf/shawl which an elder of the group expertly wound around my head.

Above, you see our group entering the chapel. Look really close and you can see the shoulder of my blue shirt. Unfortunately, my head with the turban is hidden by the mad in the middle. (The beards are fake if you can't tell.)



All the while we were waiting for the parade to start, the Rajasthanis sang Christian words set to ancient traditional Rajasthani tunes and stylings. Plus, they were dancing. They do not do a vigorous dance. Perhaps you recall the video I shared earlier from Jodhpur showing the students doing a round dance: forward-forward; back-back while they progress slowly in a circle. So of course, I had to join in. What a truly blessed, special moment that was! This is what missions is about: Leading people to Christ but leaving as much of the traditional culture in tact as possible. Some things must change in every culture (including and perhaps especially the West). But music and traditional dance are integral to these societies. And to hear the Gospel proclaimed to the traditional Rajasthani tunes gave me a thrill. (I only wish I could have kept the turban!)

Prayer Point for Jodhpur

I should have mentioned this previously when asking for prayer for Jodhpur. But I'll do it now. Raju and his staff have been praying for 5 years for one specific need:

They need their own property and buildings on/in which to minister. The Christian faith is growing in Rajasthan.

In this first pic, you can get a little sense of the room they use for training new pastors. Perhaps 1 or 2 of these men will go on to earn their B.Th. (Bachelor of Theology) and maybe another degree. But most will go directly from this training to start a new church which will birth additional home churches and additional mother churches.

The people you see in these pictures have followed Christ for only a few years. Most of these young men have families still deeply entrenched in tribal versions of Hinduism. But they have come out of that life to follow Christ. The gentleman in the pic below is Keshav. He is illiterate as is all his family. Still, he has a sharp mind and a tender heart for Christ.
This is Prakash. His literary skills are limited. But he gave the best answer when I asked them all, "What is worship in your view?" His response: "Worship is making God glad." I'm proud to call these men my brothers in Christ. But they need better training facilities. And even more: The ministry in Jodhpur needs a place of their own.
This is the house they currently rent from a Hindu landlord. It houses 2 married couples (1 with a young daughter); 13 orphans; 3 evangelists; and the classroom. The 11 Bible school students live in a similar rented house a short distance away.
Will you join me in praying that the God who owns the universe will provide them with their own property and buildings? Here is some info that may boost your faith in this regard: In the pic below, you see my roommate while I was in Nagpur (John, in the middle). On his right stands Mr. James and on his left stands Mr. Bani. They are businessmen in another state in far Northeast India. They had never heard of RIMI/Mission India. But when leaders were looking for property in their state where they could build a Bible school and orphanage, these 2 men donated 17 acres in 2 separate parcels. The properties are prime locations on which they could have realized significant profit. But wanting the best for Christ, they gave these locations to Mission India/RIMI.

The same God can provide for Rajasthan (Jodhpur).

Will you join me and the staff in Jodhpur and pray for God's miraculous provision?

Thank you!