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)!

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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!

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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!

Teaching Worship

After 3 days of discussion about the nature of worship, I found myself with a conundrum. It seemed that the tribal culture from which these students had come did not have a sense of awe. At least in the limited time I had with them, I struggled to find a point in their context on which I could connect the notion that in the presence of God we not only exult and rejoice (expressions of praise) but we also need to express humility. During the night Wednesday, the idea hit me: The ancient kings demanded their subjects to enter the royal presence on their hands and knees. So Fri morning (no class on Thur), I asked Raju to act the part of King Nebuchadnezzar and I became his lowly subject wishing to gain audience (they always responded well to my getting on the floor). So the pic above shows me humbly seeking audience with the great king.

Below, I had to come up for a little while to explain the significance of the gesture (and also to clear the blood out of my head!). [editorial comment: In our me-centered society, we forget or easily ignore the fact that any/every time we meet with the followers of Christ we choose to enter the presence of the King of all Kings. These church gatherings are not about us. We gather to come into the King's presence. I'm not suggesting that everyone in every society must get on their hands and knees and hold their faces to the ground during church. But each society has some culturally appropriate manner of demonstrating submission to a higher authority. But in a society such as North America/Western Europe where self is the highest authority we face a real conundrum: How can we express submission to a higher authority when we recognize no higher authority than self?] Well, enough of that sermon! Back to Jodhpur.
Following my demonstration and explanation, we spent time (below) silently worshiping God for his inate qualities--for Who He Is.
Some more teaching about something. In the background, you can see a white board. They had it on grounds somewhere but never used it. When I asked if we could buy one, they admitted to having this. So--teacher that I am--we dragged it out and put it to good use!
Below: The orphanage children at prayer time. Each afternoon, when they arrive home from school, they spend some time in group prayer. Here you can see that Sujana and Joseph, their supervisors, were already implementing the approach to prayer that I had suggested just that morning. Now that does a teacher's heart good!

Pray for Jodhpur

Below are the students I went to Jodhpur to teach and be taught by.

The first group are the 11 students enrolled in the Bible school. Front Row, L to R: Dinesh, Tejlting, Nanku, Prakash;Middle Row, L to R: Sini and Raju Thomas [hostess and director], Glenn; Back Row, L to R: Bharav, Kamalesh, Gautam, Keshav, Suraj, Raju.

Next are the Evangelists for Rajasthan State. This particular group lives at the center in Jodhpur and travels to targeted outreach areas.

L to R: Sujana & Joseph (also supervisors of the orphanage); Sini & Raju, Glenn; Vinod, Mangilal, and Surendra.

And finally, the children in the orphanage, along with the adults who have become their parents. Most are full orphans (neither father or mother) while some are what the staff refers to as "semi" orphans (one parent still living, but abandoned the child).

Will you join me in praying for these dear people?

Thank you!

Hindu shrine

This is a series of pics I took of a man coming to a Hindu shrine Sunday morning about 7:15.

BTW, the motorcycle is incidental. It was parked there everyday, probably by an employee from the area.

Below, is the actual shrine. Before coming here, I always had the picture that Hindus went to big beautiful elaborate temples. Perhaps there are some around somewhere. there must be, because tourists keep taking pictures of them. but I have not seen a single one--not even a large one much less big, beautiful and/or elaborate. The one pictures below is much more typical of the shrines I have seen. Some are bigger; others smaller. But this is not unusual at all.




Everyday, the man below comes to wash the statue and shrine. (Can't really tell what the statue is supposed to represent, but there is a pic of an elephant-headed boy on the wall behind it.) I had hesitated to take his pic, because I recognize (assumed?) that he is doing his religious duty and I wanted to respect that. I did take a few pics from a distance with my zoom lens. But this Sunday after taking the series of pics above, I moved into position and took the pic that shows the shrine and statue. Just then, the cleaning man walked up carrying two buckets of water. So I motioned, asking if it was okay for me to take a pic. He nodded and posed. Just then another man walked up, poured something on the ground to the right of the shrine and bowed in worship.






Hope you enjoyed....

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Final service!

The following is a video of our gathering for the final service of our family retreat in Nagpur. As you will see, the Indians sat on the carpets placed on the floor. But they kindly provided chairs for us foreigners. (Everyone used chairs through the week.) The gathering shown in this video was this morning's Sunday worship service. We sang beautiful worship songs and roof-shattering praise songs! They had a small combo of keyboard, 2 guitars, standard drum set and another set of conga drums.

As you watch this video (I think it's about 1 minute or less), you will see the general congregation of course. Then as the camera pans toward the front, you will see a row of ladies directly in front of me and in front of them are 2 rows of men in white shirts. The men were ordained as part of this morning's service. and the women behind them are their wives. What a moving experience to lay hands on a young Indian pastor and lift him in prayer for God's special anointing with the Holy Spirit. (But I doubt you can pick him out of the video clip.)

After the service (worship, sermon, ordination, communion, and farewell with a "holy kiss"), I met with the pastor I prayed for along with his wife and #2 daughter(of 3). I promised them I would pray for them every day. I know that God puts no more significance in an American's or foreigner's prayers, but most of the people here seemed to do so. At any rate, a pastor needs to know that we are praying for him/her everyday.

I also put a new post on my other blog, so be sure to check it out and comment on them both!

Thank you for your feedback!

What happened one night

The eleven students at the Bible school create their own dynamic because they live and do everything together. Tuesday afternoon (of my first week), I was resting in an upper room. The students were praying. Then I heard them go back into the classroom we had used that day. Suddenly one of the students came in and motioned for me to follow him. We walked into the next door, where the other students had been singing and worshiping. They had switched from standing around singing to doing a dance style from their native tribal area while singing a praise song. It was a spontaneous event and apparently quite unusual because another student had run downstairs to get the director who came up and watched as well.

So this video (if it ever finishes loading) is the result...

Thank you for reading! Check out the other blog too--"my passage through India."

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At last time to post

Yes, I have rather neglected this blog for a few days. I had so hyped the other one for the teachers, that I gave it immediate attention on the rare occasion when I could get access. But now I'm in Nagpur and there is an internet cafe just around the corner. Actually, a couple of them and this one at least appears to have pretty good connection. So hopefully I can do some catching up here.





Sooooo, the topic of my course in Jodhpur was, "Principles of Worship." So, why am I down on my hands and knees? And why is RT laughing? I was describing to them that the New Testament word mostly used for worship combines a prefix and a root word that when we combine them we have the picture of a dog coming before his master. So I played the role of the dog and RT acted as the master. They thought it was hilarious and I got a good laugh too.

This is a pic of RT's wife, Sini. Partly I have it here because I think she is a wonderful partner and ministry mate for him. But also it is to illustrate one of the patterns of Indian worship: The men and women sit separately and whenever we pray or preach, the women cover their heads. I'm not asking for your opinions about these practices. But I think they reflect interesting customs--no doubt passed down from the British missionaries from a couple centuries ago.