Evening, drove to village about 1 hour out of city, last 5 km were on gravel side road. Met with Pastor Shankar Singh and men from his church. Plus a few women sat in room behind. I preached and Dean gave testimony.
Pastor Shankar Singh with wife, daughter and son.
In true Indian fashion, I had virtually no interaction with wife and none with daughter. But their son could become an able translator as he moved smoothly between Hindi, or their local dialect and English. At the same time, I was impressed with Pastor Singh who clearly has a heart for God and knows how to disciple men from new believers to mature leaders.
Inside Pastor Singh's modest home.
I always feel like an intruder when I ask to take pictures of these homes. But I have sensed the people back home appreciate seeing how these servants of God (and other locals) live. So I force myself beyond my comfort zone--all for my appreciative audience!
In addition to the 2 rooms that comprise the house itself, they have a cooking and work in an open area behind the house. Here an "auntie" referred to simply as a servant poses in front of the area where (apparently) she lives with her husband (seen obliviously walking away).
The men who joined us were identified as lay pastors. So Pastor Singh has discipled them to lead at least some house church meetings.
Front of Pastor Singh's house where we had our gathering.
Women commonly sit separated from the men. Given the structure of the meeting area, these women sat in a room behind the raised porch.
Just for the record, this was NOT a sightseeing trip for me. I preached/taught about 15 times in 9 days.
Another view of the front of the house. The bushels tied and lying on the ground by the bikes are mustard plants that will be processed to produce mustard oil.
And now for some pics of individuals at the meeting. These people seemed to materialize from the vicinity when they saw that Americans were there and something was happening.
One of the lay pastors with his family.
On the way home, we could tell/suspected that we were following a different route. Suddenly we stopped, with no explanation of why. If I had refreshed my review of the week's agenda that Manoj gave me at the start I would have remembered. But I didn't do so. And therefore I left my camera in the vehicle as we walked through a gate and down a lane. We turned a corner. Then after another corner we saw a Buddhist shrine rising in front of us. The
n I remembered: We were scheduled to stop at the site of the Buddha's final sermon. This is a peace shrine constructed after WWII.
n I remembered: We were scheduled to stop at the site of the Buddha's final sermon. This is a peace shrine constructed after WWII.It was already dark or virtually so by the time we arrived.
On each of the 4 sides of the shrine a different statue represents a different phase in the Buddha's life.
It had been a long and varied day--but very enjoyable. And definitely the visit to Pastor Singh's home and congregation made it worthwhile. What a genuine servant of God he seems to be!
ttfn
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