Thursday, November 11, 2010 (continued from #13)
People look much different when you see them in their homes and learn their names rather than just look at the sea of faces out there in the audience at meeting. This morning we walked through much of Pitlam visiting the homes of people who are coming and preparing for baptism. This village has about 12,000 counting children is what we were told. There are no SDA here but the hopes are to build a substantial church here since it is somewhat of a center.
That means buying land and getting permission to do so. There are more than 350 in Pitlamwho are planning to become SDA because of our meetings and the preparation preceding them. They may not all be baptized before we leave and that is fine with us. Today we met many of them and learned their names, photographed or took video footage of some. It is a very humble village and lacks a lot when it comes to sanitation. Several asked for special prayer for illness. When we see how they live in small houses with no windows, we wonder how they survive.
One man told us he had not been able to sleep for 4 months, but he comes to the meeting each night and comes forward for prayer. Glenn told him that he needs to sleep in fresh air and he does get exercise. So we hope things will improve. They seem so eager to learn and aspire to be better in the future than life is for them now.
As said before, the animals of all kinds roam freely and live in close proximity to the people. So sanitation is not established here. The pigs do an important work of cleaning up things but then they become food and pass on the impurities. So it is a vicious cycle (or recycle). They are all very eager for prayer and certainly need it. We are convinced that India is ripe for the Gospel.
When we see their need for a substantial church we wish that we were monetarily wealthy. We are wealthy in so many things but not in the cash needed to do special big things here. In talking with them in their homes we see how much the meetings are doing for them. They like all aspects of it and are responding in heart to what they hear and see. Some have education or children who are educated. One home Glenn visited today had a son who is studying for his MA in business administration. He has been attending various churches but after coming to our meetings has decided he wants to be SDA and prepare to be a worker in our cause.
Because there were so many to visit, the pastors divided us into two groups. Mary Alice went with one and Glenn with the other. Many more homes received prayer and instruction than would have otherwise. The pastor is planning for us to eat in his home this noon. He knows our need for less spice and clean water in preparation of the food, so we trust it will be safe. Paulson has the car and so we walked and it is for the best. You get to see much more.
The pastor came for us in an Auto Taxi (motorcycle with body around it). The meal was very tasty. They left out the spices for our benefit in the potatoes and dahl for on the chapatis. Later we visited a neighbor who is a contractor. They offered a sweet dish made of grain, cocoanut with some sugar and it was very tasty. Normally we would not accept food like this, but they seemed to be very clean.
The pastor we ate with has another large church near the Zaheerabadschool where we held the week of prayer. So this is a mission project for him and family. They rent an apartment here at 1500 Rupies a month. That is about what one night in a hotel in Hyderabad would cost. This is now his home to build up the Pitlam church and so he must commute to his other large church.
We did get photos of about half the workers and hope to photo the other half before we leave. It will be necessary to have them printed in Hyderabad to distribute to them after we have left there. Paulson can take care of that but it will be a gesture of appreciation from us. We also gave $100 of our personal money to be distributed among the pastors or to apply to some article of clothing for each of them as a gift. It is not in the evangelistic budget so we will take care of it or at least help.
Mary Alice visited one lady whose husband had a heart attack a while back but survived. Then later he was bit by a huge snake not realizing it had bit him. He thought it was a thorn but in a few days he started vomiting and went to the doctor who identified it as snake bite. He survived it. Along the way the wife went to some pastor who prayed for him and he is now well and working. Things like that happen with regularity in the harvest fields. (These details came through translation and so we are not sure of just how it happened.)
FRIDAY MORNING: (November 12). Last night we had a very good attendance and no rain to spoil things. They listened very carefully to “What Happens When We Die?” and related well to it. That is a needed foundation to spare them the fears that often accompany death and uncertainty about the future. Glenn’s dilemma is what subjects to include and which to leave out in this short series. We have established the Plan of Salvation and God’s character of love etc. and the truth about Hell would have been preached tonight. However, the last meeting on Saturday night is usually so full that there is not room for a long sermon. So Glenn has decided to preach tonight on “Why I Am A Seventh-day Adventist”. People everywhere have related well to that presentation. They like to know our personal spiritual journey and it is also an opportunity to review the major teachings that make us different from the other churches and world religions. We can emphasize the truth about Hell in that.
Saturday’s closing meeting can then to about Heaven and not need as much time to fully explain. It is a nice way to close the series. Paulson may plan a baptism on Sabbath afternoon for Pitlam. He told us last night (he didn’t get back until the meeting was well under way) that ten of the Central Union of SDA leaders will come from Hyderabad and attend our closing meeting. We don’t leave here until Sunday noon. So, it could be that they will give special study to starting a new church here and providing for an adequate building to house the large congregation. We are just guessing that. We can hardly believe they would all come that far (about 120 miles) just to see our meeting.
Thus far we have managed well in spite of the electric outages and water that is turned off during part of the day and night. We cannot always know when it will happen and be able to plan ahead to work around it. In the villages served by outside water sources, they get water only for an hour each morning and each evening. So they build storage tanks to hold what they expect to need for the day.
In USA we would feel neglected if we had to live with those conditions. Trips like this help keep things in perspective. That is one of the major values that come from the experience. We wish we could bring church members with us as some trips do when they have a building project etc. But here we don’t know what we would do for housing and food for a larger group from USA. Not everyone is willing to live in the way we have to here. So we must rely on telling and showing the pictures when we return as opportunities afford.
With the daily need here for sermon and health talk preparation that must be worked around the visiting program and feeding program, Glenn has not been able to get much done on the many sermons expected in Mizoram and Tripura. One day at a time is what takes us through. God is always there to bless when we are open to His leading. We make it clear that all the good things happening here are not from us but from Him. He can bless that attitude the best.
It has been great to hear of the revival breaking out in Gentry resulting from the Prayer Convocation at OAA with young people coming from afar to be part of it. God is working all over just now and we want to be where the action is. What time we may have left must be invested and not squandered.
We are looking forward to seeing you all again and sharing some of the things most meaningful from here.
With love, in His love,
Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma, Glenn and Mary Alice