November 20, 2010 (Saturday night)
Dear Family and Friends:
Today was a very special Sabbath for us. It began with an early breakfast provided by our Hostess, Moie Renthley—wife of the Mizo Conference President. Her daughter Lomi, is working on her MA degree in Chemistry but helps a lot at home.
They thought we were leaving at 7:30 a.m. (but it turned out to be 8:30) for the Siphir Church for the day. We think Siphir village is about 25 Km from Aizawl where we are. The road is very narrow, as are they all in Mizoram, and now very rutted. Driving and riding is an experience. The city of about a million has houses and shops built on the edge of the road and leaning out over space, supported by concrete or other kinds of pillars. The photos will show it best.
Roads are repaired but it lasts only until the big rains come and wash much away again. They have had severe landslides from this year’s water. So far as we can tell, more than 100 houses slid down the mountain ravine with people in them. Many were lost and it is a miracle that any survived.
Driving here is also an event to be survived. The drivers are very good and must be because the road is large enough for one lane, but traffic is both ways with motorcycles thrown in between somewhere. When cars meet, one must give way to any available space short of going down the mountainside or scraping the bank on the other side. Brakes get a good workout and so do nerves.
Siphir is a Church that came out of the evangelistic series we held five years ago. In the all-day service today we learned much more about it. One lady testified that for ten years she was the only SDA there and wondered if anyone else would become SDA. Then a couple more appeared but they never dreamed they could have a large evangelistic series there, much less a church building of their own. We had not intended to have that series when we came to India. It was thrown in as an extra on our way to the ten village series we had planned. It turned out to be one of our nicest experiences.
Sangzela, the young man who is now the Elder told of how he was Presbyterian then and was working against our meetings as an enemy. He didn’t like us at all. But then he attended some meetings and learned so much more truth than he had known that he was impelled by the Holy Spirit to surrender and become Seventh-day Adventist. Now he loves us so much it just bubbles out. He considers us his father and mother in America as does the whole church. They expressed that over and over during the day.
Glenn preached in the “Divine Service” at 11:45. We thought the sermon would begin much earlier but our “son” Biaka gave a long introduction in Mizo telling about each family member and then again a summary in English for our benefit. The young man who translated, Muansanga, was excellent. He is in charge of Media in the Mizo Confence and was sharp, catching the ideas instantly. He reminded Glenn that they follow “flex time” here and the sermon could continue until 1 if necessary. With his prompt translation, it was not necessary.
Biaka did not translate because right now he has serious voice problems. Doctors found nodules on his voice box and he has pain. It may have started when he was conducting evangelistic meetings near his birthplace in Lenglei. The electricity went out and he shouted the rest of his sermon without the amplification. He would have been in Silchar, Assam for additional medical treatment, but postponed that because of our visit. We can’t blame spicy food for his condition because they don’t use as much spice here in Mizoram. (Praise the Lord!) Biaka has just written a book on health and it is very popular here.
Our Hostess had sent lunch with us. We could eat it with relish because we know how clean they are in food preparation. The lunch was more than we needed and we shared it with Zosiama.
The new sound system we bought for the Tlangsang School was used in Siphir for the day and proved a wonderful blessing. Even though the church is small, the amplification allowed a borrowed keyboard to be used and made speaking much easier. Especially during the downpour that rattled the metal roof more than once during the services.
The events of the day continued at 1:30 and Glenn used computer powerpoint and video projector to preach an evangelistic sermon on the Second Coming of Jesus. He has Bible texts in Mizo from our previous work here. The wall served as a screen.
Deep and sincere appreciation flowed throughout the day for the message they learned in the evangelistic series that has changed their lives. And again for the new church we helped provide (thanks to you who shared with gifts to Hill Evangelism supplementing ours). They never thought it possible for them to have either the meetings or the church. And they never expected to see us again after the meetings. They would love to have us come back and do another series, but that is not likely.
We rejoiced that they do not garland in Mizoram as in other parts of India. But they did present us a beautiful and colorful cloth bag that hangs from the shoulder and is usually used to carry a Bible and other things to church. Glenn told them in accepting it, that it was already full—filled with their love and appreciation.
Mary Alice was asked to say some words at the end of the afternoon service and rose to the occasion telling of our previous visits to India and the love we felt from them. The electricity came on and off throughout the day and the rains came down repeatedly, but everyone considered it a High Day in their experience and wished the visitors could come back every Sabbath to fill the church as it was today.
Glenn’s morning sermon stressed growth—personal and corporate as a church. They related well to it and one lady told how they have one person ready for baptism and ten more to be baptized soon when the preparation is complete. That was the nicest thing we heard all day. They are not a dying church as some feared when a few had to move away or had passed away. They have felt the economic pressure of the small villages as the economy of India was also stressed in the recent world economic decline. Some did return to larger Protestant churches when we had no church building or acceptable place to meet. That underscores the need to build a church promptly following an evangelistic series with a large influx of new members.
One lady’s testimony (Hmingi was the first SDA in Siphir) told how their houses are so small and cluttered that it was difficult to worship there. A special place to worship God means much more than just having the space for many to gather. The atmosphere is so important as an incentive to worship actively. The DO worship actively. Their music is very much alive and many have beautiful voices.
A middle-aged lady named Diki is a strong leader at Siphir. A small group met in her humble house before the church was built. Her brother is named Sabbath and is the Mizo Conference evangelist. At our second trip here he asked if he could have part of our budget to hold meetings in the airport town of Lungpui. We gave $1000 and his series produced 25 baptisms. Our Aizawl city-wide series had 200 then in 2001. We followed up on that by giving another $1000 or more to build the new church and later a sound system so they could “broadcast” their Sabbath services to the town via the external speaker on the church roof. Our gift (earned by teaching English in Korea) supplemented the building materials they had received from another community that did not use them to build a church. Lungpui is a growing church also.
Another strong helper is Ruati, a very poor lady who earns her living by selling vegetables from door to door. She tells more about Jesus than the vegetables and creates interest in further study. She was very vocal and enthusiastic in her appreciation for our part in building the church and was saying how they wanted us again to spur further growth and further expansion of the church building. Oh, that we could meet their expectations!
Two women who were visitors that day each sang two lovely solos. One is the professional voice in Adventist Radio India and is recognized as one of the best singers in Mizoram. The other is the daughter of a deceased pastor who died at 56 in an accident. She has written songs and sang them in her beautiful voice. We recorded on video the songs to share with you. Their voices are soft and sweet even with the drum that beats out the time in steady rhythm. (No fancy stuff that attracts attention to itself as in other parts of India.) We requested a translation on paper of the words of the songs.
The narrow road that goes by the Siphir church makes you wonder how cars can get there. We wondered how they would ever turn around to go back. It was a relief to note that the road continues and is one way down also. There were no places for two cars to meet and pass on that bit of road.
Services lasted until past 4. It was a BIG day for all involved and the Lord’s presence was evident. All the participants in the service giving testimonials reminded us of Dick Shadduck’s memorial service that continued for 3 ½ hours with so many participating.
The least developed part of the church is the toilet arrangements. There are steep steps made of chiseled stone going down to the cement pillars that support the church from the mountainside. Leftover building timbers are laid on the uneven earth to make a walkway that wobbles fearfully as you attempt passage to the side-by--side toilets partially enclosed by plastic tarps. Inside the 3 x 3 ft cubicle there are five 2 x 4 boards with space between them that make the floor. Whatever is done there has to go through those one-inch spaces and down the mountain when the heavy rains come. Modesty is a choice made by those in the waiting line who choose to look the other way.
Back at our room at the Conference Office we broke our usual routine of not eating supper. Our Hostess had good food waiting and we enjoyed it. Tomorrow will begin early with a hasty breakfast in our room and then the LONG trip down a road that has been badly washed by the heavy rains of today and last night. Zosiama wondered if we are up to it and we assured him that we are used to long trips. The hours are the same even if the roads are different.
We will not be able to E-mail this until much later probably. You and home will look very good to us when we see you again.
With love,
Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma, Glenn and Mary Alice.