November 25, 2010 (Thanksgiving one day ahead of yours)
Dear Family and Friends:
The last two days were packed with ministry and adventure. Tlangsang Academy (grades 1-10) students and faculty did all they possibly could to make us feel loved and appreciated. They hung on our words as if they were oracles and indeed they were when we expounded the Word of God. You can’t imagine how much difference the new P.A. System we bought for them has made. Every word of a song or message comes through clearly and that is important in communication. There are some beautiful singing voices among the students that have been uncovered and appreciated. In their humble village life these gifts were mostly buried.
All the classes and most of the other conversation at Tlangsang is in English. Only one of the teachers speaks the Bru language and most of the students are Bru. So they HAVE to learn English. They love to talk to you in English to see the “right way” to speak it. You wonder as you are sharing as simply as you can the great truths of the Bible, how much the little ones are really getting. We must trust the Holy Spirit to provide the meaning on whatever level He sees fit. Really, it is the same in any effort we make at home to communicate. Each one who hears brings a different background to the understanding of what is spoken. Only the Holy Spirit can convey the true meaning. Is that a function of the Gift of Tongues? Being here makes us look at many things differently. Culture is so much a part of who we are and what we do and what we expect from others.
Our largest communication is by body language and example. They can hardly take it in that we would come all the way from USA at great expense to see them and live a little while among them. And they are so grateful for the school that has become possible through our (and your) sharing.
We now realize how much they lost when the Cyclone came through earlier this year and blew off the roofs of some of the buildings. The bamboo sheds that were the living quarters for Zosiama and some classrooms were blown away. Some of it was recovered and reconstructed from the best of what was left. Even the twisted metal from the roofs was found and used to build a shelter for the pump down by the dam—their water supply. They so badly need the rest of the concrete buildings to be completed because concrete ones survive unscathed the horrible winds of the storms.
In one of our meetings Mary Alice told the story of how the Girl’s Hostel came to be built. It was the gift commemorating the death of Erica Quam that made it possible and there is a plaque built in as a reminder. Many of them did not know the sacrifice involved in that gift. We also told about the Ozark Academy students that gave the money to build the Cafeteria and Tlangsang people appreciated that sacrifice also.
Tears come easily when we consider how much has gone into making what is here a reality.
One of the delightful experiences is to hear them (including the Hindus who are 70% of the students) singing in English the gospel songs. When Glenn made an appeal to surrender their lives to Jesus and live by His guidance, very many came forward. Not all. Some are still dealing with the disparity between their home life and what they have learned at the school. It is evident that the Holy Spirit is working with them and life decisions are being made.
The Bru people have an inferiority complex. They refer to themselves as downtrodden and worthless. They said things like, “we were nothing before you came (through the school) and taught us. Now we have value and hope for the future.” That is what the words meant though expressed in different ways. Now some of them have the vision of taking this message back to their homes and to other villages.
Songs and Bible stories played from our I-Pod through the new P.A. system really blessed the children and adults. They listened attentively. When the Jesus video in English was screened one evening, they related to it and are looking forward to reading the story in Luke when they get their new Bibles. Also to compare it with Matthew, Mark, and John. This will “jump start” their reading of the Bible. We left the N.T. Bible in Living Sound CDs which they will play over and over again. The O.T. went earlier to the Zaheerabad school in Andhra Pradesh where we had the first week of prayer. Maybe an exchange will come later so each can hear it all. But we suspect they will want to somehow have the whole series each. Maybe we can make that happen.
When we screen the Jesus Video in the native languages, often the listeners will break into applause when one of Jesus’ miracles takes place, like delivering the demon possessed or feeding the more than 5,000 with the few loaves and fish. So we know they get the point. Somehow the applause seems appropriate then. It is all they know how to do in recognition.
Glenn talked to the group about giving Glory to God rather than performers, including us. We are just instruments trying to use our God-given gifts to bless others. Glenn also emphasized that the words in the voices of the music should be what we hear and not let the accompaniment drown out that part. We feel that in USA much is lost also by the overpowering backgrounds that feature the beat and loudness rather than sweet melody, harmony and message in the lyrics.
Zosiama video-taped much of what we presented at Tlangsang and will play it back again and again to the students to refresh their memories. They say it will be like having us there again. They all say how much they will miss us. So, we like the Bru, gain the feeling of being valued and needed.
When we leave we will give our video projector to Beaka to use in evangelism. The one we gave him before we will take back in exchange and give it to Zosiama for the school so they can make better use of visuals as they are available to them.
Tuesday night we presented the Sanctuary to the Tlangsang SDA Church that was raised up out of our earlier visit. The model for the High Priest garments was a Bru who has advanced in education and is now a volunteer doing evangelistic work among the Bru people. He had government jobs at high salary offered him because of his education, but like Moses chose to cast his lot with the Bru people at very low income. It meant a lot to him to wear the garments with a message. The Tlangsang church, built by Hill Evangelism funds, is considered the best in the Jampui Hills and with the school is one reason for the high respect they have of SDA in the area.
Wednesday morning Tlangsang Academy had a farewell for us, once again expressing their appreciation for our coming to them “all the way from USA” and bringing what we did. Their English singing of “God be with you ‘till we meet again” brought tears to our eyes. We promised to meet them “under the Mango tree” in heaven. Our first welcome and then the farewell meeting was under a huge Mango tree in front of Zosiama’s bamboo house/office. That school and those people have a large place in our hearts and thoughts.
The long trip back over those horrible roads was broken into two segments by our visit to a Bru village, one of ten along the river. Just when we thought the roads could not get worse, they did. One segment to the village is billed as part of the Trans-India Highway, but right now it is more of a motorcycle and foot road. There were recent landslides we had to work through and we often wondered if Zosiama’s little car could do it. Angels were certainly on hand and of service. We think they should get double wages for that day’s work.
Most vivid in our memory is the descent to the river we had to cross to Chhimlaung village. Mary Alice kept suggesting that she would like to get out and walk rather than stay with the car. But there was no opportunity to do that and she would have fared much worse had she done it. A few people had waded out into the river showing its depth and so Zosiama drove through missing the drop-offs and sandbar. Getting up on the other side required many people pushing as he gunned the engine with tires spinning. Video will show it best, worth more than a thousand words.
This village was totally Hindu and had resisted entrance by other Christian groups. But 20 of their students came to Tlangsang and are doing so well that their parents wanted to know more about SDA and opened to the preaching of our message. The Math teacher from the school who is Bru spent more than a week there complementing the work of other Volunteers. They held evangelistic meetings and about 50 have asked for baptism. Following our initial welcome in a community building we walked again to the River for the baptism of 35. Others who had planned baptism were necessarily away to a government interview to sustain certain privileges they were getting. Glenn was invited to do some of the baptizing, but declined because the one performing it should be able to say the words in their language. So, the district or circle pastor who is well educated and has learned Bru baptized them well. We took photos and video from a vantage point overlooking the river.
Getting up to the village was a not-to-be-forgotten experience. The way included crossing by foot a low water part of the river on a floating path made of lashing bamboo loosely together. They would not let us go it alone and so each of us had two Bru, one on each side, supporting us every step of the way. We had to think how thankful we were that it was a friendly village and these former Hindus were not hostile and taking us hostage somewhere by force. Their gleaming smiles told of appreciation and anticipation. We heard that we were the first white people some of them had ever seen. The village has 180 families and is in dire economic straits. They hope we can provide a school and a church for them. That would take much more than we can give. They don’t understand all that is involved in starting a school. Zosiama has been requested to do it but has more now than he can manage with the Tlangsang Academy. The Mizo Conference will keep an evangelist in residence for at least two years to solidify the interest and help them grow in Jesus.
When the Bru people were helping us up and down the slippery slopes to their village, it was overkill. We could have made it but were glad in some spots for the extra support. Their bare feet were more stable than our shoes. Later we heard that they expected us to be an old man and an old lady, but we are “young and fit” and in some cases more fit than they. One girl helping Mary Alice down to the bamboo floating walk-way, slipped on the mud herself and fell. It was an embarrassment.
The Tlangsang church has a school with 120 students (in addition to the Academy that Zosiama presides over). It is because our new SDA students attending the public school were beaten by Baptist teachers for not coming on Sabbath-- a huge conflict. The church was forced to provide education that has proved to be costly beyond their means. They are struggling right now to keep the school open and interviewed us about our helping them. The best we could offer is a $50 gift given us just before we left for India to provide a year’s tuition for the daughter of a deacon there. He is very poor and could not manage anything to pay for her education. She stays at home and walks to that school. Most of the students come from very poor homes with no financial support. It is a terrible conflict for us to see how much good could be done if resources could be directed to where they are needed most. We are glad the Lord carries the responsibility to remedy that since He alone has adequate resources. (But the resources He chooses to use are those in our pockets and banking accounts).
Somewhere along the way we heard the story behind Tlangsang village. Many years back a Cholera epidemic nearly wiped out a village and out of fear they moved off and began the Tlangsang one in the Jampui Hills. The name is associated with a new beginning and no fear.
At our welcoming ceremony in Chhimlaung village they presented us with typical Bru costumes which were made right there. We photographed and took video of one lady working her hand-loom. They do sell some vegetables and buy the yarn, but many things needed for their livelihood are home made. We were garlanded with flowers growing in the village. (No expenses but their time and labor) There were several speeches including our impromptu ones giving instructions to the candidates for baptism and acknowledging their love and kindness in welcoming us. Some of the girls performed a traditional dance similar to the Hula in Hawaii. We suspect there is a message hidden in it (as in the Hula) but we have no clue as to its meaning. The speeches by those who evangelized the village made sure we were aware of the needs.
Leaving was also dramatic following the baptism. We had been there 2 ½ hours and had arrived 1 ½ hours later than expected because of delays. (One delay was seeing a working elephant dragging teak trees that had been cut, right up the mountain to the road. The handlers and loggers were delighted at our taking pictures of it. The government is selling off the teak trees to get money. They go mostly to Calcutta and New Delhi perhaps to carve souvenirs for tourists). So the sun was hanging low as we left and there was the “road” to travel, hopefully not in the darkness if we could even get back on it.
First Zosiama had to fix a flat tire. We were thankful (even before Thanksgiving Day) that the tire held ‘till we got over the river and on solid ground where it could be dealt with more easily. Later he had another flat from a nail he picked up somewhere. We also wonder about the other tires after all that beating on sharp rocks.
This time the Bru had fastened a long rope to the front of the car to pull and some behind to push as Zosiama again tried to coax his little car that “thought it could” to make it out of the river and to the awful road. Glenn asked him how many horses were under the hood. He said 35. So Glenn told the Bru that the car would make it by 35 horses and 40 Brus with 80 feet and 80 hands supplementing the 4 wheels. They all had a big laugh out of that. In reality we knew it was the unseen angels whose strength was added that made it happen. We went on our way rejoicing. Glenn suggested to Mary Alice that the car should be named “Red Robin” because in it we “went bob bob bobing along.” Maybe you haven’t heard that song. Along the way on the “good” road, when the car hit hard some especially rough bumps, Zosiama would ask, “Are you ok? Is anything wrong?” Glenn said, “Only a broken back.” We all laughed at that. Humor helps over the rough spots in life too.
It was 6:30 p.m. when we covered the 48 Km to a larger town named Mamit where we had a reservations to stay at the Lodge. It turned out to be the best place we have stayed in India including Hyderabad. The cost was only Rs 700 (About $17) for two rooms. It was clean and the mattresses actually comfortable. We were glad for the food we carried (tomatoes, bread, apples, Mandarins, papya, and bananas supplemented by the crackers and nuts Mary Alice had prepared at home in Gentry) to provide our evening meal. We had not eaten since an early breakfast and Zosiama had not eaten at all due to all the teachers and students wanting to talk to him before we left Tlangsang. We have concerns about his blood sugar when driving without food.
From Mami to Aizawl should take only five hours over the wreck of a road to cover the 60 miles, but we actually took 8 because of stops to photograph, made possible by a more leisurely ride. Beaka and Zosiama’s wife had cautioned him to drive slowly and take care of these “old people”.
Before we left Mamit we went to the site of the recent landslides and photographed the remains of some of the homes that had been taken down the mountain. Now even ones on top of that area are being broken up to salvage whatever they can for rebuilding elsewhere. They don’t trust staying there any longer. It was another reminder of how fragile is life anywhere in times like we live in. There is certainly no valid reason for any to feel immune to life’s sudden losses. Only in Jesus do we have certainty and solid hope for the future. Glenn will preach tomorrow night on the Laodicean church and have fresh illustrations for it.
On the way one lunch break stop was fruitful photographically. It was by a little open shack at the roadside we later learned is an Agriculture station. While we were eating our simple fruit and bread, a truck stopped and parked. Then we noticed big bunches of bananas stashed nearby. Finally a little stream of people came down a steep path carrying heavy loads of papaya, bananas, other vegetables and firewood. We discovered as they loaded all that into the truck, heaving and grunting to get it up the high sides, that we were witnessing a marketing procedure. Glenn offered some cookies we had bought at the last village and the workers shyly accepted them. In turn they gave us a fresh papaya which was delicious. Kindness speaks in Mizo and Bru and English too.
Now, safely back to our guest room at the Mizo Conference Office, we expect another night of good rest, ready to begin Phase 4 of our India trip with a vespers sermon tomorrow night. Awaiting us was Pastor Renthley, President of the Conference, with a belated warm welcome. He had just returned from special meetings at the Division. We had seen him in July in Atlanta during the General Conference Session.
Mary Alice has started with the hand laundry and Glenn might even have time to do some preparation before preaching! If the old rule that sermons should have an hour of preparation for each minute of preaching had been practiced before this trip it would have taken six months of solid study. Glenn is glad that the preparation includes a lifetime of such study and the promise the Holy Spirit will bring back to our remembrance what He has taught.
There is more, but it will have to be told later if at all. The pictures will tell more than our voluminous words have been able to do.
With love, in His love,
Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma, Glenn and Mary Alice