India Report #19, Friday, Nov. 11, 2011 at 5:55 a.m. from Lawngtlei, Mizoram
Dear family and friends:
Well, it’s 11-11-11 over here and a bright new morning to begin it. We slept well again last night. The last few nights I have had dreams—not significant in themselves but a sign that I have had some complete sleep cycles. Dreaming is the last part of a sleep cycle, or so the students of sleep tell us. It’s nice to begin the day with energy.
The continued therapy seems to be helping. Yesterday they added the juice of something like our lemons only larger. I was to drink it before meeting to help clear mucus out of my throat. The problem is that I don’t want to drink much before the meeting for obvious reasons. They included my lower back for fomentations along with the chest. The massage is helping my leg muscles to get untangled and more useful.
We learn more day by day about the workers here. Sabbathanga has noticed that we are coming here at nearly 80. He knows of only one Mizo pastor or church administrator that has continued working after retirement. He wants to follow our model. You remember, he is the one who was an ambulance driver when we first came but had a burden to preach. He is third generation SDA. So we gave him part of our evangelistic budget so he could hold a series at what is now the airport town. We baptized 200 citywide and he baptized 25 in that one little town without the equipment for visuals. There is now a nice SDA church there that we helped to build and dedicate. Now he is a very effective pastor and evangelist. We helped him with other things also like P.A. System for his evangelistic work and also for the new church. He has not had the opportunity to study at Spicer College but has done much on his own. The Mizo Conference asked him to write a book on our doctrines even though he did not have the formal degree. They wanted his practical approach rather than a scholastic one. The book is doing a lot of good. Also, at meetings of pastors and evangelists they ask him to present a paper on how he works because he has reached many people with our message. He and his wife are a very dedicated couple.
As of today they have still not found the body of the man who drowned in the river. Some felt that affected our attendance because of those who would be helping the family in their loss. Also the Baptist church has begun a city-wide series for Baptists at the same time as our meetings. In spite of the 4 deaths and mourning rites etc. we still are getting between 150 and 200 each night not including the children. Biaka went over the budget for the series, with the Circle Leader who serves as Treasurer, and they agree that there is enough money for five pastors/evangelists to stay here and continue to follow up the interest through January. Sabbathanga lives here and his wife will run the new school soon to be built with funds we are leaving and sending. These are positive factors in a stable church growth following the series. The Quiet Hour funds being sufficient for the series enables us to leave money for the school. We still have Tripura to consider and do not know what that will cost us. We already left $2000 with them in rupies for the food challenge they face with many of the students. The Mizo people are very conservative and have strong family and church bonds. Keeping Sabbath will be a special challenge to them. We do not expect a large baptism while we are here, but over time there will be many solid members added to the small church here. The Lord is in charge of His work and He “doesn’t settle all His accounts in November.”
Since Biaka is preaching after the meeting each night to those who are waiting for the steam bath, we gather up the computer and the driver brings us back to the Circuit house. So we have time to catch up on some reading from the Morning Watch books we brought on the computer. I scanned all four books for the days we would be away from home. They don’t take up space in the suitcase but we have the material. It is nice to touch base with home habits when we can.
We have to be vigilant about the food even at the home of Sabbathanga where we get our noon meal each day. I came early for the treatment and in the kitchen saw some of the help working with a fresh salad. They had their hands all over it and put some into their mouth before returning the fingers to the salad bowl. Thankfully, it was not served us when we ate. That saved us the necessity of graciously declining. The food we do eat has been well cooked. We don’t complain about overcooking either.
This morning Biaka came just after breakfast and wants two more sermons added to the series. So I transferred to his “thumb stick” those two that he can translate into Mizo for the quotes and texts. That way he will have them also when we are gone and can use them as needed. We wish you could see the enthusiasm among the team here and the audience. They have been giving out our family photo from 2008 along with a book to those who bring a friend. The people really prize those photos. Not many of them have cameras or cell phones that take pictures. But they want a memory of the American family who cares about them.
Biaka said there is now a book in English giving the history of the Mizo people. He wants to get one for us. It will be good to check it out with information we have already received from others.
Yesterday when we walked back to our room after the meal at Sabbathanga’s house, one family invited us in to see their place. They had a cell phone and wanted to take our photo. So we shared a family photo with them also. We have not seen them at the meeting but may sometime. Their house was nicer than most we have been in. It still hangs out over nothing like the others, but they have some floor covering over the bare cement and the furniture seems of a higher quality. He must have a government job. Just walking around the village and greeting each with “chebai” seems to break down prejudice and invites friendly greetings in return.
Remember, this is near where Biaka’s father was so strong in his Baptist connections that, under pressure from them, when Biaka decided to be baptized SDA and observe the Bible Sabbath, the father chased him through the jungle with a knife intending to kill him.
Another time when our Zemabawk church in Aizawl went to a surrounding village and held meetings and built a church for the new members, the Baptists chased the new ones out of town and burned their church. Our folk returned and retrieved the metal and used it to build a school next to their church in Aizawl. We helped that school earlier with a gift to add another room.
When the SDA choir from Aizawl first went to Tlangsang in Tripura and gave a concert, the Baptists threw rocks at the building to break up the concert. Later the health message and our sermons on health and spiritual life, followed up by a Mizo evangelist preaching the rest of our message (we had to go to a ten village series in Andhra Pradesh and could not stay to finish the series) led to the founding of the strong Tlangsang church with a school in rented quarters. That grew into the Tlangsang Training Academy just outside town. The Baptists GAVE the land for that school if their children could attend it. That is now growing rapidly and opening the whole area to SDA evangelism.
Yesterday Biaka and Sabbathanga came to our room with a serious proposal. They wanted to name the new school to be built here “The Glenn Hill School”. We flatly refused. “To God be the Glory. Great Things He has done.” We have managed to evade that over the years other than the recognition they always give on the plaque when a church is dedicated, naming special donors and leadership present at the dedication.
Soon the Ridgetop Tennessee SDA church mission trip to Guatemala will be on its way. Among them will be David, Melinda, Jonathan and Katie. So our prayers are crisscrossing the Atlantic. We trust they will have a rich experience also, but hope for a little better living situation for them than here.
The other day I received an email intended for Glenn Paul, so I forwarded it to him and told him by phone about it. I teased that he can count me as his secretary in India. We are so thankful for all our children and grandchildren and their wholesome attitude toward outreach evangelism.
Last night at the meeting the closing song by a vivacious young pastor was a surprise. From where I sat on the platform I could see puffs of “smoke” come from his mouth. He doesn’t smoke cigarettes, so it must have been cool enough for his breath to be seen as at home on very cool mornings. Not that cool here but the breath smoke was visible anyhow.
It’s time to get the sermon ready for tonight and the health talk visuals for Mary Alice. So I’ll try to get on line and send this on its way.
With love
Dad and Mom (Glenn and Mary Alice)