India/Nepal Report #7: Sunday, Oct 21 at 6:10 a.m. from Lunglei, Mizoram
Dear Family and Friends:
The attendance has kept growing in spite of Daniel’s Band losses. Friday night when all predictions were for few attending, we had more than 400—the most yet. They were eager to hear The Truth About Hell that examines the popular teaching in the light of God’s Love and clear Scriptures detailing it.
On Sabbath morning pastor Liana came just after 6 to go over the sermon for that night. We preached on the Sanctuary and he was not too clear on the details or vocabulary and wanted to go over it carefully. I had given him a copy of my book in English to go along with his copy of it in Mizo. That way he could compare vocabulary. And he has some help from two professional people on the front row who prompt him when necessary.
Mary Alice and I both attended the Chanmari church Sabbath morning and I preached so she had rest—literally. She sleeps through some of the sermons. It is the old sit down and fall asleep syndrome. I probably would too if I weren’t standing to preach. This church has no building yet even though they are the largest church in Lunglei. They tore down the previous building and are now building a much larger one and trying to get more land adjacent for further expansion. They believe this will become the center of a South Mizoram Conference some day. So now they are meeting in the auditorium of the Southern Flower School where we have had the Religious Emphasis Week.
We had lunch with the Principal of that school and her husband who first translated for Mary Alice’s Health Talk. He has had training in architecture at Spicer College and elsewhere and has held responsible positions in the Mizoram government. Their house is spacious and beautiful, designed by him and built over 30 years, he said.
The lunch was really special and abundant. Moieh, Mary Alice’s translator, had steamed the vegetables including western type squash with almonds and cashews on it. Their sweet corn was very good according to Mary Alice. I didn’t try it since corn here is usually tough and there were so many other things to choose from. We had potatoes, mushroom soup (home made) and Chinese Chow (special noodles that are imported). Everything was seasoned just right. We are glad they did not have a salad because unless the veggies are cooked or washed thoroughly with clean water, we can get sick from it. The papaya for dessert was also tasty. There were chapattis instead of bread and that worked out fine too.
They prepared for several others who were to join us, but who did not because they had children at home to care for. So there was a lot left over. She invited us back to help eat the rest, but we declined because of her and our busy schedules. That was a hard decision to make since the food was so special.
We had to hurry over to the church by the other school (Bazar Section) because there was a baptism of another fifteen. That makes a total of 78 so far with two more Buddhists planning on a Monday baptism. And there are many others who are in various stages of preparation because of the meetings.
We did get a little sleep at our Lodge room before the evening meeting. We needed that because Satan was up to his old tricks again at the meeting. The attendance was still an overflow but slightly less than Friday night. Maybe it was because they were so jammed in then that there was hardly room for more. They brought small benches to put in the center (and only) aisle. Exiting was difficult and had to be systematic. If we had made an altar call there is no way people could have responded by coming to the front. They were all in the front!
In USA the fire department would have shut down the meeting.
Last night we were presenting “The Gospel In Priestly Garments” with a Mizo dressed in them. We had a hard time finding a Mizo tall enough to wear the robes. This is one of the few places where Mary Alice and I are among the tallest people. I also had PowerPoint slides of the Sanctuary layout so they could correlate the various robes with the area of the Sanctuary represented by them. We were through the Holy Place and just ready to move into the Most Holy when the lights went out. That is a first for here, but common elsewhere. We heard that it was the main electric feed from Aizawl that was cut off, so most of the town was affected. We used flashlights and a battery lantern to finish the meeting. No sound system, so we had to really project our voices to be heard. Fortunately, the pastor has a strong and carrying voice, so all could hear, but we lost the effect of amplified sound. I ended the sermon without the full treatment of the Most Holy Place and promised to share more about that later. It will be hard to do it tonight because our subject is longer—Why I Am An SDA. We will also have Mary Alice’s Health Talk tonight because they have told us they miss it when we do not. (Good to hear)
We keep getting more word about people who are seeing it on TV. Of course, they missed the last part last night because the TV cameras don’t work well on battery without enough light to video anyhow. They have a generator at one of the Schools here but it is not maintained well and they didn’t have kerosene to run it anyhow. Tonight they will make some provision for it.
When we were in Aizawl with Biaka, we tried to buy a generator to bring for the series, but the traffic that day was so heavy that we could not park long enough to load the generator from the shop into the car. If the car coming for us on Wednesday to go to Saiha and our next series, does bring the generator we could face a luggage space problem. It will all work out and we are confident of that.
Well, Satan did his best to stop the meeting last night by the power outage, but it did not work though it crippled the strength of the presentation. The Holy Spirit is never out of power and we trust He sent the message home to the hearts of those who could benefit from it most. That is what is so good about cooperating with God in all this. He never fails no matter what the outward difficulties are.
We are learning of more who have been persecuted for their faith when they became SDA. Some newly baptized have been evicted by parents who strongly disapprove. Some of these cases have good endings with the whole family eventually being baptized and worshipping together. Then they welcome back the one who started it all and was thrown out.
Some of the people who come here are from villages about 20 KM away. It is an expense for them to come. Others take taxis and they are not cheap. Students from both schools walk the 1KM plus distance both ways each night to attend. Last night was a special challenge with all the town lights out.
We heard that the TV outreach here goes out as far as 60 KM so we have the potential for a large audience.
This morning (Sunday) is bright and beautiful once again and Mary Alice is doing current laundry since it will likely be a good drying day. The fog has largely lifted from the surrounding mountains and the living green is pleasant to the eyes.
There are occasions for drama here. At the baptism they had a microphone connected to electricity very close to the baptizing pastor. I went up and warned them NOT to touch that microphone from the water or it could be the end of both the baptizer and the baptized. We “prayed without ceasing” throughout the baptism that no unthinking move could end the whole thing in tragedy. They gave the pastor a cordless microphone to make his appeal from the baptistery.
I remembered a baptism I had at Gentry when the elderly lady was afraid of water and started flailing around almost touching the microphone. We would both have been “toast” if she had. It has happened in some places in USA in the past with careless or ignorant behavior.
The fog hanging around the villages each morning causes a real humidity problem. The beautiful home where we had lunch yesterday illustrates well the problem. Fungus grows so easily that they must repaint each year to keep it looking nice. Most people do not do that and so mould is everywhere on the cement buildings and elsewhere. We wonder how the people stay as healthy as they do under these conditions. Even here at the Tourist Lodge, when we step out onto the balcony to enjoy the view, we must brave the wave of mould dust. All photos we have seen of this Lodge look different because of the repainting program that changes the former appearance.
The fruit on our table is a reminder of the countdown until we leave for Saiha on Wednesday morning. We plan it to have none left to take in the car and get bounced around and bruised. Then some people sent us more bananas and we will have to give some of them away (along with the artificial flowers given us when we arrived at Lunglei. We were given a large papaya and enjoyed it, but had a hard time using it all before mould took over. We don’t have refrigeration in our room to prolong the life of such things. We don’t complain, but appreciate the generosity and do the best we can with it.
Since we don’t know what food will be available in Nepal, it is hard to plan for that end of the trip. We hope to take some of our staples from home (if any are left by then) to fill in where we can’t buy fresh.
Two of those attending our meetings have a father who is Nepali and married a Mizo woman. He died two years ago so we won’t be able to see him when there. The daughters are so excited that we will have a series of meetings in Nepal. They have a sister living there so they visit her.
They say that it is a plane around Kathmandu and very beautiful. It seems we have been privileged to be the first or among the first from USA to do evangelism in some of these areas. That makes them appreciate our meetings more. They have not been “burned over” with the same material again and again.
The other day we were looking out our window from the Lodge and saw a neighbor little boy climb the ladder to the roof. He managed to get from the top rung to the roof without losing his grip, but we wondered how he would get down. The father solved the problem by climbing up and getting him. The father carefully instructed the little fellow in the proper procedure in descending.
I thought of the difference between the size of frontal lobes in humans and a cat. Humans have 1/3 of their brain in frontal lobes where decisions are made. Cats only have 3.5 percent. So cats will climb up a tall tree or pole and not figure out how to get back down. It takes a long ladder to solve their problem. Animals with much lesser frontal lobes do not have a spiritual nature as humans do. That makes all the difference, so we had better take good care of our frontal lobes and use them well in making sound decisions.
Another drama from our neighbors was the squawking of a chicken. We saw the lady of the house unceremoniously carrying it by its legs and holding its wings from flapping. Then suddenly the squawking stopped, presumably because it lost its head and became a special lunch treat for the family. We will be glad to live in our heavenly home where all of God’s creatures (not only humans) will have the right to live and enjoy. This is getting too long so I’ll quit and try to get it on its way.
With love, Glenn and Mary Alice (Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma)