India/Nepal Report #7: (Really #8) Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 from Lunglei, Mizoram at 6 a.m.
Dear Family and Friends:
Tonight will be our last meeting here at Lunglei. Our son, Glenn Paul, called my attention to the fact that we had sent out two #4 reports. One was written Oct. 14 and the other Oct 16. Somehow one of them had disappeared from my computer screen and thus was not stored in the list. So I copied the missing one from his website that posts them all and we will continue from Saiha using the listed numbers. I have now listed the #4s as #4A and #4B (If that helps anyone).
Lights were out again last night at the hall, but we were prepared with a generator and the meeting went on with very little interruption. We had the same man dress up again in the High Priest Robes so I could finish that missing part of the Sanctuary sermon and the people who wanted photos of him in the robes could get them. Mary Alice had her health talk and we had three special music numbers besides a lot of singing by the congregation. They want the full sermon anyhow and stay by for it. We are all tired from the every night without a break. I told them that after one more sermon they could sleep, but we would be starting all over again at Saiha.
Someone had told Mary Alice that his friend told him Mary Alice reminded him/her of his/her own mother and wanted a picture. That person took her picture for the friend. So Mary Alice told the congregation about that and also that we had someone in Peru who had the same feeling about her. She is a “woman for all seasons.” The Mizos like for us to identify with them. We had told them one night that since Mizo means Hill People, that we are the Hills, and so must be Mizo. They got a laugh out of it.
There are other moments when the audience gets a humor relief from tension by some miss translation or giving a different name to something. Two nights ago I showed a few pictures of our family from 2010 including a little video clip from Zambia of our visit to Victoria Falls and the elephants crossing the road on the way to the Falls. A previous picture was from the Science Creation-Flood Exhibit at Southern Adventist University and showed the skull of a Saber-tooth Tiger. Our translator was still thinking of that and called the elephants in the video clip, tigers. The people roared with laughter and verbally corrected him. During the sermon they are very serious again.
We heard from the lady who takes us to meeting now in her car, that they are getting an entirely different picture of Americans when they see us and the photos of how we work at home. We had shown Mary Alice raking leaves and me painting the shed roof. Their minds had been poisoned by the trash from Hollywood that USA exports and all the ads on TV that portray American life as only leisure and entertainment with loads of money to spend on trifles. As I noted before, USA exports that view and we are “the ugly American” in many minds. We think that when we are home again we should put together a PowerPoint showing life in USA as lived by many people not of the Hollywood variety.
On Monday I preached on “Why I am SDA” and we covered a lot of material that included controversial points. They really appreciate the sharing of my own spiritual journey and relate it to their own. That’s why I do it.
Also on Monday we were at the SDA English School (private but helped financially by the adjoining church in the Bazar district.) We shared a short devotional with them before the baptism of the two former Buddhists who live in a nearby village. At the end, they presented Mary Alice and me with beautiful shawls in red and black, woven locally. They are made of cotton with designs of silk woven in. We don’t need more shawls but really appreciate their gesture of kinship. We have no doubts about their being glad we are here and sorry to see us go on to elsewhere.
The former Buddhists are of the Chakta tribe and speak their own language, so needed translation. In Saiha we will work with the Mara tribe who are listed with Mizos but have a different heritage. Maybe eventually we will have contact with all or most of the major tribes of Mizoram.
At the baptism we saw another Chakta man who was to translate for the candidates. The man had a large open sore on his leg covered partially with a bandage and blood was leaking from it. Later we learned that the doctor wanted to amputate his leg but he would not let them. He hopes for healing without losing his leg. They are in great need of medical care and of God’s care for them. We wish we had the gift of healing and could send them on their way rejoicing as Jesus did. Their village is 6 or 7 kilometers by trail from the road which is hardly a road according to the pastor who has visited there.
Pastor Liana and his family live by the church and insisted that we eat lunch with them. They had paid close attention to those things we can eat and the food was really delicious. They want us to eat with them again today after our second and final presentation to the students at the school at 11:30 a.m.
I mentioned our fruit on our table countdown to when we leave tomorrow for Saiha. Well, some members have brought us more special tangerines and bananas and we will have to take some of it with us or give it away. We gave some of the artificial flowers they welcomed us with, to one of the maids here at the Lodge and she was overjoyed. We plan to do the same with the other three flower bouquets after photographing them for memories. It would be hard to bring the flowers home.
The weather now is really good. The sun has dried off much of the dampness but there are still some low-lying fog clouds over the surrounding mountains. It adds to the natural beauty, especially when the sky is deep blue. Sunday morning I awoke at three and could not sleep, so listened via earphones to some beautiful Ipod music by favorite religious artists. I also listened to a chapter from Ministry of Healing dealing with how we should deal with poverty and suffering. Our government has missed Bible principles by a long way in their present and planned future programs. I am so glad for the inspired insights that could make such a difference in outcomes if followed.
Also, yesterday morning I had the sermon ready for the evening meeting and the talk for the students at the School, so just enjoyed sitting and looking at the beautiful mountains while listening to some more of the soft and spiritual music. It was wonderful relaxation. Most of the time here we are pushed by the appointments and cannot do that. I am determined to take more time for such here and at home.
An email note from Ruth Bonney told of expected 30F-degree temperature in Gentry. That made us appreciate more what we are enjoying here right now since the rains have gone. They always bring cooler temps here. Now the sun is dominating once again. That is what was supposed to be the October weather for all of our meetings here.
One of our challenges here is sitting on Mizo overstuffed couches and chairs. The cushions are closer to the floor than ours in USA. Perhaps the Mizo legs are in a different proportion to the rest of the body than ours. At any rate, both Mary Alice and I struggle to sit on them and gracefully get up again. They have these couches on the platform at the meeting hall. I would much prefer to sit on the plastic chairs that are easier for entry and exit but they think they are favoring us with the “more comfortable” couches. It is a real struggle to get out of them and it must look like a wrestling match to the audience. We wondered if it was just our “old age” showing up. Last night we saw two athletic Mizo men going through the same struggle to get up. One of them had a black belt in Karate won before he became SDA so we are comforted that it is the couches and not us that are the problem. Maybe the builders are following ancient Mizo tradition rather than scientific study in continuing to make these comfortless sitting arrangements. Their benches for church are an endurance contest rather than comfortable. Some are so close to the floor that you need assistance in getting up.
10:10 p.m. The meeting attendance tonight was more than 400 once again. The electricity went off but our backup kicked in promptly and we were not delayed much. I preached on “Our Place In God’s House” and we made an appointment to meet in heaven if not down here again. Tomorrow when we are to leave for Saiha, they have another baptism planned for the morning. The “baptizing pastor” is to head back to his district and the local pastor, Liana, is not yet ordained so cannot baptize.
We had a great visit with Liana this afternoon. He is very careful about the expenses and uses good judgment. We are happy to have them use the remainder of the money we sent for the meetings, in follow up of the interests and helping stabilize those newly baptized. He has asked us for nothing for himself, but we hope to help him get into a laptop computer. He is a resource person for the area and has a Master of Theology degree from Spicer College. The computer will put him in touch on line with many resources now out of reach. A friend at White Estate is sending some EGW writings discs on CD Rom and we want to be sure he gets one. He is very disciplined and this will help very much in doing his work.
Liana is checking all the receipts for expenses before we leave and will give a full report. He planned to return to us any unused budget money but we assured him we want that to be used in follow up of the meetings and for future evangelism here. They all assure us that our coming has sparked a great revival among the members in addition to the outreach into the community. The pastor and church are all very pleased with the results and know it has been the work of the Holy Spirit.
This morning there was a mix-up about our getting to the school to give a spiritual talk to the student body as we did yesterday. The Headmistress who had asked us to come had not told the driver of the school van to pick us up. So we waited and waited and finally phoned pastor Liana. Then they rushed the van here only to have it not start when ready to take us to the school. The Lodge cook checked the battery and found that one cable was loose. Soon we were on our way again. The students were expectantly waiting for us. We arrived at 12, the time we normally would have stopped speaking. They insisted we give the talks and listened intently even though the talks were in English without translation. Mary Alice also gave by request some health information in her talk. Most of her talk was given without the sound system. Apparently there was a problem with the electric power to the system. So we saw them tinkering with the wiring and it was fixed just before her talk closed.
Once again we had lunch with pastor Liana and his wife had very tasty vegetables for us. Following that their daughter, Priscilla, who is 11 years old and in the sixth grade played the guitar and sang a special song Mary Alice had requested. Then she added two more that she had composed. She started composing music at age 6 and by now has 24 songs of her making. I taped it on video and the family was pleased with that.
All the school children wanted to shake our hands but the school was not organized to do that efficiently as at the Southern Flower School. They rushed at us from all angles and pushed their little hands into ours. It reminded me of feeding the fish in a congested pool where they all rush to the surface to get whatever is thrown at them and sometimes form a pyramid of fish partly out of the water. Sometimes there were two little hands in mine at the same time (two birds with one stone) and they would just giggle and laugh at that. Children are the same in any language or culture in basic things that please and produce a response. Giggling is a universal language and childhood joy is always wonderful to behold and help generate.
We are packing up for tomorrow’s exit. Our Lodge bill for the room was put into the budget and they will pay it. We do not accept Hill Evangelism donated funds for our personal expenses and so will use what we would have paid here to help fund the meetings in Nepal that were not included in any budget. The Lord always has ways of getting things done when needed.
The Saiha meetings is our next priority and It’s time for some sleep in preparation for leaving early tomorrow. We’ll let you know about it all in due time.
As we look back on our coming to Mizoram this time we realize it was the Lord’s doing. We had many concerns but the Lord took care of them all and the result has been most gratifying and worthy of praise to the Lord.
One of the hard things about our coming and meeting all these new people is that they become our friends and we are sad to leave them when our presence and ministry has meant so much to them. On the other hand, we look forward to seeing them again in heaven if not on this earth, and they do the same.
There are about one million Mizos here in Mizoram and many of them live from hand to mouth in very simple homes. Those in bamboo houses must replace them every couple of years because the weather deteriorates so fast. Even those in more substantial homes must face the effects of the excessive moisture that promotes mould growth. Very many live off the land in subsistence farming in the “zhume” or jungle. They are in constant jeopardy from mosquitoes, snakes, and some other animals. Since there is so little level land, most of their houses are propped up hanging over the edge of the hills. A serious earthquake could bring down an entire city or town. We are glad that we can share the Gospel hope of Jesus’ soon return to set things right again by taking His people to the better land that Abraham looked for. (Hebrews 11:8-10). What could be more rewarding than to be able to share such hope with people who need it so much?
In reality, we all live fragile lives even in USA with all of our comforts. In a moment it could all be gone by natural disasters or human hatred, by major illness or death. We must use what we have to bless others and make our own lives worth the living.
Thank you once again for your love, support and prayers that our “sunset in life service” may be a blessing to many.
With love,
Glenn and Mary Alice, (Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma)