India/Nepal Report #12 (really #13): Tues. Nov. 6, 2012 at 6:40 a.m. from Saiha, Mizoram
Dear Family and Friends:
Our Internet connection is not working and we may not be able to send this until we reach Aizawl, hopefully on Thursday night. Just before it quit we had an email telling of the Gordon and Alvena Evans family with a severe health condition right now. Alvena had a fall that broke her jaw and it caused bleeding in her brain. The last we heard she is in Hospice and not expected to live long. We want to be in touch with the family and did get one email off to them before the unit quit. Our prayers are certainly with them and prayers never fail as do manmade things.
There is so much sadness in this old world. We are glad for the visit we had with Gordon and Alvena in their Florida home just after we were with the Sanctuary Exhibits in Florida in April. We treasure the fellowship of that visit. We showed them some computer pictures of our last visit to India. They are schoolmates from college days and were married just one day before we were. Over the years we have kept in contact and they have been faithful supporters of our outreach ministry in India. We celebrated our mutual 50th Wedding Anniversaries by using funds that might have taken us on a cruise or something else special, to build a school and church in Hazechorra, Tripura. We had a visit while here now from Pastor Colney who was there at the time and is now in the Union Conference at Shillong. He told us that the church and school are prospering.
It is yet another reminder that we must be busy with the Lord’s work while there is opportunity to do it. So many things can close doors now open. We are here now in South Mizoram only because the Mizo government voted last year to allow foreigners to come here. They extended the permission for another year and that is why we are here again. Whether it will continue beyond this year is an open question. Jesus said we must work “while it is day.” The night is coming when we will not be able to do anything like what is happening now.
We had good attendance again last night for “Why I Am A Seventh-day Adventist.” The workers here are planning another baptism today at 3 p.m. They have one scheduled for this coming Sabbath when we will be in Aizawl, but there are some who don’t want to wait that long because of family schedules that would take some away who want to be present for the baptism. As I write this, some of the workers here are out visiting those who plan for the baptism.
Sabbathanga stopped by and he wants us to stop at Laungtlai on the way back to Aizawl and talk to the 104 students of the new school his wife is conducting. We left money last time for them to build this school that now has more than twice the number of students as previously. We leave it up to the driver to decide where and what we can do to be of service and still get to Aizawl before it is too late on Thursday. We learned yesterday from a phone call to Biaka that he has also scheduled me to take the Vesper service at another SDA church in Aizawl on Friday night in addition to preaching Sabbath morning at the Zemabawk church. They want to maximize what happens while we are here.
Being at the pastor’s house has been a blessing. We are well able to fit into the necessary changes. There are bathing facilities but we are choosing to clean up with “wet ones”, the antibacterial wipes we use primarily in cleaning fruit from the market and tomatoes before laying them out on our table in the room. They have gone out of their way to make us comfortable. Their home is more spacious than we had thought. They prepared the room for us and it has a private toilet, western style. They purchased foam to supplement the hard mattress and we slept well last night. We at first thought there were no pillows and so used a pillowcase we brought along from home and filled it with clean clothes to substitute. Then at bedtime they brought two brand new pillows filled with foam, purchased just for us.
They were so afraid that because of our normal higher standard of living we would not be satisfied here. We were glad to reassure them of our appreciation for what they are doing for us. The couch in their living room is more comfortable that most of the others we have seen in Mizoram, so we don’t have to “wrestle” our way out of it. I have enjoyed reading one of the pastor’s books in English that I do not have in our library at home. We are doing fine here in spite of our former concerns. Until it quit we were able to get on Internet here via the “stick” we bought in Aizawl to permit that via their towers.
Yesterday when we arrived here at the pastor’s house, someone from the meetings dropped by and left us fresh bananas. They just want to let us know how much they appreciate us. We heard also from the pastor that Mizos in shops like to let white people buy things for less because they appreciate the white people bringing them the Gospel to lead them out of heathenism. We have been greeted so cordially by many we meet on the streets.
We are especially glad for the Mara baptized after attending our meetings. This is a major step for them we are told. When they do join the SDA church they are considered no longer as Mara. Their culture is so identified with one church group here that to leave it is to forsake being Mara. We encountered that also in Russia where the Orthodox Church (in spite of 70 years of Communism) is the only one recognized. To leave it is also to forsake being Russian.
Yesterday we met a Mara man who came here from an outer village. He and his family are the only SDA in the village of 150 houses. They hold church for themselves in their home each Sabbath. He came here to get some books in Mara language to pass out among his neighbors. The pastor is planning to conduct evangelistic meetings in his town to plant a church where they all can attend. The family has six children and they are diligently teaching them the Bible at home.
In Mizoram the pastors do not do most of the preaching: Elders and Deacons do it. This pastor said he has only preached about 15 times this year in the churches. His work is to be out reaching others in Bible studies and meetings. No wonder the work is growing here in spite of small tithe income to the Conference. He is the “Circuit Leader” and so keeps tabs on all the churches in this area. We are impressed with the united efforts to reach the remote places that are very difficult to get to by car or motorbike.
Last night before meeting we visited with the parents of one of the evangelists. They have been coming each night to the meetings. They became SDA in 1957. Their son, Zohma, is the one who gave me massages last year at Laungtlai when I had so much back pain. He was in the Zemabawk church in Aizawl when we were here in 1998 and attended our Maubawk series of meetings. Then at age 20 he was impressed with our message and manner of presenting it. (Different from the shouting and bearing down on the law he had been used to hearing). Now he has patterned his ministry after that. He is one who received a laptop this time and is so very grateful. That father told us last night how he came into their house with the laptop and told how he got it. The father was speechless with tears flowing freely. They could never have been able to get one for him and Zohma’s salary is so small that he could not afford one either. Now his work can be much more productive. They knelt and dedicated that laptop use only for the Lord’s work. The father had to tell me all about it last night. It was hard for me to restrain tears also when I heard that simple story of gratitude and praise to God.
Before that he had borrowed from various people their laptop to use in his work. He kept it sometimes for two months and then had to return it to the owners who needed it for something special. It was embarrassing and troubling to have to do that. Now he has one of his own to use constantly and does not have to go to and fro to get a laptop use and then return it sometimes just when he needed it most. We are so glad we could be part of the means of getting these blessings to them.
Here today we are seeing how all the pastors’ homes are open all the time to frequent visitors. They come and go at random and no one seems to be disturbed by it. They are a friendly and outgoing people and seem to enjoy the company even though they have many other things to do. Pui, the wife here, is also working at the school as cashier. She is making breakfast now for them and us and will have to go on to school soon. Pastor is out visiting interests for baptism. He will eat later. We are pleased with their diligent follow up to the meetings.
Pastor was back in time to eat with us. The children took their plates to the living room so they could watch TV while they ate. Nothing different from USA it seems. Our breakfast included rice, dahl, and garbanzos (by a different name). We also had tomatoes, squash, some other kind of food I didn’t try, sweet potato and boiled pumpkin greens. They are prized here as a delicacy. I tried it but am willing to live without it. When Mizos travel abroad they miss the pumpkin leaves so much. Some food here at Saiha costs more than in many other places because it has to be imported, but others are more reasonable than at Aizawl. We photographed a garden across the road from pastor’s house. It is on top of the high bank and they are trying a vertical garden down the side. We don’t know how it can survive any rains that would wash it away so easily. We think we have problems gardening!
The main SDA church here is ready for a roof. The Mizo Conference has a maintenance man that came down yesterday to do that. He is expert in many things and will weld the metal roof together and to its moorings. With the winds that come from cyclones to the south we hope that the metal is enough. It was not at Tlangsang School in Tripura. We helped them replace with concrete the ones lost. Now they should be safe.
Today at 3 p.m. we attended the baptism in the Hall and ten people sealed their decision to become SDA. More plan “to take baptism” in the future also, maybe this Sabbath as well. So far there have been 54 baptized. The evening subject was “How To Bury The Past” and after that sermon still others asked the pastors to prepare them for baptism. We learned that the church here has met with the pastor at 5:30 a.m. each day since the first of the year to pray for the success of this series. No wonder the Lord has blessed so much!
Two different people gave us papaya today. We will share them with the family here. They will prepare them when ripe because we don’t have a good place to do it in the room and cannot eat a whole one anyhow without help. If we tried to keep it unrefrigerated, the fruit flies would take a toll.
Tomorrow at 7 a.m. David plans to pick us up and take us to the Circuit House where they have WiFi Internet to see if we can get our emails and send this. Probably we can’t get the other repaired until in Aizawl and maybe not then. At least it served to keep us connected through your emails and these reports, thus far.
We phoned Glenn Paul tonight before leaving for the meeting and heard of his and Jason’s success in climbing the steps at Willis Tower in Chicago. They both did well in spite of a late start because of the traffic jam in getting to the Tower. They had to pass most of the 40 slower ones that were ahead of them because of the late start. Anyhow, they get plenty of exercise doing those steps. Jason came in second in his class. There were more than 2100 people running those steps and that makes things interesting.
Will close for now and get this sent tomorrow morning if possible.
With love,
Glenn and Mary Alice, Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma