India/Nepal Report #3: Oct. 11 (Thursday) at 10:30 a.m. India Time, from Lunglei
Dear Family and Friends:
Last night’s meeting on Daniel 2 went very well and was much appreciated. As it turned out, people told Biaka that they would not be coming unless we got better translation. So, Biaka translated my sermon and it made a great difference. Mary Alice’s translator told me that he had studied the subject at Spicer College and understood it, but it was never so clear to him as in the sermon last night. And Satan is angry (1 Peter 5:8; Rev. 12:12). We had 225 out including more than 100 who were not SDA. Some were from our School where many of the students are from various faiths. They come by a busload each night.
Today the wind is blowing fiercely along with considerable rain. The trees are bending and waving wildly. I tried to video some of it but there was a lull and so it was not as dramatic on video as in real experience. We are glad the visit to that school to speak to the students has been postponed until tomorrow because of Biaka’s heavy schedule for today. It makes no difference to us but we hope the weather will soften by tomorrow. We plan to take one set of the Bible Felts we brought and give it for use at that school. The Headmistress is delighted to have it. They only had a partial set that was old and the colors faded. It was not used much but this new one will be.
The rain and wind persist and we are concerned about those in the villages where the houses are sometimes very fragile. Also the rain will soften the roads again and make them more difficult to travel. Perhaps they will be ok and passable by the time we must move on to Saiha for our next series of meetings. The weather will very likely lessen attendance tonight at our meeting if indeed we can have a meeting at all. We have prayed about it and left it in the hands of the Lord.
Mary Alice is doing our laundry as usual but the near 100% humidity makes drying very difficult. It takes days rather than hours to dry and we must ration our use of clean clothes accordingly. The people here are also having to adjust because they just hang their clothes on railings, lines whenever available or spread them on the ground and parking lot. We wonder how they can look so clean when we see them in use.
Our noon meal yesterday at the Tourist Lodge restaurant was ok. There was lots of white rice that we put into our tomato soup (home made apparently rather than from the USA in cans). It is a regular item on their menu. We also ordered potatoes and were assured there was no meat involved. However, they were smothered in oil and we try to avoid that. So today we are asking for the potato to be boiled and will try another kind of rice with dahl. The food looks expensive but really is not when compared to USA prices.
At the market (people spread out a few things along the sidewalk in the business section of the town) we got some bananas, apples from China, and local tangerines. The four apples cost about $2 (Rs 100) and were small. But you can pay more than 50 cents each in USA for an apple. The tangerines are quite good and cost much less than in USA. The local bread here is white and we only got one loaf to use with our soy milk from home as cereal. Biaka surprised us by phoning his wife Nettie to send some of the brown bread from Aizawl by carrier of goods truck. It should arrive today in time for the weekend.
We discovered that the beautiful mosquito netting around our bed has several round holes in it, apparently burned through by someone’s cigarette. (Even though smoking is strictly forbidden in this area of the Lodge and we do not smell any smoke here in our room). Mary Alice is sewing them shut today. We have already been bitten a few times without seeing the mosquito that delivered the package. We take anti-malaria pills each day, but they do not cover Dengue fever that some mosquitoes also carry. We trust the Lord a lot to take care of things like that.
The high wind blew open two of our windows by the bed and sucked out the drapes. They were soaked before I could retrieve them and lock shut the window again. We had to use our bath towel to mop up the water. At least now we will get fresh towels if they have any. We praise the Lord for the good things in our room and try to overlook the plumbing that leaks all the time. We catch the water in large buckets and use it to rinse clothes or flush the toilet. So, if we wake up before the bucket overflows in the night, we can keep ahead of the drips and not have to bother management to try to fix the problem. That could take a long time.
We are glad we brought a squeegee this time to clean the floor in the bath area after our “pour”. Today we also used it to clear the inside windows fogged from the weather. Our beautiful view of the mountains doesn’t exist today. The flying humidity obscures everything at any distance. Once again, we are glad to be in a somewhat dry place. Also the rain and wind have lowered the temperature and we are thankful for the sweaters we brought for use in Nepal. Our light jackets also may come in handy to layer a bit for more warmth.
The Internet connection here through our purchased program, does not work all the time because of weak signal so we have to just try to log on when we can and make the most of it when we do connect. That explains the delay in answering some of your emails.
One of the challenges with that is we are slow to respond to home negative news that comes to our attention. Lucinda emailed us that her husband Lee had suffered from a fever and shortness of breath. They learned in the hospital that he had a silent heart attack that was not severe. The tests showed that he does not need a stint or angioplasty but the fever has returned after subsiding for a bit. He also has continuing shortness of breath. They are still in need of prayer. We do have a cell phone here now where we could be reached in emergency. Remember, the time difference between here and USA is 10 ½ hours. Your 1 a.m. is our 11:30 a.m. The phone number is: 91 (country code) 98 6316 4305. If that does not work put a 0 in front of 98. We hope there will not be any emergencies here or there to deal with from such a distance.
We just finished our noon meal from the Lodge kitchen and it was really good. The mixed vegetables (potato, carrots and green beans) were steamed rather than boiled and with a little salt were quite tasty. Rice in the tomato soup and also under or in the dahl was filling. Topped off by a fresh banana for potassium and we are satisfied. We still had rice to send back so the quantity was sufficient.. We planned to go to the dining hall to eat it but they brought it to the room, maybe because of the storm outside. Other than the raging storm outside, it is quiet here for study and meditation. You see, we are blessed abundantly.
The storm does not include thunder and lightning, only horizontal rain and flailing tree limbs. Things could be much worse. The sight reminds us of video we have seen of hurricanes. We can see why a few years ago the cyclone that came through our Tlangsang School in Tripura tore off the metal roof and sent it on its way toward Bangladesh. We are glad that the cement roof they have now (thanks to your support) gives them more safety and security.
Biaka just came to go over tonight’s sermon in case there should be a meeting tonight. He says what we are experiencing here now is a cyclone—their word for hurricane. It is much milder than the big ones we know about in USA recently. All over the world Satan is trying to hurt and destroy while God is patiently working to help and to heal. That is one big difference between them. Tomorrow night we plan to preach on How evil began and unmask Satan from behind his pretended benevolence to the human race in “giving them freedom” from God’s law. Big subjects (revealing Satan’s strategy in the Great Controversy) often bring a strong response from him in trying to stop our meetings by a variety of ploys. Storms are just one of them. We are grateful that God has assigned His protecting angels to watch over His people. We claim His promises.
Tonight we wondered if there would be a meeting because of the cyclone and heavy fog that made travel difficult. We left it up to the Lord and were at peace. What a surprise to see the hall filled again in spite of the weather. They really listened intently to “When Jesus Comes Again” and responded to the appeal to be ready to meet Him. Certainly the Holy Spirit is working in these Mizo hearts.
This Sabbath we will have the first baptism in the afternoon. I am to preach in one church in the morning and Mary Alice in another while Biaka preaches in yet another. We don’t know who will translate in each, but the Lord will provide. Mary Alice says to be sure to ask you to pray for her (and me too). We have also been asked to conduct the Week of Spiritual Emphasis next week in one of the schools. Mary Alice will work with children age 3 to 9 and I will talk to those 10 to 17. So we will be busy along with the evening meeting each day. No time for boredom around here. It is gratifying to see that we connect so well with the Mizo people.
Mary Alice’s translator was comfortable with the health topic the last two nights about the dangers of tobacco smoking because we had given him a copy of the message that he could study on his computer at home to prepare. Tonight we learned that he also wrote his Master’s Degree Paper on cigarettes
The lights went out just after we reached our room so the manager brought candles. We don’t carry matches but lighted our candle from his. When they burn out we will use flashlights again. I am glad for the computer battery that allows us to get this done and hopefully on its way to you in time for your prayers to begin specifically for Sabbath sermons. We will have our family worship this evening by candlelight.
Concerning the Daniel’s Band meeting, the consensus now seems to be that we should continue our series here in Lunglei even though many will be gone to the other meetings. One elder says he will go there only for the special committee meetings and then return here to help with our series. We shall see how well it works out.
With love,
Glenn and Mary Alice (Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma)