Reflections of India Day 3

 Day 3

           

Details of the Day

Day 3 found us traveling several hours to our next village to preach and teach to local pastors, their wives, and other members of churches. We traveled to this little church in the middle of fields, yet again. It was actually quite a beautiful scene. As we gathered, I noticed the space was small, like the others and I wasn't sure what to expect in numbers. Sri determined we would have about 40 or so, but we ended up with 93! It was here that some of the biblical text came to life for me. We read of Jesus teaching in homes and a crowd would gather to listen. The house packed, but the outside full too, listening from the windows and doors. This was the same!

It was here that I began to preach the sermon that was close to what I was supposed to preach, but not the text I used. I spoke from Philippians about suffering well. It fell flat in my mind and just wasn't there. It was hard because this, ultimately, is what I was burdened to do while in India. To encourage these brothers and sisters in Christ to be strong in the Lord, stand firm on the gospel, and endure faithfully. Something that is hard to proclaim when I won't face much of anything compared to what they can face. The Lord would later use a message for that purpose. I spoke first so I had the rest of the time to reflect. I admit I didn't listen much to Russ or Brett because I was so frustrated with how my sermon went. I prayed for the Lord to give me something. My mind rested upon Ps. 121 and I couldn't shake it. Was this what I was supposed to preach? Was this for me? I just wrestled with the text in my soul. The Lord had plans though...

Lunch Time!

Our lunch time consisted of going to the local pastor's home where his wife prepared a wonderful meal for us. There was a couple of reasons for this. One was simply space as there were so many people at the church. The other was to show hospitality by having someone in the home. This was quite common to be invited to the pastor's homes. We would have discussions and pray for them. It was hard at first to be pulled away from the rest of the people as it felt like special treatment. To a degree this was true, but then I  began to remember the Scriptures that speak of showing hospitality. In 3 John, the apostle commends Gaius, a Christian church leader for his hospitality, "Dear friend, you demonstrate faithfulness by whatever you do for the brothers (even though they are strangers). They have testified to your love before the church..." (5,6) Being welcomed into homes was a sign of honor, but being obedient to the Word of God for these pastors and their wives!

Courtyard of pastor's home

We ended the day with a ride back to the city and a stop at a believer's home who we were asked to pray over. The matriarch of the family was ill and had been for some time. They, at times, felt a dark oppressiveness in their home and they sought the elders to come and pray. In particular, they wanted us to pray over this woman by anointing her with oil. James 5 offers this as prescription for those who are ill. "Is anyone among you ill? He should summon the elders of the church, and they should pray for him and anoint him with olive oil in the name of the Lord." (14) We had Sri anoint her as a direct elder and then we proceeded to pray for her healing. We then prayed over the home and read Scripture. This is where earlier Ps. 121 was to come into play. I was to read this over the family. It was to encourage and strengthen this family who was struggling. Perhaps the Lord didn't use me for preaching this day as much as I thought, but certainly to encourage this amazing family by His Word. It is amazing how God determines what He wants for you or how He wants to use you.

Reflections of Day 3

There are a couple of reflections from this day. The first is how the Lord uses us. I went in this day with the assumption my I would be delivering a great message to encourage pastors and wives. Fulfilling my purpose for even being in India. Well, I did, but not in the manner in which I thought it would happen. Often we get frustrated by the manner in which God uses us. In many ways, what happened later that evening during this time of prayer felt "lesser" then preaching to 93 people. Truly, that is just my pride talking. What I don't know is how that time of prayer and Scripture reading impacted that family. This family that included a little girl who desired to be a teacher of the Word, to be bold. A girl who soaked in everything that took place while we were in their home. That little girl can tell her friends of these pastors who came to pray for her grandmother, who prayed over them, who spoke God's Word to them because it is the truth. This family is a staple to a local church, who will impact many through ministry and proclamation of the gospel. Sure, I may not have "reached" 93 people like I wanted, but what if God wanted to reach someone in this family that will have a ripple effect? A ripple effect that started with a simple prayer and Scripture reading.

The second reflection pertains to the hospitality shown. They gave us their best. They took time, energy, money, and effort to treat us like family. Because...we are family in Christ. That is one of the beautiful things about the gospel. It connects us via Christ to one another. We may speak different languages, have different customs and food, or have little or plenty. In Jesus, it doesn't matter. Something that can be lost in American churches. Fellowship of believers in homes speaks powerfully. Inviting someone into your home is a sacred space. It is your space and to bring another in is important. When we have someone over to our house we make sure it is clean, we prepare a meal, and we take time, energy, money, and effort to make it nice for the guests. Why? Well, sometimes it can be so their opinion of us is not lesser. But, moreover it speaks to the fact these people matter. This is the heart of Christian hospitality. These people matter.

A few other pictures of the day

Preaching

Streets and homes of village

Inside the church

Chicken Curry and couple different rices

Reflections Of India 2

 Day 2

Details of the Day

Day 2 started with a breakfast at the hotel. There was no eggs and bacon, pancakes, waffles, or other typical hotel breakfast items. It was traditional India breakfast. Most of it consisted of various breads that you used to sop up the rice or chutney's offered. I tried several things and found that I enjoyed it, but over time I would find that I'd rather just eat some butter toast each morning. We got our day started with Sri who would be our driver and translator for the trip. We were to travel 3 hours outside the city to a village to do our first pastor's conference. We traveled the highway for quite a while and eventually ended up on some off beaten roads, not too unlike many in west Texas. We traveled for a distance and arrived at this little village. It was not quite what I expected it to be. The little church was clearly marked by the white building and little red crosses on it.

The pastor's conference was filled with worship, prayer, and of course preaching and teaching. I taught on the role of the pastor to be faithful to fulfill his ministry, Russ preached on our obedience to the Lord builds on our testimony, and Brett taught on basic biblical interpretation. We were received well and told it was a blessing to learn. Sri said he truly only expected about 10-15 pastors to be there, but in fact we had close to 60! We also had pastor's wives and a few church people too. The conference ended with a meal and fellowship. We were invited to stay in the pastor's home. It was quite cool and it was interesting to see how they lived. Of course they told a story of a time or two when a cobra could be found working it's way through the rafters. That was unnerving for a guy who is terrified of snakes. The structure to the left of the car was the pastor's home. I guess we didn't take any pictures inside.

We left from the village and made our way back toward the city. We stopped for a little snack and some chai. For those who don't know, chai means tea. So when we say chai tea, we saying tea twice. I didn't know that! But, the shop we stopped in was of a newer believer in the Lord. His wife was a believer, but this man was in a dark place. Sri believes there was even some demonic possession, but definitely influence. Through prayer and continued gospel moments, he became a believer! We stopped with the intention to pray for this couple and to encourage them in the Word. It was quite a beautiful moment to share with them. We got back near our hotel and was ready for dinner. We stopped at a Pizza Hut. It was pretty close to a taste of home. I savored it!

Fried pepper of some kind.

Chai is good, but I missed coffee

Reflections from Day 2

It happened all week, but I took notice on day 2, the way these believers prayed. First, they prayed for so much as if their lives depended upon it. Truly, it did. There was a young girl who had a heart condition that required surgery. The cost was too much and the parents were reserved to believe they would lose her. The pastors pushed for prayer and the Lord answered by provision for the right doctor to perform the surgery for a price that would be affordable. She is a miracle baby!

Even more, in worship I noticed they pray out loud almost exclusively. They pray loudly, with conviction, passion, and abandon. Even when prompted to confess sins in prayer, they pray out loud. There is not concern of what those around them might hear. I believe because they don't care. It is almost as if there is an understanding of the wretchedness of people in their sin. We all have it and it is all dealt with by the cross of Jesus. When they pray, even confessing their sins, it is truly a casting it upon the Lord. In America we seem to be apt to pray silently in our minds. Why? I wonder if it has something to do with the fact when we verbalize it and it becomes auditory it is out there. When we are silent it is still internal and sort of kept safe. I have found in my own quiet times, I have been speaking out loud when I pray more and it is helped me focus and to truly hear what I am saying. Publicly, I think we are afraid to pray out loud because we are so worried about others. What if they think I am a terrible pray-er? What if they hear my sin I just spoke of? What will they think about me? Dear reader, where is the focus then? It is on you or on others, not the Lord. Maybe the "effectiveness" of our prayers is hindered because we are afraid to pray without abandon and with true focus on the One who hears us and the One who truly matters in the conversation we carry with our Lord?

A Few Other Pics of the Day

Village behind the church.

A taste of home!

A bathroom. That was a new experience!

The "miracle baby" in red.

Lunch being prepared

Reflections of India 1

Day 1

Details of the Day

I must admit that at 40 years of age and having been in ministry for almost 18 years, I have never been on an international mission trip before. It seems kind of shameful in fact, but the opportunity presented itself a few months back. I approached my church to send me and they agreed. The task would be to travel with two other fellow pastors to conduct pastor conferences in the state of Teleganda, India for several days. For any aspirations of going abroad for mission, this was the kind of trip I hoped to participate in one day.

The flight to India was not too bad. We didn't have much time in layover at airports and to be honest the excitement had filled me up. I was ready to get there and experience new things. After, long travel we arrived at the airport in the city of our stay around 2:00am Sunday morning. We left America about 7:00pm on Friday. We got to our hotel and was able to get a few hours of sleep before we would be picked up by our missionary pastor (Sri as I will call him) to attend church.

We arrived after a drive around the city to our location. I was not accustomed to the way they drive or how traffic flowed. Lanes are suggestions and the flow of traffic is meant to be continuous. Motorbikes, rickshaws, cars, trucks, buses, all crowd the streets. We arrived to this location sort of off the beaten path to a building that was, by our standards dilapidated. It looked as if it wasn't completed or something happened to it. You can see the picture below.

We sat at the front of the church and the people worshipped. They sang and uses tambourines and drums to create music. It was different from what I was used to for sure. The people were joyful and passionate as they worshipped, a common trait from all the places we traveled to and experienced their worship. One of the other pastors I was with brought a message while Sri translated. The people then "honored" us with a special silk cloth they would place over our shoulders and a flower garland on our necks. It was different for sure. We then prayed for many of the people. It was hard at times because it felt like we were elevated to some special status and our prayers would somehow be more effective. I don't know if that was necessarily the case, but what I do know is they sought prayer over details of their life-big or small. We even prayed over a man's vehicle that would be used for taxi purposes.

We ended our time with a meal, a common meal we would eat every day at least once. Chicken curry and rice. It was delicious, but after several days it was getting a little harder to eat each time. But, it was another way to honor and to share a common meal together even if we didn't share the same language or customs. It was a way to connect. We finished our day and made it back to the hotel in the late afternoon to rest. We had a big week ahead with a lot of travel. 

Reflections of the Day

I wanted to point out what was so striking for me on this day. The church building we were at was once a fully constructed building a few months ago. In fact, the people built it with their hard earned money and celebrated with a worship service. 3 days later after the inaugural worship service, some people of the village decided they did not like this church. In turn they tore it down, or what they could. The remnants remained, but enough to keep doing what they were. The people were not stopped because the building was now less than it was. They made do and continued to worship and be a light in their little area of the city. They were not inconvenienced by the lack of roof and walls. The building was special, but it was not the heart of the church. The people gathered was the heart. Christ was their heart. Even more, each time preaching takes place they have a small speaker system with a microphone they hook up (battery powered I believe) and they point it in the direction of the village within this city. They would not be bullied into being quiet. They knew the good news of Jesus and they proclaimed it despite sitting in the very persecution they faced.

I think about the American church and how we can get so inconvenienced because the AC or heat is not working right. It is too cold or rainy out to attend. We spent too much time out the night before. The conditions of what makes worship right are not quite there and we get bent out of shape. The coffee is less than Starbucks value(which for me is not great anyway). We find so many reasons not to gather to worship and yet, here they would not be stopped. Was it hard for them? Sure! Was it an inconvenience to have their building the way it was? Yes, but the Lord was bigger than any of that. The value of the gathered saints worshiping the risen Savior for the sake of a lost world was of greater value. Perhaps we have far too many little idols or gods we actually place in front of Jesus to make our worship a priority? Little gods of convince and comfort that if they are not present, somehow devalues the value of Jesus. I wondered how much I think like that and lead in that as well. There was much to be learned from these people and probably more than I would ever teach them. I would soon find that to be the case as the week went on.

A Few Other Pictures of the Day

Praying over this spot on the property for this to become a home for this man.