From the Back Pew: 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.