Vizag

November 11, 2008 · Filed under Uncategorized

We arrived in India after a whirlwind four days in Thailand.  The time there was awesome.  We attended a church planters conference where pastors from Thailand, Burma, Nepal, Japan, and India came to learn about planting churches.  All day long we listened to talks, had tea with people from various countries and heard about their stories and ministries.  After the conference each day, we tried to pack in a little of Thailand: Thai massage, tour of the children’s homes and Christian school there, shopping at the bazaar, and a night safari.  As a result, we did not get enough sleep the whole time we were there, but enjoyed the time and learned soooo much.  Especially entertaining to us was the Thai language.  Ask me for impressions when I get home:)

Vizag India is a sprawling city of 3 million, reclining right on the Bay of Bengal.   It is the cool season of the year, but it is still probably in the 80s and 90s each day, and quite humid.  There are huge green hills all around the city with bright red clay dirt.  Last night we went to the beach and ran on the sand, chasing waves and crabs.  There was a military memorial at the beach with a fighter plane, missile, and submarine, all decorated with light.  We asked Arjuna about it when we got home and with great delight he told us about how India sank a submarine that the US has sold to Pakistan, and won a war against Pakistan in 1971.

Staying with Arjuna and Raji has been so much fun, and to our great delight, Grace-the wife of one of the Nigerian pastors is also staying here with us.  We are learning all about Nigerian cooking, cultural customs, and about the incredible corruption in the Nigerian government with everything from electricity to higher education. At the same time, we are experiencing firsthand some of the very interesting aspects of Indian culture.  It is really really fun to eat with our hands!!!!!  I always loved that anyway, but I never have squished rice with my fingers before, it really blends the flavors nicely.  I love having tea all the time, and it’s quite entertaining to experience Indian TV.

I am still trying to wrap my mind and heart around the caste system here.  It is the structure of their society, the framework that everyone operates within.  As Christians, they cannot instantly throw out the entire framework or people would lose their functional identities that allow them to work well, support themselves, etc within this society.  Church was cool because people of all different castes came together to worship.  This is a great first step and I’m encouraged by it.  Still, it’s strange to be driven around by their private chauffeur, and not doing the dishes because someone from the dishwashing caste needed a job and is out in the courtyard washing all our dinner dishes.  As Christians operating within this framework, they treat all people as image bearers of God by paying them well, treating them with kindness, and trusting them with much once they have proven trustworthy.  Pray for the people in India, first that they would be delivered from the ugly demonic idols that they worship on the roadside, second that as they are set free, they will begin to love their fellow humans like Jesus loves them.

Yesterday, we went to the campus of Vision Nationals, the organization that Arjuna started.  Out of the city a little ways, it is quiet and peaceful with green palms surrounding the three story white buildings with beautiful marble floors.  They have an administration building, a dormitory that houses the 50 Bible college students and the 150 orphans that they have taken in to their “children’s home”, and a cafeteria with classrooms above.  Across the campus are all the 1 story open air buildings that are the children’s classrooms.  This year they opened their Christian school to the public and spent the first few weeks of the school year scrambling to hire more teachers because of the overwhelming response that they got.

Four of the US pastors who spoke in Thailand came along to India where another very similar church planting conference is happening at Vision Nationals.  Joining them to teach are 2 pastors from Nigeria who preached at the church we attended sunday, much to our delight!!!  This time, pastors from all over the state of Andra Pradesh and the 50 Bible college students are attending, probably about 200 total.  It has been fun to hang out with and learn from these amazing teachers.

Thanks to all of you who have been praying for our health, God has answered your prayers and we have felt great since we left Nepal!!!  Please continue to pray for that in the next 5 days.  I’m so excited about all that I’ve been learning through the great teaching I’ve received in the past week.  Please pray that I would have clarity to prioritize and perseverance in following through with the things I’d like to apply to life back in Seattle.