farewell to village

It’s Sunday night as I’m writing this and we have traveled all day. We got up at 5:30 a.m. after I went to bed at 1:00 a.m. and I’m really tired. We are in Delhi tonight but we are leaving for Jaipur tomorrow where the palace is located. We leave at 6:30 a.m. and take a four hour bus ride. We will stay overnight in Jaipur and then leave for Agra on Tuesday for the day. Agra is where the Taj Mahal is. We return to Delhi on Wed. to spend the day sightseeing before we leave for home. We fly out of Delhi at 3:30 a.m. on Thursday and arrive back in the states around 2:00 p.m. Thursday. Remember there is a 10.5 hour time zone difference and our air time is 17 hours. I won’t get home till the late hours of the night on Thursday.
Let me tell you a little about what transpired yesterday. It was a full day to say the least. I went to the English speaking church with another Pastor yesterday morning not expecting to preach, but to sit back and relax. When I got to Sabbath school, the Pastor of the church asked me to preach. I had met him earlier in the week and he was more than willing to give up his pulpit to me.
I want to tell you the whole story about what happened in worship that morning but it might be better left to tell in person. But there was a reason God asked me to preach. And there were people in the congregation that needed to hear what I spoke on. I spoke on the cross of Christ and its importance in our preaching and evangelism. AND, I didn’t need a translator!
Right after church I was escorted to the home of one of the team members for a farewell party. I ate home cooked Indian food and was treated like a king. They gave me gifts and I gave them gifts for their support of me at this village. We took lots of pictures and there were speeches. When that was all over, I was informed that I needed to visit each home of the group members (eight of them) and to say a blessing for each home. That took the rest of the afternoon.
We then went to site for the last time. I was tired before I got there. When we arrived at the site, our host wanted to have a tea party for me and the team. Needless to say I did no visiting in the homes last night. We finished the tea party just in time to start the meeting.
We set up the equipment and there were more speeches. I was honored again with a shawl and a necklace. The team gave me an engraved plate as a memento of this experience along with a national Indian flag. I was wondering where I was going to pack all of this stuff they gave me? When we finally began, we were late. We showed the Jesus DVD in its entirety. It was longer than I expected and we didn’t finish the video till 9:15 p.m. We normally ended at 8:30 on other nights. Then it was time for me to say goodbye. I’ll leave it up to your imagination as to how I held up.
Then we had another round of goodbyes and pictures. Many from the village wanted to have a photo taken with me. Kanatha and Ambiga had tears in their eyes when they came to say goodbye. They even shook my hand which is the closest thing of physical contact between men and women that is allowed in this culture.
The driver took my translator and Bible worker and I back to the hotel. There I asked the two of them to come up to my room where I had another special gift for just them. At the room, Pastor Prince my translator stuck out his hand to shake mine then fell into my arms hugging me and I think he even wept a little (like all good strong men he hid it well). My Bible worker, Amani, couldn’t hide it. She cried like a baby. Once again, I wanted to hug her but it was not going to be. Amani always bowed low to me when she met me or said goodnight but never really spoke to me in English before last night. She said: "goodbye pastor and thank you".
I was really exhausted and emotionally drained after they left. I then started to try and pack all the stuff I was given plus some souvenirs. Even with leaving some stuff I brought along, I had a hard time closing my bags; plus they were really heavy.
I hope to get this posted before we leave the hotel tomorrow. This will be the last post until I get home. I can’t wait! I miss my wife and I’m ready for some home cooking, my own bed and to play hockey again. I’m even ready for some snow! (sorry Jack but I like the stuff) I am going to hibernate for a couple of days when I get home to recover from the jet lag. I may or may not see you on Sabbath depending on how tired I am.
May God bless you and keep you.
Pastor Kevin

Kanatha's goats

This will probably be my last blog from Madurai where we are doing evangelism. There may be another one Monday, but it will be touristy in nature. Tonight was my last speaking engagement and I spoke on heaven. It was well received. I have another story to tell you from tonight’s meeting, but before I do I want to explain the picture.

Wed. just after breakfast, another pastor and I went to the local flower market. This is where the bulk flowers come in for the local vendors to purchase to make wreaths and other floral arraignments to be used primarily in Hindu worship. These flowers are cut no earlier than the day before they come to market.

It is an awesome sight of colors and wonderful smells. People are bartering all around to get the best prices. There is a large variety of flowers, greens and all the raw material to make the elaborate wreaths and garlands like the one you saw me wearing in an earlier post.

Since Trish loves flowers so much I couldn’t help thinking of her and wishing she were her to experience this. If we lived close to something like this, she would have fresh flowers everyday.

Tonight was a bit of a circus at my sight. Some Bigwigs from the Columbia Union (the boss of my boss) came to visit and they showed up at my sight with cameras and video. Needless to say, we had to recognize them and honor them by allowing the Union President to say the opening prayer. Then they were off the see other sights.

We got down to business (oh, by the way, did I mention that I had my fourth different translator tonight?) and started the program. Things went well and the sermon was well received. As I look back over the past 16 days, I wish I would have done a few things different as far as the sermon content and sequence of sermons. I should have gone with my heart instead of following directions. But tonight I really felt that many understood what I was presenting.

We are baptizing four more people tomorrow afternoon from this village. Once again, I’m being given the privilege of doing the actual baptizing. There are a few others that are almost ready but a couple of things need to be cleared up for them before they are ready.

One of those who have been coming regularly is an older lady who loves to sing with the children and do all the hand motions. She is just too cute. Her reason for not being ready tomorrow is that she had planned a special Hindu ceremony at her house called a Puja. She had invited friends and family and this was going to be a big deal. Well she planned this before she came to the meetings. With what she has learned, she now knows that her Hindu worship isn’t worshipping the true God and she wants to be baptized. She told my Bible worker that as soon as the Puja is over, she will be baptized and never do it again. I told you she is cute.

The real story tonight is what happened after the meetings. You may remember Kanatha. She was one of the first I baptized last week. She is the young, 28 year old, widow with four children and a collapsed roof. Well, I had decided I wanted to help with her situation. I was trying to buy her a cow or some goats so she could make a living.

This enterprise has been driving me up a wall. I have had a difficult time getting cooperation from the local church and my translator. Finally, I brought the subject up with our host who honored me on Wed. I told him he would honor me if he would assist me in helping get 4 goats for Kanatha (3 females and 1 male). I told him that I needed his expertise and influence to get me the best deal and to get the goats to Kanatha’s house.

He was proud as punch that I asked him. I did this in front of the local pastor last night while we sat on our hosts’ porch. I asked if the two of them would take Kanatha to market, help pick out and purchase the goats and then make sure they were delivered to her house. We got it worked out but I wanted the two of them to be there when I told Kanatha. I wanted a three way accountability connection so that no one could cop out on me.

Well having any conversation in India in private is nearly impossible. Not only are there too many people, but the people aren’t aware or even care about privacy issues. After the meeting and praying for my line of people who always wait for me, I finally got them aside (after out right telling people to leave us alone).

This is what I said to Kanatha: “My heart breaks for the people of this village. I hurt for them and want to help them but I can’t help everyone. I have chosen to help you because of your situation with your children and no husband. But with this gift comes great responsibility. This gift of goats is intended to make you independent in earning money to care for your family. But not only that, I am placing the responsibility on you to help others as you have been helped. I’m leaving this village after tomorrow and I am asking you to help your neighbors in this village by sharing Jesus with them.”

I then pulled out a new Bible in Tamil to give her as a gift. As I was handing it to her, she shook her head no. I asked what was the matter? She then told my translator that she couldn’t read. I’m not making this up. If my heart wasn’t torn up before, it was now. Here is a young woman without any real means to support her family, no husband and now I find out she can’t even read! (the local pastor said someone in his church will teach her)

As I watcher her face I had a hard time reading her emotions. She didn’t seem too happy with this news. My first thought was she didn’t want the gift because she may feel it was too hard to care for goats or she didn’t know how to care for them. She could have been angry, sad, confused or frustrated or all of the above for all I could tell from her expressions. I asked through the translator what was wrong.

Now I have been married to a woman for three months shy of 29 years. You would think that would have trained me for a moment like this. I came to find out from what my translator told me that Kanatha thinks just like my wife and I assume most other women. I’ll bet that the women who are reading this blog already know what every guy who is reading this is still guessing at. Kanatha was thinking about her life with her husband before he died how her life had changed at his death and now how she was getting a second chance. She was sad, happy and confused all at the same time. As she was explaining her feelings I saw her eyes well up with tears, she had been fighting them back for the whole conversation. It’s at this point you want to hug her, but as a man in this culture I couldn’t even think of it. I just bowed to her as is the normal greeting and watched as she bowed back. Now I could see the gratitude in her eyes.

It will be along time before I can get the images out of my head from this trip. I have seen the wild, the grotesque, the sad and the disgusting. I have seen the physically deformed, the starving, the begging, the sleeping on the streets at all times of the day in all kinds of places. I have seen houses that wouldn’t qualify as barns in America yet people are living in them and sleeping on either block or dirt floors. I have seen what a mass of humanity lives like when it is forced into too small a space to handle it. I witnessed extreme religious rituals and ceremony that resemble the pagan worship that God warned Israel to stay away from. But I have seen God’s kingdom here and the working of the Almighty to call His children home.

May you be blessed this Sabbath and remember to keep me in your prayers as we begin our journey home. We leave Sunday morning early to head to Northern India for a few days of sight seeing before heading home to Ohio. The weather here is quite warm and I understand that you’re finally having winter. Hopefully I can bring some warm and sun with me when I return.

Pastor Kevin

I glory only in the Cross of Christ!

Just when you think the well is drying up for stories, something else happens. I am winding down and didn’t think there was too much left to talk about, but God had another surprise for me tonight.

I went prepared to preach the next assigned sermon; Holy Spirit and the Unpardonable Sin. It wasn’t the most exciting sermon I’ve ever preached, but it would have to do. My interpreter changed again tonight and he was late picking me up. We didn’t go visiting because of his lateness.

The meeting started on time and went according to the normal pattern so far. After prayer and song we normally play a short segment of the Jesus DVD with Tamil language. Tonight’s section that we played was on the trial and scourging of Jesus. The response of the crowd was amazing. Normally there is chatter by the kids and lots of movement and noise. Not tonight.

It occurred to me as I watched the crowd that even though I had spoken of Jesus death for them, they had no idea what that really meant. I have felt all along in these meetings that we needed to start with the basics. All the sermons we have preached seem to imply some knowledge of Christ but the reality is they don’t know anything! They don’t even have access to the Bible in their Tamil language in these villages.

As I stood up, I felt impressed to drop the whole sermon and share with them the whole story of Jesus, including the great controversy theme of the crucifixion. I explained to them that the cross wasn’t God’s idea, but Satan’s plan to get Jesus to give up which would then mean Satan would win the battle for earth.

I preached freely and at times I felt goose bumps as I spoke. I really felt this was from the Holy Spirit. No notes, the Bible texts flew from memory, the story flowed even with a translator. It was the best sermon I preached since I started. It was from the heart, it was my thoughts and my words, not someone else’s sermon. Instead of preaching about the Holy Spirit, I preached with the power of the Holy Spirit.

I asked them to make a choice between the God who was willing to give up everything for them; or the enemy who was all about their destruction. I don’t know what the outcome of this sermon will be; but I know God led tonight and Jesus was lifted up.

To switch gears a little, we went to a new temple today. It was the new moon festival and pilgrims came to this temple to pierce themselves with hooks and spikes. We weren’t able to see many because we came too late. We found a couple of women with serious tongue piercing. Hence the picture attached.

Might be one or two more posts before I get home. Can’t wait to see you all, especially my wife!

Pastor Kevin

Honored by the homeowner

Sometimes if I will have anything to write about; then other times I have so much content that I don’t know where to begin. Let me start by updating some local issues.

Seems that the local paper, The Hindu, wrote a piece on the Americans who are in the area proselytizing. They print two versions; one in English and one in Tamil. The article was in the Tamil edition, not the English one. It was not a favorable piece. Another tidbit is a local Pentecostal church has heard about us also. Rumor has it from our local pastors that they have declared a fast to pray about our evangelism. Now the question is, are they praying for us or against us? One more site was closed down by radical Hindus who said that too many people are coming and wanting baptism. Guess something must be happening if they feel threatened by our presence and our preaching.

Now on to the story of the picture attached to this blog. I know I have a silly look on my face, but I’m looking into the lights toward where the picture is being taken and the person is standing in a dark spot. I began to tell you the story of the wealthy man on whose property we are holding the meetings. Well tonight he chose to honor me for coming to the village. He gave me a huge wreath of flowers that dragged on the ground. Then he gave me a shawl made from silk which I’m told is a very high honor. He also gave me a book of poems written by a famous Tamil Indian.

I continue to pray for people in their homes before the meetings; and near the pulpit after the meetings. Tonight I got to meet two elderly women that I had prayed for earlier in the meetings. Both had gotten much better and one of them fell at my feet as if to worship me. It was uncomfortable and I told my translator that she shouldn’t do that, but to give honor to God. This was one of the few prayers I could actually saw the answer to and thanked God that He had directly answered.

The last three days I have preached on the second coming, the millennium and tonight on hell. I lifted up Jesus in every sermon and called people to a decision each night to chose Jesus and to be on the inside of the city and not to reject God and be on the outside. I’m told that the last couple of sermons have really impacted people.

I can’t help but see their faces after I leave. Even though they don’t understand me, God is getting through to them. There are serious looks on their faces as they face the choice of joining Jesus or continuing to live in fear and poverty as they have been.

This Sabbath will be more baptisms in the afternoon and I’m told that I will be given the honor to officiate them. Very few of the Americans have been allowed to actually get in the water and do the baptisms. I feel greatly honored. Sabbath will once again be very busy. After worship, I’m invited to one of the homes of the team members who work in my village, then on to the baptism, then directly to the village where we will stay till 10:00 p.m. Our flight leaves for Delhi early Sunday morning. I’m already anticipating being exhausted!

I must tell you, as I preach my own personal conviction to serve the King grows each day. I pray for my church family and my own family. I seek to grow closer to my Lord and serve Him with all my heart.

Pastor Kevin

Monkey Temple

It was field trip day today. One of the team members for my village and his pastor took me and their six children sightseeing today. We went to a temple in the mountains that was covered with wild monkeys.

The monkeys were everywhere and they weren’t shy! They climbed on top of cars or buildings to get an advantage. If you had food, whether in your hand or a bag, they were on you like flies on dead fish. They would run up and grab your bag or food or even you! The bigger males were very aggressive and the females were around but not as bold. The females (those that have given birth have a bright red face.

I took some video of Isaac (one of my village team members) throwing bananas up in the air or taunting the monkeys by jerking stuff away when the monkeys tried to grab them. It was good. The six children surrounded me and kept the monkeys away with their sticks. They were my body guards.

We walked halfway up a mountain and when we got tired, came back. On the way up we saw places where there were piles of hair. I saw a holy man shaving heads as a means of worship. Men, woman and children had their heads shorn bald. The hair would be left lying on the ground where it was cut off. There were little streams coming down the mountain and people were taking a holy or ceremonial baths; women in one location and men in another.

We also saw a tree where women would tie pieces of fabric or hang small replicas of cribs as a means of asking the gods for pregnancy. While taking a picture of the tree, a snake came out of a hole at the base of the tree and slithered up the hill. It was my first snake that I’ve seen in country. I couldn’t run up the hill fast enough to get its picture though. Think of the symbolism of the snake living in a hole in the base of the tree that they believe will bring them fertility.

At the entrance to the main temple on the bottom of the hill I saw something that could have come right out of scripture. A man was sitting by the gate begging and he was blind. His eyes were clouded up and he was crying out for help. I couldn’t help but think of the story of blind Bartimaeus in scripture (Mark 10:46). I couldn’t help but give him coins.

We ate a picnic lunch at the car. We had to sit inside because the monkeys were all over the place; under the car, on top of the car in the trees above the cars. And then there were the beggars. I’ve never had a picnic lunch like that.

Driving home I saw winnowing of barley on the roads. They were beating out the grain and laying it on the road to dry. It blocked a whole lane. Again, except for the paved road, this was something you might envision from the Bible. We went to the palace and another temple in the middle of a man-made lake. I took so many pictures that I ran out of room on two memory sticks.

We got word today in our meeting that as of Tuesday, there were 1,860 baptisms from around all the sites. We have baptisms scheduled at various locations every day this week. We may not hit the 5000 projected but no one seems disappointed.

One more quick story that I want to share that is in process. The man who is letting us use his property to hold the meetings is not the chief of the village, but is the wealthiest man in the village. He has a lot of authority; he is also Hindu. At first he didn’t attend any of my meetings but late last week he started coming late. Each day he has been coming earlier and earlier. I asked my translator how he is responding. My translator said he is a very smart man and is understanding and agreeing with our teachings. But, he will not quickly respond to baptism because of his status in the village.

Reminds me of Paul when he stood before Agrippa found in Acts 26. Paul almost persuaded him. Think of the ramification if this man accepts Jesus and our message. This will free those in the village who are afraid of the Hindus to make an open confession of their faith. If only one is converted, that one will become a witness to the village. The God who began a good work will bring it to its proper conclusion.

There will probably only be one or two more blogs after this one because of the schedule. I really hope to write one after Sabbath but we leave very early in the morning to fly out to Delhi and I don’t know if I can get it on the web or not. I will continue to write as it avails me and post when I can get on. Sorry that the novel is coming to an end, but I’m ready to come home and eat food other than Indian, take a hot shower whenever I want and to sleep in my bed (not to mention drive on streets where my anxiety level is greatly reduced).

God bless and keep your eyes on Jesus.

Pastor Kevin

The Great Controversy

Just when you think life is getting boring, you go to the village! My original translator came back today and we went visiting around the village again. One of the women we baptized last week is quite the evangelist already. We stop at her house and pray, then she leads us through the village to pray for all her friends and relatives that she feels need prayer.

We must have stopped at half dozen or so houses when we came to a home that had three younger women standing outside with their small children. I was told they needed special prayer for health and problems in the family. I pray for specifics when I know them, but I generally pray a common prayer for each home. I pray that God would remove any satanic forces from the family and the household, and that Jesus would reign in their home and their lives.

It was at the point in my prayer where I mentioned Jesus coming into their home and lives that one of these women went into convulsions and fled into the house. I sensed what was happening but everyone else seemed confused. It was at the very point when I mentioned the name of Jesus that the convulsions began. She ran into the house and you could hear the noise as she went. Even my translator didn’t see the connection or understand the spiritual connotations. Spiritual things are spiritually discerned. I do not doubt for a minute that there was Satanic powers at work.

I have felt uncomfortable before when I have prayed for different people, but this time I was sure of it. There is a reason this village is so difficult to present the Gospel in, there are unseen forces at work that are attempting to hinder our work. I do not fear it, but I have a healthy respect for the battle.

My God is bigger than any enemy and as I continue to trust in Him, He continues to show me my role and His. Some of you remember from our Sabbath school class that faith is a verb and requires that we do something. When we listen to God, He leads us into “the what” and gives us the power to do what He is calling us to do.

My favorite author once said: “we have nothing to fear for the future, except we forget how God has led in the past.” If you aren’t letting God lead and you follow Him now, how can you remember His leading when things get really difficult?

Your prayers are requested for the workers here and our villages. The battle is raging; the dragon is angry with the woman and makes war with her offspring (Rev. 12:17).

Pastor Kevin

Today is the 15th day since I left home; I have 11 more days to go before I return. I have preached every day for ten days (twice on Sabbath) and I have five more sermons to give before I’m done. This Saturday night I won’t be preaching but showing the complete Jesus DVD and saying farewell. I think I hit the wall yesterday. My energy is down and I spent a good deal of time napping and resting.

The pace is hectic and all of us are wearing down. I’m going to need several days recuperating when I get home just to get my bearings straight. I wouldn’t trade this experience for the world, but it is lonely without my wife.

Yesterday there were baptisms all around the area for various villages. At one site, they baptized 153 people (several villages together). I struggle sometimes wishing I could have a site where more people are baptized, but God gave me this assignment for a reason. I love my village and the people there seem to love me (I’m not sure why?). The children throng about me wanting me to touch them. When I arrive they follow the cab and shout hello to me. When I leave at night, they all yell goodbye and wave and try to stick their hands in the cab to shake my hand (or give me five, which I taught them and now all they want to do is slap my hand).

When the adults come to the meeting and I either bow (don’t touch a woman!) or shake the men’s hands, their eyes light up like a child’s at Christmas. The church workers and the villagers want to know when I will come back; they don’t want me to leave. For the first time in many of their lives, they have been given worth by the presence of a white man from a far away country.

Although the caste system is officially illegal now in India, it is practiced widely. The Hindu religion and the people of India have a clear prejudice that isn’t hid. The highest caste in India (Brahman) has the lightest skin of the people. Therefore, I’m seen as the highest caste, yet I’m visiting their simple homes, playing with their children, touching them and giving them respect and honor because they are a child of God.

There are scenes here that remind me of stories in the Bible. When Jesus heals the man born blind from birth, all the people around know him; why? Because the man sits at the same place day after day begging. I see this scene replayed time after time. A sick or damaged person sits at the same location day after day begging. Everyone around knows this persona and either helps out occasionally or walks past without acknowledging them. I’m astounded at what seems apathy to me, but this is life to them.

The streets are dirty, people throw their refuse out on the curb. At night the cattle and goats roam the streets picking through the trash to eat. The beggars do also. There isn’t much animal dung on the streets because it is picked up to dry for fuel. Humans are seen urinating anywhere and everywhere without the slightest hint of embarrassment. The traffic is horrific whether it is foot traffic, bicycles, scooters, cars or busses. There is such an enormous congestion of people that it is hard to find a quiet place of solace. Even in the countryside, it is rare to see a field that doesn’t have people in it.

The TV shows are a hoot! There is a great love of the music video but its nothing like in the US. All the videos are choreographed and looking like a 1940’s Roger’s and Hammerstein musical. The leading ladies are always light skinned and look nothing like the general population; the leading men always have an Elvis haircut with sideburns and a big bushy moustache. The content is always of a sexually suggestive manner but not overt; no nudity, only suggestive movements.

One can hardly begin to understand a culture after only 2 weeks, but I’m getting pieces of the puzzle that is taking shape. The world I walk in and see is the world of the extremely poor; that makes up almost half the population. There is a world I see only on TV and that is the world of the wealthy and there are many of them in India too.

I want to clear up a couple I of items that I’ve mentioned before. First is the sponsorship of children to a boarding school. The qualifications for the children to be sponsored are: they must be 6 or 7 years old, they must come from a baptized member’s family, the sponsorship is $300.00 USD per year for 10 years. It’s a long commitment, but it is the only way we can ensure that the children will get a good education and are well fed before they go back to their village. This money doesn’t have to come from a single person or family, but can be combined from several people. This sponsorship can be done after I return; I will bring the paperwork with me.

A second program is being offered that is a little less money but just as significant. You can buy a cow! For $375.00 USD, you can buy a cow for a widow so she can make a living. She will use the milk and sell the extra, she will collect the dung and dry it for sale as fuel, and eventually she will build a herd as her cow has calves. This is a one time expense and is offered to SDA widows in the villages who have no support. Right now there are 17 widows waiting on this program. I will bring the necessary paperwork for this project when I come also.

Life is becoming a routine now and maybe the shock of some things is lessening. I don’t have any wild or radical stories to tell today, just that God is faithful and He is working. I pray He is working in my church back home like He is here.

Right now, one of my major concerns it that the local church officials find property where we will build the church. I’m not getting straight answers; they assure me we will have something but I can’t pin them down. There is something prevalent in this culture that is difficult to comprehend or accept from a western world view. The people here don’t really give you a yes or no answer. When you ask a question, they bob their head in a cross between a yes and a no which leaves you wondering; which is it?!?

Sorry I don’t have more content today. I hope that things are going well with you. Keep us in your prayers and remember our village of Varichiyoor. The picture on this blog is me praying for the people after the preaching service.

Pastor Kevin