Throw those curtains wide...

Nothing profound to say here; just enjoying the clear blue skies and sunshine in the crisp cold of a sunny winter's day. There's definetely something to be said about for stopping and enjoying basic stuff like this....

"Books are Fun"

That was the name of a song by Barney the purple dinosaur when Toby was very small. But anyway, that aside, the long hours travelling to and from India (and in India) and some bits of down time while there did give an opportunity to read some bits. Here's a summary:

Divorce and Remarriage in the Church - David Instone-Brewer: A helpful look at a potentially difficult subject; it made, for me at least, a compelling case that the "traditional" way of reading the New Testament on these issues may not be the most faithful.

Home - Marilynne Robinson: This is the "follow-up" to Gilead (see my earlier post) and in many ways tells the same story but from a different point of view. Once again it is wonderfully written, and I could imagine myself re-reading it without any trouble at all. It somehow manages to be sad, regretful and yet strangely hopeful all at once.

The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins: Well, I figured I had to read it for myself at some point. Inevitably, there's a lot of rant I suppose you'd call it. But Dawkins does write well, is witty, and makes some fair points. That said, the main point of his argument seems to be a (only slightly) more sophisticated version of the question every child asks: "Who made God, then?". The saddest bit for me was the venom that some "Christians" have poured out on Dawkins...not helpful in any way at all as far as I can see.

The Believers - Zoe Heller: This novel is actually about a family who have strong Socialist values, that starts to fall apart. An interesting enough way to spend a long flight, but didn't really compete for my attention with the others!

India report

The report on our time in India I mentioned in the last post is now available online here.....

India Photos....

At last, as promised some "colour" to fill out the updates I've posted here:

The "Abundant Life" church on the Liberty Children's Home campus; where Hezekiah is the Pastor. NB the loudspeakers on the corner of the roof (see last post)...

And here's Doug sharing in church with Hezekiah translating...
Meanwhile a little sign (in every sense) of the affection that Doug is held in there:

And some of the children from the Liberty Children's Home, with a warm welcome for me too, though not sure about the designation!

Now a couple from COTR, including some of the students in the class I taught for two sessions:

I'm planning to do a written report for Sunday for WCF. If you're not from WCF then let me know and I'll email you a copy if you're interested.

Summing it all up...

Well, having been back in the UK around 24 hours now, I'll attempt to sum up the last couple of weeks in India. Allowing 3 days for travelling, I worked out that I spoke 16 times in 9 days - to children at Liberty Children's home, two church congregations, bible college students and Pastors. And there was time to read, have an encounter with a barber, visit cities, play and watch cricket, go on an outing with the children....so all in all it was a full couple of weeks. The best I can offer by way of summary are the bullet points that follow. If you know anything about India some of them are almost cliches, but true all the same from what I saw.

• India is huge. And wildly diverse. Andrha Pradesh, the state where we were, is bigger than the UK in both size and population I think. The languages are different from state to state and I was surprised how few in Andrha spoke Hindi or English the national languages. To be honest, how the country hangs together seems a mystery to an outsider.
• You get a kind of sensory overload when you first reach India. Distinctive smells, bright colours. And noise, noise everywhere. Driving around with cars, trucks, rickshaws and motorbikes hooting constantly. Churches fitting loudspeakers on the outside so that all the neighbours can hear what's going on (and to let members know the service has started) seems to be the norm. Not a quiet place.
• Wealth and poverty exist side by side in extreme forms. There is money in India; the very wealthy, but also a growing middle class with disposable income (around 200 - 300 million people fall into this bracket according to one estimate). But there are also many people who only just get by, as well as many who don't even manage that.
• Spiritually again India is diverse. As far as Andrha Pradesh is concerned, Hinduism dominates, but there is a sizeable Christian community. Here at least the two co-exist peacefully (not always true of political issues though - see here). It raises issues though as to what the heart of the gospel is here. The key issue seems to be "Who is God?" in all honesty; Hindus almost seem to need to acknowledge that Jesus is Lord before they can go onto see him as Saviour.
• How does the church make an impact in this culture? Well, from what I saw, the two keys seem to be when Christians are practically caring for those in need, and when the power of God in healing is seen. Works and wonders, that then lead on to the Word...Probably lessons for us all there.

Anyway, I'm sure there's more to say, but that will do for now. And I will upload some photos soon, honest.

India Update: the last one

Well, the trip out with the children on Saturday was very good, they all seem to have had a great time. Yesterday was church service, where again Doug shared and I spoke. It seemed to go well. Interesting that some things seem to be features of church life the world over; some of the folk we had met the previous week weren't there, but others were. Encouragingly, they are getting a regular stream of first-time visitors to the services, many from Hindu backgrounds (and one last week from a Muslim background). Afterwards, and after lunch. I had the unique experience of a haircut, shave, beard trim and massage by an Indian barber. Unforgettable!

Anyway, we will shortly begin the first leg of the journey home. An 8 hour car ride to Hyderabad, then flying home via Dubai tomorrow. When I get back I will upload some photos, and maybe try and sum up with some overall reflections, though I'm not at all sure where to start with that for now...

India Update (4)

Well, we're just waiting for a truck to arrive to take the children from Liberty Children's Home for a picnic on the hills nearby, so I thought I'd use the time to give a quick update. Yesterday we went into the city of Eluru to a clothes store, which was again an intrigiung experience. Followed by a visit to a Hindu family who are friends of Hezekiah's, and who Doug & Jeannette have visited before. They were very hospitable, plying us with food and drink, and were delighted with the photos Doug gave them that he'd taken on his last visit to them. And they wanted us to pray for them...

One sad piece of news is that the father of two of the girls at the home died this week. He was an alcoholic who drank away all the money the family ever had. Their mother is unwell (with TB I think) too, and before the girls came to the home last September they were living in effect under a lean-to, eating whatever their neighbours could spare to share with them. Sadly, their Dad went out one evening in the week, and basically drank himself to death it seems. I guess it poignantly illustrates the value of what Hezekiah is doing here. Please pray for these girls, and their mother too.

India update (3)

Well, I'm now back with Pastor Hezekiah, after a fascinating few days at COTR in Vizak. It was certainly busy, and I enjoyed teaching 3 classes in their theolgical seminary, as well as speaking at 2 services in the College chapel, and speaking at the church that WCF helped to build a few years ago. There was a lot to reflect on during the visit too; it was great for example this morning to sit in on a class taken by a visiting lecturer who is an expert on the history of Christianity in India.

On a less serious note, a 6 hour drive in a car with a driver whose English was only slighty better than my Telugu was also and experience that I won't forget in a hurry!

India update (2)

Well, the last day or two have been intriguing in all sorts of ways. Today I was speaking at a conference for 40 or so Indian pastors, all translated into Telugu. They were a fascinating mix of ages and denominational backgrounds, and I genuinely felt it to be a privelege to be able to share something with them. Interestingly, when I suggested they break into groups and pray for each other they seemed a little out of their comfort zones. And these are the pastors. But, all in all it was a postive time.

We've had a fairly prolonged power cut today. All quite normal it seems. But interesting inso far as in many ways Indian society seems quite reliant on technology; maybe "reliant" isn't the right word, "at home with" is better. Certainly more so than Kenya when I was there. But they also seem very accepting of the fact that the electricity sometimes goes off for hours at a time, and goes off for a short while most days it seems.

I've also seen first-hand just how passionate they are about cricket, they play it very seriously and very well. And it catches the imagination of all ages in a similar way to football in the UK, and seems to attract similar amounts of money. Before the power cut today I watched a few overs of a One Day International between India and Bangladesh with some of the older lads, and there was no shortage of advertising and sponsorship...

One final reflection on the adverts. If the people we seen in ads in some ways represent an ideal of what a society considers beautiful or attractive at least, it's interesting at least (and possibly worrying?) that the characters in every ad I saw were very fair skinned, many barely recognisable as Indian.

Anyway, tomorrow I go to COTR in Vizak for a few days, and may not be online while there. But I'll update this when I get back if not before.

India Update...

Well, it's certainly been a fascinating couple of days. Yesterday Doug & I went to have a look at the plot of land that has been purcahsed to provide grazing for buffalo and a paddy field to support the work of Liberty Children's Home. It's all being prepared well, the one delay now is waiting for a transformer for the water pump and then things will start moving in earnest. Then into the "village" of Chintalapudi to get a feel for the sights and especially sounds of cars, buses, bikes cattle and people all competing for space on the roads, as well as stopping by the clothes shop for a bottle of "Thums Up" (Diet Coke to us Brits!) with the owner. Then we've already had a church service this morning which was a great occasion. I'm discovering so many hidden talents of Doug's; not only did he share a brief word, but he was given a microphone to lead a song in Telugu. He didn't seem keen to join the worship group at WCF though for some reason. Anyway, there's talk of a cricket match in a few minutes so I need to conserve my strength....more soon.

We're here...

Well, amazingly enough, given all the snow and ice at Gatwick and the problems that went with that, Doug & I landed at Hyderabad airport only 1 hour late in the end yesterday evening (or early this morning Indian time). Then a 7 hour drive to Chintalapudi; a chance to sleep a little as well as to sample the sights, sounds and smells of India. Now we're getting settled with Pastor Hezekiah, and looking forward to what the next few days has in store. Watch this space!

Not long now...

Just one more day of last minute preparations and tidying up of loose ends to go, and then it's off to India Thursday morning early (snow and ice permitting!). Updates here, internet connection/power supply permitting...

Avatar

Went to see Avatar on Saturday night, and was generally impressed. It would be easy to criticise one or two characters as stereotypes etc but on the whole it was incredibly well done, and visually stunning. The presentation of the Na'vi religion was fascinating - why is it that "good" religion in the movies rarely looks much like Christian faith? But a great film, and inspiring in its way too...