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...