Life After The Mission Trip (Over There)

We’ve been home for nearly three weeks.  We’ve received a couple of emails from Pastor Damodar, the head pastor over the Banjara For Christ Society.   The work we did while we were there yielded some fruit.  We preached in 32 thadas (villages) and 27 people accepted Christ, while 35 others expressed interest in people coming back to talk to them more about Jesus.  We also had 40 men in our training sessions and 50 women in the women’s classes.  Almost 400 people showed up for the final rally and heard the gospel preached. 

Life is steady for the pastors in India (as though it would have stopped when we came home right?).  Pastor Damodar has notified us there are still pastors going deep into the country to follow up in the thandas where we people expressed interest while we were there.  People are still accepting Christ as their Savior even now and the gospel continues to be preached by our Banjara Christian brothers!

This morning we received notification that Damodar’s wife, Sush, is sick.  Apparantly she has chicken pox.  I’m not sure how serious a thing this is in India, but he says she’s throwing up a lot and she has a rash.  He also says that their daughter, Goldie, doesn’t understand why she can’t go near her mom.   Their kind of worried about her, she’s only about a year old.  They are more worried for Sush though, Sush is one of the sweetest ladies I’ve ever met.  She always works so hard to make sure we are taken care of in India.  We love her as our sister in Christ and hope she gets better soon.  She is in our prayers, as well as the rest of her family and the pastors who are still spreading the gospel.

Get well Sush.

Banjara For Christ 2007-2008 (Day 9)

This morning started as a typical morning for us.  We woke up early – not because we wanted to, but because we were all awake, again.  We were showered in record time as the water was extremely cold this morning.  Breakfast was at 9, the atmosphere was a bit more relaxed for the team because they knew there was nothing they personally had to preach or teach today.  Though Jana got sick last night and didn’t feel much like eating.  Sush has been getting sick too…

After breakfast we all went to our rooms where we were donned with another fancy Indian outfit. This was much nicer than the ones they bought us last year.  However, they were all too small.  Only I could get the shirt buttoned all the way down, but I was uncomfortable with that.  Steve and Richard were in the same boat.  Sush asked that we instead wear then more like sport coats and that worked out fine.

Pastor Steve baptized about 20 believers and then the fan fare began.  There was a huge procession for the six of us.  It was complete with “stick dancers” and traditional Banjara tribal dancers.  There were so many of them.  We walked through a huge parade of people dancing and singing.  Flowers were being thrown in the air on us and all around us.  They gave us more flowers to place around our necks.  I’ve never seen so many colors and heard so much noise as these humble village people escorted us to the front of a huge tent.  There we heard more music and were entertained by the best of the stick dancers.  They danced and sang to music as each one of them had two wooden sticks in each hand which they clicked and clacked together as they weaved past each other in dance.  Each on wore a red bandana as a headband; signifying the type of entertainer they were.  Most of these dancers were young men, no older than 21, but there were 3 ladies there who were just as skilled as the men.  Banjara dancers were next, three women who danced and balanced big liter sized bottles of water on their heads.  One of these women we’ve been watching all week.  She has this look of absolute confidence on her face when she dances; almost a look of smugness.  She never has this look any other time except when she dances.  It’s pretty amusing.

Pastor Steve gave a message and brought the gospel to a lot of people who have come from the thandas.  Some we preached to in the village, some are church members who came and wanted to say goodbye to us.  Still others were just people who had heard the noise and came to see what the commotion was all about.  Steve gave an invitation, though it was not clear as to whether people heard the gospel and were responding to the Holy Spirit working conviction of their sins, or if everybody simply was coming to receive prayer for healing and blessing.  The Banjara are a very superstitious people, and it would be easy to see how they would think “white people” could pray for them and all would be well.  The whole group prayed for those who came, believing and hoping they were coming for salvation.

After those services we had lunch.  EVERYONE had lunch.  There was a huge amount of food being served to a huge amount of people.  Rice and chicken were on the menu as usual.  Though I learned most of these people don’t get the chicken on a daily basis, all they ever have any abundance of is rice.  I couldn’t imagine it.  Sush called it a “chicken feast,” and that it was.  There were so many Banjara people; I hope our visit did them well and that Christ’s message will not be obscured by the “white folks from America” who came to tell it.

After lunch we finished packing and tried to nap before leaving for the city to do some shopping and then going to the airport.  It wasn’t easy to sleep as we knew we were going home.  We got one more cold shower in hopes that we could stay clean through the biggest part of our journey.

Goodbyes were quick thank goodness.  Many of those I was saying goodbye to I had not personally spoken to all week long, but they were all tearful just the same.  These people love us so much.  Sudakar, Damodar’s brother, who served us meals all week long, was about to break down while we were saying goodbye.  And Damodar’s mother had huge tears in her eyes.  That was hardest for me; seeing this woman who barely knew us weep over such simple servants of the Lord.  We were there to serve her and she served us one thousand times over by just being there, to love us and listen, to dance, to sing or just to smile as many, many others did the same all week long.  We will be missing some very good friends.

Thinking on the trip home about the events of the day and the past week; I can’t help but say that I’ll miss the fellowship more than anything.  We had so many good times with our brothers and sisters in Christ.  We did our best to serve one another and I’ve learned that this is a major part in fellowship in the Lord.  These beautiful people treat us as though we are heroes or celebrities.  They make big banners in order to announce our comings and goings and they make sure every need is met according to their best ability so that we soft Americans are as comfortable as we can be.  They see us as leaving homes thousands of miles away as being the biggest, most important events of our lives.  To some, it is.  To me, it is; not because I am any type of hero, but because it takes a huge amount of faith in the Lord to get there and to get through it.  Money, time, lessons, embarrassment at times, sickness at times, fears to conquer, love to risk and even the chance of never seeing your loved ones again, back home and in the mission field; at least not until we all get to Heaven.  All of these must be considered and take faith in the Lord just to get by and step out toward that visit to the Banjara people.  It seems the people of India understand that, though they may never understand the specific details.

Now, going home, which has been a remarkably smooth ride (I slept 6 hours of our first 8 hour flight) I realize I’m heading back to a place where my words will not mean near as much as they do in India.  Among my own people, I am just like they are.  I am equal and not held on a pedestal.  People will categorize the words I speak for the Lord as being with those they respect, like they would a dear pastor or a youth minister, but rarely will those words be taken to heart.  No, at home, in America, there must always be more than words, but there also must be action.  People love to be put up on a pedestal, they love to be made to feel important, as though what their words say mean something to those around them.  They SHOULD mean something.  The very fact that intelligible words are coming from the voice that God gave them should mean that someone is listening, especially when it’s someone from home who can relate to them.  If this trip has taught me anything, it is that when the very least among men is speaking, the very least among believers should be listening.  Open hearts should be among us, so we might seek a way to bring men, women, and children to the saving grace of our Lord and then the sanctifying favor from He who we have found and adore.  I personally realize just how much we are called to serve among believers and unbelievers alike, even when serving just means listening.

As for the fellowship among my brothers in Christ who went on this trip, we have all grown closer.  Richard, whom I didn’t really know very well, will now be a life long friend as we have served together and realize we see much more eye to eye than what we ever believed.  It was regrettable though, to the both of us that we never took time out before to get to know one another.

Sometimes people have preconceived ideas about another person and often times they let those ideas keep them from stepping out in faith to get to know them.  I believe Richard realized that he never knew me.  Well, not to the point he does now.  The same can be said about me with him.  Yet I was apologetic and let him know that I’m shy as it is.  Because of that, there are few we serve in the church with who do know me as well as he does now.

Steve, my pastor, friend and mentor is looking at these mission trips now with comfort and casualness.  He understands the urgency of souls needing to be reached fro Christ, but there is now comfort ability in what he does when he goes to India.  He is not as apprehensive as he once was about teaching and preaching to people he doesn’t know.  Now he sees all of them as just needing Jesus Christ and that’s giving him a drive to come back again and again.  May I also learn to step out of my comfort zone until it becomes comfortable for me as well.

Banjara For Christ 2007-2008 (Day 8)

Our teaching sessions ended this evening.  I almost hated for them too, the lessons I mean.  I’ve had so much fun teaching the Pastors of Banjara.  They are so attentive to what I have to say.  To what we ALL have had to say.

Steve has taught all his lessons on church planting, and they are not what a person might expect.  I know I was surprized at what he is teaching; though I don’t know why, all he taught we’ve discussed before.  I guess I had just forgotten what I once had learned.  Steve taught starting churches “the Master’s Way.”  Through a “person of peace” and then after that, theach them to observe those things that I was teaching about, disciplines through the wheel. 

“The Master’s Way” of discipleship is what we called my portion of lessons.  These were ALL methods in which Jesus showed his disciples during his time with them on earth.  Taking in the Word, praying, fellowship, and witnessing centered around the person of Jesus Christ.  All of these of course come after we surrender our lives to Him.  I went through a wheel illustration made up by Dawson Trotman, teaching the four very basic disciplines that every follower of Christ should have.

Richard’s been teaching personal evangelism, “witnessing the Master’s Way.”  He showed us how to use the Ten Commandments as a school master to show us our sin and how to use tracts as a witnessing tool.  He was nervous, but he did just great…I was nervous too.  We found that most of our lessons came across really well any time we involved the men in our exercises in a role playing fashion.  They played in skits, they drew pictures, they laughed and at one point I cried.  Once I had 5 of them laying in the floor piled on top of eachother to tell a parable Jesus taught about prayer.  These times were so precious and the Lord provided so much to say.  I can’t express my joy at these new and old friends we have made.  They are so open and honest and lively.  I love their culture.

Tonight was a night for singing and dancing.  Steve got some of it on video.  It was a lot of fun.

We just finished dinner with a Catholic priest who owns the hostel we’ve been staying in.  It was a fine meal but our normal Indian friends were not around.  Tomorrow we get to sleep in, which is a blessing, and then we have one last service to say farewell and then we are heading home.  I’m ready.

Banjara For Christ 2007-2008 (Day 4)

It’s 6 AM and I’ve been awake off and on for at least 3 hours.  I have a head ache too.  I’m thinking my sinuses are starting to clog up.  I prayed about it and it seems to be a little better.

Something about my attitude this year.  I find I’m missing home more and sooner than I did the last time around.  I know I don’t care for it much – my attitude that is.  So I’m trying to change it.  I’m trying not to complain out loud, in fact, I’ve been pretty quiet just to keep from it.  It might be that we just need to get back into the swing of things.

Pastor Steve has been telling about his dreams lately.  He’s had several; most are comical but last night was a little disturbing he said.  He doesn’t have any premise for dreaming the things he has. 

He spoke about walking down to our open air dining area and being beaten by and Indian man there.  After that he dreamed about a beast, a serpent like demon with a chainsaw who he had no choice but to fight with for exactly one hour.  Otherwise the demon would cut him up with his chainsaw and eat both he and his friends.  The first action Pastor took was to pick up a card table but found that was no good against a demon with a working chainsaw.  So he took a different approach and began singing praise and worship songs.  There were other Banjara pastors and friends who encircled the fight and he encouraged them to sing as well.  Upon hearing the songs, the beast was defeated and he was unable to fight.

Pastor thought that maybe the Lord was trying to warn him about spiritual warfare sometime this week.  I usually don’t put much stock into dreams.  But in this country, I would expect God to do anything.  This entire process this time around – from getting money to being here today, battling this headache - seems like a never ending battle; so I don’t know what to expect this week.

Lisa and I are on the road now.  We just stopped for a drink of water.  Well…they did anyway.  We can’t drink this water.  The villages we went to so far are the most remote I have seen both this year and last year.  The gospel message we’ve preached has been pretty much the same approach as last year, teach creation to the ressurection, giving a simple plan of salvation as “all of sinned” and showing them they are separated from God willfully and belieing in Christ is that bridge to everlasting life because He is the son of God.  Lisa has been giving a short testimony and helping play a few games with the kids.  That is one thing I’ve noticed here, you embrace the people’s children and they embrace you and your words.  Several Banjara men and women have come forward wanting to be believers; that and be prayed for about their health issues and finances.

Lisa fell ill on the way back to the hostel tonight, she was sick to her stomach.  Her neck was sunburned pretty bad, so she may have just got too much sun.  Might have been the car ride.  I don’t blame her, I had to take a motion sickness pill too.

All in all the trip is going well.  There was one instance today that I thought we might have a fight on our hands.  A man did not want us preaching Jesus in HIS village.  The man is apparrantly a big time idol worshiper and he’s the elder who gets all the cash and sacrifices offered to the temple from his village.  One of the pastors in our group has preached there 3 times before and a man there converted to Christ and quit offering money and sacrifices to the idols as he’s taking a stand for Jesus.  The elder of the village was furious because he told the pastor not to come back.  Now, he shows up with white people from America preaching Jesus.  I thought fists were going to fly, but was able to talk them into leaving as Christ told us to ”shake the dust from our feet” and move on.  

The pastor who had been there before said when they go around and sing praises in Christ’s name in the villages, it drives out evil spirits. The demons of idol worship are defeated and powerless when the songs are sung so the Holy Spirit then has room to work and people will quit worshipping idols and quit drinking.  Sounds a lot like Steve’s dream doesn’t it?

I fell asleep after we got back from visiting the thandas.  Sush woke us up to come visit and share our experiences in the villages.  I made it through but my head was pounding.  I don’t know if my head has ever hurt that bad.  I was dizzy and started feeling sick to my stomach because of the pain.  I couldn’t eat anything or even write like I wanted too.  Sush offered for me to call Karen and the boys as everyone else had called their family.  I got the answering machine.  I asked her to pray for me because of the headache that I was dealing with.  I went to bed just sick.  Whatever happened, the headache was better by morning.  Maybe God allows things like that to happen because He wants us to know the love and support of our family through prayers.  I have no doubt Karen was praying the moment she heard the message on the machine.  I will covet her prayers specifically from now on. 

Banjara For Christ 2007-2008 (Day 3)

At 2:30 AM we arrived in Hyderabad.  It took at least another hour to find our luggage; Richard’s checked suit case never arrived.  At 4:00 AM, we laid our heads down on pillows to get a few hours rest.  Now it’s 8:00 AM Hyderabad time and I’m wide awake.  It’s funny how just a few hours of laying down and resting can revive a person.

The city hasn’t changed much in a year.  The same terrible things I saw from last time are still here.  People with deformities are begging in the streets.  Dozens of grown adults lay trying to stay warm under store awnings just wanting a decent nights rest.  It makes me wonder how so many people can be in the same sad situation.  Is it a lack of will that keeps them in the streets?  Have they just grown so accustomed to begging that they just won’t do anything else?

Last night a boy came up to our group begging for money.  His arm was so mangled and gnarley looking.  It wasn’t bad enough that his hand appeared to be drawn up – but his fingers were bent toward a misplaced wrist, the opposite direction of his palm.  His arm formed almost an “S” which should be impossible with a human arm; but there it was.  The boy said nothing, he just kept putting that poor, freakish hand up to his mouth as if to say “eat, eat.”  You could almost get the impression he knew how bad his arm looked and he used it to his greatest advantage.  I felt so bad for this guy.  How in the world can men live this way?

Today’s schedule is some what up in the air.  Sush and Damodar are supposed to pick us up at around 10.  That is all we know for certain at this point.  I’m missing home already.

We’ve arrived at our “hostel” in a different town than last year.  It’s better than the one in Khummum I think.  We all have plenty of room and the room itself seems cool enough.  Though right now it’s pretty warm everywhere.  I’m probably just a little nervous.  We’re getting ready to go out and preach in just one village Sush said; though I’ll not be surprized if it turns out to be two or three.  I hope I can remember how to do this.  Lisa Forehand I believe will be accompanying me.  She’s about to see a side of me she’s never seen before…

Indeed, not just one village, but three.  The evangelism went well.  A couple of dozen people expressed an interest in becoming Christians.  I learned a couple of things myself.  Lisa did good as well.  Tomorrow will be a long day, but right now I am so tired the week looks as though it will never end.  I’ll shower in the morning…