I may ramble a little bit - we got in at about 2:30 AM this morning and as usual, I can't sleep past the time my body thinks it's time to get up, which was 7 AM. It was a very long but rewarding day yesterday.
We traveled to Satyavaram to one of Pastor Bnejamin's churches to dedicate their new building. The smaller, village streets were packed as yesterday was the Hindu new year. I had a few tense moments when, just before we got to where we were going, we encountered a "religious" festival in the middle of this village. As usual, the drivers here seem to think (as oppossed to the U.S. -note the sarcasm!) that once they're behind the wheel of a car they assume something similar to the divine right of kings. We're in this large Tata van, similar to a Dodge/Chevy type van, trying to literally inch our way through this crowd of humanity with a blasting horn, aggressive hand gestures on the part of the driver and his verbal "encouragement" for people to get out of our way. All I could think of was what would happen if he torked someone off, or worse, hit soemebody, which seemed very likely, and having the whole crowd find us jointly responsible. However, thank God, we passed through unscathed.
This driver was on an Indian scale of manical drivers about a 6-8 out of 10. On the smaller roads he didn't seem to want to ever shift out of the acceleration opportunities offered by second gear and on the way back from the beach where Tim did some baptisms, he made Benjamin, Philip's little boy, car sick. Lots of fun.
But, when we got to Satyavaram the church folks were waiting for us outside their new brick, wood and thatch church building. The pic above was taken from inside the church. Check out Kent's FB site, I'm sure he'll upload more pictures. Tim prayed a dedication, cut the ribbon and we all entered for a brief service.
During the service, tho', some guy stuck his head under the thatch roof and said something to a woman and made her leave. I was watching him - he didn't look supportive. Another woman said something to him that appeared to be, "Get lost pal," (in Christian sort of way of course) and he left. I tried to watch him but couldn't see where he went. We were later told he objected to his wife being in church and made her go home where he beat her up. I share this because of the example of the dedication some of these folks demonstrate in their committment to their Christianity. I know this kind of stuff happens in the U.S. as well, but it's frustrating and very upsetting but at home, I can do something about it.
Less tragic but also revealing is the Indian's willingness to be baptized-they just don't like the water. We went to the Indian Ocean where the sand was clean, the water bath-warm and where Tim and Pastor Bnejamin baptized 8 new Christians. This beach was gorgeous, the day was beautiful and no one but us was there. The Indians don't seem to view water as a recreational opportunity as a general rule and Tim said even Pastor Benjamin was worried about being a little more than waist deep in the waves. But Tim said it was the best place to baptize he's ever experienced here. He did mention as he usually does that for the Indians to get in the water and submit to baptism, being afraid to be in water in the first place, is real evidence of their comittment. After doing so, we did what everyone does at the beach - enjoyed it. Kent and Jordan started a sand castle and as we were getting ready to leave this edifice faced the fate of all sand castles, the rising tide.
We then returned to the second of Pastor Benjamin's churches (many of these pastors have the responsibility of more than one congregation). The four of us had a chance to rest for a little while, Tim was able to wash and change into clean clothes and we then had a large, outdoor service. Kent and I both shared a little bit, and Tim did the main message. Pastor Victor had mercy on us; he asked those who wanted prayer to kneel and wait for us rather than coming up front. I hate to say it but it did make praying for everyone go a little faster, otherwise we might still be there. Why would that be bad, I ask?
Thankfully there is A LOT less traffic on these little streets coming back at night then heading out, so the trip home didn't seem that long. I know we don't have anything on today until sometime this afternoon so maybe I'll get a nap.
Nah, don't think so . . .
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