The Legacy

The Legacy
150 Churches in India use this sign

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Wednesday


This morning at about 5:30 or so the power went off; so we sweltered for awhile, about an hour and a half, I think. Then they played the electrical version of "let's mess with their minds;" the power would go on for about five minutes and then go off again. This happened about 4 times. It's been on now for about 15 minutes and I have HOPE!! (uh oh, spoke too soon - it's off again!)It's hot and humid enough so that when the overhead fans stop, you wake up and your sheets and pillow get even more sweat soaked. Oh yeah, the rooster with the weird crow also kicked in about the same time and the unknown woman who does laundry every morning was back at work ("doing laundry" involves slapping your wet, soapy clothes against a stone - right out side our window it seems). We'll, we didn't come here to sleep.
We started late on Wednesday, yesterday, but did quite a bit. Due to getting in so late the morning was spent catching up on rest. We had an INCREDIBLE lunch featuring crab, biryani and mutton stuffed chicken legs. We left for a village with a name I can't remember (and there's no one around to ask) at about 3 PM where Tim, for the third time this trip, set the cornerstone of a new church building. This involved him descending into a chin-deep hole dug for a support pillar and cementing 9 bricks in place. Tim's turning into quite the brick layer. The folks at this church were great; huge smiles, very welcoming and they sincerely seemed to not want us to leave. Our departure, tho', caused our team's first presonality clash (although this was totally one sided) when Jordan had an attack of jealosy when the girls gave me more flowers than they gave him. As much as it pained me to do so, I had to report this failure of Christian charity to Pastor Tim. As Jordan is Tim and Don's intern, I hold them totally responsible.
We then went to Victor Babu's church where we, New Song, sponsored a medical clinic. Numerous medications were purchased and a doctor vounteered to diagnose and prescribe. I think the number of folks who received medical attention was over 400 during the course of the day.
While the clinic was going on Philip, Madou and Anil drove Kent and I about 45 minutes away to take a look at a 135 foot concrete statue of Hunaman, a Hindu diety whom I call "Monkey Boy" (having a hard time with respect for idols this morning). I had seen this statue from the waist down three years ago as we drove by to a jungle church and Victor was kind enough to arrange for us to get a look at the whole thing this time. I read on the internet that this is the tallest statue of this particular Hindu personality - an interesting local sight. Hunaman is popular is this area of India, you see more statues of him around than the other dieties, although Ganesh, the elephant, is also a local fav. There are also numerous statues of famous Indians in most villages and in this area, Ambedkar statues outnumber Gandhi's. Gandhi, I believe, was more active in northern India. Our area also has a large number of the "former" untouchable caste, which was Ambedkar's caste. Ambedkar, or Babu Sahib as he is affectionatly known, was one of the first untouchables to recieve an advanced education, was trained as an attorney in England (as was Gandhi, Nehru and a number of other prominent Indians, later became independant India's first Minster of Law and was the father of the Indian constitution. Interesting man, he and Gandhi didn't see eye to eye.
After the medical clinic we went to Victor Babu's house / church, the place where Tim was ordained a bishop three years ago. As they always do when we have time prior to a service, our hosts gave us a room to ourselves where we could relax and then have dinner; their hospitality is certainly a model for us to emulate. The following church service was really good; I'm just amazed at the warmth and friendliness of these folks.
Today, we'll be attending a wedding where Tim will participate in the officiating. A local pastor is getting married. Later tonight we'll be attending one more open air meeting, our last service here in Andra Pradesh.
I took my morning walk a fdw minutes ago with some of the boys 'cause due to the sleep interruption I couldn't rouse Kent out of bed. As always, folks just eagerly greet me with huge smiles and many want prayer, either for themselves or for their children. One woman came running up, calling for me to stop (at least I think that's what she was saying), came up and hugged me and went on for quite some time in Telegu about something I know God understood; I sure didn't! She seemed pretty happy so I don't think she was having physical issues but after praying with her she went on again for some time, fairly ecstatically about something or other. Who knows?
One last thing - you need to pray for Kent. He is losing it, becoming almost neurotically attached to his, "lungee," or however it's spelled - the loincloth popular with many Indian men. He insists on wearing it here at "home" and is threatening (I can use no other word for it) to wear it to church. Trust me, that is NOT what anyone wants to happen!

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