Wrapping up in India

Well, the days since Wednesday have been a real blur. We arrived in Aurangabad, said to be the fastest growing city in Asia, around noon on Wednesday. We met with a pastor and his family for lunch and to hear their amazing story of heartache and sorrow and how God turned this into new joy and a new church. We also met with a group of women and children who meet in their home for prayer and worship on a regular basis.

That evening we joined a youth group at another Nazarene church, who had invited Dolphy to come and present information with them about the Nazarene Youth International in the rest of the country as well as the rest of the Eurasia Region. Their hunger to be part of something bigger than themselves, to join in with their peers across the region, inspired a bunch of ideas that Dolphy and I will talk about in greater depth this Sunday.

Thursday, a young man from the church was kind enough to take Dolphy and I on a worldwind tour of the Ellora Caves (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellora_Caves), a cluster of 34 caves with Buddhist, Hindu and Jain temples cut out of the rock between the 5th and the 10th centuries. The ancient sculptures and architecture was absolutely amazing.

After this, we enjoyed a drive through the dry, sandy plains, surrounded by high mesas and lots of Moghul ruins to get back to the city.

In the city there is a large monument that was built in the 17th century, intended to be a copy of the Taj Mahal, which is in the north of India in a city called Agra. However, the funds were too limited and eventually they built the monument with less quality materials and made it a little smaller. However, this is as close as I may ever get to the Taj Mahal, so I really wanted to see it. I loved it. :-) It was beautiful and impressive.

We rushed back to our hotel around 5:30 to meet a young woman who had volunteered to share her testimony for publication. All I can say right now is that after 2 hours of listening to her, I was shocked, emotional and in awe of what God can do in making someone a brand new creation, transforming them utterly and renewing and reconciling broken relationships. I can't wait to get this story written up to share.

Every day of this past week, when I've gotten back to my room (around 11 p.m. or 12 a.m.), I've then worked online with our intern communications team back in Germany to assist them in putting together their first edition of our regional monthly newsletter, Where Worlds Meet. I felt badly that they only got started working with us a couple of days before I left for India, and I hadn't had much time at all to get them oriented and trained. They've done a great job managing on their own, and so I just spent a few hours each evening in the room editing the stories and advising them on the newsletter. That generally kept me up even later every day.

Friday, we flew out of Aurangabad to the farthest east side of the country to Kolkata (Calcutta) which is Dolphy's home town. Her family helped me get settled in a hotel about 5 minutes from their home last night. I was so relieved to be able to sleep from 11 p.m. to about 9:30 a.m. today, however I didn't sleep well at all. I woke up about once an hour until maybe 6 a.m. and after that I began waking up every 15-30 minutes. Finally about 8 a.m. I gave up and got up. I've been relaxing in my room and got some breakfast.

I'm really looking forward to my first full day off since I arrived. Dolphy and her mom will be meeting me about 11:30 a.m. and we'll first stop at the Missionaries of Charity, where Mother Teresa gave her life in ministry to the poor of India, which spawned branches in 133 countries.


After that, we're going to New Market, a famous, historic marketplace with over 2,000 vendors selling everything from jewelry and saris to home decor, vegetables and foods and even raw meats. It is said to be an amazing experience, where you bargain with sellers and just take it all in. It was first established by the British in the 1800s.

If there's time later, we'll go to see the Ganges River and a few other sites in the city.

Tomorrow I'm looking forward to worshipping with Dolphy's family in their church and just resting. Then, Monday, I will be flying from Kolkata to Mumbai (Bombay) where I will catch my connecting flight at 1 a.m. local time Tuesday to Zurich. I am thankful that it's a direct, 8-hour flight, as the first flights we were looking at booking would have had me doing anywhere from a 9- to 18-hour layover in  one of several Middle East countries. At this point I am too tired to consider something exhausting like that.

I expect to arrive in Zurich at 6 a.m. local time where Andrew will pick me up (man, I have missed him!!!!). I plan to go home and sleep for the rest of the day!

Thank you so much for all your prayers. I realize God has done even more through this trip than I ever expected. I thought I would simply be offering some training and gathering lots of stories. Not that these are in any way insignificant objectives. However, I did not realize how encouraging and inspiring our visit would be to young Nazarenes in these corners of India where they at times struggle with feelings of isolation and disconnection with the greater Church of the Nazarene. Dolphy tells me that these amazing young leaders are feeling really boosted, empowered and inspired for their ministry. I really loved hearing their testimonies for how their eyes were opened to all the ways that God can use their stories and the stories of Nazarenes in India to touch the lives of Nazarenes all the way across the world in the United States, or in Europe, or in Australia or Asia or Africa.

Meeting with and talking with these young people has gotten my creative juices going and I'll be going home with more ideas that I hope to develop in consultation with colleagues both in Europe, in India and in the U.S.

The communications leader for the South Asia Field, which includes Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, has been communicating with Dolphy and ever since we met in Turkey last October, has been talking about conducting a similar training there to establish their own field communication team. They are consulting about setting a deadline to establish this by November. I am excited to see how India may be an inspiration and model for other fields to follow their example and establish field and district level communications teams.

Thank you for your all your prayers for this trip and for me and Dolphy. I think it is impossible at this point to anticipate all that God has done and will do through our time together and your prayers.

Monday in Chikhli

This morning, Dolphy and I were privileged to go and visit the home of a family who were willing to share their story for publication. I spent about an hour with help from someone interpreting to find out how this family had accepted Christ and how He had been faithful to them through so many hardships. I won't give away the plot just yet, but it was good. :-)

They have a rooftop terrace and I went up there to take some pictures of the surrounding slum. If there's one thing I've noticed about people in India, it's that you cannot sneak anything by them. They are incredibly observant. It was just moments before people all around the area who were outside working, walking, eating, talking with other people, hanging up their clothes to dry, were shouting and waving. By the time I got back down to the ground floor and outside, the house was surrounded by people, mostly kids. I made some videos of them and they thought that was awesome.

Back at the district center, about 20 people had arrived to participate in the Central Maharashtra District's two-day communication training. We met in the chapel on campus. I taught three lessons out of the five I brought with me. Dolphy did a live interview with one of the participants so everyone could observe how it is done.

We had a good time with the group, who will come back tomorrow afternoon having had an assignment to write a short article about the district's new church planting and leadership strategy.

In the morning I am expecting to visit another family with a beautiful story, as well as to interview the previous district superintendent, and the parents of the current field strategy coordinator. We will continue with the training around 2:30 p.m.

Wednesday, we'll be saying goodbye to the wonderful people here as we travel a few hours away to Araungabad. Already I'm dreading that goodbye. I've enjoyed all the family meals and casual chats here, getting to know the welcoming and loving hearts in the families here.

The Rat Race

Enjoy this video of the drama that unfolded in our room in Chikhli last night. :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K1WaMf6hyc&feature=youtu.be

Sunday in Chikhli

Yesterday I enjoyed a great time of worship with the Nazarene church in Chikhli. They invited me to share my personal testimony with them, which I did through an interpreter. Dolphy preached. They honored us with flower leis (not sure what they are called here) and also took a love offering for the field's new communication ministry and presented that to Dolphy. They even prayed for Colorado Springs and all those who are affected by the fires there last week.

After the service, we returned to the district center for a big family meal, eaten while seated on the floor which is a more common way of eating here. In the afternoon, Rev. Yangad took us with his family on a drive around the area, while a monsoon storm rolled in, cooling everything down. While we were out driving, we passed a number of ox-powered carts, which were loaded with people and objects. Rev. Yangad asked one passing cart if they would let me ride with them briefly. The family in the cart thought this was hilarious and agreed. I really enjoyed that experience.

We visited two families from the church in their homes and I got a first glimpse of their amazing stories. We plan to go back for proper interviews and I can't wait to find out more of what God has done in their lives. We also prayed with them.

After a typical Maharashtra dinner in Shada's home (Rev. Yangad's sister who lives with her husband and their son in another house on the district center property), we came back and I went to bed early.

It's Monday morning now and today we'll be going back for the interviews with the families and then at 3 p.m. we'll begin a two-day communication workshop here for about 20 people from the Central Maharashtra District.

The weather has been great -- very cool and not too humid, most of the time. My digestive system is still trying to adjust to bigger meals spread farther apart, and all the spices. But I'm enjoying the food a lot.

Well, time to get ready for the day. Thanks again for your prayers!