Nagaland
One of the whole reasons we decided to go to India in the first place was because Kim had a friend who lived in the Northeastern state of Nagaland who really wanted her to come and visit. Kim got to know Asha in Bangkok last year as they were both serving together in an organization that ministers to prostitutes. Asha has since returned to her homeland to start a similar ministry to women in crisis.
Nagaland is actually a recent addition to the country of India: it came under the government of India in the late 1940s, and since that time the Naga people have been fighting for their independence. Because of that, we had to get a special, extremely specific visa to get into that part of the country and spend some time in an official's office upon our arrival at the train station. The Naga people and culture is really not very much like the rest of India. Traditionally, they are a hill tribe people and they looked more Burmese than they do Indian. It was interesting to see the blend of Indian and Asian cultures while visiting that part of the country.
Getting there was rather difficult. They whole planning process was difficult because not much information was available online or in our travel books and contact with Asha beforehand was even sporadic. Even while in Delhi, we didn't know exactly how to get to where we wanted to end up or how long it would take us. Made for some interesting adventures! : ) We ended up spending almost 2 days getting there, 2 days getting back, taking planes, trains and buses, and only about 3 1/2 days actually with Asha, - but being there made it all worthwhile.
I don't think I've ever experience such gracious hospitality and care than from Asha and the Christians in Nagaland. We stayed in Dimapur, the largest city in Nagaland, and Asha arranged for us to stay in a guesthouse/retreat-center used for missionaries. She had a huge room prepared for us with a Western bathroom, a kitchen nearby with several women who prepared breakfast for us each morning (WAY more than we could eat!) and did our laundry. The place had a beautiful garden and grassy area and was just delightful. Asha's uncle owned a guesthouse of his own, but Asha decided that it wasn't comfortable or quiet enough for us and that she wanted to have us stay in the best place in the city, so her Uncle decided to pay for us to stay there! They were so kind!
Amazingly enough, Nagaland is about 90% professing-Christian. The story of the how the gospel entered that region of the world is just incredible! Over 125 years ago some missionaries came to a nearby tribe to share the gospel with them. That tribe wasn't very interested in the gospel, so the missionaries instead went to the Nagas, who at the time were a head-hunting people. One by one, whole tribes turned to Christ and gave up their former way of life. Now there are tons of churches, schools and seminaries in that state, most of them Baptist. In fact, I read on wikipedia that Nagaland is "the most populated Baptist state in the world" with 75% of the population being Baptist - even more than Mississippi's 52% Baptist population! And in some ways it felt like being in the "Bible-belt" in the SE US! We went to Asha's church that Sunday and sat in pews in a beautiful, large sanctuary with high ceilings that reminded me of Emmanuel Baptist Church where I went as a young child. They played all of the familiar Baptist hymns I knew translated into Nagamese on an out-of-tune piano. And the church was filled with hill-tribe, Asian people! It was pretty wild.
They were all so kind, too! We got invited over to several people's houses for dinner and almost everyone we met thanked us for coming to visit them (we were the only foreigners there - not the sort of place that foreigners come through very often!). It was so very humbling. The first night we ate at the house of one of Asha's seminary professors. His great-grandfather was the first person to accept Christ in their tribe and his grandfather was the first one to go to school and become an evangelist. He told us that every 25 years they all have a huge celebration and retell the story of how the missionaries came to their people and shared the gospel with them!
While there we also got to visit Asha's new ministry center and meet the women she serves. We attended their prayer service: most are Christians who have been forced to a way of life that they don't want to be in. It was really heart-breaking to be there. They were all incredibly gracious though as well and were so glad to have us there, as they had prayed for a long time for
us and our safe journey to their country. We also visited the Oriental Theological Seminary where Asha received her M.Div. It was about 30 minutes or more outside the city and was almost like a camp or retreat-center in the way it was set up. All the students (there are about 60 there, 10 professors) spoke excellent English, as they learn/study the Bible in English, and we were able to fellowship with them over dinner (where they also thanked us for eating with them!). It was pretty incredible to hear their stories and to find out more about the seminary.
God richly blessed us in Nagaland and opened my eyes to His power and work in a new way. It was very exciting to see the power of the gospel firsthand!
Kolkata
Again, from my journal...
I don't think I've ever been to a place like this before. It's not like Bangkok or even Delhi are beautiful, clean cities devoid of slums or poor neighborhoods, but they don't even compare to what I've seen tonight.
Our plane arrived at 11:15 p.m. and we easily found a taxi to take us to our guesthouse about 20 minutes or so from the airport. The first thing I noticed were all of the apartment buildings, completely run-down, shabby on the outside with rags hanging in the windows. "Must be one of the poorer parts of town," I thought. Then it was the rows and rows of shacks lining the sidewalks- little makeshift "homes" that hardly seemed large enough for someone to lay down in. Hundreds in every direction. True slums. But the further we went into the city, the more people I saw - actually home
less - sprawled everywhere on the sidewalks. I've never seen so many people on the streets. Laying on mats and covered in rags, they looked comparable to the filthy, detestable soi (street) dogs I've grown to disdain in Bangkok. And yet, these are ones made in the image of God. I'm not sure I've ever seen a place or situation so sad.
Our guesthouse is quite a sight. It has bars on the entrance and windows, fortunately, but the whole interior looks about as run-down as the exterior of the buildings we passed. As we walked to our room, we walked by two men stretched out on the floor of the upstairs hallway. In our room they had 3 very hard beds without blankets (but with tiny bugs crawling on them, as we discovered later), 2 loud fans and a bathroom that looked almost like the public bathrooms I've used all week (ok, as shabby but maybe a little cleaner). Oh, and they left us an already opened bottle of water with maybe an inch of water left in it. With no clean water, I'm choosing to
not brush my teeth tonight. : ) Yet it all seems several steps up from the sights on the streets, so I feel strangely grateful. And not just for the richness of life I normally walk in but for the opportunity to partake tonight, in a small way, of the poverty that so many across the world live in.
Delhi, India
For Spring break this year, two teacher-friends of mine, Kristi and Kim, and I struck off to India for 10 days. It's been on my list of places to go while in this part of the world and I've been wanting to go there for a while. We had quite the adventure! There's so much that could be said about it that it's hard to know where to start, but for the sake of clarity, I thought I'd divide our trip up into 3 parts - Delhi, Nagaland, and "transit" to and from Nagaland (including Kolkata - Nagaland is in the very NE part of the country and somewhat difficult to get to so it took us a while!). Here's some excerpts from my journal about Delhi:
We arrived in Delhi late Friday night and spent 4 full days there. I must say that India is not like anywhere I've ever been before and totally unlike Thailand or the other SE Asian countries I've visited this past year. In a word, I'd say India is nuts.
Everything is different: the people, the religion(s), the clothes, the architecture, the vehicles and traffic, the food - everything. Many things are wonderful and I'm excited to experience it all - been wanting to for a while - but because it
is so different, I've found myself rather overwhelmed and not able to process it all very well. Almost more than in Thailand, I've undergone a lot of culture shock the last few days.
So, because it's so overwhelming, I'll just form a random list of highlights, "lowlights" and observations from our days in Delhi:
~ the people: they're beautiful, albeit seem rough, aggressive and rude after living in Thailand. I LOVE seeing the women, though, dressed in their colorful, flowing sarees with long beautiful hair and lots of jewelry on. They are just very beautiful.
~ the food: definitely a treat. I haven't tried a whole lot I don't like - it's all wonderfully spicy and very different from anything I've tasted. We did have some street food one night with Sarah and Susie, one snack of which was a little odd: a shell/bowl-like crispy thing with a dollop of spicy potato mixture inside and then the remainder of the shell filled with cold water. You put the whole shell in your mouth at once and crunched. Weird texture, but interesting.
~ traffic/roads: they're nuts. I don't think I'll ever be able to call Bangkok's traffic crazy again! Constant honking of horns, rough pavement, way too many cars, "autos" (cute little cars, kind of like a Thai tuk-tuk - almost reminded me of something from Richard Scarry's children books!), motorcycles, rickshaws, bicycles all crowded in whatever spaces were available on the streets, all with way-too-aggressive drivers. Oh, and throw in several cows, goats, a few camels and an occasional elephant wandering around. Makes for an interesting ride. (If you were able to move. A few times it was all too congested that we just had to sit there!)
~ one immense blessing was our very gracious hostesses in Delhi: Sarah and Susie. Sarah is a teacher and friend of Kristi and her roommate was working for a Christian business in Delhi. Their apartment was delightful - a haven of rest in the midst of the craziness! - and they were so generous and hospitable in their care for us. But these girls themselves were the greatest delight - immediate friends. We all really enjoyed hearing their perspectives on Indian culture, asking questions and listening to their stories, as well as "debriefing" after our full days. Great times of fellowship. They showed us around the city some and helped with our trip-planning. We definitely couldn't have done this trip without them.
~ Sunday morning worship at Delhi Bible Fellowship. The girls took us to their church for worship and it was a tremendous blessing in every way! I came to the service that morning with the prayers that God would speak the gospel to me through it (sometimes I really need others to remind me of the truths of the gospel - I don't always believe it in the same way when I read it or just tell myself). God abundantly answered that prayer. Christ was in every part of that service - from the Scripture and confession readings and preaching to the music, prayers and Lord's supper. And how awesome it was to see a room full (maybe 75-100?) of people, the majority of which were Indians, worshipping Jesus Christ and to hear several Indian men praying during the service and administering the sacraments. After just a day of observing (and hearing about) a level of brokenness, poverty and sin in this world that I had not known previously, it was beautiful to behold the One who has the power and love to redeem and restore it all (and is even now at work doing that very thing!).
~ the Taj Mahal.
Definitely a highlight! As beautiful, majestic and awe-inspiring as any description I've read said it was - perhaps even more so. Also beautiful was the Agra Fort and Red Fort in Delhi and the Jama Masjid mosque we visited. What grand, amazing works of architecture! And I love just being surrounded by walls, towers, minarets and structures that are so much larger than I am - the feeling of being very small while surrounded by such architectural grandeur.
Fam
Tonight I had a get-together with the women on the MTW team and I invited Fam to join us. During the course of the evening, I asked her how she knew about Adam and Eve and where she had heard the little bit she knew about Jesus. When she told me that she had seen part of a movie about Jesus and read something about Adam and Eve in books, she said that she'd like to read more about it. I told her she ought to read the Bible. At first she wondered if the writing would be too difficult to understand, but I got out one of mine and showed her which parts would be the best to read for what she wanted to learn about (those "beginning" stories and about Jesus' life). While the others were talking, she sat there and started to read some of the places I had pointed out. I told her she could borrow that Bible and she said she was would really like to read it - and that if she didn't understand something, she would just ask me.
It's like a dream come true for me! I have been thinking recently how wonderful it would be to study the Bible with her and it looks like that's going to happen, in an informal way. Please keep praying for my friend - that God will open her eyes to the truth and beauty of the gospel!
Urgency of the gospel
Tonight I had the privilege of sharing the gospel with my dear neighbors, A and Fam. I am so very far behind on blogging that I have not written anything about my trip to Vietnam (or now to India!) and the amazing way that God brought the three of us together - hopefully that will come later - so I hesitate to even share this now except that I am so very grateful that God answered my prayer today to allow me to share more fully about Jesus Christ with them!
How interesting it is/was to share the story of the Bible and talk about Jesus to people who know so little about Him! I guess I do it every day with my students at school, but because the teacher/student relationship is so different and they are so respectful and childlike, they always just listen respectfully (sometimes very eagerly!) and don't always question it (although sometimes they do!). Also, they are hearing it from many of us at ICS, so they are developing an idea of who Jesus is. My neighbors are very solid Buddhists - actually some of the few Thais I've met that seem to be genuinely and thoughtfully/purposely trying to follow the teachings of Buddha and who are earnestly trying to live wise and good lives. I like them very much and surprisingly, I've found that we have many common convictions as to how to live life and/or similar standards - only, of course, our whole reason behind it is different. But they are very good people - far more than I am - generous and loving. And I love spending time with them!
Tonight after dinner I mentioned that our friends Andrew and Becky (MTW missionaries that they also know) were going to return to America for 3 years to go to school to study the Bible (at Covenant Seminary). A was shocked - "the Bible?!" He wondered why it would take 3 whole years to study the Bible. That led to him sharing with me the Buddhist view of life and afterlife and some of what he learned when he was a monk for several months. Then he asked about the Bible. So I told them what the Bible said - the whole story that I've grown to love this past year even so much more than I did before. : )
Again, so interesting the things they had no idea about - and what surprised and shocked them. When I spoke of Jesus' coming back to life again, A's mouth dropped open and he said, "What?! After he was dead he came back?!" He had never heard of such a thing. At some points, he looked at me like he couldn't believe I believed all of what I was saying and I realized how radical it must sound to someone who's never heard it before. And yet, they (especially Fam) listened very thoughtfully, and knowing them, they'll probably continue to think about it. At least, I pray that they will! Please pray with me for them and their salvation. I am really growing to love this couple very much and it grieves me to think about them being apart from Christ!
I have felt such a weight of conviction and urgency concerning the gospel the last several days. Part of it, I know, was brought on by the sights I saw in India - the brokenness and poverty and lostness there. It's all just so overwhelming to me. I've never encountered such brokenness before as I have in the last couple of years and even in the last few weeks. And I'm coming to see how it is all the result of man's "fall" - our sin and rebellion against God. And yet, more and more I am
convinced that there is no other solution to this brokenness, injustice, poverty and sin than Jesus Christ. He IS the answer! The only One who is able to heal, redeem and restore this broken earth and make it what it was supposed to be. And, praise God, He WILL! I know He will, and I long for that day more and more as time goes on. Every imperfection in this world and in myself causes me to hunger after the perfection He will bring. But even as I pray for His coming, I find myself praying against it - afraid that if He comes too soon and judges the nations, He will find many who have not trusted in Him. And so I wrestle in prayer for His mercy on those peoples surrounding me - so few of whom have even heard about Him.
Last night I woke up in the middle of the night after (in the middle of?) a rather strange dream and I sat up in bed with the thought - "I've
got to tell every person I come in contact with about Jesus - that He is the answer to their every grief and problem - before it's too late!" I soon went back to sleep and when I woke up this morning and thought about it with a more awake brain, it almost seemed silly to me that I would even think that in my 1/2-asleep delirium. Sadly, that's not how I normally think. And yet, that same sense of urgency has been with me this entire day, making me all the more grateful to be able to unleash that desire tonight over dinner.
Please pray that I will continue to feel this way and will have the boldness to bring this hope to the many who are lost around me! It is a rather "urgent" time spiritually at our school: over spring break one of our students (a 7th grader - from India) died suddenly. I didn't know her, but her death has obviously impacted many of the other students and teachers. My prayer is that as our students grieve her loss and encounter the shortness of their own life, they will find hope in Christ and see their need to turn to Him
now and not later. Again, please pray to this end!
