Moriah Children's Home--Friday, Jan. 19

The morning began with a visit to the Moriah Children's Home to present the banner Diana Miller made from some artwork children from All Saints created. Karuna Dasari arranged the have all of the students from the Moriah School assembled for a program. I went with Michael and Donna Albrecht as well as the three college age women working with the BFLC until June. We were blessed to hear probably a dozen songs sung by the children. Donna and the young women reciprocated with songs of their own. I also had the opportunity to present the banner and brings greetings to them from the All Saints community. It was a nice start to the day.

After the program, we jumped in a car so that Karuna could show us one of the areas just outside Guntur, Swarna Bharathi Nagar, that burned in August of 2006. 1500 thatched home were burnt to the ground. From the BFLC newsletter of December, "Nothing was left in these home after the fires, and already poor people were left with even less. About 60 children come to Moriah School from there. These children lost their school uniforms, supplies, and books in the fire." Fortunately, no was killed because the fire happened during the day. The children were at school and at least one parent was at work. Those who were there were able to escape the flames. However, when kids and others returned after a day at school and work all they found was a smoldering piece of land where their homes once stood. For the past six months families have lived in makeshift tent buildings as they await the construction of new homes at the expense of the Indian government. The fire started after an argument between two families. One family decided to burn the other families house to the ground in an act of retaliation. I think there is a lesson here about conflict, to all of us, even in the U.S.

The pictures show both the affected area, and the neighborhood right next to it that didn't burn. The thatched roof homes in the unaffected area are what the burned area used to look like.

After lunch, we boarded the train to travel back to Hyderabad to catch our flight to the U.S. at 3am Saturday morning. Peter and Daniel, the two pastors who had met me in Hyderabad when I arrived escorted us to the station in Guntur. I joked with them saying, "I'm staying on the train this time!" (Read the BLOG "Arrival in Hyderadad--Saturday, Jan. 13" for the story.) We all laughed.

Once in Hyderabad, Shalem Raju called Dr. Luther Paul of the AELC (Andrha Evangelical Lutheran Church) seminary in Guntur so that we could meet with him and a couple of the professors there . Following our meeting, Dr. Paul invited us to his home for dinner with he and his family and then allowed us to stay at his home to rest before we headed to the airport around 12:30am. A blessing to end our trip.

Nachugunta, India--Thursday, Jan. 18

Thursday morning we met with all of the 35+ plus pastors of the BFLC to discuss the important topic of ordination of nine of them in January of 2008. After a three and half hour meeting, it was decided to appoint Pastor Shalem Raju as the lead pastor of the BFLC and the officiant of the ordinations. It was an important and historic step in the development of the BFLC ministry, and a natural choice to formally appoint Shalem as the spiritual leader of the group.

The meeting started and ended much later than we had planned. We had hoped to leave Guntur for Nachugunta no later than noon. Unfortunately, we didn't sit down for lunch until around 1:30pm and didn't get in the Safari until 2pm. It would be another three hours until we'd get to the edge of the Krishna River to take the pontoon across the river to the island where Nachugunta is located.

When we got to the pontoon at 5pm there were a few people milling around the shore line waiting the arrival of the pontoon from the island. Fifteen minutes later, it docked on our side, but no one got on. We found out that we'd have to wait for the bus that travels to and from local villages daily to arrive because it carried passengers for the boat. Forty-five minutes later, we finally got on the pontoon and began to cross the Krishna. It was 6pm.

Here's the problem we faced at 6pm: The sun was setting and the last pontoon from the island to the mainland was at 7pm. As we stood their helplessly waiting for the bus to arrive, we saw our time that we'd be able to spend with the people of the congregation slipping away from us, as well as our ability to see the new construction in daylight. Much to our disappointment we realized that our visit would have to very, very brief. Three hours of travel for a very short visit. Not to mention that the entire three hour ride I was car sick.

6:00pm: We begin to cross the Krishna. On our way we met a young man, in his early 20s, who had grown up in the Moriah Home most of his childhood. (The Moriah Home is the orphanage run by the BFLC that houses arond 50 children ages 5-16 year round). He was heading back to spend time with his family in Nachugunta. He was one of the success stories that the Moriah Home is blessed to hear. After leaving the home, he furthered his education and now works in advertising in Tenali and is doing very well in life. If the Moriah Home hadn't been in existence, who know what would have happened to him.
6:15pm: We arrive on the island and head for the Nachugunta
6:30pm: We park the Safari at the end of a very rough dirt road and walk the rest of the 1/4 mile to the church located at the edge of the village. We begin to examine the construction of the new church building located behind the existing structure. The pictures above of the people outside the existing church building are of congregation members leaving worship at the beginning of January. Below you can see the progress of the construction. The church is about half of the way done. It has been a slower process than anticipated because of the difficulty of getting building materials from a village on the mainland to Nachugunta. The construction will unfortunately be halted for the month of February because the pontoon will be out of service for repairs.


Before we left, we went into the existing sanctuary for prayer and for me to be able to present to the Nachugunta congregation a banner from All Saints. We feel blessed to be part of the partnership to build this congregation's new building. We headed over to Pastor Sudir's house and met his wife and two small children and then unfortunately had to head back to the Safari and then to the pontoon. Many of the people escorted us to our SUV. One woman said to us before we left, "Thank you so much for coming. Next time, please stay longer." We all agreed and wished we could have stayed to share dinner with them.

We got back to the pontoon just in time and arrived back at the Moriah Home around 11pm that evening. Yes, unfortunately, I did manage to get carsick the entire ride back to Guntur.

Wednesday, January 17

Pastor Michael Albrecht of St. James Lutheran Church in St. Paul, Minnesota presented at the symposium, "Preaching the Gospel Lessons." He began by providing a brief overview of the four gospels and the rhythm of the church year. He ended with an examination of the lectionary texts assigned for the four Sundays following the symposium so that the pastors could have a head start in their sermon preparation for the next few weeks.

Also speaking was Dr. Busi Suneel Bhanu, a pastor in the AELC, and currently teaching at the Gurkul Lutheran Theological College and Research Institute in Chennai. He presented on the topic, "Revisioning Lutheran Faith and Role of Pastors in the Dalit Church." I found that having two Indian presenters among the Americans was important because they could speak directly to issues affecting the church today in India, such as Dr. Bhanu's topic. In the future, my hope would be that the symposium is dominated by Indian scholars with an occasional presenter from overseas.

Wednesday afternoon I had the chance to swing a cricket bat. From the balcony overlooking the courtyard at the Andrha Christian College where the symposium was held I noticed some kids playing cricket. I went down just get a few pictures, but they invited me to play with them. I became a source of entertainment for them as they watched me try to swing a cricket bat properly. One kid gave me one of their two bats and told me where to stand, while another kid pitched the ball to me (In Cricket jargon he would be called a "baller"). I swung the bat like a baseball bat even though I started with the bat at my feet like I was told. I was simply reacting to the ball like I was taught when I played American baseball as a kid.

Whack.

A long fly ball to center field. I actually hit the small cricket ball even though I swung the bat wrong.

When I tried to swing the bat right, I could hit the ball. Later that night John Kleinig, our Australian friend, explained to us the ins and outs of cricket. After hearing that cricket games can last days, I decided I'd stick with American baseball.

Tuesday, January 16

On Tuesday, the symposium continued with two persons speaking, Dr. John Kleinig from Lutheran College in North Adelaide, South Australia and Dr. Nakka Victor Luther Paul from Andhra Christian Theological College in Hyderabad, India. Dr. Paul began the morning with a lecture to the pastors in their native tongue. After a day of listening to a lecture in English with Telegu translation, there was a palatable relief felt within the 400 pastors gathered that one of their own would address them. Dr. Paul is quite a gifted speaker, passionate and insightful. Even though I don't know the language, his body language communicated to me a love for the gospel, the people, and the continuous reform of the church. One of the points Dr. Paul made (I learned through an interpreter) was that the Lutheran church in India has been there for 160 years, and yet despite the length of time there, the impact on the culture of India has been minimal. Only he, an Indian man and pastor himself, could get away with such an indictment on the ongoing ministry of the Lutheran church in India.

Dr. Kleinig then spoke the remainder of the day on the real presence of Christ in the sacraments, with those gathered for worship, and with those who preach. He took seriously Jesus' promise, "Where two or more are gathered in my name, there I am." He pointed out that as pastors we are "stewards of the mysteries of God." There is a difference between secrets and mysteries. Secrets are things that are unknown that can be known. Mysteries are unknown things that remain unknown. Our role as pastors, and I would include all Christians, is not to try to explain the mysteries of God, but to be able to be comfortable with the unknown.



An interesting thing happens at most gatherings of Christians in Andrha Pradesh, people begin to sing. Generally, a song leader, usually a pastor, will stand up and begin singing praise songs to which the congregation usually join in singing. It is quite amazing to me simply because of it's uniqueness compared to my experience in America. In America, at every gathering I've ever been, if there is waiting time, there is music played, but it is by CD through speakers or by an organ or piano, but no one dares join in to sing.

Tuesday evening I was invited to speak at a large Lutheran revival meeting held at the Gunta grounds, a large open area in Guntur dedicated to large rallies such as this one. Tuesday night was the second of five nights for this rally. Across Guntur were billboards and banners flying inviting people to attend. The organizers expected nearly 10,000 people to attend each night. It was organized by the AELC (Andrha Evangelical Lutheran Church). On Monday night, Pastor Michael Albrecht of St. James Lutheran in St. Paul, MN spoke.

Around 7pm Tuesday evening I was picked up at the hotel by a small group of BFLC pastors, my escort to the event. When we arrived, the choir was already singing and I was greeted by the president of the AELC and invited to sit at the foot of the stage until I was introduced. I was a bit late getting there, but so were the main speakers for the event, well known brother and sister evangelists and musicians. They showed up probably 15 minutes after I arrived. We were introduced and we all sat on the stage. The festivities officially began. The choirs singing when I arrived were only the warm-up to pass time (remember what I wrote above). Once the "show" began, the choirs sang for over an hour. As I sat on the stage, I looked out and there were indeed probably 10,000 people gathered there that night. It was a surreal moment for me. I thought to myself, "Where am I? How did I get here? I'm the only American here on a stage in Guntur invited to address these people and share with them the love of God in Christ. Why me? Who me?" In my mind's eye I shook my head and rubbed my eyes wondering if what I was experiencing was for real. I was humbled by the honor of being there.

Like I said, the choirs sang for quite some time. I looked at my watch and it said 9:15. I remembered Mike Albrecht telling me that he was finished speaking by 8:30pm. I was convinced in that moment that I wasn't going to be able to speak. We were running out of time. After all the evangelists hadn't even spoken yet. Mentally I stopped preparing my talk and sunk into my chair. At that moment, the president of the AELC approached me on stage while the choir was singing. He leaned over to talk to me in my left ear as I sat there.

"What's your name?" he asked.
I told him even though just an hour ago he introduced me and greeted me when I arrived.
"Where are you from? Australia or America?"
America.
"Ok. Only greetings from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Ten minutes."

Nice.

A minute or two later, his assistant came to me and said, "Only greetings. Five minutes."

They invited me to the podium and I greeted the people from the ELCA and told them that one thing always to remember is that they are deeply loved by God in Christ. Christ comes to us and whispers into our hearts and lives, "You are my beloved. I love you." Short and sweet per their request. Five minutes, maybe.

The evangelists got up and began their sermon with passion and energy. Turns out, they are Pentecostals.

As I sat there listening, Peter Paul one of my escorts got up on stage and made his way inconspicuously behind the chairs to where I was sitting. He poked his head around my chair and said, "Pastor, are you ready to go?" Yes...thank you. We'd just leave now. He told me to just go ahead and walk across the stage and off, right behind the main speakers while they were speaking and in front of the AELC president. Never would be done in the U.S. but in India, one can get away with such a thing.

That night and the next day, people asked how it went for me at the event. I told them about my experience and to the person, they were upset about the decision to cut my portion of the program. After all, the AELC invited us to speak...but it turns out, we were only there to be an international presence, the token American, to symbolize unity with and approval for the event itself. It would have been nice to know that ahead of time. Needless to say, John Kleinig didn't attend the following night.

Thanks for reading.

BFLC Pastor's Symposium--Monday, January 15

Today we began the Lutheran pastor's symposium in Guntur hosted by the Bible Faith Lutheran Church (BFLC). The BFLC is an association of 42 Lutheran churches located in villages across Andrha Pradesh, employing around 35 pastors to serve these congregations. The BFLC also has an orphanage, the Moriah Home which provides housing for nearly 60 children ages 5-16, a seminary to train pastors, and a private Christian school for children.

Paul and David Dasari, co-directors of the BFLC along with Pastor Shalem Raju wanted to reach out to the various Lutheran bodies across Andrha Pradesh (A.P.) to stand together in mission for Christ and colleagues in ministry. Right now there are five or six different Lutheran bodies represented in A.P.: Andrha Evanglical Lutheran Church, Bible Faith Lutheran Church, Confessional Lutheran Church of India, Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church of India, etc. Monday would turn out to be an historic event in the history of the Lutheran movement in India. No where in the 160 year history that Lutherans have been represented in India has such an event, bringing together the various groups together ever happened. The response to the call to register for the event was tremendous with over 400 pastors indicating their commitment to attend.

At 9:30a.m. when the symposium was supposed to begin, there were only less than a hundred pastors attending. Throughout the day and into Tuesday, pastors arrived and the numbers swelled to over 400.

Over the past years, the integrity of the Lutheran church has been compromised, sometimes by the character of it's pastors, but also in it's understanding of the distinctiveness of Lutheran theology. Much of the important theological documents that are foundational to Lutheran theology have never been translated into Telegu, the local language of A.P., requiring the pastors to have the ability to read either English or German. So, for those who attended this symposium a copy of Luther's Small Catechism translated into Telegu was given to each pastor to be used within their congregations. The Small Catechism is an important document to help people live out their callings as disciples of Jesus Christ.

The BFLC invited three western scholars to teach each of the days at the symposium: Dr. John Pless from Concordia Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Pastor Michael Albrecht from St. James Lutheran Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Dr. John Kleinig from a Lutheran seminary (the name escapes me) in Adelaide, Australia. Dr. Pless began our time with a teaching about the Small Catechism and how to utilize it in preaching and teaching (pictured to the right).

Guntur--Sunday, January 14

Today I spoke at the 9am service at St. Matthew Lutheran Church, North Parish in Guntur. The service actually didn't begin until 9:30am and lasted until 11:30am. It was the second service of the morning, the first beginning at 7am. During the winter, this congregation has two morning services each lasting two hours in length and attended by between 1000 and 2000 people at each service. Rev. David Ravindra Babu serves as the lead pastor. It is a congregation within the Andrha Evangelical Lutheran Church (AELC), the largest and oldest Lutheran body within Andrha Pradesh. The AELC's equivalent in America is the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). St. Matthew serves around 5000 people as members and during the week the doors remain open to shop owners and passers-by to come into the sanctuary for prayer.

Pastor Babu told me that a number of Hindu persons use the sanctuary for prayer during the week and he has many opportunities because of that to talk with them about Jesus Christ.

The text for the sermon was Mark 1:29-37. The vast majority of the service I didn't understand because of the language barrier. However, the service was bookended by familiar tunes to which I could add my words in English while the rest sung in Telegu. We began with Beautiful Savior and ended the service with the doxology, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow..." The experience of being the only English speaker in a worship service in a foreign language is a special one. There is a palatable sense of unity felt as we sing a common tune together, pray the Lord's Prayer, and celebrate the Lord's Supper as one people. Despite the differences the unity in Christ is felt.

The interior of St. Matthew's sanctuary is large, in the shape of the cross, with people sitting on three sides of the sanctuary. For those who can't find a seat inside, the people sit in the area surrounding the church. There are speakers outside so that those who are outside can still participate in the service.

Following worship and lunch we headed up to an internet hub to check and send emails and to write blog entries. Unfortunately, I was unable to reply and send emails after reading them and the blog entry I wrote was lost. It was 45 minutes of writing, all lost and erased because the server was bad. This internet hub was a place where people could receive information, but couldn't send out information via the web. It was quite frustrating. This is why I am writing this blog post India.

It got me thinking that there are people and churches who mimic the internet hub we visited...only receive all kinds of information and blessing, but are not able or willing to give away and send. Conversely, there are people and churches who are great senders but terrible receivers. This is another in a the number of dialectics that make up our world...the tensions that keep us healthy and balances as individuals and churches:
give_____________________receive
law_____________________gospel
active___________________passive
individual________________community

In the past 24 hours, I've been confronted with a number of people begging for money.

Tomorrow we begin the pastor's symposium bringing together the various Lutheran bodies.

Arrival in India, January 13

My plane arrived in India Saturday morning, January 13 at 1 am. I met Peter and Daniel, BFLC pastors outside the airport after getting through customs and retrieving my luggage. It was nice to see familiar faces in an unfamiliar place. We then took a taxi to the train station where they had reserved a room for me to rest for a few hours and shower before we got on the 6:40 train for Guntur later that morning.

After breakfast consisting of idly and a Nescafe, we got my luggage and headed for the train platform. (Idly is a small circular shaped rice pancake dipped in sauce.)

When we got to the second class coach, where my seat was supposed to be, we discovered that there were no seats left on the train. My ticket was unconfirmed, meaning I didn't necessarily have a seat on the train until we confirmed it with the ticket conductor on the train. Normally this is not a problem, but that day it was because of the number of Hindu people traveling to see friends and family. Turns out that the weekend of January 12-14 was a Hindu holiday weekend in Andrha Pradesh causing travel difficulties for many. I wasn't the only one on the train with an unconfirmed ticket. There were probably 15-20 people also in the same predicament as me. Peter tried to negotiate with the ticket conductor for a seat, but was told that no seats were available and we had to get off at the next station. "No vacancy" the ticket man said to me as he made his way past me in the aisle.

"No problem," Peter said to me. "We'll pick up a taxi at the next stop and drive to Guntur." Easier said than done.

As I mentioned, there were others in the second class coach who also didn't have seats. We all crowded at one end so that we could get off at the next stop. Packed into an area 3 feet wide and 14 feet long were probably 15-20 people, me included with my luggage. We stood shoulder to shoulder waiting for the next stop. The train slowed for the next stop and Peter standing next to the door tried to open it to get off. It was impossible to do so because the door opens inward. The group would have to arrange itself in such a way to get the door open. Peter got it ajar, but not wide enough to get it open. After the five minute stop, the train pulled away from the station.

As I stood in the group, shoulder to shoulder with the Indian people, I thought of a few things:

• I was the tallest person in the group which never happens to me.
• Two words never put together in India are "personal space."
  
• There were no signs of frustration within the group. People simply accepted what was and adapted themselves to an uncomfortable situation. In America we'd hear sighs and whispers under the breath expressing frustration if it ever happened here.
  
• I am the only American in this group, I don't know the language, and I'm not unnerved by the situation, probably because I have two Indian friends who know the language who are watching out for me. Isn't this the experience we have with God too, as the Spirit interceeds for us as Paul writes in Romans?
  

At the next stop, Ranammapet, we got the door open and got off. Taxi, where are you? I expected to see maybe one, possibly two taxis waiting for any passengers in a similar predicament that we were in. When we got to the back of the depot, there were no cars. Nope. All I saw were chickens, a grass hut, an open field, and a couple motorcycles.

The picture to the left is exactly what I saw. The road is probably 3/4 of mile in the distance and we were told that we'd have to walk to the road if we wanted a ride. Peter said he'd catch a ride on the back of a motorcycle to the road and bring back a car for us. After probably 20 minutes, he came back with an autorickshaw. We climbed in, Peter and I sharing the backseat and Daniel sharing the small front seat with the driver and made our way to the next village 8km away to pick up the a taxi there.

Below you'll see the taxi we hired to take us the 150km to Guntur. I really didn't think it was a good sign when the driver popped the hood before we got in. Is this car going to make it? It was a 1990 Ambassador...a British body style from the 1950s still made today and sold in India to many people.

We stopped for lunch in a small town on the way to Guntur at a local restaurant. As many restaurants are in towns in India, this was a small local establishment. On the wall written in Telegu above the door was the phrase, "Time is valuable. Beer is cool." A random comment that made me laugh...a nice moment of grace in the midst of a day of unexpected events. The food was also fantastic...very, very hot and spicy, the absolute hottest food I've ever had in my life. My mouth was on fire. It was fantastic.

The drive to Guntur for this taxi driver I was told made his day. He would be well compensated for his time! He was an interesting guy, very earthy. I sat behind him as we drove. We both had our windows down for fresh air. Periodically, however, he'd spit out the window as he drove and each time I cringed expecting the spit to come back into the car through my window...a boomerang spit. Fortunately, I was kept dry.

We finally arrived at the Moriah home at 3pm, three and a half hours later than expected. I was tired and ready for some rest and I was happy to be at my final destination.

Amsterdam

While America sleeps, the day in Amsterdam begins. It's 6:15 here in Amsterdam and just after midnight in Ohio. After a flight from Detroit and then Newark, I'm here waiting on my next flight to take me to India; only six hours from now. No...I haven't slept. Not a wink. Why do we say that? Sleeping a wink? If we winked while we slept, we'd never get any sleep. I digress...maybe it's the fatigue. Hopefully sleep will come while on the flight to India.

While in Detroit I had a surreal experience while waiting for my plane. Surreal might be strong...but it was an interesting experience none the less. As I'm waiting, I started browsing the stores near the gate to kill time. I made my way into Brooks Brothers...an historic clothier and fine men's clothing. (As a matter of fact, did you know that Lincoln used to buy clothing from Brooks Brothers? Hmmm. I'm reading a book about Lincoln. I'm really not a fashion guru. Really). I looked around the store and noticed how very similar Brooks Brothers looked to J.Riggings, a men's store chain, now defunct and bankrupt, that I used to work in as an assistant manager. Hmmm...I thought. Looks like J. Riggings copied off Brooks Brothers, offering cheaper men's clothing to the public. It was the exact same layout and pretty much the same type of clothing. It made me realize that imposters don't ever make it. Originality and quality matters and has lasting power. J.Riggings failed for a lot of reasons, but I believe one of the reasons was that it copied off someone else instead of being original. Interesting. It's like what I heard once, "Be who you is. Because if you ain't who you is, you is who you ain't"

Faith can't be borrowed either. God wants an original relationship with us, not a copy from our friends or family.

More when I get to India. Thanks for reading.