Hello everyone! I have some stories to share from the South Central Synod trip to the Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church in India. A group of 15 of us traveled there from October 22, to November 5. If you would like to read more about our days, please see our blogspot, http//passagetoindia2007.blogspot.com. Lots of information is there.
Upon returning to the United States, on November 5th, I was struck first with the cold temperatures, and with the order that we live with every day. I have not always appreciated the order in which we are called to function. Cars and vehicles, all facing the same direction and driving fast. I used to think that we were close together during rush hour and now I marvel at all the empty spaces that I see on the road.
The first night, upon returning home, I am proud to say, I slept all night. I thought, Wow! I am going to do this just fine. Then the next night I woke up at 4 and the next night at 1:30 and I wondered if I was adjusting as well as I thought I was. I have been a bit sleepy in the late afternoon, but overall, I am pleased with the recovery process. I am about 75% functioning…..Somehow I am happy with that. The blank look and glassy eyed stare as evening approaches is normal, isn’t it? After a week now, I am pretty much back to normal.
Our journey held many blessings for me. To see where our partners in spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ live brought my heart joy. Their circumstances and environment may be different than ours, and yet there is a common bond that we all share.
One great awareness for me is the witness of deep trust that the Christians have in the Lord for all that they need. Praying for miracles and receiving miracles is common place. We have heard of Rosemary’s, (the principal of the Don Bosco school), recovery from illness that could not be explained through anything other than prayer. Spiritual healing is also part of the awareness of becoming more healthy within the medical community.
On this trip we heard of Secretary Saroj Jha’s miracle of having his eye healed and finally not needing surgery. We apply so many more buffers to our lives on a daily basis and I think we somehow lose touch with who is responsible for our well being and how we might nurture that important relationship with God. God works through many hands all around the world in ways that we don’t always expect nor understand, nor even acknowledge.
Close to my heart is the uplifting of women in ministry. Seeing the 6 students engaging in Biblical Studies at the Seminary in Benagaria was a sweet surprise for me. Seeing where Sanchita Kisku came from, (who is now studying in Chicago with our support), was also a good learning for me. To get to the Seminary, we needed 4 wheel drive jeeps, and a strong stomach as we bounced over the rut filled gravel road.
What was perhaps even better at the Seminary was finding out about the training that all of the wives were receiving in preparation for being out in the parish with their husbands. This is a solid way to uplift the ministry of women where they are and where they will be placed in God’s kingdom.
The Radio Ministry, under the direction of the Rev. Lucia Tudu, (who came to greet Norway Grove last May when she visited Wisconsin), is an amazing outreach tool, one of the best that I have seen anywhere. We visited Bulpahari, a small mountain village, where 31 families had converted to Christianity at one time, (only four families declined the invitation), after hearing outreach messages from the radio programming. 91 Baptisms happened at the same time. To get to the village, we traveled closer and closer to the mountains. The road became increasingly smaller the higher we went. The road was also used for drying rice, and tying up cows through the villages….in some spots it felt like driving through their barn area. Finally, the road was too washed out, so we got out of our vehicles and walked straight up hill for the last 20 minutes of the journey.
The welcome was wonderful. A true foot washing for our dusty feet felt like heaven. The garlands lovingly placed around our necks and the songs joyously sung in Christ’s name was overwhelming.
Just out of curiosity, I thought I would see if the modern wireless world was available in the far mountain reaches of India….I had full bars on my phone!! The world is changing in a hurry.
Before going on this trip, I wrote a song to share with the group, and with whomever we could sing a song to on our way. We sang to school children and to village people who lived high in the mountains and had been reached by the Radio ministry of the NELC, and finally, I had the opportunity to teach the song to the hostel children living at the Don Bosco School. It was marvelous to see their smiling faces eager to learn these English words of witness to Christ’s love and hope among us. We sang so loud that we attracted some of the other people from our traveling group, as well as a rat or two…..maybe rats need to hear the Gospel, too? I imagine this group of students singing this song to others in Church the next day……”Look at all the love we’ve got. It’s not about the things we’re not. Look at all the love we’ve got through Christ!” Thanks be to God!!We will have a slide presentation about the trip, so I’ll let you know when that will be.Thank you all for supporting this mission.
God’s blessings,
Pastor Kathy
