Good morning,
The weeks I spent in Orissa, India (in July- August) were officially during Monsoon season. It rained unceasingly often. It appears that the monsoon has followed me to New York. It has been raining cats and dogs, as they say in England. The forecast is for more rain for the next several days. I am praying that Lord would send some rain to Texas.
Praise the Lord for Wednesday. We will gather for our Mid-week fellowship and study. We will be studying the book and the video presentation, titled, "Why? Making Sense of God's Will". This study is written by Adam Hamilton, a United Methodist Minister, who loves the Lord and who loves His people.
Craig Barnes, a Presbyterian minister, wrote a different book about the suffering and the disappointments of life called, “When God Interrupts.” In his book, Craig writes of his own personal painful experiences. Just before he turned 17, his parents divorced. His mother left his father, and then his father left Craig and his brother as well. In fact, Craig has no idea where his father is. He suggests that perhaps his father’s abandonment was out of personal anguish of a sense of failure. In any case, Craig and his brother found themselves basically on their own.
On their first Christmas after the divorce, Craig and his brother wanted to visit their mother, but they didn’t have bus fair. They decided to hitchhike, thinking it would be easy to get rides along the way. It wasn’t. It was cold, dark, and snowing.
Craig and his brother found themselves doing something that came from their childhood. Their father, who had also been a minister, had insisted that his sons memorize Bible verses when they were young. It was like a drill, where there father would call out a reference and they were expected to respond with the appropriate verses. The brothers found themselves in a back and forth exchange that cold Christmas Eve, taking turns calling out corresponding references and verses such as:
Proverbs 3:5, Romans 8:28, Jeremiah 29:11, and Isaiah 43:1-4
Craig comments on that experience: “That night for the first time in my life, I heard those verses, maybe because I was ready to hear them. I was confused, frightened and grieving over the loss of everything that had once held my world together. I needed a savior.”
It is written in Romans 8: “It is not just creation alone which groans; we who have the Spirit...also groan within ourselves as we wait for God...to set our whole being free. For it was by hope that we were saved;...”
The Good News is now that we are saved, when life gets hard, when we suffer and things seem hopeless, when we are called to make some decisions and stand up for what we believe in.. we don’t lose hope. It is written that our hope is real.
The Lord has given us the Holy Spirit. He has given us His presence and power, and It is written that even when we don’t know what to pray for, the Holy Spirit prays on our behalf.
Louise Perotta writes of the incredible faith of the poor in the Caribbean and the spirit of those who work with them. One of those individuals is Sister Regina. She doesn’t look like Mother Teresa, but much of what she does in the same spirit. She has been so inspired and touched by the lives of those she works to help, that their lives have influenced her prayer life with God. She says, “I’ll probably never live at that level of misery, but to FEEL with them. I guess that’s what I keep praying for.”
One woman she has been working with is Sylvia. Sylvia is the mother of two severely retarded sons. Sylvia struggles to provide full time care for her physically grown children while trying to work to make a small income to support them.
Sister Regina tells us that her prayer life has been changed by her experience with Sylvia’s family. “I begged the Lord to awaken in me a sharpened sense so that I could ‘taste and see’ a little bit of Sylvia’s suffering. I don’t want this to be just and intellectualized prayer, but something that’s in my blood - prayer with guts in it.”
It made a difference in Sister Regina’s life. Suffering and identifying with the poor in the way Jesus did has become a big focus in Sister Regina’s prayer life and her prayers have spilled over into action, where she is finding ways to meet the needs of those she serves. They have given her a pet name of FFF, because they say she is fanning flickering flames. It's true, she notes, that many have become hopeless and frustrated. They are ready to give up. Their flame is almost out. The Holy Spirit has led Sister Regina in prayers of new hope for these people, for a life for them and herself of living close to Christ, to be able to offer light in them midst of a dark future, to fan flames that are flickering. The Holy Spirit has led Sister Regina in her prayers.
Our Sovereign God, who is mighty and merciful, has had a plan from the beginning of time. When things go wrong, God’s plan isn’t thwarted and it isn’t changed. In times of suffering, when we need a savior as Craig Barnes said, God plan provides for us, cares for us, looks over us, comforts us, and provides us with hope. That’s what God’s plan of salvation does for us. We find ourselves in situations that suddenly become extremely life threatening to our survival. Our problems become bigger than we can handle. In these times we especially need to remember, as Paul reminds us, that God’s plan of salvation is in place, watching over us when life is at its most precarious. “We know,” says Paul, “that in ALL things, God works for good with those who love God.”
William Barclay says, “The key note of the Christian life is hope. The Christian waits for life, not for death.”
“There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God.”
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/e8HgAVenbUU
Please pray for our upcoming ministry events:
We will be back to our Wednesday schedule, including Bible study, fellowship, and prayer, starting tomorrow, 6/7. We will meet with a meal at 6 PM, with the Bible study beginning at 6:30 PM. We will begin a 4 week study on the theme, "Why? Making Sense of God's Will", by Adam Hamilton. Topics include, "Why Do the Innocent Suffer?", Why Do My Prayers Go Unanswered?", "Why Can't I See God's Will for My Life?", and "Why God's Love Prevails". Following the completion of this study we will be using Rick Warren's study, "Forty Days of Love". This will lead us to the beginning of the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. More information will follow in the church newsletter.
Please mark your calendar for our prayer conference, which will begin on Friday, October 14 and continue through Sunday morning, October 16.
The Key Note Speaker: Kelly Johnson from Memphis TN.
Prayer Team will include: Sunita and Andy, Rob and Jenn and Meredith from Washington DC.
The tentative schedule follows:
Friday, October 14 at 6 PM - opening session at Union Center UMC
Saturday, October 15, 9 AM - noon - concert of prayer at UCUMC
Prayer teams will be available to pray for people for salvation, restoration, healing, deliverance...
Saturday, 5:30 PM - banquet at First UMC, 53 McKinley Ave., Endicott
6:30 PM worship service, including an open invitation to pray at the altar following the worship service. I invite you to be a part of the prayer team during that time.
Sunday morning worship at 8:30 and 11 AM. at UCUMC Kelly Johnson will be preaching. There will be a time for prayer / a concert of prayer
Our first Saturday evening service will be held on Saturday, September 17 at 6:30 PM (Coffee Fellowship at 6 PM) at First United Methodist Church, 53 McKinley Avenue in Endicott. Rev. Earle Cowden will be preaching, and Laureen Naik will be leading the worship. One of our ministry teams, led by Lynn Rosenbarker, will be preparing and serving a meal at noon on 9/17, as part of our outreach ministry.
Our youth will be attending the Word of Life Superbowl at the arena and other sites on November 4 & 5.
Our annual Thanksgiving Banquet will be held on Saturday, November 19.
The Russian Men's Ensemble will be in concert on December 3.
We are planning for a trip to the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Extravaganza on December 6, leaving here at 6 AM, spending the day in NYC, and attending the show at 5 PM. There are optional sites to visit, including the Ground Zero 9/11 Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine. The trip costs $90 per person, including the bus ticket and a ticket to the show. Anyone who wants to reserve a spot on the bus should make their check payable to Union Center United Methodist Church, memo "Radio City Christmas Extravaganza".
We will have a combined worship service on September 11 at 10:15 AM. This will be a Communion Service. Then, on September 18, we will go back onto the regular schedule with services at both 8:30 and 11 AM and Sunday School at 9:50 AM. Wesley will resume meeting at 9:30 AM.
Here at Union Center- Wesley- Endicott, we focus on " World as our Parish"., We remind ourselves that we serve under a captain who has never lost a battle. Jesus Christ the Head of the Church is Faithful . We are invited to embrace 7 holy habits of Christian faithfulness. We are called to FOCUS on our prayer life, our relationship with Christ, reading the Bible, faithful worship attendance, financial gifts to Christ and His Church,, serving Jesus with our hands, and sharing the good news of His Great Redemption,with others. May Christ be praised.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Brown's Daily Word and Stories from India 9-6-11
Good morning,
It is time for students to go back to school here in New York State. During the days when our girls were in school, it was a "holy" ritual for us to get ready for the first day of school. It was a time for new clothes and fresh beginnings. Alice is going back to school today after summer vacation. Our nieces and nephews will be going back to school tomorrow.
I was reading the famous poem, which many read during their High School days, by Robert Frost, titled, "The Road Not Taken".
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
In this work, Robert Frost talks about living life in two different ways. As the narrator of the poem, he chose to live a different way than most people. Perhaps it was one more challenging, perhaps requiring more of a personal investment and commitment than the other.
In Romans 10, Paul explored two ways of knowing and discovery, two ways of having a relationship with God. One way is a legalistic way. It’s the way of rote obedience, of following all the rules, of faithfulness to religious expectations to a fault. The other way of having a relationship with God involves faith. It involves believing in the love of God in such a way that cannot be known by the mind, but can only be known by the heart. Paul spoke of two ways of knowing, and only by one of those - knowing God by heart rather than by mind, knowing God by faith - is one able to truly know God.
Robert Frost picked a road less traveled for his life. It required more effort on his part to journey on that road. It requires for us as well to open our hearts to God and trust in him. It takes more energy to actively engage in and participate in a relationship. For Frost, however, his choice in life made all the difference to him. Traveling the road that holds us in a relationship with God will make all the difference in us as well. We are invited to know God by heart. “Believe in your heart that your are made right with God,” Paul wrote. “And confess it with your mouth.”
One of the big thoughts driving Paul’s words has to do with his Christian witness. Isn’t it ironic that as we travel this Roman road of salvation that our salvation becomes defined by our Christian witness. Its not only about what we believe, its about how willing we are to act upon what we claim.
Paul was concerned for people like himself, who came from the same heritage as himself. They had the same religious practices he grew up with. Paul saw them making a grave mistake - the same one he had made for so lone - that of doing all the right things for all the wrong reasons. They failed to see what was missing - knowing God by their heart.
We are invited to get to know Christ. We get to know Jesus by our heart, and to bring our faith in Jesus to the point we will confess him with our mouth. In other words, we proclaim him as Lord and Savior through our actions and behavior, through our lifestyle, and through our words. We are invited to come to know Jesus to the point we are willing to lay down our life for him, because of what Christ has done for us. We are invited to know him by heart.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/vO_bKR2Wzhk
Stories from Orissa-- India/ by Sunita
After spending 2 days in Delhi upon arrival to India, we spent 3 nights in Bubhaneswar, the capital of Orissa, before heading to Kandhamal, meeting up with our dear friends Rob & Jen at the airport. We were blessed to meet and pray with a number of believers from Kandhamal who had been displaced to Bubhaneswar in 2008, including a gathering of about 100 displaced believers my dad had organized. When we offered to pray for people at the end, we quickly realized we were in completely over our heads, as language barriers and the chaos of more people coming forward than we were prepared to pray for ensued. It wasn’t an “easy” prayer time, as we fought against spiritual heaviness, couldn’t understand what most of the prayer requests were, and had no idea how the Lord was working. One of the men that came for prayer had become partially paralyzed during the persecution in 2008, and came to receive prayer for healing. The entire prayer time was the first of a number of great reminders that our prayers are utterly dependent on Jesus to act, and that He is SO faithful to act because we have asked Him. It really doesn’t matter what we see, or don’t see. He is working because we asked Him, because that is His character.
By the time we (Jen, Rob, Andy, my dad, my 2 sisters – Laureen & Jess – and brother-in-law –Tom) made the 5 hour trek up to Kandhamal with my grandmother, Uncle Potel and cousin Lisa, we had been in India for 5 days. We were totally content being there because we treasure getting to see my relatives and it was pure joy to be there with such amazing family and friends from the U.S. But we were also a bit confused—why were we here? Was it just to see family? If so, why did the Lord lead Rob & Jen to join us and give us such a clear sense of significance around this trip? We knew we were there to pray over the land and that it didn’t matter what we saw or felt or experienced while there, but it was hard not to want affirmation that our senses had been correct JJ
Rob & Jen were only able to stay 72 hours in Kandhamal, and the rest of us only 5 days, but it was when we reached Kandhamal that things really began to flow and doors flew open. In spite of illness that quickly made its’ rounds among us, the Lord perfected our time there. At the same time, we came away with many thoughts and questions about longer term engagement with the Church in Kandhamal, and what that might look like, including the possibility of living there for a season. There was an inviting sense of what could be if we are willing to invest our time, talent and treasure. It also became clear that things in my own life that Jesus needs to work on if we are ever to effectively respond to this sense of invitation.
Here are just a few of the stories we encountered in Kandhamal:
In 2008, just before waves of violence broke out against the Church in Kandhamal, I had been blown away on my visit by how much the Church had grown there. From the first five believers baptized in 1914, in one of the most Hindu, unreached states in India, Christians had grown to 25% of the district’s population. With thousands of believers displaced from Kandhamal still displaced three years later, including my dad’s family, we had no idea what we’d find. While we met people who were still suffering in ways that broke our heart and made us weep (i.e meeting a poor couple one day while on a walk who were headed into the forests to gather kindling to make charcoal, and who had sent their 12 year old son to a city in southern India to find work), overwhelmingly we heard story after story and saw evidence after evidence of the triumph of the Church over horrific violence and hatred. We heard powerful testimonies of forgiveness—of people’s wailing turning to dancing and praise, even as smoke still rose from their burned homes, as they prayed for the grace to forgive and were granted it. The senseless and brutal killing of Australian missionary, Graham Staines, and his two sons in Orissa in 1999 (burned alive as they slept in their van) has been used in huge ways by Jesus to enable believers to forgive---we heard repeated stories of how the ability of Graham Staines’ wife to forgive those who killed her husband and sons helped people to forgive from the day of violence against them, not allowing bitter roots to form. The wisdom and triumph of our God is so amazing!!!
Upon arrival in Kandhamal, after a tearful reunion with some relatives there, including my 96 year old great uncle, Abba, whom we treasure every moment with, we went on a walk through Abba’s village with my dad, Rob & Jen to pray with the family of the first Christian killed in 2008, Matthew. A short distance turned into several hours, as we were stopped every few yards by villagers, and invited into several homes to pray. It was awesome, and for me was where I had my “this is why we are here” moment. The Lord gave Jen a beautiful picture as we prayed of Matthew with Jesus, clothed in white. It brought tears of joy to his mom.
We had the chance to go to Muklingia, my dad’s village, and pray over the house, the church and the village. It’s still as beautiful as I’d remember—one of the most beautiful vistas I have ever set eyes on. It was a really moving time to pray as a family on the roof of the home where my dad grew up (which is being restored!), praying through forgiveness for those who committed the violence; praying through fear of coming back; praying for Jesus to do something new in the village and through the family property—to be used for His glory.
One of the ministries we visited while there is a children’s home called Dugudi, which allows girls from remote villages to access better schooling in town. There are a number of Christian homes like this near the main town (I saw at least four this time), and I have often wrestled with if it is a necessary ministry, as it breaks my heart to see kids growing up away from their families, even though it is common in India and they come from such impoverished backgrounds. Dugudi was started by a British missionary and when built in the ‘80s it was in a completely Hindu village. There are still not many Christians in this village area, and I’ve always felt it a more challenging place spiritually. You can really tell the difference in villages where Christians have been for almost a century, where the Church has had slow but broad-reaching influence over village life, and where it’s still new. There is an ease that we felt in Abba’s village, Kanabaigeri, where British missionaries first came and established a hospital, that is absent in a place like Dugudi. It really struck me that we have the opportunity as believers to create the Kanabaigeri’s of the world—to hold our ground in places of darkness, day after day, month after month, and push forward the Kingdom of Light. My dad showed me places in Kanabaigeri where there used to be human sacrifice and how the missionaries persevered under such difficult circumstances to bring the Gospel. You wouldn’t recognize any of that history today—you just feel that it is a place of light and relative ease in comparison to other places you go to.
We were shocked by how the conditions at the girls home had deteriorated since we had last been there. The facilities were really run down and we found they were struggling to just meet basic needs of food, electricity, etc. All of our hearts were deeply stirred by what we saw. Most of the girls there were ones whose houses had been destroyed during the violence. They were beautiful, innocent and we came away knowing we need to do something for them. In the long-term, we’re not sure that a girls’ home is what is really needed there, but as we prayed over the land, it was very clear that there is significance in Dugudi’s location, in it remaining a place of Christ’s work, and in the light it is meant to be to the surrounding area. Andy & I both had the same thoughts of wondering if we should go there for a longer period and help get things in order.
We heard story after story of God’s faithfulness, His miraculous provision and protection, and His triumph over evil through the persecution. Almost without exception, every believer we met had fled to the jungles to hide when the violence broke out. They would go back to their homes by day and hide in the jungles by night when mobs would set out. There were probably at least 100,000 people who hid in the jungles. And not a single person was bit by a snake during those weeks while there! We heard multiple stories of people who had been killed who came back to life—of Hindus that would see the very person they had killed the night before walking in town the next day; of a mother and daughter who prayed all night over their husband/father’s dead body until he came back to life at 4am. We heard of Hindus who had refused to take part in the violence against their Christian neighbors and so fled to the jungles with them, only to find Jesus for themselves there! While many Christians were being forced to reconvert to Hinduism at threat of death, Hindus were willingly coming to Christ in the jungles! And it’s only continued! In spite of thousands of believers still displaced outside of Kandhamal, Christians are now estimated to be 30% of that district’s population!!! In one church alone that my dad recently visited, there were ten newly baptized Hindu converts. We met church leaders more on fire and excited about Jesus than ever before, more convinced of His victory over every darkness, and able to thank the Lord for allowing them to undergo persecution because of all the good that had come from it.
Not only has the Church in Kandhamal grown, Jesus has used the scattering of Christians to other parts of India to spread the gospel, much like the early Church. It used to be that on the drive from Bubhaneswar to Kandhamal, there were almost no churches along that stretch, and even very few in Bubhaneswar. The persecution has added to the movement to reach unreached towns and villages, as pastors and laymen are now ministering in these places. I met one pastor ministering in a town that we drove through, where there are no believers yet. I’ve stopped in that town several times and am always glad to leave it, as it’s a place where I could sense a lot of darkness. It was so encouraging to know there is a pastor working there now, and I have no doubt he and his wife will soon see harvest.
Kandhamal is stunningly beautiful to us. We feel alive there, with the people and with the beauty that surrounds us. Andy, for the first time in years, had no headaches the entire time we were there. We were loved, spoiled and welcomed by family and by the family of God. Andy did things that I was sure would be completely inappropriate and offensive in such a conservative society, but that instead elicited laughter to the point of tears from many and brought joy to many. When not eating, praying for people, or visiting local ministries, we had dance parties and took nature walks. All in 5 days. As I said, Jesus perfected the time! We have come back with many thoughts, and many questions. There is still much to pray through, seek understanding on, and learn. But we are back, and more convinced than ever that Jesus is perfect; His ways are higher than our ways and are perfect. We don’t believe the Jesus ever causes violence or any form of evil. But our faith is strengthened from this trip that in the worst of evils He is working good for His children—that He never, ever loses a battle. We feel SO BLESSED for the opportunity to have been with the Church in Kandhamal. We saw a living, breathing, powerful testimony in them that “in ALL THESE THINGS WE OVERWHELMINGLY CONQUER through Him who loves us” and that “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will ever be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:37-39)
And we honor and thank you so much for your love and faithful prayers. They meant more to us than we can possibly convey.
Love,
Sunita & Andy
It is time for students to go back to school here in New York State. During the days when our girls were in school, it was a "holy" ritual for us to get ready for the first day of school. It was a time for new clothes and fresh beginnings. Alice is going back to school today after summer vacation. Our nieces and nephews will be going back to school tomorrow.
I was reading the famous poem, which many read during their High School days, by Robert Frost, titled, "The Road Not Taken".
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
In this work, Robert Frost talks about living life in two different ways. As the narrator of the poem, he chose to live a different way than most people. Perhaps it was one more challenging, perhaps requiring more of a personal investment and commitment than the other.
In Romans 10, Paul explored two ways of knowing and discovery, two ways of having a relationship with God. One way is a legalistic way. It’s the way of rote obedience, of following all the rules, of faithfulness to religious expectations to a fault. The other way of having a relationship with God involves faith. It involves believing in the love of God in such a way that cannot be known by the mind, but can only be known by the heart. Paul spoke of two ways of knowing, and only by one of those - knowing God by heart rather than by mind, knowing God by faith - is one able to truly know God.
Robert Frost picked a road less traveled for his life. It required more effort on his part to journey on that road. It requires for us as well to open our hearts to God and trust in him. It takes more energy to actively engage in and participate in a relationship. For Frost, however, his choice in life made all the difference to him. Traveling the road that holds us in a relationship with God will make all the difference in us as well. We are invited to know God by heart. “Believe in your heart that your are made right with God,” Paul wrote. “And confess it with your mouth.”
One of the big thoughts driving Paul’s words has to do with his Christian witness. Isn’t it ironic that as we travel this Roman road of salvation that our salvation becomes defined by our Christian witness. Its not only about what we believe, its about how willing we are to act upon what we claim.
Paul was concerned for people like himself, who came from the same heritage as himself. They had the same religious practices he grew up with. Paul saw them making a grave mistake - the same one he had made for so lone - that of doing all the right things for all the wrong reasons. They failed to see what was missing - knowing God by their heart.
We are invited to get to know Christ. We get to know Jesus by our heart, and to bring our faith in Jesus to the point we will confess him with our mouth. In other words, we proclaim him as Lord and Savior through our actions and behavior, through our lifestyle, and through our words. We are invited to come to know Jesus to the point we are willing to lay down our life for him, because of what Christ has done for us. We are invited to know him by heart.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/vO_bKR2Wzhk
Stories from Orissa-- India/ by Sunita
After spending 2 days in Delhi upon arrival to India, we spent 3 nights in Bubhaneswar, the capital of Orissa, before heading to Kandhamal, meeting up with our dear friends Rob & Jen at the airport. We were blessed to meet and pray with a number of believers from Kandhamal who had been displaced to Bubhaneswar in 2008, including a gathering of about 100 displaced believers my dad had organized. When we offered to pray for people at the end, we quickly realized we were in completely over our heads, as language barriers and the chaos of more people coming forward than we were prepared to pray for ensued. It wasn’t an “easy” prayer time, as we fought against spiritual heaviness, couldn’t understand what most of the prayer requests were, and had no idea how the Lord was working. One of the men that came for prayer had become partially paralyzed during the persecution in 2008, and came to receive prayer for healing. The entire prayer time was the first of a number of great reminders that our prayers are utterly dependent on Jesus to act, and that He is SO faithful to act because we have asked Him. It really doesn’t matter what we see, or don’t see. He is working because we asked Him, because that is His character.
By the time we (Jen, Rob, Andy, my dad, my 2 sisters – Laureen & Jess – and brother-in-law –Tom) made the 5 hour trek up to Kandhamal with my grandmother, Uncle Potel and cousin Lisa, we had been in India for 5 days. We were totally content being there because we treasure getting to see my relatives and it was pure joy to be there with such amazing family and friends from the U.S. But we were also a bit confused—why were we here? Was it just to see family? If so, why did the Lord lead Rob & Jen to join us and give us such a clear sense of significance around this trip? We knew we were there to pray over the land and that it didn’t matter what we saw or felt or experienced while there, but it was hard not to want affirmation that our senses had been correct JJ
Rob & Jen were only able to stay 72 hours in Kandhamal, and the rest of us only 5 days, but it was when we reached Kandhamal that things really began to flow and doors flew open. In spite of illness that quickly made its’ rounds among us, the Lord perfected our time there. At the same time, we came away with many thoughts and questions about longer term engagement with the Church in Kandhamal, and what that might look like, including the possibility of living there for a season. There was an inviting sense of what could be if we are willing to invest our time, talent and treasure. It also became clear that things in my own life that Jesus needs to work on if we are ever to effectively respond to this sense of invitation.
Here are just a few of the stories we encountered in Kandhamal:
In 2008, just before waves of violence broke out against the Church in Kandhamal, I had been blown away on my visit by how much the Church had grown there. From the first five believers baptized in 1914, in one of the most Hindu, unreached states in India, Christians had grown to 25% of the district’s population. With thousands of believers displaced from Kandhamal still displaced three years later, including my dad’s family, we had no idea what we’d find. While we met people who were still suffering in ways that broke our heart and made us weep (i.e meeting a poor couple one day while on a walk who were headed into the forests to gather kindling to make charcoal, and who had sent their 12 year old son to a city in southern India to find work), overwhelmingly we heard story after story and saw evidence after evidence of the triumph of the Church over horrific violence and hatred. We heard powerful testimonies of forgiveness—of people’s wailing turning to dancing and praise, even as smoke still rose from their burned homes, as they prayed for the grace to forgive and were granted it. The senseless and brutal killing of Australian missionary, Graham Staines, and his two sons in Orissa in 1999 (burned alive as they slept in their van) has been used in huge ways by Jesus to enable believers to forgive---we heard repeated stories of how the ability of Graham Staines’ wife to forgive those who killed her husband and sons helped people to forgive from the day of violence against them, not allowing bitter roots to form. The wisdom and triumph of our God is so amazing!!!
Upon arrival in Kandhamal, after a tearful reunion with some relatives there, including my 96 year old great uncle, Abba, whom we treasure every moment with, we went on a walk through Abba’s village with my dad, Rob & Jen to pray with the family of the first Christian killed in 2008, Matthew. A short distance turned into several hours, as we were stopped every few yards by villagers, and invited into several homes to pray. It was awesome, and for me was where I had my “this is why we are here” moment. The Lord gave Jen a beautiful picture as we prayed of Matthew with Jesus, clothed in white. It brought tears of joy to his mom.
We had the chance to go to Muklingia, my dad’s village, and pray over the house, the church and the village. It’s still as beautiful as I’d remember—one of the most beautiful vistas I have ever set eyes on. It was a really moving time to pray as a family on the roof of the home where my dad grew up (which is being restored!), praying through forgiveness for those who committed the violence; praying through fear of coming back; praying for Jesus to do something new in the village and through the family property—to be used for His glory.
One of the ministries we visited while there is a children’s home called Dugudi, which allows girls from remote villages to access better schooling in town. There are a number of Christian homes like this near the main town (I saw at least four this time), and I have often wrestled with if it is a necessary ministry, as it breaks my heart to see kids growing up away from their families, even though it is common in India and they come from such impoverished backgrounds. Dugudi was started by a British missionary and when built in the ‘80s it was in a completely Hindu village. There are still not many Christians in this village area, and I’ve always felt it a more challenging place spiritually. You can really tell the difference in villages where Christians have been for almost a century, where the Church has had slow but broad-reaching influence over village life, and where it’s still new. There is an ease that we felt in Abba’s village, Kanabaigeri, where British missionaries first came and established a hospital, that is absent in a place like Dugudi. It really struck me that we have the opportunity as believers to create the Kanabaigeri’s of the world—to hold our ground in places of darkness, day after day, month after month, and push forward the Kingdom of Light. My dad showed me places in Kanabaigeri where there used to be human sacrifice and how the missionaries persevered under such difficult circumstances to bring the Gospel. You wouldn’t recognize any of that history today—you just feel that it is a place of light and relative ease in comparison to other places you go to.
We were shocked by how the conditions at the girls home had deteriorated since we had last been there. The facilities were really run down and we found they were struggling to just meet basic needs of food, electricity, etc. All of our hearts were deeply stirred by what we saw. Most of the girls there were ones whose houses had been destroyed during the violence. They were beautiful, innocent and we came away knowing we need to do something for them. In the long-term, we’re not sure that a girls’ home is what is really needed there, but as we prayed over the land, it was very clear that there is significance in Dugudi’s location, in it remaining a place of Christ’s work, and in the light it is meant to be to the surrounding area. Andy & I both had the same thoughts of wondering if we should go there for a longer period and help get things in order.
We heard story after story of God’s faithfulness, His miraculous provision and protection, and His triumph over evil through the persecution. Almost without exception, every believer we met had fled to the jungles to hide when the violence broke out. They would go back to their homes by day and hide in the jungles by night when mobs would set out. There were probably at least 100,000 people who hid in the jungles. And not a single person was bit by a snake during those weeks while there! We heard multiple stories of people who had been killed who came back to life—of Hindus that would see the very person they had killed the night before walking in town the next day; of a mother and daughter who prayed all night over their husband/father’s dead body until he came back to life at 4am. We heard of Hindus who had refused to take part in the violence against their Christian neighbors and so fled to the jungles with them, only to find Jesus for themselves there! While many Christians were being forced to reconvert to Hinduism at threat of death, Hindus were willingly coming to Christ in the jungles! And it’s only continued! In spite of thousands of believers still displaced outside of Kandhamal, Christians are now estimated to be 30% of that district’s population!!! In one church alone that my dad recently visited, there were ten newly baptized Hindu converts. We met church leaders more on fire and excited about Jesus than ever before, more convinced of His victory over every darkness, and able to thank the Lord for allowing them to undergo persecution because of all the good that had come from it.
Not only has the Church in Kandhamal grown, Jesus has used the scattering of Christians to other parts of India to spread the gospel, much like the early Church. It used to be that on the drive from Bubhaneswar to Kandhamal, there were almost no churches along that stretch, and even very few in Bubhaneswar. The persecution has added to the movement to reach unreached towns and villages, as pastors and laymen are now ministering in these places. I met one pastor ministering in a town that we drove through, where there are no believers yet. I’ve stopped in that town several times and am always glad to leave it, as it’s a place where I could sense a lot of darkness. It was so encouraging to know there is a pastor working there now, and I have no doubt he and his wife will soon see harvest.
Kandhamal is stunningly beautiful to us. We feel alive there, with the people and with the beauty that surrounds us. Andy, for the first time in years, had no headaches the entire time we were there. We were loved, spoiled and welcomed by family and by the family of God. Andy did things that I was sure would be completely inappropriate and offensive in such a conservative society, but that instead elicited laughter to the point of tears from many and brought joy to many. When not eating, praying for people, or visiting local ministries, we had dance parties and took nature walks. All in 5 days. As I said, Jesus perfected the time! We have come back with many thoughts, and many questions. There is still much to pray through, seek understanding on, and learn. But we are back, and more convinced than ever that Jesus is perfect; His ways are higher than our ways and are perfect. We don’t believe the Jesus ever causes violence or any form of evil. But our faith is strengthened from this trip that in the worst of evils He is working good for His children—that He never, ever loses a battle. We feel SO BLESSED for the opportunity to have been with the Church in Kandhamal. We saw a living, breathing, powerful testimony in them that “in ALL THESE THINGS WE OVERWHELMINGLY CONQUER through Him who loves us” and that “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will ever be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:37-39)
And we honor and thank you so much for your love and faithful prayers. They meant more to us than we can possibly convey.
Love,
Sunita & Andy
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