All Set! 2008 Trip Begins Friday

The 2008 All Saints to India mission trip is finally ready to go!

As this exciting new adventure begins, so also this blog naturally draws to a close. You can follow this trip over at the new blog I've set up, "All Saints in India 2008".

http://aslcinindia.blogspot.com/

God Bless.

2008 Trip Planned

Today, Mike and I held an informational meeting at church for those interested in going to India in January 2008. I'm already looking forward to this trip, and we're planning a few fun "extras".

At some point, I'll transition to a new blog address, as the "2006" in the current one isn't really applicable for the new trip.

...And He's Outta Here!

Or should I say, he's over there.

Pastor Mike has taken off for India. He'll be there something like 11 days, and he will be there to check in on the church construction progress at Nachugunta.

Follow his trip on his blog: http://rhinocrash.blogspot.com/.

Pastor Mike Will Return to India in 2007

Pastor Mike and I have been discussing when our next trip to India should be, and after much consideration we decided to return in January 2008. I spoke with Mike again today, and he is now planning to go this January as well!

He will be speaking at a *very* large Lutheran gathering in Andhra Pradesh and visiting the new church at Nachugunta -- a construction project fully underwritten through the generosity of All Saints Lutheran Church, where Mike serves as a pastor.

I'm pumped for Mike's visit! And, yes, a little envious. ;)

Water: Still Thirsty

We were dealt a setback today. Paul got the results back from the water test from Ellachettladibba, and the saline levels are too high for a reverse osmosis water system.

Frankly, I was always a little confused how reverse osmosis could remove salt from water. Apparently it can if the levels are low enough.

So now we are going to try a very deep well, 400 feet or so. Hopefully that will get the water back on, but it will only buy us a little time; the deep well will eventually get contaminated by salt.

Please remember to pray for the island villages.

India Photos

I've gone back and added some photos to my earlier blog entries. It really brings the story to life, I think.

Many thanks to those that brought digital cameras on the trip, which would be everyone except me. Most of the photos that you see are from Pastor Mike's camera, but I will use some from the Stadler's and Dasari's cameras as well.

One Week Later

I've been home for over a week now.

It took me several days to adjust to Eastern Standard Time again -- I guess I ain't 20 anymore. I've been exchanging emails with the Dasaris and with Mike to followup on many issues, such as the water project and the list of capital needs.

Mike and I spoke at All Saint's Adult Forum class this morning -- which is our version of adult sunday school -- about our trip to India, passing around photos and answering questions. I hope that a few people catch a vision for the church in India and see what I see in the BFLC: a Christ-centered church of Indian believers, lead by strong Indian pastors.

So far, my usual post-trip momentum is continuing. I am even more motivated than I was after either of my first two visits to move some of these projects forward.

Jetlag

I'm back in Ohio. And I'm up at 3am.

We had a couple of changes to the plan for our trip back. Late Thursday night (Friday AM, actually) we decided that since we could not get a hotel room in Hyderabad due to a huge political convention there, we would just take a later train that left at 1pm. This turned out to be a great decision, since we were able to sleep in and enjoy one more morning in Guntur.

Mike and I headed over to the seminary to visit with the pastors and take some pictures of Paul's grandmother with Rachel. After lunch, we headed to the train station. Shalem and Peter went with us to help with translation and transportation arrangements.

Jennifer visiting Paul's grandmother with the help of a translator.

We arrived in Hyderabad at around 7pm, with hours to kill before our 3am flight. So we got something to eat, then did a little shopping. But by about 10:30 everything was closing, so just decided to head to the airport and kill time there.

We had to say goodbye to Shalem and Peter at the airport, because they could not even come in the front area without an airline ticket. Shalem and many of the other pastors have been absolutely invaluable on this and every trip to Guntur. They have been our guides, our translators, our source of any information about the church, and above all else, our trusted friends. I will probably never meet people closer to the heart of Christ.

I'll tell you what, arriving 4.5 hours before your flight provides for in a very relaxed check-in process. We were through security before midnight, so we headed to an airport lounge for first-class ticket holders that permitted us lowly coach travelers in for a fee, which we gladly paid.

Our flight to Amsterdam featured an interesting Indian movie with English subtitles called Parineeta. It was a strange musical that seemed to make no sense, but was beautifully made nonetheless.

In Amsterdam, we had just enough time for a quick train ride into town, where we did a little gift shopping, had a coffee-and-croissant lunch (very European), and even managed to get separated and lost for a bit. High adventure!

We said goodbye to the Dasaris at the airport -- our flights left 5 minutes apart and from adjacent gates, how convenient! -- and Mike and I took off for our connection in Memphis. Although Memphis isn't in hillybilly country, I still couldn't resist a few dueling-banjo jokes after hearing all the good ole' boy accents from the Tennessee-based flight crew.

The in-flight movie was -- what else? -- The Dukes of Hazzard.

We arrived in Columbus by about 9pm EST, about 42 hours after we left Guntur by train. Seeing Tally and the boys again was incredible! We spent Sunday celebrating Baxter's birthday and relaxing. Tomorrow I head to work, and life must resume.

I've been home for exactly 9 of the last 32 days. Starting tomorrow, this long, strange month of travel will be over.

I know there are huge portions of the trip that I've said nothing about so far, so I will be continuing this blog for a few weeks for those that care to read it.

Goodbye Guntur, and Goodnight

Tonight is our last night in Guntur.

There is a big celebration planned, with many people arriving from nearby villages. Mostly, this is for congregations who were not visited to have a chance to see baby Rachel, who is clearly the star of the show on this trip.

Tomorrow we will leave at obnoxious-o'clock (4:30am, I think) to catch a train (Telugu: railu) back to Hydrabad. We will have the afternoon and eventhing there to explore a bit before our flight to Amsterdam leaves at 1am on the 21st. In case I am not able to blog any more today (things get crazy on the last day), I will leave with these thoughts:

Some Things I Will Not Say Back In America

"Oh, I see that the monkey is back on the front veranda."
"Is this extremely spicy or just very spicy?"
"Excuse me, can you translate this into Telugu for me?"
"$1100 to build a house sounds like a lot of money...."
"Are those rice paddys or just wet lentl fields?"
"You can drop me off at the camera store, past that herd of goats and right next to that cow."
"I hope this Pepsi isn't too cool for you. Let me find one that's been sitting out."
"Now that is one fancy rickshaw."

I will miss Guntur and the people here, I know that already. But as soon as I am on that train, I know my full thoughts will be about seeing my wonderful wife, who always throws her full support behind these trips that I take, and my 3 terrific kids, who I can't believe I haven't seen for two weeks.

I'll see you all in Columbus.

Water

As I've mentioned in previous posts, one of the big concerns expressed in the island villages was fresh water. Many years ago, a relief organization installed a water tower with a pump which was connected to the villages many miles away via underground pipes. This system has been failing recently, and many of the villages had some water one day but none the next. This being the dry season, there was very little water at any of the villages.

Since this system was not a government project, the government will not maintain it. At one of the most remote villages, Ellachettladibba, the two Indian pastors traveling with us were served village drinking water tainted with green moss. (We, of course, always encouraged them to drink our supply of bottled fresh water.)

So this was a topic of considerable discussion on the long journey back to Guntur on Sunday: how do we get fresh water to the 800+ families that live in these villages? We could try to dig deep wells, but that will only draw fresh water for a few years before salt water enters the system.


Then Pastor Mike remembered that he spoke with a member of the Rotary Club of Dublin, Ohio, who mentioned that they were looking for some sort of public works project in this part of the world. The only requirement is that they must work with a fellow rotary club member here in India. Hmmm.

I pondered this as I was walking down the street yesterday, when I saw it: a giant sign that read, in English, "This site donated by The Rotary Club of Guntur". I grabbed Paul's sleeve and pointed, and we excitedly entered a nearby store to ask the clerk what he knew about the sign, which had no contact info. He was gracious enough to make a few phone calls and then presented a card with two names on it.

So today Paul called one of the men and explained our situation, and he asked us to come to his office right away. We picked up Mike (who had the contact in Dublin OH) and two pastors who were experts on the island village area and met the Rotary Club member.

He was very familiar with this type of water problem, and suggested a better solution than our well-digging idea: a reverse osmosis purification system. You put one in each village, and it will draw from either fresh or salt water. This sounded perfect, because we have plenty of salty brackish water in the Krishna river delta.

We'll have to follow up now with the Rotary Club in Dublin to see what they think because it will be expensive, but I can't imagine a more deserving project. The gentleman in Guntur also suggested a land reclamation project, where failed shrimp farms are desalinated and returned to productive use as rice paddies. This is another key need in the island villages.

So this may work. Wow.

Island Travelogue, Part I

I've mentioned bits about the trek to the island villages, but I thought I'd say a little bit about each of the villages we visited.

The previous times I've traveled to the islands, we headed south from Tenali along the western banks of the Krishna river delta and visited all the islands via boat. However, this time a land bridge was available to allow us to cross to the eastern side of the river. This saved a lot of time because there is a small ferry that could bring our car to the first island, where 4 villages are located.

We passed lush banana groves and coconut trees along the western banks of the Krishna river.

If you click here, you will get a satellite map of the delta. In the center are two large triangular islands; the larger island on the right was home to four villages we visited, and the smaller island had one village.

But our first village wasn't on the islands, it was just on the way. Nangegadda is a new congregation meeting in a temporary building with a thatch roof. They are considering either purchasing the land they currently use, or purchasing a larger parcel in a less ideal location.

When we visit more than one village in a day, there is usually discussion between them as to who gets to serve us a meal -- a discussion which I, as a non-Telugu speaker, am happily ignorant of. Nangegadda apparently was not supposed to feed us a meal, but they decided to feed us a "snack" anyway. Assume liberal use of quotations there, as the snack consisted of rice with shrimp, chicken, crab, and fish curries. It was, needlessto say, wonderful, but I wondered if we were going to get such a snack in all the villages, in which case I was in danger of exploding like the overweight guy in Monty Python's Meaning of Life.

This is a very strong Hindu village, with many Hindu temples visible over the tree line. Apparently someone had sabotaged a field belonging to a Christian congregation member, flooding their hay crop with water. They were able to save much of their crop by quickly stacking it on the church land to dry, but it's good example of the difficulty that Christians face here.

Hay crop saved from sabotaged fields.

Next, we were off to the first island! When we arrived at the ferry embarkment point, the ferry was on the other side of the river, allowing us to explore a nearby Catholic tower. On the first level was a statue of Mary, still decorated for Christmas. Several incense ash piles were in front of the statue. On the top level was a statue of Christ on the cross. The terrace was about 40 feet high and provided a terrific view of the river.

Pastor Mike waiting for the ferry.

Pastor Mike and Pastor Shalem.

The ferry could carry about 2 cars, plus several motorcycles and many standing passengers. Our SUV was the only 4-wheeled vehicle on board this trip.

After we crossed over to the island, we visited the congregation at Brahmaichgarimila. This church building is a strong permanent structure to provide safety during the cyclone season. The congregation had been larger before there was some sort of split, the details of which I did not fully understand. But the result was that while some villages have a tiny hut for crowds of people, this church had a very nice sized building for only 25 congregants.

The view from a window facing southwest, in the direction of the Bay of Bengal.

We stayed for a short worship service, including a brief message from each of us (Director Dasari, myself, Pastor Mike, and Pastor Shalem), then took a few pictures and examined some damage to the parsonage caused by the last cyclone. As the shadows grew long, we piled back into the SUV.

Next up was Jinkapalem, a village I had visited in '93 and '01. There, too, we stayed for a short worship service, after which the church elders wanted us to look at a sliver of land next to the church that could host a parsonage. Mike and I wandered down the footpath to explore a bit. But darkness was falling by that point and we still had 2 more congregations to visit, plus a boat trip to the next island. After Paul and Shalem finished discussing the land purchase, we piled into the car and moved on.

(To be continued later.)

Assessing Needs

I'm enjoying a bit of a rest-up day (Monday) here at the seminary -- more beautiful southern-Cal weather. January is really the best time to come.

This morning I went through every classroom in the Moriah school to look for needs (missing desks, etc), and after that I completed a list of high-priority congregational needs, such as church construction and fresh water wells. I also snuck in a walk as well.

As usual, our weekend trek to 3 villages turned into 6. I count on every plan changing several times. I simply wait until the planners finish discussing things in Telugu, then go wherever they point. It's a bit like trusting in God, actually; blind faith in those who know the land better than you do.

Back From The Islands

We returned to Guntur at about 9 pm, tired and grimy from our visit to what we call the Island Congregations. This group of villages are among the most remote and poor in India, and the villagers are perhaps some of the kindest people on earth. They will try to carry everything for you. They will feed you an abundance of food while their shrimp harvest is dwindling. They would carry you out of the boat if you let them.

The people of these rural congregations live almost entirely in mud huts with thatch roofs, and they are facing what seems to be an alarming water shortage. Our visit was difficult as always, requiring a trek through ankle-deep mud and little sleep. The sweat on your skin and hair catches the silty dust and leaves you caked with grime.

But I always end up treasuring these visits. There is a certain awe of being in a place that is simply the greatest possible separation from America. It makes me feel extremely priviledged to be here, but it makes me miss my family very much.

The First Week in Summary

It's late Friday night (Saturday morning, actually) and we are heading out to the island congregations early tomorrow morning. So this is just a quick catch-up of the last few days.

Monday thru Wednesday: Seminary

After Mike's session with the seminary students on Monday night, it was announced that he would be teaching that group on Tuesday and Wednesday 9 am to noon, and 2:30 pm to 5. Surprise! Instant Prof. Weaver. Mike was very happy to do it, of course, and spent all the time he could preparing material on The Trinity and an intensive on the Book of John. During that same time I videotaped sections of Mike's class and Pastor Stadler's class, assessed needs for the computer system at the seminary, and spent time with the kids at the Moriah Children's home.

Thursday and Friday: Church Dedications

We had two congregation visits planned for Thursday and Friday, both of them dedications of new churches. On Thursday we went to Ganapavaram, which had a great location near a larger town. The new building is what we call a semi-permanent building, with a poured foundation and solid walls but a temporary roof. This kind of structure is very cost-effective and should hold up for 10-20 years.

The dedication was well organized, with a large festival tent in front of the church providing shade for the 150 or so people in attendance. Tarps are typically thrown down in front for the kids, and the parents are seated behind on chairs. This means that when we spoke up front, we were greeted by the smiling faces of over 40 kids.

Baby Rachel playing with big kids at Ganapavarm.

From left to right, Pastors Jachiah, Shalem, and Daniel lead the congregation in song while walking around the new building during the dedication.

Today (Friday) Mike held class at the seminary while Jennifer and I met with the pastors to assess needs of the seminary and congregations. We put together quite a list; if you are interested in supporting the construction needs of the BFLC, drop me an email.

After lunch, we visited Gokarlamattam, a village that I visited in 2001 when they were meeting in a congregant's house. At the time, I actually walked the proposed church site with Paul, so it was cool to see the finished building on that same site.

When Paul and I visited Gokarlamattam back in 2001, a 101-year-old woman came up to us and told Paul that she wanted to see a church built in the village during her lifetime. At the time, I thought, "Well, that may be asking a bit much." But there she was today, at 105, present for the dedication of the finished building. She announced that now that she's lived to see the church, she is asking for the Lord to take her home. I told her we still need to build churches in all the other villages first. The woman is pictured here with Pastor Mike.

Pastor Mike cuts the ribbon to open the church building.

Congregants crowd into the new church building for a prayer for the Lord's blessing.

A middle-aged man is baptized by Pastor Weaver, one of several that came forward for baptism after the dedication ceremony.

Tomorrow we will leave very early to head to the islands. The plan is to see three congregations tomorrow, then one more on Sunday. I'll try to post an update when I get back.

Oh, and if there is another tsunami, my plan is to hang on to something that floats, so send help. :) (We will have boats, actually, so the best thing would be to climb back into those and rise with the tide I suppose.)

Getting Clean in India

A morning shower in India is not a task to be taken lightly. Most of the year is hot and sticky, so as soon as you get dressed you pretty much need to wash again. Fortunately, I have devised a Best Practices pattern to steamline the process. (Hey, it's what I do.) For those planning to visit a hot third-world climate anytime soon, take note.

What You Will Need

1 small squeezable container of shampoo
1 small squeezable container of anti-bacterial liquid soap
1 large container Purell Liquid Sanitizer
Gold Bond medicated powder, extra strength
Kerasal foot ointment
Band-Aid Flexible Fabric Finger & Knuckle bandages
Neosporin anti-bacterial ointment
Rhuli Gel or Benedryl ointment
Fingernail clippers
Polypropelene socks
Cotton socks
High-quality shoes or sandals

Washing By Washbucket

As in many parts of the world, this region of India does not ordinarily have overhead shower heads. You bathe using buckets.

First, fill one bucket with hot water, another wth cold. Use a plastic cup with a handle (such as a plastic 4-cup measuring cup) and partially fill it with hot water, then break it with cold to achieve a comfortable warm temperature. Pour it on your head, then your face and shoulders, and repeat until you are completely wet. Watch your rate of hot water consumption, as you need to save a healthy amount for rinsing.

As you wash, you want to start at the top and work down, so you aren't rinsing soap onto sections that are already clean. So shampoo first, then wash your body. Finally, SCRUB your feet with extra soap. Get them as clean as possible, and rinse thoroughly. It's a good idea to wear foam flip-flop sandles as you wash, slipping each foot out to wash one at a time.

Men, if you are going to shave, you do it now and hopefully you saved some warm water. Women, do whatever else it is that you do with loufas and salts.

Now, remember: you may be clean, but you are NOT sanitized! Do not get any water in your mouth, and do not put your wet fingers in your mouth; you may spend the next few days bent over whatever passes for a toilet in your corner of the world.

Towel off thoroughly, then apply a generous amount of Purell to your hands. Touch a little to your lips as well. Your hands are now sanitized, somewhat. You can now apply any lip balm with your finger (I use Blistex in the small blue canister) without making yourself sick.

So now you get ready. Apply antiperspirant as you normally would, then apply Gold Bond to your entire upper body and arms, from the neck down. Women, substitute "entire" for "use your best judgement", as I cannot advise you in greater detail. The Gold Bond will help keep you dry and cool.

If you have any insect bites, apply Rhuli Gel to help with itching. For extreme bites that are driving you crazy, opt for the Benedryl ointment. Dress, except for your feet.

Ah, yes, the feet. If your feet are uncomfortable, you are uncomfortable. These next steps are certainly overkill, but if you want healthy feet, then listen closely.

First, sit comfortably, remove one foot from the flip-flop, and towel dry again, especially between the toes. Bring your leg up to across your other thigh, so you can see the bottoms of your feet. If you have any broken skin, make sure the area is thoroughly clean and apply a small amount of Neosporin. Cover the area with a Finger & Knuckle bandage. I've found these to be the best because the flexible fabric is extremely secure and comfortable, and the H-shape of the bandage gives it the best chance of adhering to the various corners of your feet.

Next, examine your foot for dry skin around your heels that is in danger of cracking. Apply a small amount of Kerasal, being careful not to get any on your clothes. If you have any planar's warts or caulouses, file the dead skin gently with the nail file and apply Kerasal. Cover immediately with a Finger & Knuckle bandage.

Only after all broken skin has been covered with a bandage are you ready to apply Gold Bond to your feet. Rub into your feet and ankles, especially between the toes. Now slip on a polypropelene sock, followed by a cotton sock. The poly sock will wick away any moisture into the cotton sock. Put a shoe on that foot and repeat the entire process for the other foot.

If you have no broken skin and plan to wear sandals, simply apply Gold Bond and leave off the socks. I've been known to wear socks with my Ecco sandals, and I'm told it's geeky, but if I'm comfortable I honestly do not care.

If you are in a part of the world where a button-down shirt is the norm and T-shirts are considered something that children wear (as is the case in India), wear a T-shirt underneath your button-down. It's not that much hotter and it *greatly* increases the repeat wearability of the nicer outer shirt.

When brushing your teeth, remember not to use tap water. Pour a little drinking water on your brush before you apply the paste. Rinse your mouth with drinking water. An antibacterial mouthwash is great idea, if you have it available. Comb and primp your hair as you normally would, bearing in mind the local customs. If you are in a section of the world where women cover their heads, you may draw undue attention with your tumbling locks of coiffed Terry Hatcher hair.

You are now ready for action. As you leave your sleeping area, remember to bring your compact rain gear, toilet paper, perhaps a small granola bar, and a minimum of 1 liter of drinking water. (I like to bring 2 liters.)

Whew! Who on earth has time for all this, you ask? You do! How? Because you awoke refreshed at 6:45 am, and this process only takes about 30 minutes. Why did you awaken so early? Because you don't have your kids with you and you went to bed at 9:30 the previous night. Why did you go to bed so early? Because there is no TV, no stack of bills to pay, no kids asking for a glass of water, no piles of laundry, no mail to sort, no home improvement projects, no ringing phone, no garbage to take out or dishes to do. There is just the cooling breeze of the waning Indian evening to spend in quiet conversation with your travel companions.

Or in meditative solitude.

Not So Different After All

While Pastor Mike was checking his email and updating his blog, I was reviewing some structural repair needs at one of the buildings at the seminary. The building's ceilings are crumbling in places due to moisture inside the concrete, most likely dating back to its days as an intravenous solution factory when a large water tank was mounted on the roof above. Most of the ceiling will probably need to be knocked out and redone. (Note to self: add that to the list of capital needs.)

Now, in case any of you were thinking "oh, that is so 3rd world": At that moment, Pastor Mike leaned over and said that he got an email with the very sad news that a structural problem had been found in our fellowship hall at All Saints Lutheran in Worthington, Ohio, and that it would require extensive (read: expensive) repairs. One support beam was 50% compromised, and the engineer recommended that the room not be used until it is fixed.

First world and third world.... we're not so different, I guess.

P.S. Anyone from All Saints with new or more accurate info, please post in the Comments area.

Pastor Mike to Speak Tonight

We just finished a short meeting this morning with Paul, Mike, the 5 ordained pastors (who are regional leaders for the other pastors), Dr. Raj Kumar (the principle professor at the seminary) and myself. Pastor Mike will speak tonight at 8pm at the seminary to a group of about 15 students. I going to go take a few picture and video.

Another Blogspective

Pastor Mike is blogging this trip as well, in a very different manner. Hopefully you will find both worth reading.

http://rhinocrash.blogspot.com/

Off To The Villages

We wasted no time today. After arriving in Guntur late last night, we got our first night's rest at the Moriah home and then headed out today to visit 2 congregations for their Sunday services. Actually, we visited 3 congregations, but the middle one was just for a visit, not for a service.

The journey out of Guntur was Mike's first experience with long-distance driving in India. The city gave way to the rural farmlands, and we passed fields of cotton, tobacco, and rice for about 90 minutes. We arrived at Amodagiripatnam just a little late, and the service had already started. The humble church is a typical Lutheran church building in this part of India: a small brick and cement structure with slate floors that the congregants cover with mats as they sit. A Sunday worship service can last for several hours, and songs of worship can easily be half of that. Most songs were in Telugu, of course, but we joined in on a few songs that we knew in English. Although the building was small, there was about 100 worshippers in attendance.

After the service, the host congregation graciously fed us some rice with curried chicken. It was excellent, probably better than they prepare for themselves.

After lunch, Mike wanted to go for a short walk through the village to snap a few pictures. One family brought us into their home so Pastor Mike could pray for the Lord to bless their home and marriage. He seemed very honored to do this.

Further down the street, we came across villagers milling thread from cotton. The millers demonstrated their craft for us, then brought us into cramped little building where an expert weaver was creating a bolt of fabric. The bolt would take him about a week to complete.

We said our goodbyes, then Pastor Jonbabu (sp?) took us to a nearby small congregation of about 20 members which he split his time leading as well. The church at Jagganadjupuram is unusual because it's congregants are tribal members, given special protective status by the Indian government. The closest analogy is something in between a Native American and a gypsy, or a combination of the two. This area is only about 1km from the ocean, and the tsunami did reach this village although damage was minimal.

After a short visit, we were off to Karamchedu, a well-established Lutheran congregation dating back to the eighties. The grounds were nicely kept and the church was brightly lit with Christmas decorations, which are not typically taken down for a few weeks yet. By this point in the day, fatigue was starting to set in. We had all been in planes and trains for two days and our timezones were all messed up. During the worship service, I thought I was the only one fighting it off, but then I noticed the other two with the same look in thier eyes. When it was time for Mike to give his message, however, I had (thankfully) managed to find something to stab myself with.

At each visit, Paul had a short talk with the local pastor to find out how things are going and if they have any special needs. This congregation seems to be in pretty good shape; the church at Amodagiripatnam was already talking about needing a larger building.

We arrived back to our quarters in Guntur at around 11 pm. I'm pretty sure I slept part of the way back.

Arrival in Guntur

We have arrived in Guntur, India!

When you are travelling eastward around the world, it's difficult to say where one day ends and the next begins, but today "began" at about 8 am this morning in Hydrabad, India. Mike and I awoke after about 2.5 hours sleep and joined the rest of the group in the lobby for an Indian breakfast -- lots of spicy things that I cannot name. The "rest of the group" was Pastor Richard Stadler and his wife Sheryl, from St. James Lutheran church in West St. Paul. We will be working with them here in India.

Our train for Guntur did not depart until 2 pm, so we hit the streets looking for a little adventure. After getting some money changed at a local bank, Mike and I went for a walk without an interpreter. The crazy mish-mash of bicycles, motorcycles, and cars on the streets took some re-adjustment for me, and probably moreso for Mike, but we navigated our way to a small park with a clock tower and down a busy set of streets. When we hit a construction area with sign mentioning something about a "checkpoint", we decided to head back.

Due to the speed of restaurant service, a "quick" group lunch turned into something longer, so we of course ended up racing for the train as we always do. Pastor Stadler tripped twice on the platform bridges, and our carriage was the second to last one on the train, but we made it.

The next 5 hours on the train was a real-life motion picture as the sprawling cityscape of Hydrabad gave way to the rocky countryside of east India. The horrific train crash last October [BBC news article] that killed over 100 people occured on this very line (!), and so naturally Mike and I asked a rail employee to point out the spot. We opened the side door of our car (they let you do that in India) and the man waited, then pointed "here!" It was an appaling series of gouges in the dirt, following by piles of twisted carriage parts and finally the charred diesel engine itself.

The big news on the train was that the Dali Lama was in Guntur for a Buddhist festival, so natually the train was filled with Buddhist monks. As if Guntur's Hindu and Muslim populations were not diverse enough!

We pulled into Guntur station to the sound of an Indian marching band, which we presumed to be for the Buddhist festival. To our surprise, it was arranged by a few pastors for our arrival. Wow! And not just a band, but every pastor from the seminary turned out to welcome us at the train station.

And clearly they were a "marching" band, as they followed us right down the platform, over the tracks, into an access tunnel, and into the parking lots, where they continued to play while we waited for our transportation to the Moriah home.

While Mike rode in an SUV, I took a spot with Paul (the Director of the BFLC and a close friend of mine) on one of the Moriah Public School buses. It turns out that the band was not done yet; they boarded right along with us.

Guntur sure has changed in four short years. The commecial district is now filled with neon lights, fine watch shops, and upscale clothing stores, hinting at the growing middle class that the IT industry in bringing to this part of the the world. There are still open sewers and homeless people, they are just next to much nicer things.

We arrived at the Moriah School's newest building, an annex they rented to accomodate the newer students. From there, the band started up again, and we were off on foot to the Moriah home where we were to stay. Noise ordinances do not seem to apply here.

At the Moriah home, we were greeted by all the children with a song of welcome. I've been here before and had a pretty good idea they were going to do this, but I tried to tell Mike as little as possible and let it all play out for him. It's an amazing experience.

It is now very late, and we have a full schedule of visits tomorrow. I'm very tired, but also very excited to be here. It is, in a very strange way, a homecoming for me.

Remembering India in 2001

I created this blog in order to share information from our upcoming mission trip to southeast India. By "our" I mean Pastor Mike Weaver and myself -- we are leaving Thursday.

Now, I do not have any idea if I will be able to post updates during our trip. Perhaps once or twice, perhaps more, or perhaps not at all. We will be at the mercy of the internet service that we find as we travel.

Before we go, though, I thought I'd share a few photos from my last mission trip to India, in October 2001.

We visited several churches a day, and sometimes it would be nightfall before we'd make our last stop. This is a brand-new and mostly-finished permanent BFLC church building in one of the smaller villages. Yes, I am that much taller than most everyone around me.

A typical scene in the rural villages.

I believe this baby was baptized while we were there. I imagine Mike and I will participate in a few more of these when we are over there.

Children from the Moriah Home orphanage getting ready for school. All of the children have 2 uniforms, in addition to their personal clothes. Notice the small child on the right saluting the cameraman -- it's how they say "hello" in a formal manner.