India From a Tour Bus Window

Today we spent some time touring Hyderabad as a kind of decompression from our intense time of ministry. And while it was nice to be moving slower and not have the pressure of ministry, I found that I like India a lot better when I'm shaking hands with kids in the slums that sitting behind a tour bus window. Last night after we flew in, the bus that picked us up was stopped at a light for a moment and some kids on the street who were begging noticed a bus of white people. They were standing by the bus reaching up their hands to us. But our windows wouldn't open and we couldn't have given them anything if they did.

In all honesty, I didn't feel like I was in India anymore. I feel like I'm in a documentary. I was struck by how a few hours earlier I was shaking hands with kids just like these. I was being invited into their homes in the slums. We were treating them for scabies and worms. And we were talking with them, learning their names, taking pictures with them, and laughing with them. And yet now I was sitting up in a tour bus looking through a thick window. The tragedy for me was that a few hours earlier, these kids had been people to me. I was relating to them. I was engaged. But now that was over. My new context didn't allow us to have a relationship. I was just a white guy on a tour bus and they were just poor Indian kids on the street. I wished I was back in the slum.

I like India better from the depths of the slum than the tour bus window.

Debriefing with OM

We spent some time on Wednesday debriefing with the team from Operation Mobilization that coordinated everything we did here. And it was a great time. There was one phrase that kept coming back to my mind: partners in the gospel. In the New Testament Paul continually calls his colleagues by this name and celebrates their partnership. And that's the way I feel about these brothers and sisters from OM. Part of is because of the dramatic movement of God's Spirit in India. Part of it is because of their faithful and tireless service. And part of it is just the deep friendship we kindled working together. But it's exciting to feel so strongly about people that you are together in partnership for the sake of gospel.

And what makes me so excited about that is that OM is preaching the gospel. The whole gospel. They aren't just trying to get people to convert to Christianity. They don’t just want people to pray to receive Christ or get baptized. In fact, in several situations, they want people to move slower in their proclamation of faith out of respect for family dynamics or cultural issues. The gospel they are preaching includes following Jesus, but it is so much more. They want communities to learn the truth about HIV transmission so that HIV positive people aren't thrown out of their houses. They want children to get education so they can improve their quality of life. They want women to understand basic issues of health and hygiene. They want sick people to get well, poor people to have a better life, oppressed people to gain freedom. They want change on the personal level, the community level and the national level. In short, they want to see God's spirit of justice move throughout India. And that is a beautiful thing to partner with.

Counseling

For three days at the medical clinics in Dharmapuri, I worked in the prayer and counseling area. After the patients had gone through to see the doctors and receive medicine at the pharmacy, they would have the opportunity to be prayed for and counseled. Almost all of the patients were eager to be prayed for. India is an extremely religious society - it reminds me a lot of how I understand the New Testament time period to be. Religion was an assumed part of society - the issue wasn't whether you worshipped God, but which gods you worshipped. India is very similar. In fact, may people are very interested in worshipping Jesus, but they do so as a part of their Hindu practice. They do not understand the unique revelation of Jesus Christ. So this means they are extremely grateful to be prayed for in the name of Jesus, especially by a Westerner.

Counseling was not an easy task. It's hard to know how much to share with people, how to pray for them, and working through translation makes it more complicated. But it was incredible just to sit across from them and look into their eyes. They seemed to love being looked at and really connected with. When I prayed for them, I usually touched their shoulders or legs and this affected them powerfully. Most of the patients are Dalits, from the lowest caste, and many are ill. They are not used to being touched by anyone. It was really a privilege to know that just by touching them and praying for them, I could provide great encouragement. Especially since most of the time, I felt way over my head, praying desperately for God to give me words to say.

These patients' stories are incredible. Their lives are so different, many of them have little hope and face desperate circumstances. But there were also similarities: loneliness, frustration with family relationships, hopes and dreams for their children, and a desire to connect with someone. I don't have time to share all their stories, but I'll share a few that impacted me deeply.

M was a sweet older woman. She had six children and her husband had died 30 years ago. She spent her time watching her four grandchildren. She had come to the medical clinic complaining of body pain. She said she knew Jesus and worshipped him, but couldn't come to church because she was busy with her grandchildren. The church had a children's program only before service. She told me if she tried to make her grandsons sit through church, they would wander and end up knocking the outdoor tent over. I told her I certainly understood that.

R also believes in Jesus and came to the medical clinic complaining of bleeding gums. Six months ago her husband died, leaving her alone with her 5 children. She said that she believes in Jesus, but this probably means that she considers him to be one of the many gods that she worships. She asked me to pray for her loneliness. She said she felt like one hand - alone and useless.


K came to the clinic on Monday complaining of vision problems. He was a farmer 2 km away from the medical camp, in fact, he pointed to his fields in the distance. The local church was helping his family with education and school supplies. But when I asked about Jesus, he said he was convinced there was no god. For fifteen minutes, we had a great conversation about why he didn't believe in God and why I did. I told him that I wouldn't be in India if God weren't real. He was a fiesty older man and I really enjoyed talking to him. His stubborn refusal to believe in God was a welcome change from the more common acceptance of any and every god. Even after our in-depth debate, he gratefully received prayer for himself and his family.

 
P was probably my most exciting connection. He came to the clinic on Sunday afternoon for the first time and I spent some time talking with him and sharing with him from John 14. He was a tailor, but wasn't working because of body pain and having to take care of his four children. He also asked for prayer because he had borrowed a sum of money and wasn't sure how he could pay it back. I prayed for him and said goodbye. But then he returned on Monday. He wanted to hear more about Jesus and receive more prayer. This time I shared with him from John 6. He was excited to hear more about Jesus and said that he believed in him. In fact, he shared that in 1997 he has been healed at a Christian hospital and had believed in Jesus, but had forgotten that faith. This time, he said he wouldn't forget and committed to attending the church. He responded with excitement when I asked if he wanted a Bible and when I handed it to him, it fell open to John 6 in his lap. My translator and I were excited to think that God had given him this chapter for him to read more about and reflect on - the same one that I had shared from. It was really joyful to pray with him. As he left he asked if I would be here next year. We'll see…
All in all, counseling people was a great privilege. Just hearing their stories and finding out a little about their lives was great. I gradually felt more comfortable during our times and began to feel that God was really moving in powerful ways. I'm so glad I got to interact with people in this way. How else would I really know what their lives are like? How cool to see God at work in India

The Slum

It's kind of hard to process everything after spending the day in a slum. It's a funny feeling being in a slum in India the day after Slumdog Millionaire won eight oscars. During the opening ceremony of the medical camp, one of the dignitaries that was there actually mentioned the movie. Very interesting. Probably the most interesting part of being there was not how awful the conditions were or how desperate all the people were, but simply how they were all just normal people. The OM team had set up camp in an area of the slum that they previously had to clear all the rubble out. It was remarkably well prepared and the clinic itself went very well. We couldn't do prayer and counseling in this spot because it was the first time OM had been in this area. That meant I had a lot of time to wander around, visit the area, and meet interesting people. All of which I did extensively.

One of the OM leaders who works with the urban poor, P, took us on a tour of the slum early in the day. This particular slum has about 250 families living in it, mostly in concrete buildings. The land is government owned land and at any moment the government might come in and inform the residents that they are bulldozing the site for another use - this has happened frequently in the past. Walking through the slum the smell of garbage was pretty strong. People cooked outside on fires and water was drawn from a central water pipe. When we walked by, the water hadn't been turned on yet so there were several empty pots waiting for the water to come on.

We met several people who were extremely happy to see us in their slum. In fact, they said that we were the first white people to visit. It's funny: I felt like I was intruding in their neighborhood and taking pictures felt like a violation of their privacy. But after a few minutes it was clear that they were completely thrilled to have us visit them. In their culture, visitors bring good luck, so they were very excited to have people visit their homes. They were thrilled for me to take pictures, saying thank you profusely every time I took one of their pictures.
At the end of our walk, we met one of the slum leaders, who was a woman. Her family was very happy to see us. Her granddaughter M, was a second year college student studying English. She wanted to be an airline stewardess after finishing college. Her English was excellent and she was thrilled to talk with us. Later in the day I took a few people back on walks through the slum and this family invited us into their home. We sat down and talked with them for a while. They really wanted to serve us food and drinks which we had to refuse. When it came time to leave, they kept saying, "five more minutes, please." It was clear how excited they were to have us in their home.
Overall, I was just impressed by how warm people were and how they were simply people trying to get by in life. They weren't overcome by their poverty, for the most part they weren't wallowing in desperation. They were doing their best to get by, they were proud of their families, they were excited by visitors, and they worked hard. I counted it a privilege to be able to visit them. I was really surprised by how comfortable I felt in the slum. It wasn't that the conditions were any better than I expected, but they were people. That's what you miss seeing the slums from the perspective of a movie or documentary. The inhabitants are just pictures on a screen. But not the people I met. They were real.

We also got to visit their school, which was a 8 foot by 10 foot room where they held school for twenty students, ranging from 1st through 5th grade. The students started learning English in 1st grade and were very excited to have Americans visit their school. They wanted to learn our names and share theirs. They wanted to practice their English and loved it when we took pictures of them. All the kids were thrilled to have their pictures taken.
Later in the day, almost thirty children came to hang out at the medical camp tent and we entertained them by taking their pictures and showing them on our digital cameras. Many of them spoke a lot of English. One little girl, Meena, stayed with me a long time. She sang for me, she danced for me, and talked with me at length. All in all the children loved us. Their affection for us was really powerful. Their affection for each other was remarkable as well. They loved to tell us who their brothers and sisters were, and they were always sitting on each other's laps and holding hands.

On the edge of this slum was a Hindu temple We had the rather unique opportunity to meet the son of the temple priest. He is a smart young man named V and is in his first year of college. You could tell by the way he held himself and looked around at the crowd that he was a Brahmin (the highest caste) and the people around him were Dalits (the lowest caste). But he was really interested to talk to us and tell us about his life. He was insistent that we return in a few weeks for a major festival they were hosting at their temple, unfortunately he didn't understand that we would be gone by then.
He also led us on a tour through their temple, even letting me take a picture inside. He couldn't answer our questions very well because his English wasn't very strong. But we understood that this god only liked rice, not chickens and goats. And that the men of his family were the only ones able to go into the area containing his god to clean up and do maintenance. Vijay said that he wanted to serve in the army and then return to be the priest at the temple. At the end of the conversation we started talking about Jesus and he was interested in learning more about Jesus. He ended up being excited that I was a pastor, saying "oh, I like Christians." He even said that he prayed to Jesus all the time, but also added that Jesus was the same as all the gods. After I shared the story of the shepherd and the lost sheep, he quickly replied, "that's enough."

One of his last comments was the most interesting to me. He talked about how they wanted to expand the temple and build a bigger building. He sounded like he was eyeing the area that OM had cleared for a temple expansion. This part made me laugh. His talk of expansion and growth made him sound to me like an ambitious American evangelical pastor. Sometimes people are just people.

The Village

On Sunday night we visited a local village, very near to the medical camp at Dharmapuri. As soon as the bus pulled up, dozens of Indian children swarmed us, wanting us to take their pictures and shake their hands. Many of them asked "how are you?" and told us their names in English. They spoke very clearly, but that was all the English they knew. This particular village had been constructed by the government and consisted of around 100 mostly cement houses. Most of them were one-room buildings with an outdoor kitchen in front. Families slept, ate, and watched TV (some of them even had satellite dishes) in their one room homes.

It was a great experience to walk around the village. We got to see how people really lived and the people were eager to welcome us, inviting us into their homes and wanting to talk with us and walk with us as we saw their village. Even though I felt like an outsider intruding on their lives, they were thrilled to have us there. Many of the people from that village showed up on Monday at our medical camp - some of them just to see us again. I had the opportunity to pray with six or eight women from the village who just wanted prayer.

After looking around the village, OM showed a film about HIV and AIDS. There is so little knowledge here that no one knows how HIV is transmitted or what the details about the disease are. Most of the village gathered to watch the film, with the village elder sitting in a chair prominently placed among the families sitting on the ground.

Being there, I was struck by times in history when one culture has encountered another for the first time. European settlers arriving in North America. White people arriving in Africa. This story has been repeated many times throughout history. And I thought about how excited people often are to welcome new visitors. But how easy it is for the visitors to feel overwhelmed by this foreign culture. It even struck me how easy it would be to assume that culture is more primitive and less intelligent. It is so natural to assume what we don't understand is below us. Even as I walked through the village, I felt the temptation to think that way, until we had the chance to interact with some people, to hear that they had family struggles and physical pain and concerns for the future. I'm constantly amazed at hoe easy it is to forget that others are people. And how important it is to be reminded of their basic personhood. I'm thankful for the reminders I've received in India.

Dharmapuri

On Saturday we started a whole new trip for the pastors. After an early morning and a crowded train ride we arrived at Dharmapuri where we had scheduled three days of medical clinic. Dharmapuri is an interesting town. It lies right along a major North-South trucking route for Southern India, which accounts for the unusually high incidence of HIV in the area. Many of the men will work as truckers and be away from their families for 4-6 weeks at a time. During that time, they will visit prostitutes or mistresses and contract HIV. When they return to their families, they will spread it to their wives who will pass it on the their children. Consequently, the villages around Dharmapuri have extremely high rates of HIV infection.

In addition to that, there is not very much knowledge in the villages about the causes and transmission of HIV. A very common scenario is for a husband to contract HIV, pass it on to his wife and then die. The wife is then often blamed for the death and rejected from her family and the community. On Saturday the medical clinic was especially geared toward HIV positive patients. During that clinic, I counseled several women who were HIV positive, had lost their husbands fairly recently, and had HIV positive children. These were the most heartbreaking cases. Not only were they faced with a terrible disease, but in most cases, their families had rejected them.

On Saturday I also counseled two women who were the victims of polygamy. One had married a man before finding out that she was the fourth wife. She refused to live with him because of that and so she lived alone with very little hope of her situation improving. Another, Mangoma, was left by her husband when he married a second wife. She was alone with her adopted daughter and lived with her parents. I was excited to hear that she believed in Jesus and wanted to be baptized. But on the day of her baptism, her parents told her that if she were baptized, they would kick her out of their family. So she is stuck, not knowing what to do. Without her family to care for her, she would be completely alone.

The Three Hour Tour

Just sit right back and enjoy a tale of the the hour commissioning service. Indians definitely love to celebrate. And they love large gatherings where everyone gets to say something. Today we had the commissioning service for all the pastors, which also included a birthday party, a child dedication, and testimonies from all the different groups. It was a really significant time to pray for and send out all the pastors and it was cool that the medical team rejoined us in time for the ceremony. And at the end of it I had the privilege of giving my drum to Pastor A, a little discreetly of course so as not to stir up jealousy. He was incredibly grateful and excited for it. I was really happy to give it to him.

But this morning we had some interesting experiences too. We took a taxi from the hotel to the OM Campus, but halfway there it became clear that the taxi driver didn't know how to get there. We were going the correct direction, but then he made a U-turn. But because I had my GPS with me and had saved a track of the route to the campus and all three of us recognized the wrong turn, we were able to tell the driver we knew how to get there. And then he followed our directions (with the aid of my GPS) and we got to the OM campus right on time. My favorite part of that trip was when the driver drove on the wrong side of the road for about a tenth of a mile trying to get to a split in the road divider. People were honking and yelling and we very nearly got into a few accidents. It was quite an adventure.

The other really interesting thing about this morning was our Question & Answer session. We had led some sessions on sexuality and marriage yesterday and the issue of marriage came up several times in our biblical teaching. So the first question this morning was what to do about pastors who have multiple wives. That was a little surprising, especially since polygamy is illegal in India, but apparently it can still happen. And we learned that it is actually a big issue because we spent the next entire hour discussion variations on the same question of multiple wives.

There was a question about what to do with someone who became a Christian after having multiple wives. There was a question about what to do with someone who took a second wife after becoming a Christian. There was a question about whether someone with 2 wives could become a pastor. It was really fascinating to learn what a significant issue that is here. One of the questions had to do with a pastor who worked the night shift in a factory. A young woman from his congregation also worked there and they ended up spending quite a bit of time together. Because of this, people suspected that they were involved in a relationship even though they weren't. So because her reputation was spoiled, the young woman wanted the pastor to marry her as a second wife to clear things up. Amazing, isn't it? What a different culture.

And to wrap up the day, I had cheese for the first time in a week. And not just any cheese, but a whole lot of melted mozzarella cheese. We had dinner at Pizza Hut. Many of the OM families joined us and we got to celebrate N's birthday (for the second time today). He was really touched to have so many people around to celebrate his birthday with him. Eating pizza was fun too and I think the OM kids were particularly excited. I can't imagine they eat pizza all that often. So it was really fun to be all together as a PBC team and with many of our OM friends as well.

Now it's on the next portion of our trip: the medical clinic in Dharmapuri. We leave on a very early train tomorrow and immediately open up an AIDS clinic as soon as we get there. I'm a little anxious for the next part of our trip. I think it will be more challenging than the pastor's conference in many ways. Here we go...

Pastor's Conference Wrap-up

Well, we pretty much wrapped up the Pastor's Conference tonight. We just have one more Q&A session

tomorrow morning, then it's over. Overall, we went through 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus and then did a three session overview of sexuality, marriage, sexual sin, and divorce. All of this in 18 sessions. It has been such a cool experience to teach these pastors - all of whom are serving God in so many powerful and often dangerous settings.


One of the younger guys here named R gave us a thank you letter tonight - it was very touching. His father is a pastor and he has been doing evangelism since the 10th grade. Today he told his story of how he feels called to be an evangelist not a pastor and he wants to travel around India sharing the gospel. At this point he's completed Bible College and he wants to go to Korea for seminary. Incidentally, he told me that in his Bible College, 160 men shared 2 bathrooms and slept 12 men to a room. Each person got 5 minutes per day in the bathroom. That makes seminary sound like a piece of cake.

One of the things about India is that they love chai (tea). We have many chai breaks every day. It's a really nice time to take a break and chat with people and the chai is really good. In my teaching, I made the point that Scripture should be the center of our ministries as pastors and I compared Scripture to chai. Indians have chai in the morning, mid-morning, lunch, afternoon, evening, late, etc. The Indians really liked my comparison of Scripture being throughout our ministry. So now, every time we went to chai break they all hold up their Bibles and call out "chai, chai, chai." And then we get to go drink tea. It's a good time of the day.

One of the greatest things about being here has been worshipping with the Indians in between sessions of teaching. Their worship style is all a capella and very ryhthmic. They have a set of three congas that they play and when they get going, it is just incredible. They have really strong voices and they love to worship, combine that with a really strong beat and a tambourine and it is very powerful. I've put a short video clip below, but it doesn't do the experience justice. All three of us have commented to each other and the group that worshipping with them has profound.

Teaching Pastors In India

Did I mention that we came to India to teach pastors? Not just go to 72nd birthday parties, meet really amazing godly people, and hear stories of what God is doing here? Well, we did and that has been really amazing too. There are about 60 pastors here, mostly coming from rural villages where they serve as pastors. These are all pastors of "Good Shepherd Community Churches." That is the church network that OM India has begun to establish churches for Dalit Indians. Most of the pastors are from a Hindu background, most of them have very little training, but all of them are really incredible people.

We've been teaching through the pastoral epistles (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus) and they seem to be really enjoying it. It seems like they have really never had such in-depth biblical instruction. One of the pastors commented, "we've never heard any of this stuff." Another one has repeatedly told me that our teaching is truly touching his heart. So it's been very encouraging to be able to serve them in this way. They are very attentive, which by itself is amazing. I found it hard in seminary to sit through 6 hours of class in a day and I was very used to classroom education. That they are even able to focus and listen is amazing. Of course, several breaks for chai each day helps a bit. I'm definitely starting to love Indian chai.

But what is really amazing about these pastors is their stories. It's like each one is more amazing than the next. Today we heard about Pastor A who had been leading a Bible study when he was attacked and beaten up. He was left for dead and was beaten so badly that he was unrecognizable. Some people found him and took care of him. The worst part of it is that as a result of the attack, there is a criminal charge... against him. Charges have been filed against him for converting people. The case is still pending. I usually sit next to Pastor A when I'm not teaching and he has been using the Indian drum that I bought here during worship. He plays it beautifully.

We also heard from Pastor M who serves in the northern part of this state (Karnataka). He had been leading two Bible studies when some of his Hindu friends found out and got upset with him. They collected a group of 26 radical Hindus to come to house and take him to a mob that would beat him up. He invited them into his house and talked with them. Eventually changing their minds. But somehow he went to the mob of people anyway and ended up finding a way to share about Jesus Christ in the midst of that situation.

Today I taught about persecution from 2 Timothy 3. As if I have anything to teach these guys about persecution. It is truly an amazing privilege to be teaching these pastors who lead such challenging but faithful lives. To be honest, most of it doesn't even register with me. I don't think I really feel the impact of what their lives are like. It is just too incredible, too different from my own life. But it is really encouraging to be among them.

They tell me in this state there is a physical attack against a Christian leader an average of once every other day. Some of these pastors are praying fervently while they are here because they are afraid for the safety of their families. Wow. Who's doing the teaching? Us or them?

N's story

N works full time for Operation Mobilization in Bangalore. He has been one of our best translators and has already become a good friend to me, Nolan, and Doug. He shared his story with us tonight.

He said that he wouldn't be in OM anymore except for the example of a brother who came from the UK to serve as a driver for OM. N was working on what OM calls their "teams". These are small groups of young people who serve in remote places doing evangelism and distributing literature. Today, these teams receive a very small living expense stipend from OM. In N's day, they didn't receive any money to live on. Even worse, they had to make money to live on by selling literature. And they had to send a portion of it back to OM headquarters. He described those days as times when they struggled very much. He said every day they worried about whether they would have anything to eat. And water was in scarce supply as well.

In the midst of that time, a missionary from the UK came and served as a driver for their team. He left a nice job and comfortable life to drive around the remotest villages of India. If he didn't drive them, they wouldn't be able to get to a new village, they wouldn't be able to sell their literature, and they wouldn't be able to eat.

One week this driver became extremely sick. He was vomiting, had diarrhea and had a severe fever. His team told him to take a rest - that he needed to get better. But he told them no. He said that if he rested, the entire team would have to fast and he couldn't make them do that. He had to drive so they could eat. And so he drove them that day (stopping very frequently to relieve himself, of course).

N says that man made such an impact on him. He couldn't believe that someone from the UK would come to live like that in India and have such dedication. And here he was, a native Indian, having a hard time adjusting to the circumstances of living like that. He started praying then that God would make him like that man.

And his prayer was answered. N decided to stay in OM and ended up driving around teams just like that man from the UK for more than nine years. Now, he is one of the main leaders of OM South India and a good friend. Wow.

Mrs. Kamalakshamma turns 72

Today we had the great and unusual privilege of celebrating Mrs. Kamalakshamma's 72nd birthday. She is the mother of A, the director for all 2000 OM Good Shepherd Community Churches in South India. A is our primary contact for the pastor's conference and a great brother. This is the first time that he has been able to celebrate his mother's birthday in many years because of some painful circumstances. His wife would never let his parents come to visit them. But 8 months ago, his wife left him taking their two children because he didn't make enough as an OM missionary. He doesn't know where his wife or kids are and is extremely discouraged. He misses his kids tremendously. But in the midst of that pain, his parents have been able to move in with him and today he got to celebrate his mother's 72nd birthday.

Because there was 70 pastors from the villages as well as some "special honored guest pastors" (that's us in their words) among them today, he thought it would be a significant way to honor his mother by having a birthday party with all the pastors.

And so we did. And I had my very first opportunity (and very likely my last) to preach at a birthday party. And with only 15 minutes notice. Another example of how important ceremony and honor is to Indian culture. But it was definitely one of the most profound birthday parties I've ever been a part of. What a privilege to take part in celebrating 72 years for this woman, the mother of an amazing man. So we sang and I preached and several people said very nice things and then several more people spoke and then some more people prayed and then there was a closing prayer and then we had cake. It was fun. There wasn't a bounce-house, but it was still a pretty incredible birthday party.

J's story

J comes from a Dalit background - the untouchable caste in India. But in the 1940's, some American missionaries came to India and hired his parents to work at their house. His father was a driver and helped in the house while his mother cooked and cleaned for the family. J says that the missionaries never taught his parents about Jesus, but that they demonstrated Jesus' love through their interactions. Consequently, they both became Christians. And out of love for J's family, they paid for the entire education of J, his three brothers, and his sister.

Now, J works as the finance director for OM South, two of his brothers are pastors, the other is in full time ministry and his sister works as a librarian in a Christian school. He credits this missionary family with making him and his family who they are. J says that these missionaries came to India to plant churches and they may have succeeded in that. But far more important to him is that they planted a family.

Indian Culture Wars

It is just amazing to be here, teaching a team of pastors that are dealing with such raw issues in ministry. And yet at the same time, some of their issues are so similar to the things we wrestle with and question in our own search to figure out what it looks like to follow God together.

We had an incredible and enlightening conversation this morning with N, one of the team leaders we are working with. Our conversation connected with something that seems to be a theme for me lately: how much our expression of faith in Christ has to do with figuring out what it looks like to live in God's kingdom in the midst of another kingdom. How do those cultures momentarily co-exist in our experience of living between the beginning and fulfillment of our redemption? And how do we live in that balance? Do we completely reject the "world's" culture? Is that even possible? It seems to me that so much harm has been done (including much of what younger generations of Christians react against) when incidental elements of the dominant culture have been rejected in the name of following Christ. N shared two examples that illustrate this.

Both have to do with uniquely Indian cultural issues. The first is how a woman ought to express herself. In India, many woman where a "bindi" or dot on their foreheads to indicate that they are married. The tradition comes from a uniquely Hindu understanding of marriage, but has been adopted by much of Indian culture to the point where it is more of a fashion statement than a religious statement. In addition, there are other indicators of marriage in the same category, such as a ring on the second toe and certain types of bangles worn on the arms.

Certain groups of Christians firmly instruct their women not to wear bindis because of their relationship with Hinduism. They claim that walking in God's kingdom completely forbids this "wordly" kingdom expression of marital status. And yet, this can cause offense and cultural insult in Indian culture. This offense can then lead to persecution against Christians. In fact, when N asked some Hindus why they beat up a Christian pastor, their reply was that the pastor had instructed his people not to wear bindis and this was corrupting their Indian culture. One of the main criticisms against Christians in India is that they can often cause people to lose their Indian culture when they convert to Christianity. They become almost culture-less. Is that what it looks like to be a Christian? Can't you be a Christian and still maintain a rich Indian culture. I hope so.

The other story N told was of his grandfather who died at age 97. He was such a respected man in the community, that the community told the family that they would put on the funeral instead of the family. But since the grandfather had recently become a Christian (following many of his family members), some family were upset that he would receive burial ceremonies that expressed some elements of Hinduism. However, N and some others wisely realized that whatever was done to their grandfather's body would not matter on a spiritual level and to deny the community their request in the name of Christ would cause undue conflict.

So the funeral took place, the community was satisfied that they honored a respected elder among them and the Christians in the family had a small prayer time together at the end of the funeral. By doing this, N was able to honor the community, honor his grandfather, and honor Christ. In fact, even those members of the family who were originally upset by this changed their minds so that when his grandmother died shortly thereafter, this arrangement was repeated with everyone's full support.

In hearing these stories, it struck me how similar our issues are at heart. So much of what it means to follow God comes down to how we relate to our culture around us. And when this is done well, non-Christians get a glimpse into a reality of life and truth and forgiveness that is compelling. But when it is done poorly, they get shoved aside, insulted, and marginalized in the name of God's love.

It will be a privilege to turn over some of the issues together with our Indian friends this week. I feel like I have a lot to learn from them about what it means to follow God.

Indian Inaugural Ceremony

This morning we started out the day with an inaugural ceremony. It definitely demonstrated how important ceremony is to most cultures. There was music, the children had prepared songs and a beautiful dance for us, each member of the team was given a beautiful flower necklace, our leaders were officially "invited" and lots of other ceremonial welcomes. It was pretty moving: the extent to which our guests in India will go to welcome us and honor us in the name of God. They are so grateful for our presence here

My head is spinning in India

Wow. My head is spinning from our first full day in India. What a day. After a long time of wanting to come to India, I'm so excited that God has finally made a way for me to be here. It is incredible. The country is beautiful. Even in its confused traffic, dirtiness, and crowded streets, it is somehow just beautiful. The people are so warm and welcoming. I came here thinking I really like Indian culture. And I'm growing to really love India.

We started the day with a worship service at the OM campus in Banglore. What an incredible place. It used to be a chicken farm, but now it is a ministry center. So we worshipped in what used to be a chicken coop but now works just fine for a worship center.

It was such a privilege to worship with Christians from a completely different culture, in a completely different place, and yet feel this incredible bond of communion with them because we worship the same God. It's the excitement of when you meet someone from New York and ask them if they know the one person in New York that you know and it turns out randomly that they do. And it's just so cool to find someone that knows someone you know. You want to grab the person next to you and tell them what a coincidence that the New Yorker knows your old friend. It feels like that to worship with a bunch of Indians you've never met and realize they know the same God you do. I was so thankful to be among them this morning.

OM India is doing some amazing work here. They are one extremely organized group of people, with a pretty mature system of ministry and leadership development. We heard about ministry to muslims, schools for under-privileged kids, ministry in the urban poor, reaching out to temple prostitutes, and church planting efforts by OM in India.

That last one is interesting because it represents a huge shift in OM's strategy in India. They used to reach out to Dalits (the lowest "untouchable" social group) and after they came to know Jesus, they would send them to local churches. But after years of churches rejecting these new believers because of their social class, they realized that they needed to provide a church that would accept them. So now after only six years, they have an extensive network of 2000 churches ministering to Dalits, mostly in rural village settings. And most of the leadership are Dalits themselves, mostly from Hindu backgrounds. And these are the pastors that we will start teaching tomorrow.

During a visit to town, I learned about Indian bargaining today. Or at least, I started to learn. The first time I bargained the price down 30%. The second time I bargained the price down 60%. But still my new India friends told me I paid too much. I should have stuck to 80% discount from asking price. Maybe I'll get there...

Over dinner I learned more about the Indian marriage system, how dowries work, how hard these Indians who minister under OM work in incredibly difficult ministry conditions, and thought about what it means to be a Westerner in the midst of this culture. And what my responsibility is as a member of the same body of Christ.

My privileged place in life must be something God wants to use. But how? And when? Being here is definitely a start for me. And maybe it'll be the end. But maybe there's more? As I said, my head is spinning.