Breakfast this morning is as it was yesterday: porridge, tea, toast, butter, jelly, eggs, but with the addition of some small bread fried in donut shape one then dips into a sauce. Frank and Leena and I sat and talked over tea about effective ways of helping spread the Gospel in foreign fields.
Frank said a former leader had told him that we often hear that “you should work yourself out of a job.” This means of course that we should develop leaders that come up behind us. For westerners working in evangelism overseas however, it should be instead that “you should never take on the job on yourself to begin with.” The point is that unless national workers are not raised up immediately and take on the work themselves all could be lost if one is required to leave within 24 hours.
I asked what they thought was the most effective way of spreading the Gospel in foreign lands. Without hesitation Frank replied that would be Gospel literature. He is, of course, a publisher, but he also speaks from experience as a missionary in India, and from working with many missions organizations over nearly four decades.
He said that bringing promising leaders to the West often backfires because their lives are unsettled by the differences in standards of living, and it can be that their direction turns to moving to the West rather than ministering at home.
Buildings can be useful, but the Kingdom is made up of people, not bricks nor timbers. Buildings can be constructed by local believers as they are needed. Furthermore, buildings can be a point of attack in countries where there is organized opposition to Christianity.
Gospel literature on the other hand can impact multiple lives at low cost. Bibles or New Testaments have obvious value over many years. Other introductory or faith-building materials are also useful in developing a life of faith.
Showing posts with label Delhi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Delhi. Show all posts
Friday, February 01, 2008
India – Dinner – 31 January 2008
The food was interesting at dinner but not nearly so interesting as the company. Our dinner companions included an Indian church network leader and his wife, and a European who is working on publishing Christian materials. I won’t mention their names for security.
By the way, this discussion of security is not just being cute. During dinner the church leader told of growing threat to Christians and leaders, and cited some disturbing recent news. A swami in Aurissa has been inciting Hindus to attack Christians. This is not the first time this has happened, but a growing violence and Hindu nationalism threatens. Christianity is making great gains in India, but the enemy of our souls is rising up in counterattack.
The church network leader spoke of a great Christian work rising in a nearby state where he says there are now 2.5 million believers. He is going there with us tomorrow and the next day. He wants to partner with Frank so that new Christians and leaders can obtain Bibles and Christian teaching. There is nothing like seeing the work first hand and developing relationships with the leaders involved.
Dinner is pleasant and somewhat intense. A lot of information is being exchanged, but the main reason for eating together is simply the continuation and building of relationship. On such relationships is the Kingdom of God built.
By the way, this discussion of security is not just being cute. During dinner the church leader told of growing threat to Christians and leaders, and cited some disturbing recent news. A swami in Aurissa has been inciting Hindus to attack Christians. This is not the first time this has happened, but a growing violence and Hindu nationalism threatens. Christianity is making great gains in India, but the enemy of our souls is rising up in counterattack.
The church network leader spoke of a great Christian work rising in a nearby state where he says there are now 2.5 million believers. He is going there with us tomorrow and the next day. He wants to partner with Frank so that new Christians and leaders can obtain Bibles and Christian teaching. There is nothing like seeing the work first hand and developing relationships with the leaders involved.
Dinner is pleasant and somewhat intense. A lot of information is being exchanged, but the main reason for eating together is simply the continuation and building of relationship. On such relationships is the Kingdom of God built.
India – 31 January 3008 - In the Market
About noon Jyotsna (name changed for security), a friend and colleague of Frank’s arrived and the day became busy.
Jyotsna has been working for some years on a radio program that he produces and his family “stars” in. The daily five-minute programs are in one of India’s largest languages. They use drama to illustrate a Christian perspective on everyday problems of Indian families. They point to Christ as the answer to life’s many issues. The response has been good, with some writing to say they have become Christians and others writing to request literature. Frank and Jyotsna are discussing how to increase the exposure of the program. It is now broadcast on shortwave to India from another country.
At lunchtime, we walked to a market area where we could change money and find something to eat and obtain SIM cards for our mobile phones. My Alaska pre-paid card does not work here.
We walked from the YWCA first to the bank. Walking along the street in a new country puts all the senses on alert, with impressions flooding in: flowers….people walking, sitting, camping, talking….dogs….cars speeding, stopped, honking, darting, asserting right of way….. insistent motorized rickshaws seeing foreigners….careful street crossing with vehicles coming on the “wrong side” of the road with few controlled intersections….apes…birds…street vendors…beggars.
At the bank we are told that the conversion rate for US dollars is 38.65 rupees per dollar, and we have to fill out a form and provide a copy of our passport. There is no copy machine nearby. We start to fill out the forms, and the teller informs us that he is going on lunch break. There is no other teller in this section.
Off we go again with Jyotsna in the lead. We plunge into a market area and go up some stairs where Money Change is noted on a sign. Half way up the stairs, we turn and go up some very narrow stairs to a little garret where the money changer works.
He quotes 38.4 rupees to the dollar. Frank tells him that the bank is quoting 38.65.
“Not possible” the money changer and says that he can do this for 38.5. Frank haggles with him and brings him reluctantly to 38.65. I changed 300 dollars and received an impressive stack of 500 rupee notes, all with the Mahatma’s image. Later, Frank tells me that “anything is possible in India.”
Next is lunch. But the restaurant we want where they serve South Indian Masala dosai has a line forming outside. It’s lunchtime (2 PM) and the office crowd is hungry. But Jyotsna does some fast talking, and the guard lets us in. An empty table is presented immediately.
These Masala dosai are good! It is a large, very thin, somewhat crispy pancake rolled over some vegetables, served on a banana leaf, with little indentations in the plastic tray that hold sauces of varying spice temperature. The bill for 4 of us is 518 rs – about 12 dollars.
Finding SIM cards for our phones is next and so out we went again. Jyotsna stops at a place in the market, but the vendor is not very helpful and the prices are high. As we go through the market, people notice our foreign faces and a few bolder ones tap us gently on the shoulders offering all kinds of merchandise. Others, less bold, look at us wondering if there is a way that they can please us with something they are selling and receive some rupees in return.
The market is a rich medley of people, colors, smells and sounds. It is like the rainbow of spices found in Indian food. I found it fascinating and energizing. I like this.
Jyotsna stops again at the shop of someone he knows. It is a narrow place open to the street, but down a few steps. It is filled with calendars, pens, “daytimers” and other items. He is a spare fellow about my age with a pleasant face. A young man works with him. Both a nicely dressed and well groomed. It turns out that we cannot get a SIM card without passport style photos. Where does one get these?
Just a few meters down the row of shops there is another shop where passport photos can be made. For 50 rupees, we soon have passport photos.
We present the photos, passports (which are copied) and our mobile phones and the involved process of setting up telephones begins. All of this takes about an hour, but not until the end does money change hands. Everyone is now smiling and happy. And I now have an Indian telephone number. I do not pay for incoming calls.
On the way back to the YWCA, we stop at the YMCA for Internet access. It takes a bit of work to set up the computers to work, but we are soon online sending and receiving email. I am writing these blog notes in my hotel room. When I have Internet access, I copy and paste. Here in the YMCA business center, access costs 10 rs for 15 minutes, 30 rs for an hour. We paid 10.
On the way out, we look into rooms here. It would be nice to have better access. The arrangement is made and on our return from our trip, we’ll come back here.
Jyotsna has been working for some years on a radio program that he produces and his family “stars” in. The daily five-minute programs are in one of India’s largest languages. They use drama to illustrate a Christian perspective on everyday problems of Indian families. They point to Christ as the answer to life’s many issues. The response has been good, with some writing to say they have become Christians and others writing to request literature. Frank and Jyotsna are discussing how to increase the exposure of the program. It is now broadcast on shortwave to India from another country.
At lunchtime, we walked to a market area where we could change money and find something to eat and obtain SIM cards for our mobile phones. My Alaska pre-paid card does not work here.
We walked from the YWCA first to the bank. Walking along the street in a new country puts all the senses on alert, with impressions flooding in: flowers….people walking, sitting, camping, talking….dogs….cars speeding, stopped, honking, darting, asserting right of way….. insistent motorized rickshaws seeing foreigners….careful street crossing with vehicles coming on the “wrong side” of the road with few controlled intersections….apes…birds…street vendors…beggars.
At the bank we are told that the conversion rate for US dollars is 38.65 rupees per dollar, and we have to fill out a form and provide a copy of our passport. There is no copy machine nearby. We start to fill out the forms, and the teller informs us that he is going on lunch break. There is no other teller in this section.
Off we go again with Jyotsna in the lead. We plunge into a market area and go up some stairs where Money Change is noted on a sign. Half way up the stairs, we turn and go up some very narrow stairs to a little garret where the money changer works.
He quotes 38.4 rupees to the dollar. Frank tells him that the bank is quoting 38.65.
“Not possible” the money changer and says that he can do this for 38.5. Frank haggles with him and brings him reluctantly to 38.65. I changed 300 dollars and received an impressive stack of 500 rupee notes, all with the Mahatma’s image. Later, Frank tells me that “anything is possible in India.”
Next is lunch. But the restaurant we want where they serve South Indian Masala dosai has a line forming outside. It’s lunchtime (2 PM) and the office crowd is hungry. But Jyotsna does some fast talking, and the guard lets us in. An empty table is presented immediately.
These Masala dosai are good! It is a large, very thin, somewhat crispy pancake rolled over some vegetables, served on a banana leaf, with little indentations in the plastic tray that hold sauces of varying spice temperature. The bill for 4 of us is 518 rs – about 12 dollars.
Finding SIM cards for our phones is next and so out we went again. Jyotsna stops at a place in the market, but the vendor is not very helpful and the prices are high. As we go through the market, people notice our foreign faces and a few bolder ones tap us gently on the shoulders offering all kinds of merchandise. Others, less bold, look at us wondering if there is a way that they can please us with something they are selling and receive some rupees in return.
The market is a rich medley of people, colors, smells and sounds. It is like the rainbow of spices found in Indian food. I found it fascinating and energizing. I like this.
Jyotsna stops again at the shop of someone he knows. It is a narrow place open to the street, but down a few steps. It is filled with calendars, pens, “daytimers” and other items. He is a spare fellow about my age with a pleasant face. A young man works with him. Both a nicely dressed and well groomed. It turns out that we cannot get a SIM card without passport style photos. Where does one get these?
Just a few meters down the row of shops there is another shop where passport photos can be made. For 50 rupees, we soon have passport photos.
We present the photos, passports (which are copied) and our mobile phones and the involved process of setting up telephones begins. All of this takes about an hour, but not until the end does money change hands. Everyone is now smiling and happy. And I now have an Indian telephone number. I do not pay for incoming calls.
On the way back to the YWCA, we stop at the YMCA for Internet access. It takes a bit of work to set up the computers to work, but we are soon online sending and receiving email. I am writing these blog notes in my hotel room. When I have Internet access, I copy and paste. Here in the YMCA business center, access costs 10 rs for 15 minutes, 30 rs for an hour. We paid 10.
On the way out, we look into rooms here. It would be nice to have better access. The arrangement is made and on our return from our trip, we’ll come back here.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
India - Early in the day - 31 January 2008
The chanting continues. It isn’t a problem; I’ve “switched it off.” It’s just interesting. The people are still swirling around.
The day has dawned pleasant although the air pollution continues. This must be a real health issue for Indians. Flowers and green plants are all about.
We are in the YWCA International Guest House. When we registered, our visas were examined carefully and recorded, and we were entered into a very large book with column headings readable from top and bottom. Litre bottles of Aquafina were brought for each of us. Indian water is not to be consumed raw. One always need to know the source of water and juice to avoid “Delhi belly” I am told. Even toothbrushing must be done with bottled water.
Breakfast was porridge, toast, tea, suji (a soft, sweet mass made of brown flour and sugar and more) and something like scrambled eggs. It was not inspiring but good enough to go with!
In my hotel room I have a small single bed, one working light and two non functional lights, a tiled bathroom, an armoire and….um….interesting electrical arrangements. The electrical in Frank and Leena’s room is even more interesting. I am able to plug in my laptop power supply via a plug conversion.
Internet is available only in a nearby Internet café at 20 rupees for a half hour and 30 for each hour ($0.75/hour). Unfortunately, we cannot connect our laptops in this way.
The day has dawned pleasant although the air pollution continues. This must be a real health issue for Indians. Flowers and green plants are all about.
We are in the YWCA International Guest House. When we registered, our visas were examined carefully and recorded, and we were entered into a very large book with column headings readable from top and bottom. Litre bottles of Aquafina were brought for each of us. Indian water is not to be consumed raw. One always need to know the source of water and juice to avoid “Delhi belly” I am told. Even toothbrushing must be done with bottled water.
Breakfast was porridge, toast, tea, suji (a soft, sweet mass made of brown flour and sugar and more) and something like scrambled eggs. It was not inspiring but good enough to go with!
In my hotel room I have a small single bed, one working light and two non functional lights, a tiled bathroom, an armoire and….um….interesting electrical arrangements. The electrical in Frank and Leena’s room is even more interesting. I am able to plug in my laptop power supply via a plug conversion.
Internet is available only in a nearby Internet café at 20 rupees for a half hour and 30 for each hour ($0.75/hour). Unfortunately, we cannot connect our laptops in this way.
India - 30 January 2008
The beginning and end of transoceanic like this are always jet laggy. Yesterday, I was fully awake as Peter and I looked at their church meeting hall and offices and then a little bit of downtown Helsinki, and even through dinner. But at 6 PM, after 25 hours of travel and not a great deal of sleep, I could no longer hold my eyes open. 8 hours later I was awake – that would be 2 AM in Helsinki, or 3 PM in Alaska. Happily I was able to connect with Peter’s wireless Internet connection. That made possible Skype calls to Alaska and quite a bit of email and even a couple of website updates.
At a very Finnish breakfast, Peter and Pia and I spoke of many things, but then zeroed in on something that is going on in Scandinavia called “Levande Familjer” (living families). The concept is that Christians are trained to provide advice for families with relationship problems. The design is simply to provide help, and not an overt Gospel presentation. There is no hiding of Levande Familjer’s Christian roots; each session begins and ends with prayer. Peter said the concept is so successful that 1) Levande Familjer no longer needs advertisement as people come as a result of word-of-mouth referrals; and 2) even government agencies provide referrals. The latter is a real testimony of success in socialistic Sweden.
This is fascinating to me because of what we have been discussing at home….ways to help families and by our actions preach the Good News.
Peter and I ate lunch together at Helsinki Vantaa airport, and then we parted. I met Frank and Leena not long after in the departure lounge. We flew over Russia and several of the “stans” (Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan) to Delhi where arrived some six hours later, at a little after midnight.
Fog – which turned out to be serious air pollution or smog – was the first thing I noticed looking out the aircraft windows as the big Finnair MD-11 pulled into its gate at Indira Gandhi International Airport. The airport is not as nicely maintained as one is accustomed to in the West, but it functioned well enough. The second thing I noticed was people: many, many people, especially as we exited the airport. Frank cautioned not to let anyone carry bags. At the taxi, someone tried to put his bags into the vehicle in hopes of a few rupees, perhaps.
A friend and partner of the ministry met us and had arranged a taxi. Since taxi fares are “flexible” depending on perceived ability to pay – with westerners being at the top of the ability ladder – having a cab arranged by a friend was very helpful. The cab was an unusually boxy shaped vehicle with little room for larger western people, but we somehow managed to get all of us and our luggage aboard.
Traffic was brisk at times, even at 1:30 AM. There was much jostling and beeping. Frank cracked that Indian cars were painted only with one coat so as to allow more to pass abreast.
I have a single room in the “International Guest House” where we are staying. The room costs about $40 US (1566 rupees) and seems fairly clean and even has a western-style toilet with toilet paper. The room “tariff” includes breakfast. It is air conditioned, but I’ll be more interested in the heater with temperatures around 50F. Frank says that his Indian contacts look on this as an expensive place to stay, although it is possible to find accommodation at western standard that costs over $100 US per night.
Just 200 meters away from my window is an impressive Sikh temple with a golden dome where some chanting (amplified of course) has been going on nonstop….and it is 2:45 AM as I write. Even at this late hour, people are coming and going.
At a very Finnish breakfast, Peter and Pia and I spoke of many things, but then zeroed in on something that is going on in Scandinavia called “Levande Familjer” (living families). The concept is that Christians are trained to provide advice for families with relationship problems. The design is simply to provide help, and not an overt Gospel presentation. There is no hiding of Levande Familjer’s Christian roots; each session begins and ends with prayer. Peter said the concept is so successful that 1) Levande Familjer no longer needs advertisement as people come as a result of word-of-mouth referrals; and 2) even government agencies provide referrals. The latter is a real testimony of success in socialistic Sweden.
This is fascinating to me because of what we have been discussing at home….ways to help families and by our actions preach the Good News.
Peter and I ate lunch together at Helsinki Vantaa airport, and then we parted. I met Frank and Leena not long after in the departure lounge. We flew over Russia and several of the “stans” (Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan) to Delhi where arrived some six hours later, at a little after midnight.
Fog – which turned out to be serious air pollution or smog – was the first thing I noticed looking out the aircraft windows as the big Finnair MD-11 pulled into its gate at Indira Gandhi International Airport. The airport is not as nicely maintained as one is accustomed to in the West, but it functioned well enough. The second thing I noticed was people: many, many people, especially as we exited the airport. Frank cautioned not to let anyone carry bags. At the taxi, someone tried to put his bags into the vehicle in hopes of a few rupees, perhaps.
A friend and partner of the ministry met us and had arranged a taxi. Since taxi fares are “flexible” depending on perceived ability to pay – with westerners being at the top of the ability ladder – having a cab arranged by a friend was very helpful. The cab was an unusually boxy shaped vehicle with little room for larger western people, but we somehow managed to get all of us and our luggage aboard.
Traffic was brisk at times, even at 1:30 AM. There was much jostling and beeping. Frank cracked that Indian cars were painted only with one coat so as to allow more to pass abreast.
I have a single room in the “International Guest House” where we are staying. The room costs about $40 US (1566 rupees) and seems fairly clean and even has a western-style toilet with toilet paper. The room “tariff” includes breakfast. It is air conditioned, but I’ll be more interested in the heater with temperatures around 50F. Frank says that his Indian contacts look on this as an expensive place to stay, although it is possible to find accommodation at western standard that costs over $100 US per night.
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