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Interests: You've found the official updates/prayer request page for the Grace Evangelical Free Church India Team. Check back from time to time to find out how God is working through our team.
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Member Since:
12/22/2004
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After an important time of ministry and hearing the stories
of almost 70 Indian women and seeing old friends we are all home safely and just
beginning to process our 3 weeks in this land of beautiful, resilient, people. We believe God is at work in India and we
were able to be part of that for a very brief time. We are thankful for his goodness in using and
bringing us back to our dear friends and family. We are deeply grateful for your prayer and
care for us.
I’m signing off from updating this blog at this point, unless/until
we go again,
Hopeful for the glory to come,
Erik (for the team)
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| Dear Friends,
It's Donna taking a turn to update you on our adventure.
Yesterday, Tuesday, was a rich day, one that inspired us, exhausted us,
and brought tears to our eyes. We swerved and honked our way to
Green Park (which was neither green, nor a park), weaving among
rickshaws, waterbuffalo, and overstuffed buses with extra passagengers
riding high on the luggage racks. We were greeted warmly by the
staff at TransWorld Radio who have a vital ministry in India,
broadcasting Christian programs in 60 languages. We learned that
the government doesn't allow them to actually broadcast from Indian
soil, but they broadcast into India from Sri Lanka and Russia. Tim gave
a devotional to the staff on principles for communication - our little
team was challenged by it, but, as usual, it was hard to read our stoic
audience! We then interviewed some of the female staff and I was
blessed to talk with the CEO - the first CEO of a mission organization
in the history of India! She was a lovely woman with a large
heart for bringing the gospel to and encouraging santification of
Indians. I learn so much as I listen to educated women talk about their
concerns for the illiterate and oppressed women of their land.
The needs seem so great, and even women with intelligence, power, and
resources often cannot conceive of the answer to the problems. As
soon as I get really discouraged, I talk with someone who is giving
their life to make a small difference.
From TWR we drove to Noida to meet with a contact that Tim had - a man
he'd never met but only heard of - and "Pastor John" as he's called
offered to put us in contact with some poor women for interviews.
We arrived at his house, not knowing what to expect. From the
outside it looked like a typical house with three floors (usually
housing three families), attached on either side to another house, on a
dirt road with skinny dogs running around, a rusty locked gate in
front, and neighbors peeking out of their windows to see what the tall
white people are doing! John met us and welcomed us into a dark and
shabby central room with a desk in the center which served as his
office. We soon noticed big brown eyes peering around corners -
there were 31 beautiful children living in this house! Former
street children, children without parents, some "partially" orphaned,
children of lepers - from 2 to 16 years. Our first large task was
to interview 20 women who came to talk with us. These were our
most challenging interviews. Several women came from outside the
city where they labor all day in the field, they dressed in their best
saris, wore jewels on their faces, bangles on their arms and intially
seemed eager to talk with us. Most had no education but hoped
their daughters would be educated. The deep lines on their faces
betrayed 30 years of hardship. Some shared the abuse they had
endured, the domination of their husbands, and the stress of feeding
their many children. After my interviews ended, my 50 year old
translator told me that she was orphaned when her parents died of TB
and was raised by a Swedish missionary who adopted 15 orphans and
raised them! They are all following Christ and keep in close
contact with Miss Anderson as she spends her 80's back in Sweden.
What a wonderful testimony to a life well spent for the kingdom . . .
After our interviews were done (whew!), we got to spend an hour with
the children - could their be a sweeter smile than a four year old who
was found on the street and now is clean, dressed, fed, and shakes your
hand, looks you in the eye, and says, "my name is Thomas?" We
played silly hand games, sang songs, and took lots of pictures.
We left so thankful that John didn't just carry on with his life
overwhelmed with the problems children face in this country, but
decided to rescue 31 at a time! They will learn about Jesus
and hopefully steward their upbringing well. We are praying we
will steward this experience well also. Soon we will be home and,
like last time, we will go to sleep each night thinking of the faces
and stories, and praying for God's protection and reign in this land.
Until Sunday, you seem so far away and we miss you!
Donna
p.s. I'm sorry I don't know how to load pictures, I'll have to find Erik for that trick .. .
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| Jessy here, doing my part for the team. What follows is a little introspectivity I did yesterday. Had fun India times getting it posted...the internet wasnt connecting, then the mouse wasnt moving, then the computer was in parts on the floor. But all is back together today, so here are some thoughts...
Cross-cultural travel is always interesting. Being thrust into an entirely different situation – different smells, sights, sounds. Our brains have difficulty getting used to everything different. It is called culture shock for a good reason.
In preparing to come to India, I knew there would be such shock. To borrow a phrase, “if there is a bright center to the universe, we are on the planet furthest from.” Yes, there is McDonald’s here, but it is guarded by a man in a starched uniform who stands by a podium with the words “Please Wait To Be Seated” carved into it. Not your American fast food, by any stretch of the imagination. And that is just an easily translated example.
So in my sinfulness, I tried to take the easy way out. I shut down. I am ashamed to admit it, but for the first few days of experiencing India, I felt nothing; I made myself feel nothing. Call me a coward, for that is what I am; I was afraid of the pain of empathy. And the saddest part is that in not feeling their pain I could not love them. What scares me the most is that in hardening my heart towards the people of India, my heart was also hardened toward God.
I had taken two whole rolls of pictures before I confronted my idiocy. And it was my stupidity that forced the issue. My camera developed a small fleck. In my probably ill-advised attempts to remove this speck, however gentle, I scratched my camera.
The result – tears. Yes, I all out bawled. Not just because I had scratched my camera, although that was definitely a factor. I felt as though my hiding mechanism had been taken away; I could not hide behind my camera anymore. I could not see India from the safe distance behind my lens. It would come crashing in and I didn’t know what to think or feel about that because I had shut all of that down.
Karisa, being the wonderful person she is, counseled me to let her take the camera and finish the roll. I would walk join her in a walk-about without it. So for the first time, after being here for four days, I experienced India. And it did break my heart. But the Lord bound it up again and, in doing so, made is possible for me to love.
Halfway through our walk, I had the camera for a moment. And I took my first picture because I loved the person in it. Not the subject, not the composition, but the person. There was an old woman begging and I loved her. I wanted to tell her story of sitting on a cold sidewalk with an outstreached hand as pants walk by day after day, hoping those pants will drop a coin or bit of food. I don’t know if the picture will turn out, but I do know that I have that picture in my soul. She doesn’t know it, but that woman was my first true introduction to India.
Being of a more rational mind now, I am not sure if this scratch will affect the pictures. We are attempting to develop the roll to see. I do have a digital camera for backup and will be using that, although I am not completely comfortable with it. Thank you all for remembering us. Continue to do so!
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| Hello Friends! Its Anna writing this time. You'll have to bear with me as I try to put into words things about our time here that I am still processing. In the midst of the "oh yeah" glances shared between Erik, Donna and Karisa, I find myself still wide-eyed, spontaneously responding to each new sight/experience with "wow". Since the last post, we were able to fellowship with a church on Sunday, meet up with Jessy & Tim (our team is now complete), and explore more of the city together. It was amazing to join many of you at the end of Sunday's communion service. It was beautiful to see you all meeting together and to share together all the way from India! We could hardly believe that it was possible. What an amazing opportunity is open to us to connect with believers around the world. We followed that time up with our own time of communion which was sweet and refreshing.
We have had the last few days off which have allowed those who have recently arrived to adjust a bit and those who are sick to rest. Yesterday we had an all day excursion to see the Taj Mahal. It was beautiful, especially at sunset. Pretty neat to have seen one of the eight wonders of the world. We were able to spend several hours there, watching the transformation of the Taj in the late afternoon light and people watching. Part of Jessy's role here is to take pictures of the people of India and this was a great setting. Even in the splendor of the Taj, I think that its the people here that have really captured my attention. I really see how, even in preparation for this trip, God has set my heart to love and care for the women of India. I feel so blessed to get to take part of the team's ministry here. I have really enjoyed getting to meet with women one-on-one and hear about their lives. I feel that each interview grows my heart for the people here and makes me realize more and more the value of the research Donna is doing. Tomorrow (Thursday), we'll jump into a full day of interviews and speaking (for Erik and Donna). Pray for the effectiveness of our ministry and the research project. Its easy to recognize our dependence on God in these things when we are so far from the familiar. We are also treasuring the time we have gotten to spend with Karisa, Uncle Sonny, Sheila, Brejan and Cibu. Its especially fun for Karisa, Jessy and I to share a room together and get a chance to reconnect. God is so good!
Thankful to be in his service,
anna (for the team)
From Karisa...
I'm the most blessed person in the world right now. I have some of my dearest friends here with me in my new home. What an encouragement they have been in the past week! Spending time with the team is allowing me to process my time here in India even more intentionally as I am seeing it again for the first time through Anna and Jessy's eyes. I have also been really encouraged to be part of the team as our interviews and research are serving as a tangible tool for me to love the women of India that are now so dear to me. -karisa
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| I’m sitting here in Delhi with Donna and Anna after a good breakfast and night’s
sleep. Two years after being here, there is still the sense of being in an
extremely different place than our home, but also a significant familiarity.
Our last visit left an indelible imprint on our souls. The sights, smells,
faces, sounds, and interactions bring “oh yeah” glances and smiles to our faces
and it seems like we were just here yesterday. I’m thankful my love for the
people came flooding back. As frustrating as this place can be at times, there
is a heart wrenching, exhilarating, fascinating, sad, wonderful dis play of
diverse, fallen, beautiful, humanity everywhere you look. It’s never easy to
be here, but it’s very good to be back. It restores much needed perspective in
many ways.
We had an adventure getting here which included delays, a
canceled flight that left us in Newark for a day, a spontaneous visit to lower
Manhattan, including an unforgettable, tearful visit to Ground Zero, a Harbor
Cruise to see Lady Liberty, good NY bagels and pizza, a layover in Milan, a
transfer to an AlItalia flight which included, among other challenges, a fist
fight on the plane in the row behind us where a Sikh man got punched in the
mouth so hard his turban flew off of his head to the row in front of him (not
kidding), lost luggage (all of it) that may still be in Newark (no one seems to
know for sure), and finally very the very friendly faces of Sonny, Philip,
Brajen, and Shelia at the airport. Donna and Anna are godly, beautiful, low
maintenance missionary women. I'm so impressed with their kind, patient
resilience. Their sense of humor and fun helps too.
Today was one
of rest here at YWCA International Guest House which is across from the
Parliament building on a major thoroughfare in New Delhi. Today is a major Sikh
holiday and a 4 hour parade bursting with music, colorful uniforms, mock sword
fighting, and flowers passed directly by our home for the next 3 weeks. A
consistent commitment for Sikh’s is feeding people. Hence Sikh temples always
have food av ailable for the hungry and the parade route was lined with tents
giving away free food to thousands. Sikh’s are also the most financially
successful group in India. We went for a walk and settled in for a night of
reading. Karisa returns tonight and we'll get to see her tomorrow at Shelia’s.
We are looking forward to that.
As expected, Shelia has a packed
schedule for us while we are here. Tomorrow we hit it with teaching at a
meeting at her home followed by interviews. The next 3 weeks will be filled
with opportunities to learn, grow, teach, encourage, point people to Jesus and
most of all depend on God for all of this.
As we seek to share Christ
with those living in this complex, paradoxical, conglomeration of nations,
peoples, languages, cultures, and religions, this morning I read this in my
Bible:
Zechariah 2:10-11
"Sing and rejoice, O daughter of
Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the LORD. And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day,
and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that
the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.
Zechariah 8:20-22
"Thus says the LORD of hosts: Peoples shall
yet come, even the inhabitants of many cities. The inhabitants of
one city shall go to another, saying, 'Let us go at once to entreat the favor of
the LORD and to seek the LORD of hosts; I myself am going.' Many
peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem and
to entreat the favor of the LORD. Thus says the LORD of hosts: In
those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe
of a Jew, saying, 'Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.'"
God impressed on my heart that our lives as his people, and this trip,
should be a glimpse of, and step toward that Great Day that is coming.
This morning I also read this:
Zechariah 4:6
Then
he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by
power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts."
Thank you for praying
for us accordingly,
Erik (for Donna and Anna)
P.S. Our
luggage arrived this morning (Friday).
P.P.S. It is now Saturday evening here
and we had a good day of interviews and teaching leaders. Duffy has joined us
and it is good to be with her in her new home again. God is good to us.
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