|
I just returned back from India last week, after a 5 week
long vacation. While the main
aim for this expensive trip was to attend the last wedding in our family,
we did many other things in these 5 weeks. I worked from the Bangalore SAP
office for 2 weeks, this got me in touch with all my colleagues and
friends in Bangalore.My wife did all the shopping and fun things while I
was working at office during those 2 weeks. We spent last two weeks of our vacation in the mission field at Anji (Maharashtra state in India) where Rural Blessing Mission(RBM) is located. Below is a short write up of my experience while attending a Sunday service in a church built in a very remote location, in that region. This place is not connected by any transport. Most people either walk or bike for the last 2 kms. But we were blessed with a luxury of a car and hence we did not have to take so much effort to reach there. A visit to the Waghdhara church on 31st October 2010 (Location Waghdhara) Situated around 25 kms from Anji, this village is called “Wagh-dhara” meaning “Tiger Valley” in marathi(local language). It is a small village with 50 families, all belonging to a tribe called ‘Kolam’. This village is very signifcant in my memory , since 20 years ago during the inital days of the RBM mission, my parents would regularly visit this village and conduct prayer meetings, without any souls. Today after many 20 years, as i drive through the dirt road, i see that many of the people in this village have accepted Christ. A brand new church-building stands here, testifying the faithfulness of our God. Waghdhara church is the latest church to
be built by RBM in the last year. Our host-missionary in that village is
one Mr. Chaple, who stood at
the church door and welcomed the people as everyone started entering the
church and got seated on the floor. The church is a modest building room
with a metal-plated roof, and cement floor. Some mats were laid on the
floor, so that the congregation could be seated, with some plastic chairs
for the elderly. Our head missionary Mr. Vani was the speaker of the day,
he arrived with his family from a another village called Parsodi. The Sunday-service started with a
prayer at precise 930 am. The songs were sung in Kolam and Marathi (local
languages) , since I was brought up in that region, I understood marathi
well (but a song in Kolam was
a pleasure to hear). As I sat in the last rows, I realized How Gracious is
our God, who by his mighty power enables the most neglected and the least
of the communities in the world to hear about Him and receive salvation.
As the service progressed, I saw an elderly couple (both in 80’s) come
together into the church and sit behind me. I witnessed the Peace and the Joy
in each of the persons in the congregation had during the worship. The
Joy, Hope and Passion on the faces of these simple people touched me.
Mr.Vani shared the word of God, the topic was ‘Church – the body of
Christ’, he talked about how each of us belonged to the body of Christ and
our responsibilities as child of God. During the tithe and offering time, I could see some people rummaging through their pockets to dish out a coin or a soiled note that they have earned from their last days’ wages. The closing prayer was intense, but child-like simple, asking for the most basic (asking God to take care of them while they work in the farm etc) . After the service, we sat around and shared some snacks, that we had carried with us. I met a young woman in the congregation who was possessed by the devil in the past, She had received her redemption after coming to know Jesus, her life has completely changed. Another man, had a recent near-death experience after being bitten by a deadly snake. Please note that this village does not have any public transport, and the only way to avail transport, is to walk for 2 kms and touch the main road. The nearest hospital is around 25 Kms at Anji. On the day of the incident, the man after being bitten, knew that he would die if he had to walk 2 Kms with the snake bite. However God was gracious, and least expected, there was a 3- wheeled motor rickshaw in the village which had come to drop some sick man. He was taken to the hospital in the this Rickshaw and his life was saved. This man and his whole family have now accepted Christ. After the service, during the fellowship time, I sensed that
womenfolk were in a hurry to leave the church, and soon all the women in
the congregation bade good-bye and left. Later we came to know that
Soya-bean crop was being harvested; the women farm laborers were in a
great demand to handpick soya-bean seeds. The women would receive at least
¾ of their daily wages(around 80 Indian rupees,equivalent to 1.5
USD) on that day, if they made it by lunch time to the Farms. I was
inspired by the passion that the people had for Christ, and how they can
forego their meagre wages to be in the presence of
God. While we drove back in a comfortable car, back to our home, I
was thinking how the people would be working in the farms until sun-set
even on a Sunday, while I could go home and enjoy a Hot lunch. But I was
fully aware that the Joy of the Lord is now their's too, and with this
strength they will never ever falter, and now they too can look forward to
a meaningful life through Jesus, Amen. Praise be to God for this wonderful
experience. |