Life Changing Words Ministry
President's Journal
23 Nov 2006 – Gurgaon – 7am
A bit of factual history, and a few observations/impressions:
I more fully met Gene after getting up (a bit earlier than the scheduled 2pm... too restless). He's a really interesting man, a missionary-pastor in Delhi, originally from the Southern US. Since we had some time before lunch, Bill and Gene took me out to get my first daylight look at some of the culture. I got my first auto-rickshaw ride—for those who don't know, an ↗auto rickshaw is a tiny three-wheeled motorized taxi-like vehicle with room for a few passengers (US-style, would have been 2... I've seen as many as 5 stacked on that tiny back seat). We went to a market-neighborhood, with a strip-mall like conglomeration of small shops. Bill and Gene both wanted haircuts, where I first saw just how much cheaper goods and services really are: each haircut, if I've done the math right, was the equivalent of a little less than two US dollars. As we walked back toward Gene's, saw some other interesting stuff: the first (but not the last) Hindu temple I saw on the trip [I really needed to be taking pictures... a little late now], street-corner vendors (who plop down wherever they feel like it and sell their wares), a local chemists–basically, a small neighborhood drug store ... but a little more lax in rules about what it takes to get certain medicines: and definitely for lower prices than in the US.
This is a good place for my first observation/impression: Very idol/icon-oriented. Little baseball cards or statues of various dieties on taxi and rickshaw dashboards. A full corner-shrine in barber shop—owner even kissed threshold/bowed/etc on the way in. As I learned after conversations later in the day, two schools of Christian thought come out of this background: One, some ex-hindu Christians use pictures of Jesus as points of focus... but have to constantly remind themselves that it's just a representation, not the god itself (used lower case, because if the pic were the god, it wouldn't be The God.) Two, some are very wary of having crosses, pictures, etc, because they become the objects of worship, rather than server as reminders of the Heavenly Father. (Also, after seeing just how crazy the traffic is, I can see why the non-Christian drivers would want to make sure they have their gods with them on their dashboard... they're hoping for any protection the unfortunately-for-them impotent deity might bestow.)
Moving on with the day, after a flavorful lunch (getting used to the food is going to be ... interesting ... for my accustomed-to-plain-food tongue), we hopped in a taxi (well, technically, "hired a car", since official taxis aren't allowed to leave their designated areas, apparently) and went to ↗Gurgaon—a suburb of Delhi with a mix of ultra-modern and ancient—to go to the house where Bill and Georgene are staying: that of Angel's brother Sunil. Due to space, I'm actually staying with Angel's mother-in-law, a few blocks away. For those who haven't gathered it from Georgene's journals from previous years, Angel is the one who founded/runs Agnes school. Sunil is actually now the principal of the school. I also got to meet Angel and Sunil's father (who lives with them [or, more accurately, they live with him, since it's his house] there in Gurgaon) as well as one of Angel's daughters. Her husband is in the (↗state of Haryana) government, so he lives and works in the state capital, ↗Chandigarh—which is where we'll be spending the elongated weekend. After we get back, Bill and I will spend a day visiting Agra (the city of the Taj Mahal), and after that, I'll visit Agnes school, to see some of the ministry here.
I was repeatedly reminded, throughout the day, that I need to be taking photos: The water buffalo lowing in the street... right in front of the Suzuki dealership; and there was the feral dog who appeared to be "walking" a cow (ie, the two traveling down the side of the road together, with the two positioned in much the same way that humans and their pets are when going for a walk). As a result, I'm going to try to keep my camera on me at all times, from now on (well, except when sleeping, but you get the picture... and hopefully, so will I).
Second major thought/impression: servants, and class distinction. Seeing actual servants (which I'd never seen in my suburban American life, except for in television shows like "Mr. Belvedere"), it first hit me that there really are castes here, so I should expect to see it.... Given the Biblical imperative that Christian should be servants, I started paying more attention to such dymamics. [Editor's note: I don't remember commenting on the dynamic anywhere else in my journal, so while I'm transcribing this, I'll just note that I've seen, but haven't fully processed, more of the "servant"-mode, and also the dynamic between Christian "masters" and their Christian and non-Christian servants... I have a feeling as I process it more, it will give me a very different perspective on the servant-message in the Bible from here on out.]
A third impression, this one on hospitality [Editor's note: this wasn't in my original journal, but as I was transcribing, I remembered that it was about here on my trip where I first started noticing this, so I'm inserting it now.]: This was the first time I'd ever felt this level of hospitality, and in such a short amount of time. It overwhelmed me. Within minutes, I could feel that they'd extended the same sense of family they share with Bill and Georgene to me. [And it wasn't just here—as the trip progressed, I felt this repeatedly at all the homes I stayed in.] I'm praying, as I grow my relationships and hospitality back home, that I'll be able to even approach the Indian level of care-for-guests.
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