A Closing Blog from the Racial Ethnic Ministers Immersion Pilgrimage to India

No one can bless like our God! I write this closing blog to you all from the United States. We have been home now for four days. But I wanted to share this with our families and friends.

Sunday, March 24th was our last day on the Pilgrimage. Our team, Huberto Pimentel, Geunhee Yu, Bob Shebeck and James Vijayakumar and I, felt that it seemed so long since our arrival in India on March 9th. We had covered a lot of territory, literally, in both North India and South India. We were blessed in that not one of got sick. My brother, Titus, who traveled to India as an airline steward for Pan Am, told me about the “Delhi belly”, that we were fortunate not to have experienced.

We worshiped at the Hume Memorial Congregation (CNI), located next to the Victory Gardens there in Mumbai. It was my responsibility to bring the morning message in the worship service.

I was blessed in my inspiration for it had come to me regularly during our two week stay. To see God at work in and through the churches of North and South India was a blessing. The church is active in the slums of the cities, the villages with the farmers, the schools with the beautiful and gifted children, and the hospitals where whole families stay until the patient is released.

I selected John 3:17 and Hebrews 9: 14 as my reference scripture texts. The latter being the theme text for our upcoming 21st Biennial Session of the National Convocation. The sermon, “We are Saved to Serve”, seemed to have been received pretty well. Instead of translating as I preached, the pastor gave a summary in the native language afterwards. He informed me that most of the congregation was schooled and familiar with the English language. There was a brief reception after church where we received floral bouquets. They were beautiful, but not permitted for international travel.

After service we had lunch and met with pastors and leaders from the Marathi Missions back at the YMCA. Many of the leaders had come a long way to meet us and to meet with Vijay. After the meeting we took a little time to debrief and reflect on the whole trip. We were all in agreement that the trip had accomplished its goal. We were well informed and enlightened in the area of global missions. Shortly after the debriefing, we headed to the airport for the return trip home. After checking our luggage and clearing security as we walked toward our gate of departure a wave of excitement came over us. It was dinner time and we saw the sign, “Kentucky Fried Chicken”! We knew that we were on our way.

Thank you for sharing.

Timothy M. James reporting.

A Visit to Vijay's Family

Sorry we have been out of touch for a few days. We are currently in Mumbai on the last leg of our journey. We will worship tomorrow in a local congregation and Timothy James will preach. Thanks for praying for him. We will have our final debriefing and head back to the U.S. on a 10:40pm flight. What an incredible journey we have had! Keep reading and you will have a summary of our past three days by Geunhee, Huberto and Timothy....

This is Geunhee Yu… In order to see the sunrise at the southern tip of India we got up at 6am on Friday morning. But the thick clouds blocked the view a bit and we were only able to see the sun pop out of the clouds about 15 minutes after the official time. Today we spent a good portion of our time visiting areas devastated by the Tsunami and the subsequent rebuilding projects along the coastal areas that were destroyed. One of the housing projects sponsored by our Global Ministries is worth mentioning here. Thirty-one housing units were built with funds in one area that we visited. The fisher-folk in this project call their neighborhood “Global Nager” which means “Global Village.” The took this name for their village because they never wanted to forget the help that they received through Global Ministries during this desperate time in their lives. Each of the housing units has on the front door a plaque which says “Funded by Global Ministries (and the GM logo!) and Sponsored by Peace Trust (our GM partner in the area). As we entered the Global Nager, all the women of the village came out to greet us with their traditional welcoming rituals, such as putting a colored dot on our forehead and hanging a shawl on our shoulders. We were greatly honored by representing our beloved church, the Disciples of Christ, to these Tsunami victims. During our visit, we also had the opportunity to visit several mass burial sites of Tsunami casualties. At a burial ground of 414 bodies (most of them could not be identified), we were struck with profound awe and sadness. From that experience, we went to another fishing village where on behalf of Global Ministries, we proudly handed over 5 fishing boats to 5 fisher-families who lost their boats and fishing equipment in the Tsunami. Of course the boats carry a Global Ministries name tag with logo as the donor. Surely our mission dollars through Global Ministries have been put to good use and work in these communities. Our next visit was to the family home of our very own Vijay, area executive for Southern Asia. The family compound has been converted into James College of Education and Luise James Teacher Training Institute in commemoration of Vijay’s Mom and Dad who were leaders in this community as well as the church. Vijay’s Dad, James, was a medical doctor. Vijay’s borther, Prem and his wife are both medical doctors. They are running an amazing hospital facility and nursing school about 20 minutes away from the family property. That was our last visit of the day. The hospital has about 150 beds. During the aftermath of the tsunami the James hospital was on the front lines of helping the victims. A Tsunami memorial plaque stands at the front of the hospital placed there by the government recognizing the significant work the hospital did in treating 16,000 Tsunami victims in the first year after the disaster. We entered the hospital facility with the traditional floral garland welcome by the staff and the nursing students. We made a special visit to the HIV/AIDS unit. We prayed for the 10 patients there and staff and shook each of their hands personally. They were all smiles! In the evening there was a special performance of the nursing students in celebration of our visit and a delicious welcome feast with Vijay’s family. What a day it was… from a heavy heart to an evening of cheer!

To the Tip of South India!

This is Huberto Pimentel…. We arrived at Kanyakumari at the very tip of South India. This is the place where the Arabian sea, Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal meet. For the Hindu the ocean is divine and sacred. And so this place is very important for Hindus. With the rise of Hindu nationalism, there have been some challenges in the area in Hindu, Christian and Muslim relations. Christians in the region celebrate conventions at the same time that the Hindu festivals were held without any type of friction for many years. Sadly at one point the Hindus who were in political power banned the Christians from holding their convention during the festival time. With the closure of this convention, the Christians started new conventions at different times in each congregation. In addition to this an aggressive evangelistic approach by some of the fundamentalist Christian groups in the area were abusing the Hindus over loud speakers calling them idol worshipers and ignorant. It was in this context that during the Temple festival in Mondaikad that there was a clash between the coastal Christians (mainly Roman Catholic) and the Hindus in which 11 Christians were shot dead. The unity, peace and humanity that had prevailed for many years was gravely threatened. (This all happened in the 80s) Dr. Gnana Robinson (our host in Kanyakumari) called together at the time a number of like minded friends who were Hindu, Muslim and Christian. They began to talk to one another and work on strategies for peace and reconciliation. These first meetings were the seeds for the Peace Trust (originally called the Centre for Justice and Peace). In a special meeting between Hindus, Muslims and Christians an affirmation of agreed beliefs on God emerged: We affirm that God is one, who is the creator of the universe and that God is love, justice and truth. We agree that every religion affirms that this God is concerned with the welfare of all peoples. Since that meeting a centre for inter-religious studies and joint action was created. The motto of the centre is One God, One Humanity. Fundamentalism in religion in the extreme creates tension and tension creates violence and violence creates death and death creates hatred… and the cycle of extreme continues. We thank God for the leadership of Dr. Gnana Robinson in the creation of the Peace Trust Cenre which has had an impact on this region where the Hindus, Christians and Muslims live in relative harmony. Shalom!

A Visit to Tamil Nadu Theological Seminary in Madurai

This is Timothy James reporting… Greetings to our family and church friends in the U.S and Canada. Our second day in Madurai began with an early morning breakfast at the hotel before 8am chapel service at the Tamil Nadu Theological Seminary. The chapel was conducted in the local Tamil language. Vijay helped us follow along the printed liturgy. The student worship leader and preacher appeared to have led a meaningful service with prayer, music and sermon. (The service would later be critiqued by a small team of faculty and peers as part of the educational experience.) We met with the Seminary principal, Rev. Dr. Gnanuvaram, and faculty to share the purpose of our trip and to hear the subjects that the faculty instructed. It was interesting to learn that the second year students (4 year program) must live in an urban slum setting for a part of the year for the purpose of putting theory and practice together and learning about identifying with the poor and marginalized and engaging in a ministry of transformation in that setting… a very powerful lesson for us Disciples in our quest for congregational transformation. Each student also lives in a village setting for 9 months during the third year of instruction and engages in action around land ownership, labor unions and other empowerment programs The campus also houses the Dalit Resource Center which contains a library and archives of Dalit history and theological resources. This is unique in India as well as controversial in the church when it first was started some years ago. For some (the non-Dalit church leaders who were in power!) thought it was unnecessary to highlight this issue in society even if the church is majority Dalit (60% of CSI comes from Dalit background while 80% of CNI is made up of Dalit and Tribals) in its composition. During our visit to the Dalit Resource Center library I came across a book entitled “Dalits and African Americans.” This is one book I must read and add to my library. During the afternoon we visited projects associated with the Seminary and receiving Disciples and UCC funding through Global Ministries: An Unemployed Youth Training Center where young men and women are taught auto mechanics, electronics, drafting, sewing and computer skills; a rescue center (Arulagam which means House of Grace) for women taken from the streets and situations of prostitution; and finally Inga Illam (Happy Home) a home for the elderly without families which often live on the streets. All these initiatives demonstrated to us the Seminaries commitment to work with the poorest of the poor and the marginalized in Indian society. Madurai is known for its ancient Hindu temple, one of the largest in the nation. We got to take a guided visit to that temple that evening. In spite of the overwhelming Hindu presence and influence, I am most touched by the Christian presence and witness, proclamation and action. This vibrant and living faith is like unto the prophet Ezekiel who said, “And there, where they were living, I sat among them… overwhelmed.” (Ezekiel 3:15)

Our Rural Visit Experience in Madurai

This is Bob... From Chennai we hopped on another plane and headed further South. (I hope you all have found a map of India by now to follow the geography of our pilgrimage journey!) Dr. Carr, a recent Common Global Ministries Board member representing Southern Asia, joined our group as our host. We took advantage of his incredible knowledge of contextual theology in the Indian context and spent much time talking about the relevant ministry in the Hindu village. Dr. Carr shared story after story of how the Hindu religious myth intersects in some ways with the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus and how these contact points serve as ways to approach the sharing and living of that Good News in this context. During the afternoon we traveled to three village locations to inaugurate two wells that have recently been dug with funds supplied through Global Ministries, WOC/OGHS and Food Resources Bank. What a welcome we received in each of these locations: flower garlands, traditional cloth, fruits, candies and coconut juice. The villagers explained their agriculture projects and how the wells are providing needed water for the rice and flower fields that provide income for the village. Different villages are working together to share resources and develop sustainable income through a cooperative type association. It's a real learning experience in community development as villages that come from different casts are breaking down barriers and working together in new ways. During our visit we were able to affirm that the God of Love and Justice is the one who unites us all as children of one human family where we can share and receive God's gifts. After visiting two well projects we went to another village to meet with a women's group who is operating a cooperative program with funds from Global Ministries. The women shared with us how they are growing in self-confidence as they are able to produce goods and services through micro-credit loans that they receive through the cooperative model. We blessed them in the name of the God of Jesus Christ as well as encouraged them to continue working to improve their difficult situation in the village through education and income generating projects. As we were leaving them the electricity in the village went out, but the ligth in the eyes of those women still shined brightly as their dignity as human beings has been empowered and uplifted through these incredible mission programs in which we as Disciples and UCC have a part. To God be the Glory!

A Day with the Church of South India (CSI) Madras Diocese

Students from the CSI school for the deaf performing a dance

Student MC of the song and dance presentation

Principal of the Jessie Moses CSI English Medium School with the Bishop and Vijay

The Mission and Evangelism coordinator sharing about the 120 missionaries that the Diocese of Madras has sent out into needy areas

The Leaders of the Women's Board for Social Concerns of CSI

This is Geunhee… On Sunday evening we flew from Raipur to Hyderabad where we stayed over night in an airport hotel. The next morning we took a quick flight from Hyderabad to Chennai where we began our visit with the Church of South India. In Chennai we were hosted by the Diocese of Madras and Bishop Devasahyan. The Bishop welcomed us and our first meeting was with the Board of Women’s Concerns. The women’s ministry of the Diocese is very active with programs for pre-school kids, young girls at risk of prostitution and older women who are widows. In our next meeting we heard reports from the Mission and Evangelism Committee who supports 120 missionaries in the dioceses, the Urban Outreach Committee who is working on evangelism in slum areas that don’t have a Christian witness and a Transgender Ministry that reaches out to young transgenders who are exploited in the temple prostitution system at a very young and vulnerable age. We appreciated deeply the Diocese’s evangelistic zeal to reach people for Christ. In 2009 alone 4,644 persons were baptized and 120 home missionaries were commissioned for evangelism in areas of the Diocese without a Christian presence. One critical issue that was discussed was the fact that the Diocese does not have a single missionary sent out of India for overseas mission. We asked if they might consider sending a missionary to the U.S! That afternoon we traveled to visit the Diocese special school for mentally challenged (Down’s Syndrome) children where 100 special needs kids are in care and education. Our church has supported this particular school and we saw how it was working very well and meeting a critical need in the community because the government does not have many programs for these children. That evening we traveled to Jessie Moses English Medium School, another ministry of the CSI. We witnessed another very highly effective mission of the church for over 2000 students. One of their main programs is beginning Dalit girls from the villages to a boarding school situation where they grow in their self-confidence in a very rigorous academic environment. The church is committed to empowering the marginalized through education and doing a wonderful job. In the evening five CSI sponsored schools gathered together to celebrate our visit with a special program of music and dance. The performances were inspiring especially those of the students from the special needs school and also a school for the deaf. Praise the Lord for all these important ministries that Disciples are a part of through the work of Global Ministries. Although we were extremely excited about what we saw, the day was extremely long and we were exhausted when we returned to the hotel. Tomorrow, we will see the mount in Chennai where legend tells us that St. Thomas was martyred and then hop on a flight to head further South to Madurai.

Sunday at Mungeli

Huberto with the pastor of the Mungeli Church

Special music by the nurses and principle of the school





The Pastor of the Mungeli Church







Huberto giving the Blessing at Mungeli

This is Huberto, the chaplain for our India pilgrimage group on Sunday at Mungeli. It's been almost a week that we have been in India to see the work of Global Ministries partners in churches, hospitals, schools, nursing schools and other institutions of the Church of North India. (Today we leave from the North to head to the South where we will visit the Church of South India.) The richness of India is her people, especially in the village where the poorest people live and struggle to survive in their country. God lead me to John 5:1-14 to share with the community gathered at the Mungeli church this morning. It's the story of the healing at the Bethesda pool. The Bethseda pool is a place where crippled people gathered to wait for the movement of the water by an angel. The first one to touch the water was healed. For me Bethesda is any place where poor people, people in need of healing and care, gather. Jesus shows up at Bethesda and asks one man an important question: Will you be made whole? The man was so depressed the he starts telling Jesus the he has no one to take him to the pool. Jesus told him with authority: Rise up, take up your mat and walk! The man was healing immediately. I told the church at Mungeli that the mission of God is not confined within the walls of the building but in the places of pain, rejection, desperation and sickness. The people in need are confined to the new pools of Bethesda waiting fro someone to show up to give a helping hand, to reach out in care and healing. The church is called to do the mission of God in such places with much prayer and dedication. Here in Mungeli the Church of North India in partnership with Global Ministries missionaries is doing a great work at one of these pools of Bethesda here in India. The ministry of the hospital is touching many lives with minimal resources but with great impact in the lives of the poor who need medical attention desperately. The poor are receiving that care regardless of their ability to pay. The people are waiting for the movement of the water and by God's Spirit Global Ministries in partnership with the Church of North India is providing that movement of critical presence through healthcare and education... healing the body, soul and spirti. Thanks be to God!