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East White Oak
Bible Church
11922 E. 2000 North Rd.
Carlock, IL 61725-9684
Voice: 309.454.3833
309.376.6771
Fax:309.376.1208 |
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India E-mail
A team from East White Oak went to India from February 28 - March 13, 2008. The purpose of the trip was to connect with Rochunga Pudiate and Bibles for the World (and various other ministries). The team included Pastor Jeff VanGoethem, Leah VanGoethem, Bob Metcalf, and Tom and Amy Koranek.
While in India the team visted ministry centers in Delhi and Calcutta for the first week, then traveled to far Northeastern India to visit the Hmar people. They stayed with national families as they attended the annual gathering of the Hmar churches. Pastor Jeff preached at the conference, which represented 300 tribal churches.
The following e-mail updates were sent during the trip by Pastor Jeff.
Wednesday, March 5
Hello all, please feel free to send this along to any interested.
Bob had to take a break yesterday. His knee started to swell up a bit so we put him on bed rest and Leah had him using ice. Much better today.
Yesterday was grueling, as we took a bumpy bus ride 6.5 hours to the Taj Mahal and then back on the same day. Got in at Midnight and then had to be at the airport at 4:30 AM to fly to Calcutta from Delhi. The Taj was impressive but not very interesting as it is just the tomb of the wife of a Muslim ruler. The Muslims ruled Northern India for a couple of hundred years until the Brits came in here.
But these bus trips are fascinating -- I can't seem to do anything but stare out the window. As you go along it is just people, people, people. And they are doing everything and anything. Farming, washing, shopping, sitting, riding animals, carrying bundles, sleeping on the street, urinating in public (I can't believe how much of that we have seen), etc., etc. One sees a temple about as often as one sees a church in the US. Most are small and plain, not for congregations but just for the worshipper to come in and pray.
Calcutta is a little nicer than Delhi -- has the British influences. We just returned from visiting Mother Teresa's ministry center. Saw the little room where she lived and visited her tomb and a display about her life. Very impressive in its simplicty. Too bad she did not preach salvation to the poor and dying she cared for. She did however, give the Lord a good name in India.
Also visited the shrine or temple of Kali the main Hindu god of Calcutta. It was very dirty and disgusting. Saw people crying out to her image inside, lots of poor congregate there as they give out food once a day. We were reminded of the fundamental incongruity between biblical faith and Hinduism, our very first commands: you shall have no other gods before me and you shall make no graven image.
Tomorrow should be a highlight of the trip as we will travel 1.5 hours to Serempore to visit the William Carey sites and the college he founded to train Indian pastors. Our Hmar guides tell us that it is now under good, conservative leadership again. I am anxious to see the old mission buildings which are still there.
Then we will fly to Manipur and the main part of our ministry here. We'll meet up with Ro P there and participate in the annual conference of the Hmar churches. I'll be speaking a couple of times and then speaking at the commencement for their Bible College. I am finding the people out here very simple so I have been preaching just on Bible stories with some application. Nothing too deep. It is amazing how much Christian work has been done in this land yet the Christianity here is still very primitive and undeveloped, at least in the north where we have been.
I hope this comes through. I don't know if you will hear from me after this, we bumped into one of the faculty members of the Bible College in Manipur and he said there is no web out there yet.
The pictures are :
1.Sikh worshippers outside their temple waiting for their guru to arrive who was on a long walk from another place in India.
2.Little girls begging, asking for backsheesh.
3.Dalit (untouchables) school children singing for us -- most of their parents only earn about $100 per year and Bibles for the World makes schools like this happen.
4.Typical small Hindu temple.
5.Just one of the 1000 crazy sights one sees along the road.
Jeff JG
Thursday, March 6
Just finished a very nice day out at the William Carey sites. The college and large mission center he built is still there. The college of course has expanded -- he began with thirty some students -- all for pastoral and theological training. Today there are 3000 students there in kind of an undergraduate college and then about 120 seminary students. In the mid 20th century the college began a drift toward liberalism, however the last two presidents (principals) have brought it back to strong evangelical convictions. The seminary also supervisors about 50-60 other such schools in India. The principal Dr. Lal was very gracious and spent the whole day with us. Interestingly he is a tribal from NE India like Ro P, although not from the same tribe. Ro was instrumental in helping this man come to his position and has been raising money for the school.
I spoke briefly at the 12:45 chapel service to the students. They have two chapels per day and study a full seminary course, like an M.Div degree in the states. They come from all over India. We saw the library's collection of Wm Carey's books and some of the personal effects left from that time. They have made a little park near the site of the baptism of Krishna Pal, the first Hindu convert back in 1800. Interestingly, there is a small Hindu temple right next to that site. They were having a festival day today and making alot of noise with bad sounding music.
The pictures are:
1. How Calcutta looks (nice)
2. The Coach outside of Wm Carey house.
3. How Calcutta looks (not so nice)
4. The College built by Wm Carey in the 1820s
5. Leah browsing Wm Carey's library
6. Hindu parade to the temple
7. Sign marking Wm Carey's house.
Tomorrow off the Manipur, dont know if you will hear from us or not. All well here.
Jeff VG
Sunday, March 9
Hello all, one last report from India. It is already late Sunday afternoon and I am looking at the cre lock on my computer and it says 4:25 AM back home. Our Sunday is already in. I think I preached to the largest crowd every in my life this AM. We have been attending the annual conference of the Free churches here in Seilmat in NE India. They were packed in today. It is being held on the campus of their Christian High School which has about 2000 students. They tell me there was were 2000--3000 worshippers this morning. It was a long service -- about 2.5 hours. They ordained seven new pastors and gave out some awards and recognition. They dedicated a new translation of the Bible into the Butanese language -- these chuuches are beginning to penetrate that closed country. Then Ro P told the story of EWO's involvement with Bibles for the World and I preached with the aid of an interpreter.
What I did not realize until I came out here was the true nature of this work out here. The area is unlike India in just about every way. We are only 30-40 miles from the border of Burma (Myanmar) and the area has the feel of SE Asia. But this work among the tribal peoples has all the marks of authentic revival. I did not realize this. I talked at length with Ro and Mawii about it and they explained the waves of revival that have gone on through the years. It is a mature work now, no longer in its red hot phases but still bearing the marks of an outpouring of the Spirit. We have been able to witness and I have been able to see again true revival. God has been working in a way that is just so much different than what we experinece back home. Everything is alive and the Christian work is on the upswing in every way. There is such a sweet spirit.
I see a great reverence for God and humility and modesty. There is a brokenness without emotionalism. For example they have been having youth choirs sing and they do sing beautifully but the amazing thing is how they weep when they sing of Christ and His grace -- the teens and college age students. They go to prayer in the meetings and all 2000 of them will cry out to God at once -- when the choirs go on "tour" which is really for evangelism they will spend a weekend secluded together in prayer first. And now they have such vibrancy they are established schools, seminaries, hospitals, orphanages and have sent out 120 of their own missionaries. These were the headhunting people, God has truly made them hearthunters. There is such blessed unity and divorce and family problems almost unheard of.
We have been having sweet fellowship with many of the dedicated leaders of this movement and also these former Buddhist monks who are with us from Bhutan. One said, after coming to Christ this past year, "I do not think about the Buddha any more, just the Lord Jesus Christ." Some sixty such monks have come to Christ through the efforts of Ro's churches. The revival continues and keeps spreading. Like the book of Acts "the Word of God is multiplied."
I thank God He let me see revival once more.
Last night they had a group of India Children's choir alumni sing. That was nice.
I had always gotten the impression that Ro P's dynamic leadership was really key out here. But i realize now that the revival has made Ro not the other way around. I think he would agree with this. Ro has just skillfully and sacrificically given leadership to a movement than was truly of God. What an amazing story. Twenty some tribes have been penetrated with the gospel and the work has gone on unabated for nearly 100 years.
As discouraging and difficult as India was last week, these tribal areas have been blessed and uplifting. They are doing so much and the touch of God is on all they do.
Tonight we have one final service and then tomorrow the Seminary graduation. There will be thirty graduates and I will address the commencement gathering. I guess I am getting an honorary doctorate. Ha ha.
We will have a long day of traveling after that -- starting here Tuesday morning, back to Dehli and on the plane in the wee hours Wed morning. Looking to be at O'Hare on Wed about 5:30 AM Illinois time.
Everyone has been well. Amy and Tom Koranek have started to misbehave a little -- Amy was beating the big tribal drum they use for worship afterwards this morning and then they hired a jitney to ride them up the hill to where we ate lunch. They have these three wheel carts that are like Taxis. It looked like they were having a little too much fun. The Coach is doing well and has been mixing with the natives quite a bit.
That's all for now. See you all soon. Turn the thermometer up please, we have been in some beautiful 80 degree weather this week!
Jeff VG
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