Mission Trip: India 2010

Journal of India Trip

By Tom Hatley

Friday, November 26, 2010I’m aboard the plane and ready for a great two weeks of travel, preaching and planning. Check-in was a breeze, 3 minutes tops! There was no scanner or pat-down, but there is yet another stop in Chicago before leaving this country.

What an encouraging time this will be because of the faithfulness of Immanuel members. Had we not sacrificed and raised over $22,000 this conference would not have been as impacting. Because of IBC, instead of 300-500 men coming for the key leadership training there will be over 1,000. What a difference this will make in the number of souls saved and churches planted. I am so proud of our people. I know they are praying diligently.

On flight to Chicago from XNA I try to doze a little. It is early morning in India and I’ll use the flights to adjust to their time. That means that I may not sleep much on the flight over the ocean because that will be daytime in India. If I handle this correctly I can cut down on the jet-lag once I am in country. It is kind of a “pay now” or “pay later” option. I am hoping to pay a little both times and ease into the change. It will be the trip home that will require more time to recover.

Coming into Chicago was majestic. The lights of the city were bright as we flew right over downtown, then over the water and on to our landing. In transition to my gate there is time for another call home and a hamburger... last call for beef!

I remember to tell Peggy to put a concrete block on the small door leading under the house. The board that had been holding it was broken. I’d hate to see what would happen to me if a family of skunks moved in while I was gone. That would raise a double stink.

The distance tracker on the screen at my seat says we are 7,477 miles from Delhi. That’s right, I am on board. I traded seats so a family could sit together. I got to move a whole row forward, from row 37 to 36. This is a Boeing 777, 9 seats wide (at least in my part of the plane).

Time at Delhi is 6:53. They are 11 ½ hours ahead of us. Flight time is 14 ½ hours.

One last call comes in just before they make us turn off our phones. It’s AJ and Spencer. They are going to Ma’s house (Peggy) to deliver her a birthday present. That’s right; I am leaving my wife on her birthday. Okay, that might be a gift in itself, but she would rather have me home. There are rooms needing paint and a list of other chores. She has patiently waited for a number of maintenance chores to be done. The ministry of this past year has been rich and rewarding, but it has taken us away from home improvements.

Okay, phones off, belts fastened, wheels up! Fourteen and a half hours is a long time when traveling with 400 people in a giant metal coffin built by the lowest bidder. But this is the price we pay to get half-way around the world quickly. The couple, next to me is friendly and though they are native to India they have spent more than a decade in the U.S. He is a doctor in Joplin, MO. We talk about politics and religion. They are very open to the Lord, but there is still enough of a language barrier to keep me from knowing for sure if they know the Lord. I give them my card and they want to meet again since we are so close.

Food is okay, I’m trying to stay awake most of the night… may have slept an hour or so. We land at 9:45 pm Delhi time. By the time I go through customs (1 hour), find a taxi (30 minutes), and get to the room it is nearly midnight.

My phone was supposed to work here, but at a high rate: $2.50 per minute. Still it is worth it to let Peg know I am okay. The call won’t go through, but texting might be an option. I’ll wait until morning and try again.

I’m getting a bit of a cold and that isn’t good in this air. Smoke and pollution is thick. Yet, I sleep pretty well, about 5 hours. I text AJ that all is well… it works. She is going to call mom and tell her.

Sunday, November 28, 2010Taxi is here at 9:45 am for the 3 hours to Meerut. Wow, are they getting modern around here? I see people texting everywhere. A teenage girl is riding side saddle on the back of a motorcycle, not holding on, while using both thumbs to text. Wow, such skills would even make the girls at IBC jealous.

Though the journey is 3 hours, you can hardly tell where Delhi stops. Even Sunday traffic is tough around here. It just doesn’t seem right to not be in church on Sunday morning. I’ll worship tonight with members of our company and with others and that will still happen before our AM services back home.

It’s great seeing the W. family. They were the first Company people we adopted 10 years ago. They have stayed faithful and gone from no children to 3 beautiful girls in that time.

The work has progressed well here, especially of late. Scott has discipled a key-native, NamNit. He is important to the work and a good communicator. They have established a training center that can teach 40 at a time while providing sleeping quarters and meals. This will greatly advance our cause. I am sure our CEO is pleased.

I am able to Skype into the worship service back home to give a report. India time is around 10 p.m. so it is not a sacrifice to stay up. I’m even able to give them a look at Scott and his beautiful children. I’ll give another report to them in a week. By then I will have completed the Lucknow conference and traveled to Varanasi.

Monday, November 29, 2010On Monday I’m asked to teach a small group at the training center. These are already successful leaders. Just this week one of them immersed 200+ new believers!

At the end of 4 hours of teaching my voice has faded significantly. We stop by a “chemist” for meds. I get daytime and night time cold pills and an anti-biotic. Peggy packed ½ a drug store, but I don’t want to run out. The loss of my voice may mean an infection, so I start the Z-pack which cost me $1.40. No doctor visit required.

It was a joy to be with Scott, Susan and the three girls. I don’t think they fully realize how much they bless the work. Their work also produces the jewelry, especially bracelets, which IBC used to help fund this event.

Now I transfer to a newer team. We are still in Meerut, but now I am with Zack and Ashley. They have been here a few years, but this is our first meeting. Their target is to help those who believe in Islam, which is about 20% of the Arid. They take great care of me. We go to eat with a friend he has made, a Muslim lawyer. He welcomes us into his home and introduces us to his family. The men gather at the table and are served by the women. Kind of like the holiday’s in the USA – when the men watch the bowl games and the women keep the food coming.

The head of the house is quick to tell you that he is the only honest lawyer in town. Yeah, I’ve heard that before.

The main course is buffalo meatballs, in a spicy sauce. Yes! Meat related to bovine. Zack and this dear man are becoming close friends and that could mean great things in the future. I’ve never been treated more royally. It’s was a great visit.

Back to the house and there is a nice room and a firm mattress waiting.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010I take a taxi back to Delhi. The 3 hour trip is eventful. The driver’s spare is flat (something you can’t risk on these roads). We stop on the way to get it repaired. The taxi was late picking me up and now my time cushion is gone. I loved watching the tire being fixed, it took about 30 minutes. It was just a road side shed. The owner had a boy (of about 10 years of age) doing the work. These tires have tubes. It is the old process: break down the tire from the rim, removed the tube, patch it, stuff it back in, air it up. It reminded me of the old days: helping my dad in the school bus barn.

Back on the road and this guy is booking it! It’s like watching the road runner: Beep! Beep! Zoom!!! If there were laws he would have broken them all. I get to the airport 1 hour before my flight: no sweat. A 1 hour flight to Lucknow and tomorrow is conference time… only one big problem: I can’t talk. My voice is gone.

Alok’s wife, Rikki, a driver, and a helper, pick me up from the airport. I can tell she is worried. She says, “What will you do?” I reply in the strongest whisper I can utter, “The Lord will heal my throat.” Alok calls and she tells him of the problem. He wants to hear so she hands him the phone. I whisper, “Don’t worry, you have a good PA system and they can turn my microphone up.”

“Lord, you are going to have to get me through this.” I almost cry. After a year of planning and praying, after a great time of our people giving so generously, don’t let this be stopped by a sore throat.

I am taken to a familiar place: the Merra-Mann Hotel. It is a nice place with a “free” breakfast, and it is just ½ mile from Alok’s place.

In the room I treat my throat everyway possible. There are cough drops, gargling, and I even order a pot of hot tea.

That night Myron checks into a room down the hall. He checks on me and I can tell he is concerned with my ability to hold up. I am scheduled for 4 hours tomorrow. Peggy is getting the word out and I know our members are praying hard. I love my church. Let’s see what the morning brings.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010It’s the first day of this 3 day meeting. At 7:30 am I join Myron for breakfast. I still can only whisper. I smile a lot and pray a lot, silently. I drink more hot tea with lemon and we head off. It’s great to see the compound again. We meet in an area large enough to hold 1,000 people but there is no roof, only sections of sheer cloth in bright colors stand between us and the sun - that and several metric tons of smog and smoke. Come to think about it, that may be a factor in why my voice is gone. There are many allergies in addition to the pollutants. With the need to preach 4 hours per day, I wonder how I’ll manage.

As I arrive the music is already blaring. In less than an hour I’ll be up. Pray, people of the GO Center, pray.

Introductions are made and the ceremonial lighting of the torch is done by about 10 people on the platform, including myself. One more song and then I am going to see what happens.

Good news! My first translator is my favorite one from the last conference, David. About 700 are already here and more are coming in during the 2 hour message. I’ve decided to change the message from the 1st sermon in my “Battle of The Ages” series to “The Crucified Life” using Galatians 2:20 for a text.

All I can do is whisper. When I push it I can manage a gruff whisper (whatever that is). They crank up my microphone and it’s not so bad. After all, they can’t understand me anyway. As long as David can hear, this is going to work. Thank you Lord.

The message flows well and the men are hungry. At one point they have to hand me a standard microphone while they replace the batteries in my wireless hand held microphone. At least I can outlast the batteries.

By the end of the message everyone is moved. I’m crying, David is crying and the crowd is weeping. It was a powerful moment. This is the first of several special stirrings.

When I am done they decide to change the order of things. They now add to my plate the featured sermon that evening. Wow! What a test of this rough whisper of a voice. I am tired, but not in a lot of pain. This will work.

They request my Isaiah 6 message. One of the banners on the wall says, in English, “Here am I.” That is just how I feel. At the end of the sermon many of the men come forward and surrender to a fresh calling to go and preach to a difficult nation, just as Isaiah did.

In visiting with Myron I learn that when he came here over 12 years ago, the number of Christians was less the 1/5th of 1%. New data should come out in 2011 and we believe that it may be up to between 1% and 2%...quite a leap. A major reason is the work of the 20/20 effort and its predecessors.

We eat supper at 8pm after the conference. We eat with the men of the conference. My favorite part of this is the walk among the men during meals and breaks. They love to shake hands or bow and say, “Jai Masih Ki” (Victory to Jesus). That is the Christian greeting believers are starting to use in place of “Namaste.” It’s a reference to the shared victory we have in Christ. It reminds me of the term “Maranatha”, which was used by the early church. It meant, “Our Lord, Come” (I Cor. 16:22). They used it as a witnessing tool. If the person they greeted did not respond with understanding then they knew they had a witnessing opportunity.

Back to the room and some rest. I am joined by Scott. He, Zack and another key part of the team, Chad, are in the hotel, having driven from Meerut. Each room has two twin beds. Scott stays with me and the other guys share a room.

I am still whispering and Scott is afflicted with some sort of stomach bug. He can’t be far from the toilet. Is this a room or a hospital ward? What will tomorrow bring?

Thursday, December 2, 2010Things are always better after a hot shower and a good breakfast. I love the food. Most of it sounds like Klingon cuisine from a Star Trek movie. But they also have omelets, toast, juice and my favorite medicine: hot black tea with lemon (no milk).

The voice is a little stronger but it still sounds hoarse; I’ll take it. Our ride is late so we pile into Scott’s vehicle and go.

There are two sessions of preaching again today and everyday. Now it is time to begin the theme of the week: The Battle of the Ages. Much of this I used last year but about 60% of the crowd is new. Many are new in the Lord as well, so a “through the Bible” approach will greatly help them.

These folks learn quickly. That is common with oral cultures. Most of the unreached world needs this approach because 70% of it is also oral based. Besides this, the people of India love epic dramas. Learning that is what prompted me to use the Bible as one great story.

Ten years ago, in my first trip to India, I was in Lucknow learning of the people group our dear church adopted. While in this state capital I attended their Durga-Puja festival. Durga is considered by many as more powerful than the other gods because she has 8 arms and all the weapons of which the other gods would have only a few.

As part of the festival the town goes to a fireworks show. But before the fireworks they tell the story of the battle between their gods and how their hero would slay their biggest threat. That’s when I realized the best way for a preacher to relate to this culture. I should relate the Bible to them as one giant epic with two main characters: Jesus as the Champion and Lucifer as the villain. This battle would also include the vital involvement of the common person.

Over the years I’ve tried to enhance the smoothness of the telling of this story. These guys really enjoy the process.

The first time I used this approach was in Fazabad with Peggy three or four years ago. It was a conference of only 100 or so but they were blessed and changed and so were we.

After the day’s conference, we skip supper at the meeting and go to the mall for one reason: there is a KFC there. It was finger-licking good. Scott’s stomach is better and he enjoys food again.

Back at the room Scott let me borrow his laptop to answer a few emails and such. Internet access is growing in this shrinking world. India is beginning to activate a 3-G network; with such evolution my dream of using technology to help train people around the world from the GO Center is becoming possible. I can envision a tech center where people can share training tools, get help when needed with info, visas, health issues, and sometimes just call and speak to a friendly face and share some prayer needs. I even have a name for the tech center: Global Orientation and Tactical Analysis Center: GO TAC. Possible uses are endless and much needed. Someday IBC volunteers could staff the GO TAC and help missions and missionaries all around the world, all the time. I know of no organization that is providing such support. Remember much of the unreached world is awake while we sleep, so the busiest hours for GO TAC will be 6 pm to 6 am. I have spoken to many missionaries about this and each one would love to have such a ministry to turn to at a moment’s notice for prayer or logistical/training needs.

Other churches and mission organizations could be patched into GO TAC and that would increase its use in tying American churches together with harvest fields needing support (kind of like what we do with India and Haiti).

Saturday, December 4, 2010This is the last day of the conference. At noon, Scott and his crew must “bug out”. I close the meeting with a message on Revelation 19 on The Four Hallelujah’s. They love shouting the word “Hallelujah” together. The last stage of the conference is the distribution of materials. Some receive bicycles this year. All receive a nice briefcase filled with resources. They ask me to help pass these out. What a joy to look at each of these men of God in the eye and shake their hand. Smiles are wide and eyes are bright as they hold up their maps which chart out their goals for the coming year.

Pulling away is hard. Everyone wants to have their picture made with me. I am amazed at the use of cell phones. That is the camera of choice for most. I learn that last year one of the men desired that his wife hear my preaching on The Battle of the Ages. He held his phone throughout the messages so she could hear at home. Hope he had an unlimited minutes plan!

The conference results seem to please Alok and LeAnna and all the other key leaders. Much information has been learned. Before receiving their bags of resources each person must turn in an information form. Many phone calls will be made in the next months to other key leaders not at the conference. The combined data will be known sometime in February.

Sunday, December 5, 2010Sunday morning affords breakfast with Alok and the team. I learn that a sickness that has been sweeping this part of India has hit Alok, his family and others hard. It results in boils that are slow to heal. All are searching for an antibiotic to treat this. No one seems to know how it is transmitted. It is not life-threatening, but is really irritating.

Today I fly to Varanasi and get ready to begin a three day conference there. This is still part of U.P. (Uttar Pradesh) but is a different dialect of people, the Boshpuri. This is a spoken dialect. Most people that use this dialect will learn to read and write in basic Hindi. Twenty-three of the seventy-two Districts (which are like large counties) are involved with this group and that is the focus of this conference. It is led by my favorite translator, David. There are 100 people at this meeting, but that is a large number for them. This work has struggled for over 10 years but has made great gains in just the last year, partly because of the success of last year’s main conference in Lucknow. Many of their key leaders attended the conference. These twenty-three Districts line the eastern edge of U.P. all the way north to the nation of Nepal.

David is very glad for my coming. He has requested this of me for three years. Varanasi is one of the oldest cities in the world, over 3000 years. It is the birthplace of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism. All three are works-based and contradictory to the grace we find in Christianity. To establish a “beach-head” for the gospel in this region would really be taking the battle to the enemy. It could be said that this is spiritually the darkest place on earth.

To appreciate this area requires a trip down the Ganges River. This river is believed to be the origin of all life and it was supposedly created by the great Hindu god Shiva. This god carries a pitch fork and is very arrogant (remind you of anyone?)

Have you ever seen the Hindu god with a human body and an elephant head? That is Shiva’s son. One day he became angry with his son and cut his head off. When Mrs. Shiva discovered it she became angry so he cut the head off an elephant and placed it on his son’s body. Sound like a god you would like to trust your soul to?

Monday, December 6, 2010I arise at 5 a.m. so I can see the sunrise on the Ganges. We rent a boat, complete with a rower, and in the fog we journey along looking at all the old forts and palaces. These were once the homes of the Maharajas. (A Raj is a king. Mahar means great. Thus, “Great Kings”). There are over 50 such majestic palaces, all facing east and overlooking the “river of life”. As we splash along we see many people already gathering to bathe and dunk/baptize themselves in this water. It is the nastiest water you’ll ever see.

Thousands and thousands of people are brought here at death. Their families must purchase “special” wood at the river and “cremate” their loved one by the shore. Often they can’t afford enough wood to completely do the job so often a mixture of ashes and body parts are what gets dumped into the river. Many will drink of this water daily, believing the more it touches them, the greater chance they will have in eternity. Of course, their main thing is re-incarnation. Their motivation is that if I do many things right, then I’ll come back in a higher station in life. With so many people living in a meager existence the motivation to be a good Hindu is great and that means touching the Ganges as often as possible in every stage of life and death.

Our job is to bring the real source of the water of life to them and to lead them to trust Him. To lead them to be baptized because of the salvation they receive from Jesus, not like these multiple baptisms which are meant to obtain salvation, rather than celebrate a new life already received.

The sun rises through the haze, the birds are everywhere. There are hundreds of boats on the water and some will pull up next to you and try to sell you stuff. I even take a turn at the oars and record a video for church. Then we exit at the center of it all; a place where thousands gather for Hindu worship. There are hundreds of steps. I’d learn the next evening just how blessed I was to be there on that day and not the next. On the very spot where I walked a Jihadist exploded a bomb the next day. Over 40 were hurt. Best reports are that between 6 & 10 died, though the official government report was that only one was killed. One of the men at the conference has a press pass and goes to the scene. He tells me the next morning that often the government minimizes such events because they fear such would hurt tourism.

Okay, back to Monday morning… The conference begins about 9 a.m. and I preach about four hours. David requested I follow the same pattern as I did at the Lucknow meeting and I concur. The smaller number makes it easier to get to know everyone. The music is good and more contemporary than the earlier conference.

My voice is stronger, but the head and chest cold is returning. Time to get on Cipro; this is the most used medication by travelers who need to get well quickly. I am coughing too much and can only survive by preaching with a cough drop in my mouth almost the entire time.

At both conferences it is announced that some of these messages will be on the Immanuel website. I have brought a decent quality camera from church and we are recording over 20 hours of preaching. That means we can put these messages on the web in both Hindi and Bhojpuri. Before coming Kevin Miller and Mark Benson help me video record over 2 hours of teaching about The Battle of the Ages which these guys will take and overdub in more than half a dozen dialects and make DVDs for use all over the nation. David tells me these will be the first such messages ever produced in Bhojpuri. He almost weeps in telling me. (The Bhojpuri are 90 million strong world-wide.) When I leave I give him a little money to help get the DVDs professionally overdubbed and produced.

GO Center, I am telling you that we are on the cutting edge of the gospel. We are pushing back lostness and extending the effectiveness into territories never before yielded by the enemy. We must keep praying. Pray for these faithful native pastors. Pray these training DVDs meet with wide use and acceptance. Pray that the government will show favor to this movement. Pray that persecution will give way to awakening.

On the second day of the conference I include some teachings on the church. I teach on how to do ministry and lead a church at both conferences. There are many groups still yet to choose a denominational name. I am hoping whatever the name they will choose a strong view of the Pastor and a congregational polity. Added to all of this is a correct view of the definition of what constitutes a church and a proper execution of the ordinances. We have many evangelical churches in America that can’t boast the theological and ecclesiological precision many of these emerging churches can claim.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010This is the last day of the conference. After two hours of teaching I help distribute bags of materials and say goodbye to new friends who already feel like old friends. One thing I’ll take home is some scarfs from the silk market where things are made on a hand operated loom. These may become another mission’s item people would be interested in. They are similar to the bracelets from India we have been using.

I pack up and head to the airport for a 3:40 flight. It will take 36 hours to go to Delhi then Chicago, then to XNA (NW Arkansas).

I can’t wait for a hamburger, a hug from Peggy and the 5 grandchildren with which to play. Maybe by Sunday I’ll be over my jet lag and be able to share with the greatest church in America how they are making the greatest difference in the world.

Thank you Lord!