Now this is where things get kind of intense. Things were not so hunky dory as simply (but miraculously) going from village to village, preaching the gospel, and seeing people come to Christ all the time. There was very evident opposition set against us, and as I've had a few opportunities since returning from India to tell people everything that happened there from start to finish, these oppositions seem to characterize the trip. So, this post is dedicated to highlighting these -- so I've been calling them -- "oppositions".
On route to India, we stopped for a day in Singapore. We all went to eat at a crowded bazaar-like food gallery. During the hour there, one of our team members, Ann, starting not feeling well. She soon vomited. Some people stayed back with her while the rest of us went to visit some Hindu temples and pray against the demonic forces present in those places that were blinding the minds of the people burning incense and bowing down to idols there. In a short time, I started feeling queasy, and then I also vomited. Donald and Peter graciously volunteered to walk me back to the hotel to rest for the day. On the way there, Peter started feeling a little sick as well. Following our lead, Tyler, Irvin, Amy Lee, Katherine, Carson, John, Clark, and even our fearless FCBC team leader Donald also all began to feel sick! And we had not even set foot in India yet! Coming together at our team meeting, we had to come to the realization and conclusion that all of us, dropping like flies, could not have all been getting sick simply by coincidence. Satan was actively working against us, trying to discourage us and hinder God's work. But we chose not to be struck down, but to actively pray against whatever demonic forces in the spiritual realm were working against us and to press firmly onward in the power of Christ. The final plane ride to India was a difficult one for many of our nauseous stomachs, but by the time we finally arrived at our destination, everyone was (relatively) healthy and ready for the battle to get even more heated.
Peter and his barf bag. (Unfortunately, this actual picture was staged.) Photo credit: Amy Lee.
On our ministry days, our team of 29 Americans would travel in 5-6 separate cars to a hall where we would rendezvous with our national Christian Telugu translators. (From there, we would go off in groups of 2 Americans + 1-2 nationals (Christians; some even pastors!) + 1 driver (not necessarily Christian; they were paid help), then splitting off from there 15 different ways to minister to the villages for the day, and not seeing the rest of the team until we all rendezvoused back together at the end of the day.) The normal plan was to rendezvous back at the hall later to debrief on the day of ministry together. But after the very first day of ministry (Monday), our team leaders rushed us out of the rendezvous point and told us to get back to the hotel ASAP! After scrambling into our cars and driving off, enough word had spread down the grapevine for the collection of teammates in my car to piece together enough of what was happening: the local police had seen all of us Americans travelling together and meeting in one place, questioned our Indian leaders about our intentions, and showed displeasure that we were sharing the gospel with the villages. (FYI: sharing the gospel is not actually illegal in India, but Hinduism is the dominant religion there and the police and justice system is known to be corrupt in practice. So if they personally don't like what you're doing, generally you should watch out.) Apparently, as we were piecing this together, our drivers were doing the same in Telugu through their walkie-talkies across their caravan of cars while they were driving. (They didn't speak English. And remember, they're not necessarily Christian.) Suddenly, our drivers all pulled over on the side of the road. Without any attempt to explain to us what they were doing, they got out of their vehicles, congregated together, and seemed to begin arguing about something in their native language. After we had been sitting in those cars for about half an hour, anxious but prayerful, two of the drivers actually kicked us out of their cars and then drove away! After hearing that we were drawing the attention of the police, these guys wanted nothing to do with us and decided to ditch us on the side of the road! By God's grace, not all of our drivers abandoned us, and so we were able to squish everyone into our remaining cars and get everyone back to the hotel safely.
Stuffing tightly in our car. Photo credit: Newton Wong.
At the team meeting that night, Herbert and Amy Lee shared that in the village they visited, a Hindu reporter happened to be there and vigorously tried to question them about what they were doing there. Their translator prudently hurried Herbert and Amy back into the car and away from the village and the reporter. Unfortunately, that was not the last we would see of that...
But despite all the events of the day, we decided to continue moving forward with our ministry work in the villages, keeping our eyes firmly set on the prize and on the work that God sent us to accomplish in India. In practical response to the day's events, we changed our rendezvous point with the translators to somewhere that we hoped would be more subtle and more difficult for police to spot us. We also explored the option, in the event that it might be discerned wiser than sharing the Evangecube (gospel) outright, of sharing the Hope (HIV) Cube as an alternate means of ministering to the people and as a way of giving us a health and awareness platform for sharing the gospel.
Meeting with our translators at our new rendezvous point. Photo credit: Gina Edmond.
Dani sharing the Hope Cube. Photo credit: Gina Edmond.
So Tuesday morning, we went to our new rendezvous point. When our translators arrived, they shared some crazy "news" with us. The Hindu reporter that had encountered Herbert and Amy in the village the day before had printed a front-page article in the newspaper. In it, she "warned" the local Hindus about us Americans and even printing the names of all the Banjara villages that we were intending to visit. Therefore, we decided not to visit anymore Banjara villages. (The Banjara are the poorest people of India, so poor and downcast that they are not even part of a caste in the social ranking caste system of India. They were originally our target people group to minister to.) Luckily, there were many other villages left to visit and minister to, and so we got to learn about new social rankings and caste systems in these parts of India as we visited these villages and ministered to these peoples.
After this, things stayed relatively calm... for a while. Like, a day. As a team, we were able to visit many villages, minister to many people, and see God work in many different ways. Then Wednesday night, we received word that the police were intending to arrest our Indian national leader, Livingston. They were also demanding copies of all of our passports. After consulting local lawyer friends all night, our team leaders decided it was in our best interest (1) not to hand over our passports because of the corrupt nature of the police there, (2) to not go minister in the villages anymore for Livingston's sake, and (3) to change hotels to prevent complications in case the police wanted to come and confront us. So there we were, 6 A.M. Thursday morning and changing hotels within the hour; living by the spur of the moment as the Spirit led...
Several people have asked me since returning to the US if at any point during this ordeal I was scared. I can honestly say that I was not. I certainly credit a lot of my not being scared to all my very faithful and encouraging teammates, whom I intend to talk about in my next post. But mostly, it was the peace of being in God's will that didn't even leave room in my mind for the thought of being scared. I often thought back to the apostle Paul in the book of Acts and how he ran into opposition everywhere he went. Several Jews hated Paul and even pursued him from city to city, perpetually stirring up crowds against him. But Paul never cowered from his mission of sharing the gospel wherever the Lord allowed him to share day after day. And now, I think I understand a little more how Paul was able to do it. Being in the Lord's will and doing exactly what you're supposed to be doing, what you were made to do... feels... EXHILARATING! There is an unsurpassed joy that comes from obeying God's commands. And this joy just fuels you further to keep obeying despite every obstacle you may encounter along the way in a cycle that continues turning every day until we finally find ourselves in the very presence of everlasting Joy.
"If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full."
-John 15:10-11 NASB
(Thanks, Ethan, for writing the devo on this for Jr. High Camp!)
