Dear brothers and sisters,
I hope all of you are doing well. I arrived in Delhi, the capital of
India late evening on the 31st of January. I met Brother Thang Lien and
spent the day with him visiting a number of places in Delhi. He is a
good preacher of the Gospel and has a self-supporting congregation of
about 180 souls in NE. Delhi. I arrived at the Delhi domestic airport at
around 4 p.m. and lifted off for Patna, Bihar at around 6 p.m. I arrived
late evening in Patna, India on the 1st of February where I met Tang
Seng and Massih Tudu at the local airport. It was good to see these two
brothers with whom I will work with over the coming month in the states
of Bihar and Assam. Bihar as mentioned in a previous newsletter is the
poorest state in India with a population of over 83 million souls.
Twenty five percent of Biharee’s live on less than 25 cents per day.
The capital is Patna with a populace of over 9 million people. One Piece
of luggage was lost (the one with my clothes) but wa s promised to
arrive on a flight in two days. We went to the Hotel Vijayshree Deluxe
(I never found where the word deluxe fit’s in but its all in the
advertising). On Saturday we met Brother S. K. Hanseng, who works as an
insurance auditor in Patna as well as other areas of India. He will be
invaluable to us as we evaluate the possibilities of a School of
Preaching and orphanage in Bihar. We visited two different orphanages
ran by other organizations. I was able to gather critical information on
the legal and practical aspects of operating an orphanage in the state
of Bihar. One orphanage had around 38 children and the other one
operated by a Romanian lady had 15 children. Maria, the Romanian lady,
told of the necessity of going to the villages to get a child because
everyone in the village is to poor to bring the child. She told of how
hard it is for the child to adjust for the first few days and how many
of the children defecated on the floors because they had never seen a
toilet (even a European toilet). One young boy had live so long outside
that he refused to stay in. He would show up to eat and then sleep in
the trees outside. She was able to slowly get him adjusted to living in
doors. Today he is a very bright student and doing well. Hopefully we
will be able to open an orphanage in Bihar in the future. There are so
many children in need of the helping hands of the children of God. May
we ever remember that, " Pure and undefiled religion before God and
the Father is this; to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to
keep oneself unjspotted from the world." (James 1:27)
On Sunday, February 3rd, we worshipped by ourselves in the rented
flat that brother Hangsing used in his business. It is hard to believe
that in a city of nine million people we do not have a congregation of
the Lord’s people to our knowledge. I spoke on the need to
evangelizing the world within our life time. If the first century church
can do so in 35 years (Colossians 1:23) surely with our technology we
can do the same. It was sad to worship just the four of us with the
millions who are lost right outside our door yet I am thankful that
where two or three or gathered together in the name of Christ that He
will be in our assembly.
On Monday I took the opportunity to visit the city which was the
birthplace of Buddhism and Jainism. Supposedly the offspring of the Bodi
tree where Gautama became the Buddha is there today and thousands of
Buddhists come on pilgrimage to this area to worship in the vicinity of
this "tree of enlightenment". We, of course, understand that
true enlightenment comes from meditating on the Word of God. However, I
was unable to visit the tree due to high security for the coming of the
Prince of Thailand who was coming to worship at the tree site. I was
able to visit with a number of Tibetan refugees who have received refuge
in Bihar since the Chinese drove the Dali Lama and the Buddhist from
Tibet. I pray that one day they will come to learn that the true place
of refuge is in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Bihar has a reputation as being the most dangerous state in India for
foreigners and tourists or anyone for that matter! I was hoping that the
things I had heard were exaggerations but it was not to be. The taxi we
rented ended up demanding three times our negotiated amount. On the way
back to our hotel he stopped and picked up two other men and then all
three of them demanded money from us. We had no choice but to pay or be
prepared to physically fight them. We paid what they demanded and
quickly walked away and toward the nearest occupied and lighted
location. We were fortunate (with God’s oversight) to escape with an
extortion of money and not outright robbery. Monday evening we boarded
the train for a ten hour trip to Katahar, Bihar.
Tuesday morning we arrived in Katahar and rented a lorry to take us
to Purnea where we would find a hotel to stay while conducting a Gospel
Meeting in the village of Mirchabari. On Wednesday morning we rented a
taxi to drive us the 25 kilometers to the village where we would
complete final preparations for our meeting. Once again the Bihar taxi
charged us double the rate we had contracted for. I realized that at
this rate of extortion I would quickly run out of money, which is not a
good idea in India. I asked a brother in the village if I could lodge in
his home in the village for the next six nights. He was gracious and
allowed m to stay with him and his wife. Now this village is very, very
primitive. There is neither electricity nor running water. My bed would
be a bale of straw placed over a wooden platform. I was very cold every
night and look forward to the warming of the sun in the day time. They
lived in a mud hut with a thatched roof and mud floors. The worst
problem is that they had no bathroom facilities. They did not even have
the concept of outhouses. You just walked away a discreet distance from
the village and locate a place to "do your business". Needless
to say, this was the most difficult part of "the village
scene" particularly if nature called in the middle of the night.
They cooked over an open fire using cow paddies for fuel. They formed
the cow paddies with straw and manure from water buffaloes and formed
them over two long sticks. In this manner they could break off the
patties as they had need. Bathing was out of a bucket and that out in
the open. Needless to say, I decided that I would bath when I got bath
to civilization. Overall I enjoyed this time to actually live with these
poor, primitive but friendly people for the week I was there.
The Gospel meeting was also one I will long remember. God gave us an
increase of seven new souls. The slow moving river was a beautiful place
to witness the new birth of these precious new children of God. Our
meeting attendance averaged around 100 per session. Many more would have
come but the BIC (Brethren in Christ) denomination basically controlled
the villages and forbade all their members from attending our meeting.
They sent members to spy us out and make sure none of their members
would be there. The Hindus were also very upset at our meeting and made
a number of threats. One night I preached on the "One True
God" (Acts 17) and the Hindus walked out shaking their fists and
murmuring threats. We found out on Saturday evening that they had
decided to kidnap me and hold me for money. We found this out when one
of the brothers notice a young boy of around 12 hanging out at the
meeting. When they held him and made him talk he confided that indeed
they were waiting down the ro ad for me to walk back to the home I was
staying in. Their intentions were primarily motivated by money and not
retaliation for my sermon. All of the church members were very worried
about my safety and showed great love towards me. After about an hour
several of the men gathered around me and walked with me back to the hut
I was staying in. We thought this would be a safer place for me to be.
With torches in hand we began our one mile walk to the other small
village. I must say it was one of the longest miles I have ever walked.
One brother, who was hosting the meeting on his property, carried his
bow and arrows. Many in the village still use this method for hunting
and protection. One brother had a revolver on him though I did not know
it at the time. While owning guns is illegal in Bihar and in India many,
many people own them illegally. We made it back to my village and they
rotated guard duty throughout the night. As always, G od is in control
and He kept us all out of harms wa y.
On Sunday, the tenth of February, we decided to hold one service (for
three hours) and then for me to leave this area before dark. I left the
area around 2 pm arriving in Katahar and boarded a night train to
Gawhati around 5 p.m. As I was lying in my sleeping berth I was grateful
to God for my safety and for the opportunity to meet such brave brothers
and sisters who must pay a great price to serve God on a daily basis. In
many ways these materially poor brethren have such greater riches then
we in America who seldom have our faith tested to the point of
persecution and even death. Tang Seng and I arrived in Gawhati around 5
am and went to the domestic airport to fly to Dibrugarh, Assam where I
will teach in the Assam Bible Institute for the next two weeks.
The flight to Dibrugarh took only one hour. The plane followed the
meandering course of the Brahmaputra River, one of the "holy"
rivers of India. One day the Brahmaputra, the Ganges, the Clinch and all
of the rivers of the world will stop flowing. They will all run dry as
this earth burns with a fervent heat (2 Peter 3:10). Only those who have
drank deeply of the Living Water (John 4:10) will thirst no more. The
river of life is in Heaven (Revelation 22:1) and we need to give all
mankind the directions to get there while there is still time on the
clock of life and the trumpet call of eternity has not sounded.
While in Assam I will teach Preaching, Preparation and Delivery of
Sermons to ten students we have in this new school – the Assam Bible
Institute. Dibrugarh has much poverty and is primarily Hindu in
religion. Two of our students were beaten last Saturday for trying to
teach a Hindu. Hindus came to the school and attacked them on the school
property. We are told that we are not to try in any way to convert
Hindus to Christianity - to do so will result in physical persecution.
These young Christian men understand that we are to "obey God
rather than man" (Acts 5:29). We must all pray that the Lord will
keep them safe and give them courage to "Preach the Word! Be ready
in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, and with all
longsuffering and teaching" (2 Timothy 4:2). These young men are
the hope of the church in Assam and other areas of Northeast India. We
must hold their hands up with our support and prayers. In two w eeks, I
will fly home to the safety of the USA and will worship with my
congregation with no fear of persecution. In a land where I may talk
freely of my religion - will I do so? In the most blessed country in the
world – will I share the blessed Gospel with my neighbor? While the
"Water of life" still flows through the Church will I speak of
the Kingdom of God to those who live in the kingdoms of men?
I am thankful to God for those who support my family and me as we
labor in the mission fields of India. In our work together, God will be
with us until the end of time (Matthew 28:20).
God bless you,
Garry Jones
