So we finally arrived in India and were met with yet another “royal” welcome. Captain Thacker (aye aye captain), Raj (pastor of Christ the Rock Church in Chennai) and his stunning daughter, Sharon, met us at the airport. If you’ve read about the fiasco that was Sri Lanka you’ll know that our time there was short (thankfully) and that we left there on a whim of excitement, delirious from our two day trauma at the Indian Embassy. Amidst the excitement we managed only to email Raj and upload the blog, failing (polite way of saying forgetting) to phone them to check they even got the email…doh! Later they told us of how they found out we had managed to get the visas and that we were on our way: they read the blog! Not only that, they read it at 10am on the Friday morning and our flight arrived at 10.40…talk about perfect timing! So they met us with beautiful smiles and open arms. For a minute we weren’t sure if Raj was the pastor we were supposed to meet or he was a member or the Indian paparazzi, as he furiously scurried infront of us flashing his camera shouting “cheese” and “Praise God”; from the latter we assumed he was indeed the pastor.
So we have been here only a day and already we feel very much at home, Not only are the people unbelievably hospitable (and Jackie you are so right, they are full to overflowing with grace) but their church is so active that one days activities feels like one weeks.
We started our day with the drive from our hostel to the church; we are hoping that tomorrow we can move somewhere a wee bity closer but we’ll wait and see. Taking in the mirage of colourful saris, acclimatising to the heat and working out why the men were wearing mini skirts (sorry the dhotis) were just some of the things that occupied our journey. We have not even seen the Taj Mahal yet but I am already convinced that India itself is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Although in the past we have seen people similar, the familiar littering of bodies huddled under rags, scattered along filthy streets bothers me. It disturbs my conscience and I ask God to break my heart. Strange thing to ask you may think but what I mean is that I asked him never allow me to become immune to such tragedy. The poverty here is obvious immediately and yet I am told that we wont visit the slums until Wednesday; I am incapable of imagining what hell the people there must be living in.
And so we reach the church. By now pastor Raj is sitting quietly (his camera safely charging after it’s frenzied outing to the airport) talking to an elderly gentlemen in a room that appears to be a church lounge or vestibule; over the course of the day it is occupied but people, young and old. Some come in to rest, some to drink water, some to use the bathroom and others to greet their new Scottish friends (measuring them for Saris). Later on a tour of these humble dwellings we discover that this is not the church it is Pastor Raj’s home…and well yes it is also the church. Let me explain.
Raj and his wife Vanitha have ministered to the people in Chennai for the past twenty years and during that time they have lived (with their daughter of 17 years) basically in the church. They have two small bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen (it may be humble but my goodness they manage to rustle up some delicious –non spicy- grub in there) and a sitting room, also known as the church community area. Now this feeling of humility is becoming all too well known. It is how we have been made to feel in every home we visited in Africa and now in India. They have very little (in comparison to our increasingly sickening wealth) yet they are so, so hospitable! In short…we love them to pieces! Our day of singing, dancing, acting and sweating (profusely) with the youth was concluded with an evening bible study in which we met some of the congregation. Lorna gave her testimony beautifully (it’s all on candid camera Helen so you’ll be able to watch, greet ‘n’ be wonderfully proud…I was ‘n’ I’m no even her mammy!).
Finally I can’t go to bed without at least one miracle of the day. I got my voice back. I know for many of you, you may have thought it a blessing that Little Miss Chatterbox was made to be quiet for a little while but in actual fact it was quite a frightening and depressing experience. You see it wasn’t my speaking voice that was affected, it just sounded huskier and sexier than usual. It was my singing voice! For anyone who knows me even remotely well you will know I love to sing. Nothing uplifts me more than singing in church; singing to God. So to have that taken away from me was horrible. It made me fear God.
Lots of people think of God as a God of love, solely a God of love. It’s easier to believe and makes us feel better. We convince he is a God that only protects nurtures and tends to his precious flock. Yes well so do I but what father loves without disciplining their children? What father nurtures without encouraging and at times forcing their children to grow? Exactly not a very good one. And so I have a wonderful father (yes as well as Bob Bonnar). I have a father in heaven whom I love dearly but whom I fear. I recognise that God has the power to give and to take away. Tonight he restored my voice and I was able to sing in church and minister to our friends there. I felt so happy but it was more than a temporary fuzzy feeling. I still have that feeling within me. I relied on God throughout my “no voice trauma”. ‘N’ no I’m not being a diva it was really that bad. One evening I tried to sing as we were walking. It so happened it was raining that evening and the roads were wet Lorna actually thought it was a frog making crude noises. I have never experienced that sort of pain in my throat before that no medicine seemed to cure. I was embarrassed and worried that I would never be able to sing again. Infact several times I thought about writing on the blog and asking you all to pray but it seems someone somewhere was. I know we were. We prayed…and prayed…and prayed and tonight I sang for the first time! Praise God.
N guess what, Kermit’s been booked for another gig tomorrow morning at Christ the Rock church! I’m off to rest my voice n pray that they’ll be blessed!
Love you all…n then some Erica x
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