He Must Become Greater, i must become less: October 2011

October 12, 2011

Greetings from (still) hot, humid, South Asia! The weather has changed a little bit, we're having our version of fall, which is still really warm before we begin to wear our jackets later next month. We're hoping not to have our AC on at Thanksgiving this year. So much has happened in this first part of this month. I got really ill for about a week and a half at the end of September and ended up in the hospital (now that's an interesting cultural experience!), but thanks be to the Father, I'm fine now. The work has been incredibly busy with research, making more connections in our community, and preparing for teacher workshops (more about that in my other post). Next week we're hosting two volunteer teams at the same time, and all of us are taking different roles in facilitating that. I've been assigned, along with a national partner to lead several middle aged doctors on a tour of our city and shopping this Monday. I also have the wonderful opportunity to organize three creative workshops two weeks from now- an expat woman with a journalism degree is arriving to help conduct them. Lift us up, as this month is busy nonstop!

We've been diving into research on our people group, who are an unreached, unengaged high caste group. In addition to traditional religious practices, this group is heavily involved in astrology. Astrologers from this group attend school to be trained in learning the movements of the planets and what they believe those mean for human life. If you are ill, if you're doing poorly in business, or if any calamity occurs, it's because of the way the planets are aligned. When a baby is born, an astrologer will prepare his or her horoscope on a scroll of paper as long as a grown man with a detailed version of the events of their future life- which years will be good, and which years will hold problems, and what rituals can be done to avoid the consequences. We've been meeting with a national here in our city, who is something of a historian for the people group, yet much of what he knows has never been written down. He recently published a short book about the history of his people and chose to translate it into English for us! He and the members of his family are really people of peace, and we're learning a great deal from them! Melissa and another expat partner were able to visit a village where several noted astrologers live and were really well received by several families there. We hope to stay overnight with one of those families soon. We're doing visit to a different village this weekend in order to begin building relationships there so lift us up in regards to that. Our coworkers are looking for practical ways to engage these villages by meeting them at the point of their need. This might look like Melissa and I leading a teachers' workshop in a village, or bringing national partners to train locals about water purification. Ask the Father that we can meet their needs in an appropriate way that builds relationships that lead people to Truth.

We have just finished two weeks of “Neighbor” holidays known as pujas. Children are released from school for these two weeks, and retailers all over the state have a hayday with special puja sales. Every family goes to buy new clothing and gifts for friends and relatives. Huge tents made of bright orange, pink and purple fabrics begin to line the road. These tents are where the idols to the goddess of power are housed. Each neighborhood has a puja committee that is assigned to create the most elaborate idol display possible, and people come by the hundreds of thousands from all over the state to travel from tent to tent. Each tent has food available for everyone who comes, such as payok, a sweet rice pudding with raisins and cashews. The atmosphere is hugely festive throughout the week, with music blaring from loudspeakers and thousands of smiling faces. During the day, people sit at the tents and watch the worship rituals taking place, led by temple priests who bless worshipers who offer incense, food, money and marigold flowers. At night the city is full of thousands of colored lights and bright displays in businesses and homes. It's hard to describe because nothing like this exists in the West. People's lives come to a total stand still for two weeks to participate in this worship celebration. When the puja is finished, huge crowds flood the streets to carry the idols to the large river in the city, where they throw them into the water. The idea is that the idol will eventually disintegrate and the goddess will become one with nature again. One man explained that people believe this goddess literally comes to dwell inside the idols of her. They believe that she, the goddess of power, comes and dwells inside of them, and cleanses and purifies them. His words sounded disturbingly similar to what a believer might say. Yet we know from the lack of peace we see in our Neighbor friends' lives that they are in fact serving that which is evil. It is heartbreaking how unaware they are.

As I saw the smiling faces around the city, I was struck by how the Enemy deceives. To a casual observer, the puja celebrants are gloriously happy as they eat and sit with their families in their beautiful new clothes. Children are thrilled to have the time off school and everyone is traveling to other areas to be with family. All our friends were asking us whether or not we had enjoyed the holiday, but I struggled with what to say. (I settled on saying that I thought the lights were very pretty.) One day, I visited a worship tent in a neighborhood where a young friend of mine lives. She led me by the hand inside to see the elaborate display of life size idols against a large diorama and hundreds of candles. Someone thrust a dish of rice pudding into my hands and instructed me to remove my shoes. She folded her hands before the idols and closed her eyes and said “We'll pray now.” My heart broke again. I explained to her that I couldn't pray, because my god doesn't stay in that place. Our language barrier prevented me from saying much more at that point. If I knew more of her heart language, I would have told her that I worship One who does not live in temples built by human hands, and He is one who is jealous, and will not share our adoration with any other. That is what keeps me going here. The enemy's power is strong, and these people, whom I have grown to love, holds them in chains. How I long for my young friend, and her family and the people in her community to be free! They are enslaved to rituals that will never save them. There are 30 million people in our state, and less than a million call themselves believers. The workers are so few. Moral relativism runs rampant, and most of my Neighbor friends believe that the Son is just another among many. “It's all one power” says a friend of mine regularly. I truly believe that hearts here will never change unless the father sends dreams, visions and miracles to many. Additionally, Neighbors need to see others who have committed their lives to the Son and are maintaining their community identity. Most come to faith and are forced or choose to leave their communities, and are considered to be traitors. Family and community ties here run stronger than I as a Westerner could ever possibly imagine. All major decisions must be consulted upon by your family and the wise members of your community. The Neighbor's holy books say that the purpose of a person's life is to strive to be united with G.d. Yet most have never read these books and do not believe that such a unity is possible. Ask that the Father would open eyes and hearts to see that it is possible to know Him and that he'd raise up thousands of more passionate Followers who are willing to set an example.