Red Dot Reminder

I just talked to a 21 year old, who helped organize Teen Street about an incident that he was challenged in through last year’s event. Though he was part of the leadership team this year, last year he was a coach for a net of teens. All were asked to put a red mark on their id card to remind them that God will and wants to use them. After Teen Street, he was heading out to share the Gospel with an evangelism team. Some Hindu fanatics found out what he was doing and took all his evangelistic literature (book of hope), beat him and then took his i.d. card – the same i.d. card that had the red dot on it, the same dot that Hindu ladies put on their forehead (for marriage or religious identification). The reason they took the id card was so that he couldn’t go to the police and complain. The police would ask for his id card and if he didn’t have it, then they wouldn’t listen. As a result, he went on to do the evangelism that he started out to do with his friends. In the evening they found out that the same fanatics were looking for him with his id card and as he saw them and saw them holding his id card, the red dot stood out on his card and he was reminded of the reason it was there – that God would use him.

Teenagers Rock

Well, I've just finished a packed week of youth ministry with Indian teenagers here in India. The incredible thing is that most of them, though they left today, won't be home until tomorrow or the next day. They've all traveled by train and some trips will take 48 hours, others less. It is amazing how much of an impact this week has had on them. It isn't surprising though as I remember also being very challenged and actually having some of my biggest changes and most important decisions made at events like this. One such event was when I was 17. I remember listening to the youth speaker talk about how at the age of 17, he needed to decide to walk with Jesus full tilt or live a minimal commitment or none at all. It was a decision that he and other friends had made and it really changed his direction. It seems like changes in our lives really do happen because of decisions. It seems they go hand in hand. This week, the topic was metamorphosis - the transformation of a butterfly. Not a very cool topic you might think, for teenagers, but the lessons connected with how transformation actually happens in our lives very well. The analogy of an egg forming into a caterpillar, then a cocoon and then into a beautiful butterfly really drew a great picture of what happens in our lives in order for us to transform. At the end, they were encouraged to fly by taking leaps that involve risk, but risk that allowed them to leave their comfort zones and embrace the life God had called them into. One teenage friend came out for prayer at the beginning of the week and asked for prayer as his loneliness had become such a difficult issue. Another was dealing with not feeling he was good enough - that he just didn't measure up. Many others had hurts, issues and challenges that were just like the teenagers that I had spent time with in Canada. It seems that the emerging global youth culture that is spreading all over the world has some distinct commonalities, things that are shared by them because of media, technology, clothing but also the common experience of being a teenager. What does that mean? As I discussed with Dan Potter (he and his wife lead teen street, www.teenstreet.om.org or www.duzie.com , all over the world) what youth need all over the world, it came out that they need

1. Significant Service,

2. Meaningful Responsibility,

3. Marinated and consistent mentoring,

4. Belonging (a place or a person, etc...)

5. A Secure zone for foolishness to be unwound

There are many other things that they need, but as a basis for doing ministry among them and seeing lasting change and the perseverance to make it through some of the most difficult years of their life. I don't miss what teenagehood was like for me. It is not easy and we just have to accept that. But if we can provide all of these things along with correct and contextualized Bible teaching and interaction as well as opportunities for them to interact with Christ personally and emotionally, a difference can be made. More and more teenagers around the world are going to share a common culture through English, the internet, music, clothing and the culture that culminates from all of those things. Dan Potter said that many people in Asian and Eastern countries look at their youth and see them becoming more and more Western. He made a very interesting comment though that because of postmodernism, Western teenagers and young people are becoming more and more Eastern in their thinking. I think that is true as the mindset here in India is very closely related to postmodernism. So, are the two worlds converging and what is happening in the generation that is coming up? There is a culture that exists all over the world that is distinct. It doesn't have borders, or a specific language. It doesn't have presidents though it has many influencers. It is the youth culture and being cool is where the power lies. Being cool is having influence without power being given to you. So it can come and go, just like that, but the one thing they respect and long for is Jesus. Not the idea, but the person. They all want Him, if they could only know who He is - they would want Him. That is what the five principles allow us to do for them. To give them who He is. Indian, American, Dutch, Brazilian, Sudanese, etc... all teenagers want Jesus and they are beginning to recognize him more and more in the same ways, no matter what country they are from. The difficulty in this is that many of the countries in the world don't know about this emerging culture or what to do with it. Teen Street has joined that effort and yet what they are doing is only a drop in the bucket compared to the need. But the hope that comes with them is worth every soul that is saved and every young person that commits to not walking away from Jesus, whether they be an Italian or an Indian.

Pipe Dreams

Yesterday, I visited Pipe Village. Pipe Village? What is that? Well as the rural villages don't provide enough work during certain parts of the year, many of the people have come into the city to work at this Cement Pipe factory. Because they have a home in the village, but they have to live near the factory, they have decided to take up residence next to the factory in the old discarded cement pipes. Their homes have become pipes with add-ons. The abject poverty and low wages just doesn't allow them the ability to have normal living conditions.

When I arrived I saw row upon row of new pipes within the factory walls. Then as we neared the village, the scenery looked almost exactly the same, save the brick walls that had been constructed to close off the end of these pipes. There was a row of smaller pipes all lying down parallel to each other with another parallel row opposite them. In the middle was a path from which you could reach the front of each pipe home. It looked just like a suburb street in Chicago - with similar style houses all lining the street and garage doors that matched each other. In this situation though - the people simply lived in pipes.

Some of the children attend our Dalit Education Centers and are being educated in English while learning Math, Science, Socials, etc... One of them will be attending our youth event. She actually was my translator as I taught the children two of my favorite songs, "Making Melody" and "The Ducks go by..." After the songs, I told them the story of David and Goliath and how God could use even the smallest among them to do great things for Him if they trusted in the fact that God was capable to do it through them. I then handed out chocolates to each of them and took some pictures of which they were very eager to see the results. Before the children's program though I had the opportunity to meet with a 23 year old diabetic man who lives with his mother while she works in the factory. He became depressed because of his inability to have energy to work and the prospects of a bleak and maybe short future. He decided to burn himself to death because of this hopelessness but luckily, someone helped to dowse the flames and he was saved. I asked him about what gives him hope now. He told me that it was the fact that he had some land and planned on cultivating it back in his village, as well as the opportunity he had to get married once he was better. "Will he get better?" I thought, when all they can afford is rice for their food with some spices on the side. Rice is the cause of many cases of diabetes here, but I've learned that it is so difficult for the people to afford something more nutritious among other reasons for eating too much rice. Mainly people are just hungry and need to eat, so it is difficult to give them a vision of what it means to eat healthy. I've encountered this in all my travels throughout India. Diabetes is a huge issue here it seems, because of the continuous diet of rice, as it is the most affordable.

I told him that I hate hopelessness and love hope and asked if I could pray for him. "What to do?" as many Indians say. So, I prayed for him and asked God for healing, for marriage, that he would be able to cultivate his land in the village and that he would be able to look to God for all of these things. He's come to believe in Christ, but continues being discipled as he still holds to some Hindu gods, as is normal in this polytheistic culture of many gods. Jesus just becomes an addition.

As I was leaving the village, this healthy and beautiful child was waiting playing outside the home and was very enthusiastic about my camera. Hygiene is poor as many of the children were coughing from the cement dust and particles, as well as just poor sewage and many of the other problems that are associated with slum dwellings.

The OMers working in this village have some projects they are working on. Thus far they have started a school in the village where not only the children are coming, but also their mothers. The teacher is receiving $100 a month to teach them throughout the week as well as running a Bible club. They want to enlarge the space for their school as well as start a candle-making business. There is no electricity so the children don't have a lot of daylight to do their homework when they get home from school during the winter and the candles would be very helpful for the entire community. They could earn an income as well as have a source of light in the evenings. I was really blessed to hang out with the people for an afternoon and to see the faces of the children. People are people no matter where you go in the world - they need food, shelter, water, security and love. These ones were no different.

As a result of this work, many have come to Jesus and are giving themselves to understanding Scripture and becoming literate so that they can read the Bible and other books. A few Churches have started there as the teacher's husband who started this work 10 years ago, pastors in the different homes and locations. They receive regular prayer and Bible teaching.

If you would like to stand alongside these workers in Pipe Village to invest in a transformational effort that is building the kingdom in pipes, please visit this website, https://usa.om.org/GiveOnline/ and select this option, "Give to support OM's ministry through a particular country/field" and then choose India as the country and write in the comments section that the gift is designated for the "Pipe Village project in Hyderabad" (this link is only for the US so if you are from another country, please visit, www.om.org and look for your country profile and through that you can give to the OM office there with the same designation type). If you would like to designate your gift even more precisely, ie. for the teacher's salary, for hygeine, for school supplies, for the Candle making project, for the Church ministry, etc... please also fill that in. Any gift amount is needed and appreciated.

Please pray for the man that burned himself - that he would continue to have hope in the midst of some obvious despair and that God would heal him of diabetes so that He can recognize God as the only one worth worshipping. Pray as well with me for the education, health and transformation of these families and that they would take the Gospel back to their village, over 80 kms away. Also pray for my translator and her family that they wouldn't try to marry her off too soon and would allow her to pursue her dreams. Pray also for a deep and spiritual impact on her heart as she attends this life changing youth event, something she's never seen before. Pray that she would wholeheartedly commit her life to Jesus and allow Him to meet her needs and lead her on under His gentle hand.

As you pray for her, know that a difference is being made all within one generation. My translator was only 13 or 14 and she knows Telegu but her mother tongue is actually another tribal language. She also speaks English and is learning Hindi at school. She's at the top of her class and we're excited that she will be joining us for our Teen Street event this week (www.teenstreet.om.org). Her dream is to be a doctor. Some would see her predicament and say, "that's only a pipe dream". I guess they would be right if we could only look through natural eyes. Her family is illiterate, uneducated, extremely poor, from a village and a low caste and they need the dowry that she could secure for them if she was married young. It is a "pipe dream", a dream birthed from a new hope and a from a heart that is beginning to really know who the God of Scripture truly is and what He's capable of. The work that God is doing through this transformational ministry in her village and through our school is changing her home and her life. It's giving her hope and dreams. The entire trajectory of a simple village girl's life will be able to transform her family, her future and allow her to participate in building the Kingdom of Heaven on earth - A hope, a Kingdom and a dream given to her as she grew up on the inside of a pipe.

persistent thoughts of procrastination

Recently, I receieved an email from a friend that loves making films. He and I met at Bible school. We then ran into each other in the Bahamas. I was on an OM ship and he was making a film with a film team form Moody. We chatted about vision and film ideas, always recognizing its incredible ability to move, motivate and change. I just received an email from him that I want to share with you, Here it is...

well i cant wait to get together with you. i wanna share a quick story with you. in the beginning of this year, i was driving home from a great conversation with a buddy. we talked about christianity and what it looks like. we talked about the laziness and what is has become. driving home i realized i was a hypocrite...see...i was afraid to be a real christian. i didnt wanna deal with the whole faith thing. i just wanted to do what everyone else did and kinda pray for stuffso i decided i was gonna be a christian that day. i drove home and told God:"Lord, im sick of being normal. i wanna do crazy stuff like what you did through people like moses and paul. you created me with a desire to make movies so here it is. i dont know if thats what you want me to do, but im gona dedicated myself FULL TIME to that. i dont know where the money is coming or where im headed, but thats gonna be my number one priority."that day i decided to drop everything i was doing,"ministries", work, etc...no money i get home and get an email from the pastor of xxxchurch"you got any more video ideas?"within that hour, we communicated some more, i ended up having a ticket to vegas to film for them at a convention.i come back home with a 15k check and a pretty nice cameraall that to say, i understand the power of willing hearts and sincere faith

I also just had a conversation with a man from Sweden today about his ministry to encourage, coordinate and support youth ministry initiatives around the globe. So many countries are looking to the west to understand youth ministry. We have to understand that we can't assume youth ministry exists in every country. It is primarily a North American thing. Even many Churches in Europe are just now catching. (This is very general) So this man and his team have a huge job ahead of them as well as massive opportunities. One things we discussed though was, the passion that youth have and how, even though it is lacking in wisdom and experience, it is still zeal and something that should not be discouraged in light of an older person's experience or "wisdom" Ray Vander Laan (www.followtherabbi.com) believes that the disciples themselves were mostly teenagers as young as one being 14 or 15. That would mean that Jesus as a 30 year old had chosen to give his precious three year ministry to these insignificant and unlearned youth. Not only were they young, they weren't the cream of the crop intellectually as many of them were sent back to the family business as apprentices, meaning that they hadn't made the cut to be a respected and prestigious scribe or Pharisee. Yet, we know what they did - they transformed the globe and turned the whole world upside down with what Christ gave them in those three years. What did He give them? - Himself. I really believe it is essential to also realize when He gave Himself to them and why.

I have come to be a 28 year old who loves Jesus but is very lazy about his faith. I am seeing that the passion I had as a teenager has waned considerably as my knowledge and wisdom have grown. I know that this is normal, but is it right?

The Eagles sing of Desperado losing his feelings because of his effort to stimulate them - leaving him sterilized by his own apprehension of gratuitous pleasure and the ensuing "security". "It seems to me some fine things have been laid upon your table, but you only want the ones you can't get...Freedom, oh freedom, that's just some people talking, your prison is walking through this world all alone...you're losing all your highs and lows, ain't if funny how the feeling goes away...it may be raining but there's a rainbow above you, you better let somebody love you, let somebody love you, you better let somebody love you, before it's too late"

My pastor in Chicago talked about how Worship is a responsive and formative participation in the timeless worship of God that is happening in Heaven right now and has happened for centuries. He taught that it is here that we should form our emotions towards God and in so doing our emotions are formed correctly towards our earthly relationships. As a teenager, we experience a flood of emotions and they are wonderful and miserable all at the same time. What place does this stage in our development have in maturing us into the fullness of who we are called to be - holy (pursuing wholeness) as He is Holy (fully whole and complete, lacking nothing). I believe that teenagers are given the privilege of experiencing these emotions as a teaser for what is possible if the individual pursues a life separated for God's purposes. We are called to participate in the formation of what we so freely and naturally experience as teens in the ensuing portion of the rest of our life. I have seen this in my relationship as well with God - He has given me a taste of His goodness to allow me to see what is possible with Him only to be brought back to reality. I believe this is the same thing that happens in massive and sweeping revivals. Should they tarry or should they compel us to a lifestyle of obedience and love that will shape and form a space for these visitations of God's Spirit. Is God into teasing people? I think so - He wants us to taste what Heaven is like and what is possible with Him so that we will never forget what our lives can be oriented towards - deep intimacy with the Godhead and the fulness of what maturity from Heaven on Earth looks like. If I don't know what it is possible I won't reach for it.

Many drug users, sexually ilicit people, drunkards, relationship chasers, career mongers, etc... are looking to recreate something, a feeling, a sensation, a sense of belonging, a moment of influence or power, something they encountered as a teenager. They want this to come back and to "happen" to them - to be acted upon. What God offers is not recreating a memory of pleasure or satisfaction and belonging, but He is calling us forward to sit at the table and feast on what we only tasted as a young teen. What does this require? Simply obedience, submitting to the process that God has laid out for you and receiving freely from His hand. Christ has said that is more blessed to give than to receive, but as Christians we find it much more difficult to trule receive than to give. When I share the Gospel at times, I pull a larger than normal bill out of my wallet and hand it to the person in the midst of the conversation - to their awkward dismay of course. I tell them, this awkwardness and unwillingness to receive this money is because your automatic response is that you haven't done anything for it, so why should you receive it. This is why many don't receive the gift of salvation either. They end up taking it but not without trying to give it back a couple of times. This is the awkwardness of the Gospel but it is also the awkwardness of sanctification/growing in our journey with Jesus. I haven't found another answer other than obedience and receiving. To participate is to obey, so it isn't only about waiting on your couch in prayer and hoping He'll drop "it" into your lap.

As Sam did, follow your desires and if that means leaving behined what gives you security. Leave it, it's worthless and it will only suck the abundant life you can have out of you. We need a new generation of passionate people to do this but we also need the many generations of "wise" people to re-engage the passion - not to relive a memory that tasted good, but to engage and participate - to create a story that will draw others in and challenge them beyond their secure borders. Follow this story,

Imagine a family with a young teenage girl who is dating a 16 year old guy. Dad doesn't approve, but the family keeps on living life. The dad expresses frustration to Donald Miller who says in response, "What your daughter is telling you is that this 16-year-old guy's story is better than your story!" The dad is a bit taken back and offended. He returns home . . . thinks . . . prays . . . and takes action. He researches something to improve his (and his family's) story. Gathering his family in a room he says, "I want us to raise $25,000 for an orphanage to be built! the family is shocked (mainly because they're not used to thinking and acting on such an unselfish non-entertainment based way). The family gathers behind dad. The daughter says, "I can get on MySpace and raise some money."
. . . 3 weeks later the daughter breaks up with the boyfriend. Why? Dad gave his daughter a more compelling story to be part of.

So as my friend recounted, he had discovered that the life he was leading was not heading towards the impossible, only the possible. Is it wrong to want a lasting legacy - you can't have one unless you leave pieces of yourself all over the place, mainly in the hearts of people that God has put in your path to love well. How do you love well? Simply by living the way God created you to live, with your desires in obedience to Him in His Word and with the willingness to do so in the face of impossibilities and lack of securities. Walter Bruegemann talks about how the Isrealites were a very difficult people to govern by the Romans because they always believed in their coming Messiah and that no matter how strong the Romans were, the Messiah was stronger and would sweep them away - why, because the God that promised the Messiah was stronger. Their vision of who God is and was had a much larger context and reach than the Romans ever had and they knew they just had to wait for Him to come and He would do the impossible as He had done so many times before. Though miseducated in their concept of what the Messiah would be, they understood who God was and as Christians we are called to the same expectant apprehension of the impossible.

But as in my friend's case, it may require walking away from what has been only possible. It may require the realization that there is so much more to be had than the teasers we experienced as teenagers - that we only tasted that the LORD was good so that He could call us to feast with Him at the table of abundance in His unbroken presence. That is Heaven, yet we are called to this "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven." We are called to the impossible! Paul talks of this whole process in Ephesians,

"My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit - not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength - that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in . And I ask that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all Christians the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.
God can do anything you know - far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in you wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us...You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness.
But that doesn't mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift. The text for this is,
'He climbed the high mountain
He captured the enemy and seized the booty
He handed it all out in gifts to the people.'
It's true, is it not, that the One who climbed up also climbed down, down to the valley of earth? And the One who climbed down is the One who climbed back up, up to the highest heaven. He handed out gifts above and below, filled heaven with his gifts, filled earth with his gifts. He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christians in skilled servant work, working within Christ's body, the church, until we're all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God's Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive in Christ.
No prolonged infancies among us, please. We'll not tolerate babes in the woods, small children who are an easy mark for impostors. God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love - like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love.

The purpose of the impossible is to call us forward without our own strength. It is in that encounter wherein we discover our intimate bond with the One who provides not only with the provision to accomplish the impossible but with His presence as well. Moses pleaded for this presence as God told Him to lead the people out of Egypt by Himself and God stayed. Jacob wrestled for this blessing all night and clung to the cloak until He received it. So I end with 5 things that I'm afraid of in my "old age".

Patience
Persistence
Prayer
Pain
Passion

Though I'm afraid of what they require of me, when I submit to them, I submit to all that is Christ and what follows is God's

Presence and Power

“…[spirituality] is not concerned with any transcendence of the natural order, but with the redemption of fallen creation: God in the incarnation, reveals himself within the world of time and space. For the Christian, spirituality is concerned not with emancipation from the limitations imposed by nature and society, but with their transformation.”

-Andrew Wright

Sovereignty + Goodness = Mother's Day

In an Email to Stephanie after Mother's Day...

>Thank you for your thoughts on mother’s day and my mom. It sounds like your mom had a really special day. Something really cool happened with my mom and I and Lonnie. I had tried to send her flowers but it didn’t work and I got behind on the task. Then I was trying to connect to skype last night to call her and was having trouble. I figured some things out though and was able to get it working. I didn’t get through to them at home in Canada, so I thought I’d call Lonnie in Chicago. He answered and we started talking after not talking for forever. As we talked he told me that our mom was actually on her way to Norway with our Grandma and some Aunts and Uncles and that they were actually in Chicago getting ready to go to the airport. Then he suggested that we try and conference call them so I entered in the number on skype (www.skype.com) for my aunt's house from my location here in Hyderabad, India and pressed the conference option. Immediately it picked up the number and began to ring at my aunt’s house. I couldn’t believe it. Our Aunt Sherry picked up the phone and then handed it over to our mom and there we were having a conference call with my mother on mother’s day, a first for our family. Lonnie and I chatted with her, fought with each other a little bit on the phone, she scolded us and we relented. Then we began our goodbyes and prayed for her and as we finished we could hear her voice cracking up a bit as she sniffled. It was special but it still wasn’t as good as if we were there, albeit that it wasn’t possible. The other thing was that I had tried to buy her flowers at the Lillooet flower shop to have them delivered to her on mother’s day at our house. I tried once and it didn’t work and then I kept putting it off and then when Lonnie told me that they were actually in Chicago on their way to Norway, I thought to myself – thank you LORD. So Steph, as I put this all together, I’m thinking, “this is a pretty good reason to believe not only in God’s sovereignty but also that his sovereignty is for the display of His goodness and grace towards us”. I couldn’t believe that by chance we were able to connect via skype and then that I hadn’t spent money on flowers that would have waited for her for weeks at our home in Lillooet. That’s because it wasn’t chance. God was setting things up and letting us know that it was Him. I thanked Him and in my prayer for my mom, we honored Him for sussing everything out. I think that God definitely takes care of us as children but also as forgetful bachelors too.

Taj

Some interesting things about the Taj. Taj Mahal was built as a monument of love for the Shah Jahan's wife who gave him like 13 children and died after 14 was born. Taj means "crown" just like in Tajikistan where the people speak Tajik. That is the first place I learned what Taj means. It was incredible to see the vast Persian influence here in India, particularly with the Taj. Everything is symmetrical and the entire building is made of white marble - unbreakable marble. The coloration in the marble is actually inlaid with semi-precious jewels. None of the pictures of the flowers or designs are painted - they are all inlaid sem-precious stones
No photographs were allowed inside the Taj, but on the inside were the tombs and around them a marble lattice, each panel made of one piece of marble. The craftsmanship was incredible. The Shah (king) Jahan (of the world) was definitely in love with his queen who was actually from Persia. He built this as a memorial for her with a guest house on one side and a mosque on the other side, both replicas of each other, again continuing the Persian ideal of symmetry in architecture. The Taj was actually an idea that originated from the tomb of the Shah Jahan's mother-in-law. This is the same design also with inlaid marble but not with semi-precious stones which is unique to the Taj. The Shah's plans were to build another Taj exactly like the first across the river that flows behind the Taj but before he could do so, his son imprisoned him in the Agra fort which overlooks the Taj also along the river. So the Shah lived out the end of his days gazing over the immaculate tomb that he built in the center of the kingdom he used to rule as a prisoner still mourning the death of his beloved wife.

WWW.JOSEPHDSOUZA.COM

This is a post from Joseph D'Souza's website, the leader of OM India and tireless advocate for the Dalit people of India. Check out his website at www.josephdsouza.com and find incredible information about the Dalit plight at www.dalitnetwork.org. Here it is...

By Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch

Published in openDemocracy

Surekha Bhotmange, a Dalit (or so-called "untouchable") member of the Hindu caste system in Maharashtra, was cooking the family evening meal on 29 September 2006 when a group of upper-caste men surrounded her home. Surekha, her 17-year-old daughter Priyanka, and two sons, 23-year-old Roshan and 21-year-old Sudhir, were dragged out of the hut. The two women were stripped, beaten and paraded through the village. The young men were beaten up so badly their faces were disfigured. All four died. Almost all of Khairlanji village witnessed this spectacle of caste vengeance. No one did much to stop it.

The attack was a retribution for previous activism. The upper-caste farmers from the area were using the Bhotmanges' land as a throughway for their tractors. The family resisted, with the help of a Dalit rights activist. Siddharth Gajbhiye. Gajbhiye himself was beaten up. Surekha Bhotmange was a witness, identifying twelve perpetrators who were then arrested. On the day that the Bhotmange family was attacked, all twelve had been released on bail. They took their ghastly revenge.

Surekha's husband, Bhaiyyalal Bhotmagne, was visiting a neighbour at the time of his family's murder. He saw his family being dragged out and remained helplessly hidden, watching what happened. He was the only witness to come forward. At his village, there are only a handful of families from his Dalit caste. The rest, perpetrators or spectators, who consider themselves higher caste, did not say a word. Police arrived a few hours after the incident, but no report was filed. When a terrified Bhotmange filed a police complaint the following morning, he was initially ignored. Only when the bodies were discovered was a case registered and some arrests made. The main perpetrators, however, were not taken into custody.

For a month, photographs of the brutality circulated among Dalit rights activists. The incident, however, barely registered in the national press. In November, a protest was organised by some Dalit activists and erupted into violence. Police teams were stoned, cars set ablaze. Eventually riot police were called in, some politicians rushed to the area to promise justice, while others blamed the Naxalites (Maoist groups leading a violent insurgency in the region) for instigating the violence. Several policemen were suspended for dereliction of duty, as were the doctors who failed to file proper autopsy reports. In December, the Central Bureau of Investigation finally filed charges against eleven of those accused.

The cost of violation

The Indian government, faced with difficult internal conflicts in vast swathes of the country, has routinely called upon people to reject the gun and enter into dialogue. Yet the Khairlanji incident showed once again that it is often only when marginalised people turn to violence that there is any hope of getting the attention of politicians and the authorities. In late November, Maharashtra state had again erupted into violent Dalit protest; three people died, a train was burned down, and several areas had to be placed under curfew. While the trigger was an attack on the statue of Dalit leader BR Ambedkar, it was apparent that the rage had been building up since Khairlanji.

Violence is unjustified, but for many it appears to be the only way to get attention. This is because - despite all the anti-caste legislation and all the policies to end caste-based discrimination - justice for Dalits remains elusive.

More than a sixth of India's population - approximately 160 million people - live at the bottom of the caste structure: denied access to land, clean water, and education, left out by the recent modernisation process and surging economic growth, forced to work in degrading conditions, and routinely abused at the hands of police and higher caste groups.

For example, a Dalit bridegroom and his wedding procession were pelted with stones on 2 November 2006 by members of upper castes in Bihajar village of Rajasthan state. He was punished for riding a horse to the wedding, a privilege these upper-caste groups claim only for themselves. The following month, an upper-caste landowner chopped off all five fingers of a 10-year-old Dalit girl's hand with a sickle after catching her stealing a few spinach leaves from his property in Bihar state. She had been foraging for edible leaves for the family meal.

Such incidents of prejudice are routine, with Dalits punished for wearing watches or riding bicycles, all symbols of affluence and reserved traditionally only for the higher caste groups. While "untouchability" was abolished decades ago, the practice continues. Its pervasive persistence emerged during the December 2004 tsunami, when many higher-caste survivors refused to share emergency shelter and food rations with Dalits.

Since the police tend to ignore Dalits' complaints, only a small proportion of incidents of violence against Dalits is registered. Yet the National Crimes Bureau still registered 26,127 cases in 2005. Even when complaints are filed, despite special laws to protect Dalits, justice is usually delayed and the rate of conviction remains abysmal.

Efforts by Dalits such as Surekha Bhotmange, to demand their rights have provoked a brutal backlash from higher caste groups. In fact, incidents such as these, where witnesses, or those that seek judicial remedy, are brutally savaged, have become depressingly common. A Dalit rights activist from Punjab, Bant Singh, campaigning for the rights of landless or marginal farmers, has come under vicious attack a number of times. Members of the upper-caste, landowning community gang-raped his daughter. He pursued the case and secured the conviction of those responsible, who were sentenced to life imprisonment. Supporters of the rapists then organized further retribution: on 5 January 2006, Bant Singh was so badly beaten that both his arms and a leg had to be amputated.

Though their rights are inadequately defended, Dalits are courted by all political parties as a significant vote-bank. Since before India's independence, when Mohandas Gandhi first condemned "untouchability", numerous political leaders have claimed that they would work towards ending the medieval practice. In 2006, the Indian government called upon the private sector to voluntarily adopt affirmative action policies that ensure jobs for Dalits. There has been a strong backlash from upper-caste members, who make arguments similar to those who oppose affirmative action in the United States.

The real challenge is that, for all of the laws, policies and positive political rhetoric in favour of caste-abolition and the rights of Dalits and other low-caste members, words have hardly translated into change. Dalits rightly see mostly empty promises, with little law-enforcement or active campaigning designed to create public outrage.

While the Indian constitution outlaws caste, oddly the Indian government has refused to acknowledge its failure to end caste-based discrimination. For instance, at the United Nations, India has claimed that caste bias cannot be equated with racial discrimination. The government insists that altering an age-old tradition takes time, and cites its numerous laws and schemes as a measure of its commitment to protect victims of caste-related atrocities. Instead of seeing UN commentary and criticism as a tool to address the problem, the government goes into denial in international forums.

However, in December 2006 prime minister Manmohan Singh agreed that the "only parallel to the practice of untouchability was apartheid", a statement that was immediately criticised by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - which had rejected the UN recommendations when it held power in New Delhi.
The promise of reform

Yet the Khairlanji incident and the violent protests that followed demonstrate once again that India is failing in its obligations. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has called upon the government to take special measures to "prevent acts of discrimination towards persons belonging to the scheduled castes and tribes, and in the case where such acts have been committed, to conduct thorough investigations, to punish those found responsible."
India's claims that caste and racial discrimination could not be equated were dismissed in 2002, when a general recommendation on descent-based discrimination specified for the first time that descent-based discrimination, including discrimination on the basis of caste, is a human-rights violation.

Although India does have laws to protect vulnerable communities such as the Dalits, it is obvious that with widespread prejudice within the bureaucracy there is very little will to actually implement and enforce these laws. That will only change if those that fail to implement policy receive administrative punishment or are prosecuted.

Manmohan Singh has promised reform. It is crucial that his government act swiftly so that no others ever suffer the fate of the Bhotmange family

Dalit Village

Today I visited a village where we have one of our Dalit Education Centers. The morning had me visiting the school, telling the story of David and teaching them my favorite kids' song, Making Melody - thumbs up! I was then taken around the village to the different homes of some of the children. The fascinating thing that I keep hearing is that these students, who are in an English medium school (very prestigious), have actually started to teach their parents English as well as manners. They learn to speak and act correctly at school and then they go home and teach their parents the manners they learned from school. This has made the parents very grateful although they don't teach the children themselves. The children are given an incredibly low cost education with very high standards and the parents are told that the teachers will be teaching them Biblical principles, morals, verses, songs and stories throughout their education. This hasn't received a lot of opposition because of the 1st class education that their children are receiving. Learning English and having access to the different vocational courses (computer and tailoring) is something that could help to launch these children from a desperate impoverished village into much higher paying job somewhere in the city which is only 30-40 km away. The drastic changes in these students homes when they get married and have their own children are going to be astronomical as they will be able to be educated, speak English, teach proper manners and etiquette, understand hygiene, read and understand the Bible and many of them will be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Gospel is incredibly redemptive in this situation. The teachers are all very qualified and love Jesus and were so happy to be working with these students because of the drastic changes they were able to see in the lives of the students and the families. I asked them what their greatest joy was. One teacher who is a MBB (Muslim Background Bel....) said that it is totally worth it to live under the difficult conditions that they do as teachers so that they can see what happens with the children and what changes Christ is making. They don't make anywhere near what a regular teacher makes but they know why they are doing it. The problems they have are getting to and from the school each day and not having electricity as well as poor access to water at times I'm sure. Some of our schools are in the most remote areas of India. That is the Gospel and they are doing the real thing. Here it is very important to be baptized as it signals to the community your decision to be set apart from all other religions, from polytheism, from your old religion, etc... Through the local pastor (who's wife is pregnant and sick and doesn't have money for medicine - he asked me to pray for him about this but the need was so evident) and the teachers, many have been baptized and many more are ready to receive baptism. This truly is a Biblical culture. Please visit, http://www.usa.om.org/omindia/dec.htm to find out more about the Dalit Education Centers as well as http://www.usa.om.org/omindia/partnership.htm if you would like to sponsor an Indian pastor or a Dalit Education Center. The work is overwhelming and the living conditions even more so. Many are really out on the frontier. The schools are popping up all over the place and the need for more is outstanding as well as qualified teachers and pastors to accompany the school work. OM has about 1200 pastors out in field, many in conjunction with these schools as they minister to the whole family. If you want a huge bang for your giving buck, this is definitely a way to make it happen. There are huge outcomes from this giving as well as huge needs. So little can help so much - I've seen it first hand. More and more I believe in the Church and her role in this and it is great to see that the Church is caring for the practical needs of the people that they are reaching. This is opening so many hearts to the Gospel and the change in these communities, though already evident, is going to be exponential within the next generation and on. I have never wanted people to offer their giving to something more than this incredibly powerful and effective ministry. It is education and Church planting all in one package which brings health awareness, empowerment and responsibility, awareness of hygiene and disease related issues, and it brings to the people the face and love of Christ! I have heard so many stories of instances where these pastors are being beat up by fanatics and some are having their lives threatened as well as sometimes having family members killed. I am preparing to post some stories about them soon. It is happening all the time! Prayer, finance and your love. The opportunities are endless! Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven. Blessings!

Suffering and Solidarity

We sat taking in the day. Bama was sniffling after finishing a short bout of tears, one of many that evening. I had watched her for most of the day to see if she would, waiting for what happened to hit her. I figured she would be fine, maybe she isn’t connected to this building, maybe, it doesn’t hurt her as much as I thought it would. What had happened? It was 9:00 p.m. and we were sitting in the Good Shepherd Ministry office in the middle of a Bombay slum just around the corner from a school which also housed the local Church. Bama, the woman who continued to press on in this slum outreach, had begun with one hut space, then two, and up to this point no one had interrupted her or told her to stop. She had transformed the lots into a school for children in the slums and we were there cleaning up the third addition which had just been completed the day before. This was for a third classroom which would expand the school’s ability to educate the children in this impoverished community.

The only thing was that every small and tattered home happened to be built or put together on property that wasn’t theirs. This is the plight for millions of Indians all over the country and especially in the metropolitan areas. So, technically the school being built shouldn’t have been built, except that every home, business and temple on the same property is under the same set of laws. Up to this point, the authorities hadn’t bothered Bama and her education centers and with that courage she pressed to build a third classroom. No sooner had we finished a magnificent India curry with chipoti, dal and rice after a long morning of cleaning and adjusting furniture for the new classroom, when a knock came on our door. Words were spoken very quickly and frankly in Hindi and in a short period the Indians in the room were rushing out the door with Bama leading the way. We came to understand later that the municipality had come with a big truck, policeman, and about 15 men to destroy the new classroom. I learned that this is normal practice as many slums shoot up overnight and sometimes they are required to tear down their dwellings for safety, health reasons, housing regulations, highways being built and many other inardent reasons that will all go away with a simple bribe. Our police of course are to refuse this course of action and to proceed under the law. If Bama had just offered a bribe to these men to continue on their way and leave the building alone, we would be outfitting the classroom with paint, posters and other teaching implements. Instead, the westerners hid so as to keep from complicating things further and Bama, along with her volunteers, some local believers, and most of the surrounding community watched as their new classroom was torn to the ground. Brick after brick was laid bare while we prayed from the office many unanswered prayers. They continued while we were moved to a local believers hut and waited the destruction out.

Finally, when we they were finished and had driven away, we moved out into the open to discover the rubble of broken walls, where just a couple of hours before stood our classroom. They had waited until right after it was finished to commence their destruction. I suppose to teach Bama a lesson. The lesson being that you don’t build unless you provide the right people with a bribe, in fact the policeman standing and watching over the proceedings asked Bama, why she hadn’t made “peace” with them earlier. For a woman who has been walking with the LORD for most of her life and serving in mission for twenty years in slum ministry, this was more than just a building. Every step forward would seem to send her two steps back. Her godly action of creating, instructing and giving hope was being reversed by greed, anger and tyranny, and there wasn’t anything she could do about it. Of course, this has happened to many in the slums, many homes have been simply demolished, torn to the ground, displacing thousands of slum dwellers at times. I wonder if this is what Israel felt like each time they had to face their attackers coming to the gates of Jerusalem. Should we give them food like the Israelites were instructed to do when their enemies came to bring them under a siege and instead God blinded them all while the Jews fed them and sent them home. What do you tell your king when that happens? God told them to love their enemies and especially to be kind to the passers by because they were all wanderers and tent dwellers at one time. I suppose that their lives would have been looked down upon by many, like a caste system and yet God chose them. Israel was to know what it meant to suffer, so that they could form solidarity with the world that they would reach, a world gripped under the tyranny of suffering. I remember asking my mother about her and my father’s commitment to the people that God brought them to and why they had stayed in the face of so many disappointments, discouragements and setbacks. First she said that it was for obedience, yet when I pressed for more, she told me that as she looked around at the suffering and the hopelessness and cried out to God for answers to how they would be able to reach these lost people. She told me that God spoke to her heart and said that it would be through suffering and the suffering that they experienced actually was directly related to the suffering of the people that they had been called to. It is almost like God allows us to suffer in the same way that the people that He’s called us to suffer like. If we try to escape it we are seeing our lives as less than our calling. A calling is costly! So what did Bama have at the end of the day?

She had broken walls, a broke bank account and a broken heart. What the men had come to destroy though only sought to build something else - the walls of the Kingdom that Jesus proclaimed and commissioned all of us to proclaim into all parts of the globe. Each brick that came down that day only served to continue building solidarity with the people that Bama had been called to. So what did Bama have at the end of the day? Many complaints could be put forward but what she had was worth more than that classroom cost, more than the bribe she wouldn't pay, more than the entire building itself - she had gained solidarity with a suffering people that would forever alter the destiny of her ministry there and give the Gospel the power it was waiting for and Christ the exaltation He deserves. When asking why we suffer, we can also ask, who do we suffer for and how are the walls of the Kingdom being built while the walls around us crumble? Suffering and solidarity.

Matthew 4:17

“From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”