India

I am writing early Tuesday morning from the Amsterdam airport. I am somewhere past the halfway point of a 3 flight 29 hour trek home after spending the last week in the city and villages surrounding Lucknow, U.P., India. (I’m very thankful for Delta Sky Miles today).

Before I share with you some of the specifics of the trip and its early effects on me, let me tell you about the driving in India. It is worth the trip to India alone for the experience of traveling on the roadways. I had heard that it was the worst in the world, but descriptions by others did not do due diligence. I know my descriptions won’t either. Lucknow is a city of 3 million people and I think there are about 3 traffic lights. There appear to be no rules of the road although the nationals assure me there are. Three lanes of roadway are typically occupied by seven travelers. This is no exaggeration. By travelers I mean cows (they are sacred so no one moves them), dogs, pedestrians (yes in the road, not crossing the road), bicycles, rickshaws (combination of bike and taxi), taxis (three-wheeled vehicles with a carriage), cars, trucks and buses. No one uses a side view mirror because the space they occupy is more valuable than being able to see behind. If you are a bumper in front of another driver it seems you have the right of way and you simply veer in whichever direction you wish with a simple honk of the horn. Oh, the horns. There is a constant honking sound to alert other travelers that you are approaching or to tell someone to get out of the way. Horns are not used in anger but are simply part of the art of driving. Amazingly I never saw an accident that caused traffic to stop. During one of our trips a taxi honked and moved over into our lane, clipping the left front of our vehicle. Neither driver stopped or yelled or showed any type of road rage. The whole thing I think is a kind of sport. I looked forward each day to being a spectator in these games. Now on to more important matters……,

I traveled with a team of 13 other church and missions leaders. We learned a tremendous mount about the people, practices, prejudices and the faith of the people of India. Most of it is really, really bad. This is a country of nearly 1.2 billion people (4 times the population of the US in an area equivalent to the US east of the Mississippi). Over 250 million of these people are considered Untouchables and are looked upon by most of their society as being lower than the animals. These untouchables or Dalits are the people we primarily met with, visited in their “homes” and villages, and worshipped with. They are beautiful people in desperate need of hope and love. They believe, as do most Indians, that they were not created by God like the rest of the population. They are not even included in the caste system. I understand that when the death totals were reported from India after the Tsunami that the Dalits were not included in the numbers because they don’t count. After all, they didn’t count any of the other animals. Writing these things brings tears to my eyes as I reflect on the gross injustices being done to real people that I have met this week. A sad reality is that most of us have no idea that this type of injustice exists in India. The primary reason is that the Indian media, controlled by upper castes, does not let the information out.

Despite the hate and injustice, there is good news for the Dalits. Because they have been treated like dirt for centuries some of them are leaving Hinduism. Those who are leaving are turning to Jesus in incredible numbers. Christianity teaches them that God is their Creator, that they were created in His image and that He loves them more than they can imagine. Churches are literally being started every day across India. Yet because of the enormous population, Christianity accounts for less than .1% of the people in the northern part of the country where we were.

The reason we were on this trip was to meet and train pastors (most who are Dalits), visit in Dalit schools (which exist for the first time in history because of the investment of Christians around the world), and learn about how children and pastors can be sponsored and supported. As we visited in the villages we were encouraged to touch the Dalits on the shoulder, shake their hands and smile. I wanted to hug them all, but this would have been a cultural taboo, not to mention that most of the Dalits have never been touched by a person outside their group of Untouchables.

I also had the privilege to train some of the pastors on the life of Christ and to speak in two of their churches. I was asked to speak the first night we were there. Because of the very short notice, I opted to teach an abbreviated version of the message I had just spoken at Crossroads Church the weekend before. (If you are interested in hearing you can listen in at http://crossroadsnewnan.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=124&Itemid=206. Sunday morning I spoke from Ephesians 2:10 at one of the Indian churches and shared with them that they were masterpieces created by the Perfect Artist and that God has a plan for each of their lives. I pray that if they hear it enough they will begin to see themselves the way God does.

Before I went to India others told me that it is like nowhere else on earth and that I would be forever changed by the experience. I haven’t traveled the whole earth but India is certainly unique among the places I have been. In addition to the horrible treatment of the Dalits (actually a part of it), India has millions of homeless people, huge numbers of children working in fields and brickyards and as beggars and prostitutes. Many more are sold into the sex trade business. We heard about how many families “lose” their aged mothers and grandmothers in a crowd of people so they will not have to care for them any longer. We also learned of cannibals and child sacrifice that is done in the country. The level of sin and evil is incomprehensible.

So how did it all affect me? I think and hope in several ways. I have heard that if you don’t act on the things that challenge you in life within 3 days that you will likely never act. This is one reason I am writing my thoughts so quickly, before I may have even processed it all.

Whenever I have the privilege to serve the poor or abused I must come face to face with the abundance of wealth and opportunity I have as an America. I can say what I want about the economy or the costs of putting 2 kids through college at the same time, but the reality is that I have it so very easy. I hope that my heart is continuing to grow in gratefulness for what I have and in responsibility to share it and my life with those who don’t.

If you are interested in learning more or in helping the Dalits of India you can visit www.dalitnetwork.org or email me and I can pass some information along.