Sri Lanka

Link to photos

The last leg of my journey took me to Sri Lanka.
It was good to fly in from India, because I didn't have any jet lag.
The flight only took two hours and was uneventful, except that I had to wait for my luggage. I had two bags, a case and a rucksack. The rucksack was probably the first off the plane but I had to wait for my case. The plane was going to to somewhere else and everybody else had got their stuff, I was alone. I asked if everything was off and they asked me to wait a little longer. Then as a single piece of luggage my case came onto the conveyer belt and I could leave the airport!

It was about 1,30am by the time I got to bed - getting used to this of course.
The next morning I was awakened by the Buddhist chanting. They have illegally built a shrine just about 20 metres from the front door. Every morning at 6am and every evening at 6pm they begin their chanting. Not that people are chanting, its a recording. It blasts out over two big loudspeakers aimed at the church. It is loud! Sometimes no one is at the shrine. No one understand the chanting because it is in Sanskrit!

Later during my stay I had an even earlier start and heard chanting coming from another shrine at the back of the church! That was at 5am!

My first day started with me teaching at the Bible School, which was going to be my main job at this time round. My theme was Church History and I had to teach 64 hours. It was quite tedious but I enjoyed it.
Only when I started teaching it did I realise that 80% of Church History is European or American history.
The students and there were 18 of them who are nearly all in some kind of ministry, were very interested and asked lots of questions.
We also had an ordination and laid hands on five pastors.

Perhaps the climax of my stay this time was the dedication of the children's home.
We had bought some land and a house and built another house and have also built up a farm to provide the children's home with food and with a little bit of revenue.

After the dedication we spoke to a pastor who had come from the East and he told us about the great need there. In one district alone there were 17000 homeless children, that had lost one of both of their parents. He himself said that he was hiding a 14 years old boy in his house because the Tigers (the militant breakaway Tamils), were abducting boys in his age to force them to take up arms and fight.
Could we take more children? But how? We were now very full.

As we thought of ways and means, we did think of a way to house more children. We would build another house for the leader and his family who could then move out of the main house, thus making more room for the children.

More children though, mean more costs and now its up to us to raise some support.

Link to photos

India

Link to photos of India

After leaving Nepal, I flew into Dehli in India. From there I flew down to Hyderabad where I was met by two old friends. They drove me to Chillakallu. It took us longer than expected because something went wrong with the car.
I suppose it was about 3am by the time I got to bed!
It was good to meet Ruth and Prabhudas again and to catch up with them.
I was to spend my time doing pastors' conferences and teaching at the Bible School. I enjoyed both activities. God showed up and the pastors were very encouraged.
During my stay in Chillakallu, we also had Easter. What a celebration. The service on Easter Sunday started at 5am. I didn't get there until 6. By that time there were already about 1000 people gathered.
I felt that I wasn't prepared enough and that my message wouldn't be fitting for the occaision. However when I started to preach, the Holy Spirit took over and what a meeting. During the ministry time, people were healed, filled with the Spirit and others were delivered of evil spirits!
I preached 4 times on Easter Sunday!
I interupted my stay in Chillakallu by going to Rajahmundry. This city is about four hours away. The Nehemia-Team have a project there and I have been asked to give some oversight to it.
Raja and Ebbe lead the work. They have a children's home with sixty children. Raja also looks after a number of churches, some are church plants.
During my stay there we had a pastors' seminar and 150 pastors came to attend. That was a wonderful experience.
The ministry is just startind and lots of things need attending too.

Carri MacFarlane and Horst and Hannah Zimmerman were also there. Carri has written a letter to the children's sponsors (which are too few!), if you read it, you get an impression of how things are there:

NEWS - NEWS - NEWS - - - - FROM NEHEMIA CHILDREN'S HOME INDIA - - - - NEWS - NEWS - NEWS
Dear friends, pray-ers and sponsors,
When I was a child, I had a prayer of Francis of Assisi beside my bed. The words became embedded in my heart and it is my daily prayer that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, I will live accordingly. Here it is:
Teach me O Lord, to serve You as You deserve;
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to toil and not to seek for rest,
to labour and not to ask for any reward
save that of knowing that I do Your Will.

Although you have had little feedback, you have faithfully supported these needy children, in whatever way you have been able. Some of you have had to say 'good-bye' to children you have supported. Some have wept tears of sadness. Some can say 'good-bye' with gratitude and satisfaction as boys leave to do a mechanics apprenticeship, and some have continued to support another child.
This is giving and not counting the cost. Thank you, and may God bless you for your tender hearts and commitment. Your prayers and support are more than worthwhile!

I have just returned from India and my heart is full. Horst and his 9 yr old daughter, Hannah, were with me. They are praying about whether to go and serve as a family.
We were impressed by Raja and Ebba's diligence and by how well the children are developing. At the same time we were sorry about the living conditions. The children used to be in two separate houses, one a 10 minute walk away.
Raja, in time, was able to rent three houses next door to each other and move the children. They were then together and could separate boys and girls. He had a house for his own family and guests. The problem - Two houseowners complained that the children were ruining the houses and ordered them out.
Consequently, 60 children are now living in one small house, with two toilets and one shower. This house owner is more lenient and has built two more stories.
The boys are however upstairs under a makshift roof - rather hot at night. The sanitation is overlaoded and Raja had fixed an overflow pipe which rerouted the sewage onto the field behind the house. The stench was unbearable and children were beginning to get infections.
We asked him to have the sewage buried.
Horst gave him money towards the enlargement of the underground tank. This should sort out the problem for a time. Another issue is that boys and girls need to be separated. Raja has searched in vein for larger houses but no one wants children.
He must build.
The good news - Despite land prices rocketing ( we looked at several plots all out of our range) the Indian government has returned the 2 acres land at the original price, which they had bought off us in order to build a canal. The canal did not go through the land as anticipated, but behind it. A huge pile of earth from the dig out, heaped across one corner of the land can be removed at a price. The government will allow Raja to use the strip of land along the canal for planting vegetables, until further notice. The 2 acres are enough to build the children's home, a guest house, the 'John Mac Farlane Memorial School' and a church. An Indian architekt has drawn up simple plans and has suggested buying the small piece of adjoining land as a playground for the children.
This is all progress! Now patience is required once again, as we pray and seek the Lord for funding. Bob Hatton, our new Indian Team leader, is attending seminars in order to be able to apply for German government funding! This is a long and tedious process.
Raja is champing at the bit because the situation with the sanitation and the 'too little space' will not improve til he moves. He is not allowed to build before permission is given, but has errected a protective fence, two sturdy gates and a small hut for a watchman to keep squatters at bay. Next the long awaited well will be dug and electric cables laid. Then we must wait! This is the lesson God has been teaching me over the last 4 years. It's not easy, but those who do wait on the Lord will rise up as Eagles... Hallelujah!
Please join us in praying that this will all happen faster than estimated. Several boys have left to train as mechanics and girls have left for various reasons. Relatives move and wish to take the children with them. Two children have been adopted by relatives. One teenage girl had to leave in order to look after her parents buffalo. Please pray that Raja will be given official permission to keep the children until they leave school. Until then, he cannot override the wishes of family and relatives. It is tradition in the villages to intermarry. Our hope is that these children will finish school and be able to train on site. The longer the children are in Raja's care, the more likely it will be for them to enter Christian marriages. Already some girls are hoping to marry pastors. Please pray for this too. When children leave, their places are filled immediately.
The need is great.
We witnessed Mothers bringing their children to Raja asking him to take them in. They are unable to cope. One elderly widow begged Raja to take her in. She had lost not only her husband but all her children. She was lonely, and saw no way forward. She turned from Raja to Horst and cried pitifully on his shoulder as he held her frail frame in his strong arms. Compassion takes over and one can understand Raja's heart.
It is easy for us to criticise the unconventional, even chaotic way of going about things, but for Indians it is nothing out of the ordinary. They are grateful to have food, a roof over their heads and to be given hope and a future. Raja longs to be able to help more families but his hands are tied.
Please bear with us as we venture forward, often not knowing how best to help. Our team is small and we contend not only with lack of funds but also lack of knowledge about this extremely different culture. It is a daily struggle learning to communicate so that each party understands the other. Both sides have made mistakes leading to frayed nerves and tension but with prayer and by the power of the Holy Spirit, guiding and teaching us, we have made steps in the right direction. We still have a long way to go and so please know how thankful we are for each one of you who have taken an interest.
We need you! Don't hesitate to call or email us if you wish for more information. We will do our best to answer your questions.

Carri Mac Farlane (for the Nehemia India Team)

Link to photos of India

Nepal - India - Sri Lanka

I was away for six weeks in all. This was quite a long time. The time past for me very fast and I seemed nearly always to be busy.
The first two weeks I spent in Nepal and I have written quite a long report of my time in the mountains down below.
From there I went back to Kathmandu, the captial.
I was to stay in a hotel which was on the other side of the city from where we had to go to pick up my luggage. That shouldn't be a problem.
But it was. Some people group were protesting because they thought they would not be properly represented in the political talks that are going on. Therefore they closed the border with India. That's were the fuel enters the country.
We couldn't find a taxi to take us because of the shortage of petrol. In the end we offered to pay a taxi driver double and he was willing to take us.
So the second round of seminars started.
Just as in the village the people are hungry and open to God's word in Kathmandu. It was thrilling to see about 150 people gather and listen to my preaching and teaching.
As we have now experienced many times God baptised them in the Spirit.
That was very encouraging for me.
The two day seminar with the Eternal Life Church went by very quickly. I preached on Saturday (the day when the churches have their regular gatherings) in a small church outside of Kathmandu. The church met in a home that had been converted into a meeting place. There was no sign for the church and we had to walk quite away after getting of the motor bike (I haven't been on a motor bike for ages!). This just reminds us that Nepal is by now means an Christian country and sometimes the Christians are treated with hostility.
Sunday was a free day. I used that day to do some more preparation for my teaching in Sri Lanka.
My friend Satya came to see me on Monday and introduced his wife to me. Satya had travelled with me the last time I was in Nepal. He is a good friend. He had been a fervourent anti-charismatic until Jesus baptised him in the Spirit. Now he is an ardent charismatic! Because he has a job, he couldn't come with us this time.
We spent the morning together and then they accompanied me to the airport.
I was so encouraged by seeing them.
They encourged me to write down the teaching so that they could translate it into Nepali and circulate it around the country. I really should do that.

Links

Have a look at my photos from Nepal:

http://bobhatton.typepad.com/photos/trip_to_nepal_2007/2007_nepal_indien_sri_lanka_209.html

Links

Here's a link to some photos of the Children's Home in Sri Lanka

http://bobhatton.typepad.com/photos/sri_lanka_daniels_childre/

Nepal 2007

Jiri, Thursday, 15.03.07
I left home at 6.30am on Tuesday morning. At the airport I had lots of time before my plane left. The flight was uneventful. I arrived in Qatar on time and had an eight hour wait for my next aeroplane.
That time past, even if it was so very slowly. It was 11am on Wednesday, when I had finally got my luggage and left the airport.
Beki was waiting to pick me up.
We spent the day visiting a few places and people.
I stayed the night in the Marco Polo Guest House, which is alright, although it was quite noisy.

We left this morning at 6.30am to get a bus that left at 7.30. Beki introduced me to his friend, who, he informed me, was going to be with us. As the time came for us to leave came - we couldn’t find Beki´s friend anywhere. He had disappeared! We had to leave without him.
The journey was long and tiring and we did suffer a number of delays. But we did drive through some roads, where the scenery was no less than spectacular. The valleys and gorges were very steep. At one point we could see the majestic Himalayas, with there majestic snow-clad peaks.
In one small town, they told me that we were less than 2 1/2 hours from the Tibetan border. However, we turned off the main road to travel in direction of Mt Everest. We encountered snow on the road and I must admit I had a funny feeling seeing the very steep drop at one side of the road.
We arrived safely though, in the small town of Jiri.
Jiri is located in a valley and had used to have been the starting point for the Everest expeditions. Mt Everest base camp only being 14 days walking away.
Since the Maoist insurgency, tourists had stopped coming there. Jiri was controlled by Maoists, however now the place was safe.
We spent the night in a travellers´ lodge. The advert declaring there to be a hot shower waiting for the guests, turned out to be a myth. There was though, a clean western toilet, which is always a joy to me.
As the sun went down, it got cold. Although my room was also the place where the blankets were kept, still with three thick blankets, I froze! It took quite a while for me to get warm and I slept with my cap on.

Friday, 16.03.2007
We had a very good breakfast. I took porridge and vegetable soup with noodles. Both were hot and helped to warm me up after the cold night.
We took a bus at 7.30 hrs to take to the top of the hill. I guess saved us an hour’s waking.
We arrived in a village and were told that we would get lunch before we could proceed.
I would have rather liked to have started to get it behind us.
We started at 11.25am with the very steep descent. I did wonder how we were - how I was going to get back up that hill. The descent took about 45 minutes. On the way down, we had a wonderful view of the valleys and hills, with there terraces. I took a lot of photos, but am sure they will be a disappointment after seeing the real thing.
At the bottom of our fist hill, we crossed over a bridge and went through a village. I was attacked here by a horde of geese. They snapped at me and bit me a couple of times. Although I laughed, it did hurt quite a bit!
Our hard work was well rewarded in with the beautiful scenery and the friendly greetings of the villagers, whose villages we past through.
I had got in mind that we needed seven hours to get to our destination. However it took us five. We arrived at 4.30 pm at our destination. We had taken a hours´ rest too. I was so glad to have arrived. The last kilometre or more had really taken me to the brink of my strength.
Within minutes of us arriving and being served with tea, the porters arrived too one after another. They hadn’t left until 2pm! Some of them carried 40kg rice.
We have a nice clean room, with a wonderful view. I can’t describe how magnificent and picturesque it is. During the daytime we were very warm. I guess the temperatures were in the 20´s. My vest, t-shirt, shirt and even pullover were wet though with my sweat. They haven’t dried either although I needed my pullover tomorrow.
Its night as I write this and the temperatures have plummeted. I am using a very thin sleeping bag, which guarantees to keep you warm by-30*. I guess its about 0 and the sleeping bag is doing a good job.

Saturday, 17.03.2007
During the night, I got used to the hard bed. I wasn’t cold either. The view is once more magnificent. The sun is shining, but there’s a cold wind blowing.
Church starts at about 10am, its closer to 10.30 though. They tell me that some have walked around 3 hours to be here. Considering that the ground is not level here, that is remarkable.
Church goes on for about 3 hours. I preached about the 10 lepers in Lk 17. We had communion with coke. That was a first-timer.
Just before lunch, I found a vantage point in the village from where I could see some snow-capped mountains. After lunch, I went back to take a photo, but evening mist had already started coming down and it wasn’t possible to see anything.
In the afternoon, I met with the pastor and others members of the leadership. He told me the story of his church. It started in 1996. The church has grown to about 500 members, but they have also planted 13 other churches, with a membership of 1500.There are many needs here. The Maoist insurgency was especially bad here many were kidnapped and killed. There are many widows and orphans to be looked after.

Sunday, 18th March 2007
It doesn’t feel like Sunday!
We got t
E schedule at about 6, 40 this morning - I was still in bed - apparently, the programme started at 7am!
As I hurried over to the public wash place, I was once more overwhelmed by the beauty of the valley. It is majestic, huge, and so beautiful - but the people are so poor. Everything has to be carried to the place.
Tithe start at 7am - well is 7.20 by the time I am ready, is a welcome session. Towards the end of the session, I am greeted and get a rosette pinned on by pullover, declaring that I am the CHEEPA Guest!
By this time about 60 people are present for the leaders´ and pastors´ conference. Beki and I unveil the well used banner, declaring the conference open and then its time for breakfast and after the first point on the agenda, we are already 45 minutes behind schedule!
My session started only 15 minutes late, so we made up time.
I speak about "Who we are" Who we were" and where we are going.
I try to explain to them the concept of our SHAPE
S - Spiritual gifts
H - Heart (passion)
A - Ability
P - Personality
E - Experience
During the lunch break I have the opportunity of speaking to two senior pastors.
They tell me how they became Christians. It was a very moving story. Ps Gan told me that he was really in slavery in Hinduism. They had many wild feasts at the place where the church now stands. Being a Hindu didn’t bring him any peace though. Many times he thought about committing suicide. In Kathmandu, he was given a tract. This pointed him to Jesus. He did become a Christian and started a small fellowship at his home. After they killed a cow, he was arrested and charged with this "crime". However the charge wouldn’t stick, so they decided to charge him with changing his religion, which was illegal in the Hindu Kingdom of Nepal. He spent 11 months in jail before he was finally released. Now his small fellowship has 500 members and they have planted 13 other churches.
Ps Lok had also a very moving testimony. The thing that sticks out in my mind is that he started a church and they locked him and the other believers in the church for 3 days without food or water. They finally let them out, giving the pastor a beating and throwing him in a river.
That didn’t deter him. He is now responsible of more than 100 (newly planted) churches.
In the afternoon session, I had planned just to say a few words about being a son of God, but went on to speak about rejection. I then taught about the baptism in the spirit. The people were very open and we had a good time of ministry at the end of the session.

Tuesday, 20th March 2007
The seminar yesterday went well. People were filled with the Spirit and there was a general sense of encouragement.
Besides talking about the baptism in the spirit - which they all seemed to understand - I spoke about the need of having fathers and mothers in the church.
I finished off with a word about stirring up the gift of God that is within you.
At the moment I am writing this, we are preparing to leave (walking). However it seems we won’t be leaving for another couple of hours, as they want to give us something substantial to eat for the journey.

We left at 10.30am and were back at our night accommodation at 2.30pm. I did it in just under 4 hours!
The views were magnificent on the way. As we proceeded down the first mountain, my legs were very shaky, but as we continued, they got used to the hard work. We went up and down. Coming back there seemed to be much more up than down!
Actually, I am sure it was doing me good. After resting a little while at our destination, my legs would hardly move, so I went to have a lie down. After that, I went to wash my feet! That was something I hadn’t been able to do for the past four days.