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