What People Are Saying

Nine Days on the Other Side

By David Janzen

David, from Reba Place in Evanston, Illinois, which is the primary U.S. support channel for the Matilda Education Society in India (Das and Doris’ ministry), visited Das and Doris for nine days in November 2007. Here are excerpts from his journal.

BackgroundMy wife, Joanne, and I have known Das and Doris since 1975 when they landed with their three-year-old daughter Esther, in Newton, Kansas…. Das and Doris had escaped Vietnam in the last days of the war, accompanying a plane-load of orphans. They served there with the Mennonite Central Committee. Our friendship blossomed in shared values of community, peacemaking and discipleship of the radical Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. They moved to Winnipeg where Das studied at the Canadian Mennonite Bible College. Das had further training at the Overseas Ministry Study Center at Yale Divinity School. From there Das and Doris returned to pastor an urban Mennonite Brethren congregation in Hyderabad, India. We kept in touch with each other by Christmas letters and occasional gifts.

In 1990 we were surprised to meet again at the Mennonite World Conference in Winnipeg. There Das and Doris shared their vision of a return to Das’ roots, to the rural setting of untouchables and tribal people outside the Indian mainstream, where God was calling them to invest their lives in a holistic ministry under the Spirit’s leading. We became mission partners in this new work, sending their reports out to a circle of friends in the U.S. and forwarding funds to support their ministries. Over those years they have often invited us to visit and see what God has brought to life around them. This year I felt an urgent call to go. Joanne was not up to the trip, but blessed my going….

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10

Das, Doris, their son Nathan, and housekeeper Yellamma met me at the Hyderabad airport about 1:30 am. What a relief for this travel-weary, bath-needy, muscle-cramped seedy long white man to be met with hugs and a garland of welcome! After a few photos we were off down the highway, a two-hour drive to the home of Das, Doris and Nathan in Mallepally….

After breakfast and devotions… I ventured forth into the courtyard where a host of children and three teachers were gathered under the shade of a Mango tree. This is not a school day and many of the Bindu children are away with relatives. The children had written down the 23rd Psalm and were practicing it out loud, very loud, each one on their own track. I approached and all the attention turned to this guy from America that the kids had heard was coming to visit Big Sir (that’s Das) and Madam (Doris)…. Very quickly I ran through my repertoire of five tricks and wondered what to do next. Then the idea came to have them each write their signatures in my journal as I tried to pronounce their names. For this the teachers made them stand in a long line and one-by-one they signed in. It all felt very official. I know there were 59 of them because they are now all in the book.

A little later Das and I tested out the new scooter that someone from the Taiwan International Church had given to replace his 16-year-old clunker…. We took off together into the countryside…. The region reminds me of scrub-land around Phoenix, Arizona, semi-desert, good for a few grazing animals and firewood gathering, but not fit for agriculture unless there is irrigation from wells or in river-bottoms….

Mallepally is a town of a few thousand people 100 km southeast of Hyderabad. Das also oriented me to their legal landscape. The Matilda Educational Society (MES) is the registered not-for-profit corporation that covers two schools and a range of other ministries. Das and Doris’s apartment is on the Mallepally campus between the school (K-10th/ 700 children) and the Bindu Home (an orphanage/ hostel for 130 children). In Devarakonda at ten km distance, there is another school (K-8th/ 300 students). MES oversees, and there are a variety of other projects of economic development and church planting in the region. The no-profit entity is labeled “Matilda” after Doris’s maiden name.

Das gave me a tour of the Mallepally school building, constructed 2-3 years ago. Eighteen classrooms are in use  There is an open section for two guest rooms and a dormitory still to build out. Das hopes for a third floor on the Bindu Home so the children will have room for bunk beds rather than having to sleep on mats on the floor. …

Bindu Home

After snack Das and Doris ask me to join them on the school stage while all the Bindu children assembled and sat on the ground, one row for each age group. The children are singing songs Doris taught them – Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, A-B-C-D-E-F-G, Little Miss Muffet, etc. All the songs were sung or chanted with little discernable melody, but large and enthusiastic hand motions. After a while Das began calling up children to have them recite, sing or dance some piece for us. Finally I ventured to teach them the song “If I were a butterfly.” They followed with the hand-motions immediately and tried to learn the song from the repetitions. Das translated the song into Telegu with some explanation so they could get the ironies.

I see Das’ excellent memory for names and Doris’s warmth come out around these kids. Das tells me the stories how some of the children came to the Bindu Home. This one was slightly burned in a fire that killed her mother and badly burned her father. That one is very athletic despite having a wooden leg to compensate for a birth defect. Most of these children have come from some calamity which means they have no family, or their family can not care for them…..

A few at the Bindu Home are the children of local pastors who are offered an education the family could not otherwise afford. Here they are all secure with good meals, daily school, and loving dependable teachers and care givers. There are 127 children, Das said. About half of them are sponsored by the Taiwan International Church and the Schmidt Family Foundation BC , six by members of the Charleswood Mennonite Church in Winnipeg, seven by various individuals, . . . and we are looking for 20 more sponsors at US $25 a month.”

Conversation with Das and Doris about their Health, etc.

… (In the evening) Das and I had a good relaxed conversation, the kind I’d hoped we could enjoy by being a several days in the same place. He told about his health crises in the past two years. “I take medicine for blood pressure since a minor heart-attack a couple of years ago. Last May I had a stroke that caused me to fall and stumble. The long-term results are some numbness and a burning sensation in my left leg and lower body, but no paralysis. I get tired more quickly and seldom go to evening meetings now. Doris and I eat a mostly vegetarian diet which has helped me lose some weight. I should eat whole grain chapattis rather than polished white rice, but whole wheat flour is hard to find. To lose more weight I need to exercise, but I usually do not have time for that. In the past few days I have developed a severe cough – probably some allergies in the dusty air at this time of year. I need to see a doctor the next time we go to Hyderabad.”

I observe that Doris’s replaced knee is still stiff and painful. She goes up steps right foot first. She exercises every morning to extend her range of motion. She seems to go everywhere and do everything, only more slowly.

Sharing the Faith

Das talked about their freedom and their limits in sharing the content of Christian faith. “When we work in the schools and other social projects, we labor side-by-side with non-Christians and can come close to them. We share our faith and people are not so rigid about this. In school we are expected to teach ‘morals’ as a subject, and there we can tell about Jesus. Hindus have no problem learning about one more holy being, and Muslim’s have a place for Jesus in their beliefs. In our sewing centers we can read the Bible and teach simple songs.”

But Das feels the heart of his ministry these days is his relationship with 22 pastors in the area. Three receive full-time salaries from Matilda Educational Society and the others get smaller allowances, help with their children’s school fees, or bicycles that enable them to reach neighboring villages. Together they have made evangelistic visits to 100 villages in the past year and a half. The lead church in this network is the Shalom Ashram (Stone Cutters) Church in Anjaiah colony ,Devarakonda where Ratnam and his wife Shova make up the pastoral team. Two villages have permanent church buildings under construction where pastors Simonu and Adam lead. (Gajinagar Shalom Ashram )

“Now,” Das says,”I want to go into church planting more directly. Though there is some opposition, the [Congress Party] government right now is very open and supports freedom of religious practices. In this next year I hope we can build ten churches,” says Das. “These would be simple mud and thatch construction for which we do not need much outside funding. When there is a meeting house, people from other villages can attend. The Lord will provide.”

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 11

Das and Doris set out a fine breakfast which the three of us ate together – scrambled eggs with peppers and onions, coffee with lots of milk and sugar, my bran and prunes…. We read the Bible together, and a prayer by Doris included everything and everyone we had talked about. We are a spiritual family. I really like the simplicity of their apartment – functional but minimally furnished, by American standards. They have an old computer with dial-up connection to the phone line, but either the electricity or the internet server is down, so can’t tell if any of the messages I’ve sent home to say I’ve arrived, have actually arrived.

This morning Das and I rode out by motor scooter to visit a church under construction in Gajinagar, a little village 10 km away….. The pastor, Adam, was not at home but his mother welcomed us and showed us around. Das explained how a pastor must be in place serving a congregation faithfully for five years and then Das tries to gather the funds to build a permanent meeting place. This one is about 25×40 feet. It still needs trusses and a roof. The government gave the site which is large enough for a pastor’s house and a small informal school that is yet to come. The people already meet in the building despite its unfinished condition with sand floor and a pile of bricks in the corner.

The Stone Cutters’ Church

We motored back 5 km to Devarakonda to the Stone Cutters Church. Here is the story Das told of the congregation’s dramatic and life-transforming beginnings:

“These were untouchables and the men were stone cutters. The neighborhood had a terrible reputation. Their work was brutally hard. The men would work till the heat of the day and then take their earnings to a local bar and drink it all away. The women had nothing with which to feed the children and would prowl the streets as prostitutes to make a living. Violent quarrels often erupted. There were no government programs, social services, or other employment for the women.

“When my brother and I went there we saw boys ten or eleven years old with no clothes on in the daytime when other children would be at school. We asked why the children were not in school. They said, ‘Why should the children go to school to cut stones. We are better stone cutters than those who go to school.’

“So I went with a Christian teacher and hired a small room. The lady would collect some children – little ones. She would take a pail of water and wash them up, then teach the alphabet and little songs by repetition. When we asked the parents to provide slates and chalk they answered, ‘Why should we? It’s your school.’ So we bought some sand and spread it on the floor and scratched numbers and letters for the children to read. For one year we did that.

“Then some teenage girls came to watch. One day Nony Johnson, a 17-year-old Bruderhof volunteer went with us. These teenage girls were so curious to see a white woman. Nony taught them ‘Jesus loves me’ and other songs and drew animals on paper. The girls loved her. They asked if she could teach them to sew some shirts. Nony’s mother sent money to buy three sewing machines. The girls began to come for sewing lessons, some of them 14 years old and pregnant.

“Then the village people began to ask, why do you come? So we told them about Jesus’ love and we began a house fellowship in the same room. Perhaps 15 came. Our daughter Esther came along. After two years a church was born. Then local people began to come from beyond the stone cutters neighborhood. An old lady came and did all the action songs with so much vigor. She asked us, ‘Why don’t you get a bigger place?’ We were often 40 people in a little room. She offered us the land where the new church has been built. She also insisted on paying the registration costs. The site on top of a rocky hill is significant for the Christians because Hindus and Muslims also try to claim hilltops for mosques and temples.

“One day Harry Schmidt came to visit from Canada. He could not pass through the crowd of people in that small room to get to the front. He went away and began sending money for a little church on the rock. I talked to the stone cutters. They offered, after their day of work, instead of drinking, they would cut stones for the foundation. We asked the neighborhood to raise 10,000 rupees as seed money. The men said what they earned was only enough for drinking, no extra. But they volunteered hours to dig the foundation, cut stones, and a mason offered his services. I felt that God did not want a small church here but a large one. We laid out the walls about 40×60 feet. We wanted this to be a center for surrounding villages. The money Harry Schmidt sent was enough for the cement. The folks from the Taiwan International Church and Reba also contributed and we raised the walls to the roof.

“Then the BJP (Hindu nationalist party) came and told us to stop. ‘You are making too much noise. It is illegal to build a church on this site.’ The BJP youth threatened the people who came to church.

“I appointed Devapriyam as pastor. He was a former criminal, a thug who killed people for pay before he became a Mennonite Christian. His wife was a Christian and prayed for him for six years. One time he threw a crowbar that went through her side. But after his conversion he became a good pastor, but still reacted too strongly at times.

“Several times we appealed to the government for legal permission to proceed and were denied because the BJP kept threatening the officials. Finally a higher-up in the district government told us they had nothing against our work and we could finish the roof, so we did. Now, for the last 2½ years the Congress Party is in power and the climate is very favorable for minorities with respect for civil rights.

“The church attracts college students and people from the neighboring villages. The original stone cutter people stopped coming when BJP made their threats. Now a few are returning. Their children come to Sunday school. But the neighborhood has been transformed. Now children go to school. The women have employment in sewing and other work – no prostitution. The men are present to their families. The neighborhood used to be dangerous and no one dared pass through at night. Now one is welcomed.

“The new pastor, Ratman, was an independent who has two years of pastoral training. He has a big voice and leads singing well, is charismatic and prays for healing. He is weak in his understanding of peace in the gospel. The church has a reputation for giving. The offerings will include jewelry, rice, firewood, whatever people have.”

I was asked to speak at their Sunday service. With Das’s creative translation and the Holy Spirit’s guidance I was able to tell about the history of our relationship, about the Christian call to peacemaking, and I tried to honor the congregation in all that they have gone through and received from God in their struggle….

I was not prepared for the expectation people had that I, the visiting pastor, would pray for their healing needs. Mothers, children, all came close and asked me to lay hands on them and pray for them. I prayed as the Spirit led me. One very poor family came to me with a two-week old child who because of a hole in her heart needs an operation no one can afford. Lord, stand by them and give them courage for all they face.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12

… Not all the adults in this (MES-related) community are Christians, though there is a strong Christian expression that all join into in songs and prayers around mealtime and special occasions. Sharjeel, for example, is the business manager and a devout Muslim. He is Nathan’s right-hand man and like another son to Das and Doris in his loving service….

Das has frequent community with 22 pastors and their wives for whom he functions as a sort of bishop, providing modest stipends, regular visits, and occasional retreats. Das’s affiliation with these churches and pastors is not explicitly Mennonite, though he operates from an Anabaptist theology. Some of these pastors are Mennonite, but most of these groups are independent. Das teaches that it is normal for pastors to have their own “tent-making” jobs to support their families along with the little that the church provides….

Das spoke about how their schools and Bindu Home are islands of peace and cooperation between Hindus, Muslims and Christians. That is a witness to the society where Hindu and Muslims are mistrustful of each other, incidents can escalate quickly, and friendships are rare. Community built around doing the things Jesus taught can work between people of different backgrounds. “This is what India needs,” Das said.

An Inter-Faith Crisis at School

A crisis is brewing this morning. Just as the school day was to begin the headmistress and a teacher came to Das and Doris’ door to confer about an urgent matter. Word had just arrived from the radical Hindu student union that all schools in the state of Andhra Pradesh are to be closed today. Nathan has just arrived from his weekend in Hyderabad and is calling the Principal of the school in Devarakonda to put all the children back on the buses and send them home, but to keep the teachers for a meeting.

I continued talking with Nathan who explained that last week in a Catholic school nearby the principal asked a certain student to take off his Hindu tie and wear the school uniform like everyone else. A radical Hindu student group learned of the episode and invaded the school, beat up some teachers and ransacked the school central office. The next day the same group came here to the Matilda school and demanded that it close. One of the staff was knocked to the ground and kicked around until other teachers pulled him away.

There is no use calling the police at times like this because they have a Hindu majority and, according to Nathan, “are worse than the students.” The Hindu radicals pick on Catholics and other Christian groups. They leave Muslims alone because they will violently retaliate, Nathan explains.

Getting to Know Nathan

Nathan says he will use this “holiday” to give English instruction to his teachers, to improve their vocabulary and pronunciation. The Matilda schools cannot afford to pay top salaries, so they have to improve the teachers they can get by extra training. Then after three or four years the teachers move on to schools that can pay better. Matilda schools have a reputation for turning out good teachers.

Nathan describes his role as “Matilda Correspondent” which seems to me something like “superintendent,” overseer of the school principals who “are in charge of day -to-day academics,” he says, “But if they need any supplies or have decisions to make, they call on me. If a teacher needs to be replaced, or something comes up, like the forced holiday today, then I get involved. I also go around the school and check on things, listen to what the students tell me. I teach 10th year English. We just finished reading ‘The Hound of Baskervilles’ last week. I like that level. I don’t have patience with smaller children. I also visit our computer lab where children of each grade get some time each week practicing with computers.”

Nathan is also the administrator for the Bindu Home this year. All these roles he has taken over from his mother.

This morning, after Nathan and I talked, he introduced me to his teachers…. They have all completed at least three years of college.

Nathan arrived on the scene three years ago as the administrator for the Devarakonda and Mallepally schools and the Bindu Home….

 Nathan’s goal is to establish a solid reputation on tightened procedures and audited reports.

Nathan’s no-nonsense administration compliments the gifts of pastoral care and vision from his father and school leadership experience from his mother. He has good models and wants to learn from them. “I have no ambitions beyond this place. Longer term,” he says, “I hope to make the schools profitable enough to have some money left over to support pastors, to grow the church.”

With his B.S. in computers and fluent English he could have joined the Information Technology revolution in India, or gone to the West to make even more money. But here he feels he can make a difference in people’s lives by continuing what his parents have begun. He hopes to gather a team of folks from his own generation who can be trusted and who want to stay long-term.

“I admit the need for more wisdom and have many areas to grow in,” Nathan says. “I wish I had more training in accounting for what I am doing.” Nathan carries a lot of responsibility for someone only 26 years old.

Nathan said it is typical for Indian young men to get married at about 28 or 30 when they are established in their profession. In a couple of years he thinks he might be ready to marry someone if she shares his vision for this place.

Nathan spoke of the Bindu Home children with a soft heart. “These children have no fathers. I feel like I am their father – not the kind of father who plays with them, but I am the father who sees that they have what they need – rice, clothes, teachers, snacks, a place to sleep. They should not have to worry about these things.”

About ministries beyond the schools, Nathan added, “I used to think that growing the Bindu Home and taking on Tsunami relief projects are more than we should be trying to do. But once I see how people are helped and get to know them myself, my idea has changed. I won’t start these things, but if my father wants to do them, I will see that they get done right.”

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13

Visiting MES’s Tsunami Project on the Coast

Das and Ezra, a visitor from a Shanghai international church, decided yesterday to make a six-hour car trip to see the project of 20 houses under construction for Tsunami victims on the East Indian Ocean coast. The Shanghai church had given money for this project and Ezra wanted to look it over. Did I want to go along?

Since I was here and the opportunity presented itself, it seemed this might be an experience God wanted me to share in and tell about. Soon we were off in a rented car with a young driver on a 300 km run that promised to get us there by 1:30 am.

Our delegation includes the van driver, Ezra from Shanghai, Das, myself, and Sharjeel the Matilda Schools business manager whose role has been to advise the driver when Das is asleep…. (We drove to) Muthaipalem Bapatla on the East Indian Coast, where we visited a housing project for 20 families who lost their homes in the Tsunami….

This joint project between the Abundant Community Church of Shanghai and Matilda Education Society has built 20 houses – ten of them completed and ten still needing windows, plaster and other finishing touches. We saw all of them in a village about two miles from the coast. These were all fishermen families who had lived on the beach, but after surviving the Tsunami they did not want to rebuild where a wave could take them again.

They told us that when the Tsunami came it was daylight and the wave – while it was still far out at sea – was tall, loud and terrifying. People ran from it and most of them got away. Only 21 died in the region. But all their homes and belongings were destroyed. The first phase with the Schmidt family foundation of relief was clothes and utensils to cook and eat with. Then Das, with Mennonite Central Committee resources,  arranged to build 30 boats for the fishermen. Now they are building houses. Of the 20 families getting homes, four are Christian, the rest Hindu and Muslim.

While going around the village with our entourage, I was impressed by Das’ sensitivity and wisdom in so many areas. He remembers people’s names and greets them, recalling previous conversations – women and children as well as the men who have responsibility for the housing project. He asks if people want to pray and they eagerly respond, gathering in a circle. I notice him stepping out of his sandals for prayer, not for show but from habit. He keeps me in touch with translations and explanations. In his quiet patient way he keeps track of everything important, consults with people as he goes to get their advice. He took the contractor along so he could see the whole context, and then they discussed costs of doing things with this option or that. Even though they are about $9,500 short of the funds needed to complete the project, he tells the contractor to begin the last phase. The rest of the money will come. They plan a dedication of all the houses for early next year.

A Hindu Nationalist politician in black garb shadowed the group for a while and then made his speech, accusing the project of taking 50 applications and building only 20 houses. He is upset that the plaque at the entrance to the project does not mention him as a matter of protocol and respect. We hear him out. Das explains that M.E.S only has pledges for 20 houses and has never promised more than that. When these 20 are finished they can talk about others. Das… asks the people around if what he says is right, and they say it is. Then Das nods for Sharjeel to engage the man some more personally, which he does. Our group, including many village women and children, continued talking with the woman-owner of an almost-finished house. After a while the Hindu politician shakes Sharjeel’s hand, Das’s hand, my hand, gets on his motorcycle and rides away. We all relax a bit.

A part-time pastor named Matthew and his wife… are visiting the community regularly, and a small group of Christians has been meeting in a house fellowship.

Then the six hour ride back. . . the day was exhausting. When we got home about 10:00 pm, Doris had a supper ready for us. At the table she told Das that the Radical Hindu students group had come by this afternoon and announced that they want to have a meeting with all the students at 2:00 tomorrow afternoon. How to handle this is a very grave concern to Das. I pray wisdom and creativity for him in how to respond as a peacemaker and defender of the children.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14

Relating to Hindu Radicals

…My mind had been anxiously turning over what will happen today when the radical Hindu student group shows up. I wonder what kind of a future they envision for India and for Hinduism? Do they want all the Christians and their schools to go away? Or are they just interested in a revitalization of Hinduism, as some people say? What does it mean for Christians to love their enemy in these circumstances? I pray for Das, who is struggling with a… sore throat and other symptoms….

There has been a Hindu nationalist movement in India since colonial times which believes that the Hindu majority deserves to live in a Hindu state just like Pakistan which was created for Muslims and Israel for the Jews. The Congress Party of Gandhi, Nehru, Indira Gandhi, etc. has promoted the vision of a secular government that allows all religious groups to flourish in tolerance of each other.

Gandhi was assassinated by a radical Hindu nationalist who believed the leader for independence had failed the Hindu cause. For other Hindus the movement is not so much about asserting Hindu nationalism as expressing a revitalization of Hinduism for a modern context. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) representing Hindu aspirations has played second place to the Congress Party through most of Independent India’s history, but did come into power nationally from 1998 to 2004, and now is in second place again in the national government with the Congress Party in power for two more years.

Nevertheless the radical Hindu student groups have gained a lot of influence through militant organizing of Hindu youth, violence and threats of more violence. No authorities seem willing to confront them…. Today the Hindu student group is holding a rally in Mallepally. They have sent word that all school children must attend. Such communications are made most politely but threats of violence are implicitly understood. Das proposes that the Mallepally school will comply to the extent of taking the upper classes with a few teachers to the rally, and then talk about the experience together afterwards…..

The Devarakonda School

In the afternoon we visited the Devarakonda school…. Das took me to the rooftop of the Devarakonda school and showed me the terrible pasture-path of a road that comes from the city to their campus. Getting a bonafide road is an impossible political ordeal. Many petitions so far have gone nowhere. The lane is on land belonging to a Brahmin landlord who wants to fence it off and barricade the road, making it impossible for school buses to pass through….

The roads the buses have to take on the way to the children’s villages are car killers. I ask if they are setting aside money for eventual bus replacements. Nathan says they try to but they already have to spend it on bus repairs just to keep them running. There is no way to get ahead. If they had decent roads here a replacement fund would be possible, but these are the differences between first-world and third world country infrastructures – the extra costs of being poor.

I think of the need for Christians here in India to be involved in schools, clinics and other services that benefit everyone, not just Christians. Christians might argue, why not concentrate just on planting churches, pastor training, spiritual things. Wouldn’t that produce the greater return – rather than schools for mostly Muslim and Hindu children who learn to sing Christian choruses but almost never become Christians as adults. One answer in this context is that these visible social services are what it takes to gain permission, in a way, to live as Christians among a pagan majority. Many people here would like to kick the Christians out of India, except the Christians have better schools and that’s where you want to send your kids. So you don’t kick them out, at least not till your kids graduate. Furthermore, a great number of the politicians have been trained in Christian schools, so they also have a certain loyalty and gratitude despite their populist rhetoric for Hindu interests.

With the untouchables and tribal people in India there is much more interest in the Christian faith. With Jesus and his people many feel accepted and honored. The Hindu world view has not just demoted, but excluded them in a fundamental way. “If they showed up in a Hindu temple,” Das says, “they would be killed because people consider their presence defiling.”

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15

A Visit to the Farm

… Scenes from the morning visit to the farm: The approach road hit a big bump half a mile from the farm, so we had to walk the rest of the way. Das warned me about cobras, but we didn’t see any.

I am impressed by how much Das has invested there, both materially and of himself. There is a sweet lime orchard, a 30 ft. deep irrigation well, a system of underground pipes and drip irrigation, cocoanut trees, a flock of sheep, water buffaloes and oxen, etc. The rice grown here, now ready for harvest, feeds the Bindu Home children for about three months of the year. I also get a feeling of how deeply Das feels about the land – a different kind of investment. Though Das has not lived on the land, his older brother farmed it for him, and this made it home. Since his brother’s death undependable help has robbed some of Das’s joy in the place. But now, it seems, he has a farmer who looks after things in an interested and dependable way, and Das was happy to see the results. This farm is the source of much of the food and some milk for Bindu Home children.

The farmer took us around and showed us the land. I was especially impressed to see the 30 foot deep well, not a bore well, but a block of earth and rock excavated as big as an underground house. Das and his brother had worked for six months to dig it, with picks and dynamite, plus some occasional help from a back hoe. The well water would be enough to irrigate the whole ten acres, but there is only enough electricity available to irrigate about half of it. The rest grows vegetables in the monsoon season. We toured the rice paddies, golden ripe and ready for the harvesters coming the next day.

Memories of Das’ Childhood as an UntouchableDas relaxed after lunch at his brother’s wife’s house and told stories about growing up as a Dalit (untouchable) in the 1940’s. He remembers going out as a small boy, guiding his blind father for days of begging. People would give them food and they would sit under a tree where his father, a man known for gentleness, would share with him half- and-half and eat the food together. He felt no shame in begging while with his father, though the other children would taunt him for it.

I asked how Dalits were treated in those days. “It was expected,” Das said, “that Dalits were servants of everyone in the village on the other side of the road and there was no compensation for the service. They would sweep the streets and yards of houses, only never go past the threshold. They were never welcome at weddings or other public events where food was shared. Only at harvest time they would go to the rice fields and a portion of the harvest was dealt out to them to live on for the year. They were expected to take away all dead animals and bury the dead at funerals. They were considered “unclean” and not allowed to touch anyone of another caste. Others could own property, go to school or enter the trades, but not the untouchables.”

“One day as a child,” Das recalled, “I was walking down the lane on the untouchable side and ‘drawing’ with my finger along the side of the wall, walking forward, backward, forward, backward. Accidentally I backed into a big man who smacked me full force on the side of the head and knocked me to the ground. It hurt for several days. The man was outraged that a Dalit had carelessly touched him. There was nothing wrong, apparently, in the way the upper caste man touched me back. I never told the elders in our village about this incident because they would have blamed me for not being humble enough. In those days the caste system was deeply accepted by the upper as well as the lower caste people. This was the will of God.”

“Touched” by an Angel

But the most indelible incident in Das’ childhood was the time he took a short-cut through a little swamp and found himself sinking into quicksand. “Several persons came by and heard my call. They asked who I was and where I came from. When they discerned I was a Dalit, they walked on and left me in the swamp. Then there came a young well-dressed woman who heard my cry. She stopped, unrolled her sari and threw one end out to me so I could grab hold of it. Slowly she pulled me in. Then she asked me my name and where I was from. When she understood that I was a Dalit, she smiled broadly to me. I remember her shining teeth. She stooped down to rinse the mud out her sari, wrung it out, put it back on and walked away. When I got home my father asked who had helped me. I did not know. Though it was a small village, we never saw this woman before or again. I believe she was an angel sent by God.”

Das considered afterward that he could have lied to save his life, but he was not raised that way. Sometime after this incident, “When I had come to know Jesus, I decided to put my trust in the truth. I decided never, never, ever would I deny who I am and that I belong to Jesus.”

Church Service at Gajinagar

What a full day! … How shall I tell about the church service at the village of Gajinagar this evening with about 20 Dalits and a few tribal people worshipping together in a half-finished meeting house with no roof, open to the moon and the stars?

I will begin with a walking tour of the village that has two castes, Dalits and shepherds. Cows and sheep were coming home at dusk, as well as a few school children walking from Devarakonda, 5 km away. Then we waited by the village turnoff from the small highway. Night was falling…. (F)our drummers arrived and built a little fire of twigs to heat up (tune) their drums to a higher pitch. Das and I were regaled with festive turbans and garlands of flowers. Then with drums beating we proceeded in parade from the highway an eighth of a mile to the meeting house. The tribal women, each with a hundred bangles on each arm and sparking little mirrors glinting in their dresses, danced jubilantly with upraised hands, moving before Das and me. So we danced and made our way with singing to the meeting house. I think the idea was to make a spectacle that might attract non-Christians to see what was going on, but also to express their joy at visitors coming from afar and their unity in Jesus.

As we arrived in the meeting house, the pastor and a few other guys were hastily rigging up one light attached to a tall stick leaning against a corner. The pastor was tearing off insulation from wires with his teeth and twisting live wires together until the bulb shone brightly and the speaker system worked, sort of. We were not a big crowd, but it is important for the whole village to hear that something is going on at the meeting house. After a time of chorus singing with lots of clapping, I was asked to give a speech as Das translated. I told the story of friendship our family has been given with Das and Doris and why I had come to see the work God has given them to do among the people of Andhra Pradesh. I also talked about the call to peacemaking from a God whose love extends not just to us, or to people like us, or to people different from us, but even to our enemies. We are a people of peace with a mission of reconciliation.

I thought that would be it, but then three women came forward requesting me to pray for healing for them or their families, and while they knelt three others came, and then two more. So I prayed for them in English whatever the Spirit gave me to say, holding my hand on the head of each one in turn. I felt the power of their faith and trust in God, and in me as God’s servant. Then as we went out to the car, two more women asked me for prayer, and one more. Several of the women blessed me in return by bowing with hands held together (as we teach children to pray) till their hands touched the ground, or holding my hands as we walked, or taking my hands and kissing them. I did not expect to come this close to people with whom I share no language, but it is clear we share Jesus. …

 

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16

Another Conversation with Nathan

I had another fine conversation with Nathan. We got around to talking about his spiritual formation and his conversation with God. He said, “I pray most for God to give me the insight and wisdom to do a good job. I know God is real. I think of all the children here and how many cobra snakes we have found and killed, yet no child has been bitten so far. I think about the times when we were out of money and had to ask our creditors to wait, and then God has always come through. We have had enemies that tried to hurt us, but we are still here by God’s grace.”

I asked where he is getting pastored. He has wondered at times if he should have gone to seminary. His “seminary” has been all he has learned from his parents about the spiritual life and caring for others. He goes to Hyderabad on weekends to buy supplies for the school on Saturdays. On Sunday mornings he goes to an English language international church and a youth group. In the afternoon he wakes up his IT (Information Technology) friends who have been working at night (that’s when they talk to customers in America) to visit or see a movie together. Then he is back to Mallepally and the work that has piled up. He has so many responsibilities that there is no time for reading as he would like. One time he went on a youth group retreat but had to come back early because of work. May, the month of intense heat before the monsoon arrives, is the month of vacation when school is closed and children stay home. But May is Nathan’s busiest month – hiring teachers for the new term, getting books and supplies for the children, renewing the schools’ registration with the state, and making repairs. “I have no vacation.”

He said his health is good, but he has gained weight in the last few years and wishes he could exercise more. “I used to enjoy badminton and football [soccer] with the children, but there is so little time for all that now.

Nathan has an unusual level of responsibility for a 26-year-old as correspondent (administrator) of two schools with 1,300 students, and making sure other Matilda ministries are financially accountable. But he does not envy his schoolmates who are working in Hyderabad as service representatives for internet companies. The schools, Nathan explained, can almost pay their monthly operating expenses which run about 10% more than the school fees can cover. He hopes to grow the schools enough to break even or even to make a subsidy for the ministerial side of Matilda Educational society. But they depend entirely on outside donations for capital developments and improvements in the schools, and for the support of pastors and evangelists who are getting about $10-25 a month.

Nathan has to train the new teachers – sometimes they have not learned English properly and he does not want them passing on mistakes. Sometimes when teachers quit he has to fill in as substitute alongside his father and mother who cover when needed.

Books Needed for the Library – $1,000 Would Go a Long Way

What would be Nathan’s next project for the school? Apart from finishing the upper story of the Mallepally school, Nathan would like to get a functioning library in both locations. Both schools have a library room, but here at Mallepally there are no shelves, reading tables, or books except for a donated 1960’s Britannica and a few volumes…. “If people come and can bring books in their excess luggage, that is fine,” Nathan said. “But it does not make sense to ship books here from overseas. It is better to send money for the library because the books of general knowledge that we need can be purchased used here very cheaply. We can get a lot more for the money.” I’m wondering who would be willing to equip a school library or two in India for a thousand dollars.

WEEKEND, NOVEMBER 15-17

Saturday was a full and exhausting day in Hyderabad. There were five of us in the car: the hired driver, Doris (whom everyone calls Madame), not Das who stayed home to rest and recover from a severe cough, Sharjeel, another fellow on school staff who was to look after the computer business, and myself….

Our mission in the immense city of Hyderabad was to drop off three school lab computers for repairs, take me with my American cash and travelers checks to buy Rupees at the best rate – carefully researched and then bargained to a still better advantage by Sharjeel at my side – searching out some gifts at Lepakshi Handicrafts Emporium (a huge and famous Indian artisan and crafts store), Doris buying crayon and marker sets for each of the 130 Bindu children at one stationery wholesaler and ordering 130 custom printed “Bindu Home” drawing pads at another… picking up the repaired computers, and then going on the two-hour drive home.

One morning Das and I visited the farm one last time. The golden rice we saw two days ago had been scythed and lay in sheaves on the stubble, ready to thresh in a few days. When Das is on the farm he relaxes and recalls memories of his earlier life and what God has brought him through. I feel especially honored in going back with Das to his roots in the village of Angadipet and on the land that he and his brother have developed until his brother’s death three years ago. When we are here Das’ soul seems at rest. He wonders if he and Doris might not be happy retiring to a little cabin on the farm when all his duties are in the hands of others. Here he would get a roto-tiller and plow up the ground between his sweet-lime trees, live simply and receive only those visitors who cared to walk the mile from the highway and sit with him among his vegetables, sheep, fruit trees and rice paddies.

This would describe a full circle of life – beginnings in an obscure village among the untouchables with a blind father who could not support him, rescued from bonded labor by Helen Warkentin (a Mennonite Brethren mission worker from Winkler, Manitoba), a good missionary school education where he discovered his gift for learning, training as a medical lab technician, MCC service in Vietnam with Doris at his side, a few years of Bible training at Canadian Mennonite Bible College in Winnipeg, further training in the Overseas Ministry Study Center at Yale Divinity School. A gifted and internationally savy man with a beautiful and resourceful wife, they could have gone anywhere in the world in comfortable professional service.

However, Das and Doris felt called back to India where he pastored an urban Mennonite Brethren congregation in Hyderabad for eight years while their three children grew up. But a dream persisted that called him back to his people to develop holistic ministries demonstrating the new way of living that Jesus brings. These ministries of presence and creativity have borne good fruit in many transformed lives and institutions that show how Christians, tribal people, Hindu and Muslims, can thrive together in integrity and peace…. The biblical vision for fruitful old age is found in Joel 2 and in Acts 2 where God declares, “I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.”

The generations need each other to complete the dreams God gives them. I hope Das and Doris have many retreats on the farm in years to come, but I expect the dreams and visions to continue as long as God gives life.

Support for Pastors

Das asked one afternoon if I wanted to meet with four pastors who had come for their monthly stipend. Pastor Ratnam and his wife Shova, Adam, and pastor Ratnam’s father. He asked me to pray for them and I said what was given as Das translated. Das said the “Amen” when he thought the prayer was done. Or was it when he thought I’d prayed long enough? After the prayer and a photo moment, Ratnam’s father started preaching in an animated sing-song style and the others began to clap and respond in the rhythm of the Spirit. I felt like we were in an African-American Pentecostal church.

As pastors come through, Doris is the paymaster and writes the amounts in the ledger. It is good to see that Das is giving an example to the pastors in careful financial accountability. Later I asked Das where did these practices of careful financial accountability come from? He confessed that it is due mostly to Doris’ temperament and training. “She is accurate and detailed in how she works. She was trained first by working for MCC in Calcutta where she learned the skills of good record keeping. At first in our marriage she had the bigger salary. I turned over my income to her and she kept the family ledger. But when Esther was born, Doris had me keep records and she checked them. By temperament I am comfortable with round numbers and estimates, but Doris writes down everything and makes sure it comes out right. She keeps receipts and lets nothing slip by. Nathan is like Doris and keeps a tight grip on finances, making sure his work and that of others is double checked. Matilda Educational Society has an auditor who turns in quarterly reports to the government and annual reports to all who want them.”

During our times together we talked about many other things:

– Das’s hopes for the pastors he accompanies and supports;

– His desire for some Christian young people whom he can disciple and with whom he can share his passion for holistic Christian ministry;

– Hopes to add a two-year college, what in the U.S. (and Canada) would be 11th and 12th grades, which would leave the children genuinely employable or ready for professional training.

But the heart of our conversation was Das telling about the times when God has been most powerfully present in the work…. He told about a rich tribal woman with much land who said, “Your God must be very powerful.” Why, he asked her, did she come to such a conclusion. It was not because God gave her wealth or healed her or anything like that. Rather she said it was because she had heard the people gather to sing songs and give their testimonies. No one was forcing them, like politicians do. But with much sacrifice they travelled from far away and freely they spoke of their love for God and for each other. Only a strong god can move people like that….

While Das and I were waiting for Doris to give the supper call one evening, we went up on the roof to look at the moon and enjoy the cool evening. I asked about the hamlets whose lights we see on the horizon and listened to Das talk about the visits he has made and various Christian housing projects to show some sign of love to the tribal folks who, until a few years ago, were living in huts, beyond any government programs….

Sunday we worshipped in the Stonecutters Church on top of a hill on the edge of Devarakonda. I couldn’t understand the songs, but I could clap and sing in the spirit. Then pastor spoke for quite a while, apparently introducing me as folks in the audience kept looking back my way. Then Das motioned to me that we should go forward and I would preach. I used the outline of John Miller’s pamphlet The Way of Love to tell a little about Reba and about the call to be the kind of church that is focused on loving one another as Jesus has loved us. After the service I was gently mobbed by 20 women who wanted me to pray for them or for their babies. Even teenage boys came and requested a blessing. Finally Das came and pulled me away saying we needed to go….

We came home for a late Sunday lunch, rested a bit and moved my luggage into the car. A last minute surprise as I was climbing into the car was to have Wichenta and a dozen students all make a line beside me, holding up exquisite drawings they each had made with “Good bye David Janzen” somewhere on the page. I had to take a photo of them all and promise to send it back. My bucket of honor has been filled and overflowing all over the sand. I keep reminding myself that it is not about me but about all the friends of Das and Doris that I represent, and the body of Christ that partakes in the honor he alone is worthy of….

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19

I’m in the Hyderabad International Airport awaiting the Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt and then on to Berlin. Sitting here in international airspace I could be anywhere in the world, a modern-day globalized traveller’s limbo that is miles and civilizations away from the rest of my day. Where to begin?…

Right now the memory that is most fresh on my mind is a relaxing evening with Das and Doris in their cozy Hyderabad home where they go for a few days of retreat once or twice a month….

Where to From Here?

I’ve been given some wonderful gifts in the visit to India that are detailed in the pages above. Now that I’m home I’ve been trying to discern what may be the calling that comes with these gifts. What is an appropriate response of gratitude? Some responses are more obvious than others, and some may still be revealed. I’ll share what seems clear so far.

I want to:

– give a report of what I have witnessed and share it with all the friends of Das and Doris Maddimadugu that I can find here at Reba and across the U.S. What you have read above is a sample. Other conversations, pictures, stories, and reports may follow.

– continue in faithful prayer for Das, Doris, Nathan, and all their co-workers – now with a fuller understanding and sense of connection. Joanne and I have been doing this in a daily way for 17 years – mostly because of Joanne’s compassion and persistence.

– try to recruit one or two young people from Reba to go for at least six months as volunteers to live and work with Das and Doris in their ministries – perhaps as teachers in the schools or care givers in the Bindu Home. My hope is that others will be able carry a portion of the relationship between Reba and the Matilda Educational Society in its ongoing work, and that this responsibility can be shared with others over time. (The cost of flying a volunteer to India and back, and covering basic expenses would be only $3,000 for six months. Dollars go a long way in India.)

– raise money to equip with , chairs, books and other resources, two  library rooms in the Matilda schools in Mallepally and Devarakonda. I estimate that  $4,000  would provide a basic library for these schools. More, of course, would be greatly useful and welcome.

– Das and Doris hope to visit the U.S. and Canada one more time, possibly in May 2009. Of course we would love to host them for a few days and share them with all who want to hear about the surprising work God has done and is dong through them.

– I want to conduct a fuller correspondence with Das, Doris and Nathan in the future than I have in the past. Das asks for my impressions and suggestions. I want to pray about this and communicate faithfully whatever the Spirit might show me. Joanne and I treasure this amazing friendship even more after all the years since our lives first touched each other. We don’t know how to give thanks enough for such a gift.

I met Das and Doris in Taipei, Taiwan in 1998 when they came and spoke in our Church (Taipei International Church). I was impressed with the deep love in their hearts for their own people and the desire to give them a hope and a future. My husband went on our church’s first mission trip to India and VEDA ministries in 1999. He fell in love with the children at the Bindu Home and he has not been the same since. I have witnessed big and small miracles in our congregation and in VEDA Ministries since we stepped out and took the risk to get involved. God has bound our church together in partnership with VEDA to accomplish His purposes in the lives of the outcast of India.

I have had the honor of participating in both the 1999 and 2000 TIC Mission trips to India.  I have personally witnessed the result of the money donated to the work of Veda Ministries.  The first year we went, we stood and prayed on the bare foundation of what was to be the Medical Clinic.  The following year, due to the financial support of God’s faithful givers, we were able to be part of the hundreds of local people who dedicated the clinic to the Glory of God.

I have also witnessed and been blessed by the prayer support for the ministry and the mission teams who have gone.  God is indeed working in that region of Anhdra Pradesh, meeting both the physical and spiritual needs of those who have never heard of Jesus and His love for them.  Most of the pictures you see on this website were taken with me behind the camera.  Occasionally, I just had to put the camera down and give the little children of the Bindu Home a big hug and say a prayer for them.

I first got to know Das and Doris when Das attended Canadian Mennonite Bible College (CMBC) here in Winnipeg in the latter half of the 1970s.  They came to North America from Vietnam after the conclusion of the Vietnam war.  They had served there with Mennonite Central Committee.  I was pastor of the Charleswood Mennonite Church, Winnipeg, at the time, and this was the church they joined.  During their time here my wife, Jessie, and I had a lot of contact with them.

Following Das’s graduation from CMBC, they went to the Overseas Mission Study Center OMSC), which was located in New Jersey at the time.  Even though they would have been granted landed immigrant status in Canada if they had stayed, they decided that God was calling them to return to India.  We were impressed with their commitment and courage.  They worked with the Mennonite Brethren Church in India.  Das served as pastor of an English church in Hyderabad.

In 1990 Das and Doris came to Winnipeg to attend the12th Mennonite World Conference Assembly. He led one of the Bible study sessions at this conference.  We had a number of visits during their time here.  He talked about feeling called to move out of the pastoral ministry into a ministry of evangelism and community development in his home community.  We talked frankly about such matters as the need for a board of directors and careful auditing of the financial statements if potential donors were to have confidence in such a venture.

When I was the Asia Secretary for the General Conference’s Commission on Overseas Mission (1992-98) I visited them in Hyderabad and Devarkonda for several days.  During this visit I had the opportunity to see a number of their projects, such as the schools, Bindu Home, evening classes in villages, etc.  I also met with some of the pastors who attended the seminars which Das had arranged.

Realizing the importance of quality leadership training which is suited to the needs of the Deverakonda region, Das and Doris are constantly seeking ways to resource all of the Christian leaders, regardless of denomination, class or educational standard.  This is an admirable aspect of the VEDA Ministries.  My wife, Anna Ruth, and I have been involved in several of the leadership training events provided by VEDA.  We were impressed by their love for the Lord and for their eagerness to discover how they can be more effective in leading the flock of God.

Das and Doris do not only teach the principles of Christian leadership, they are examples of what they believe and what they teach.

I am convinced that one of the most important aspects of VEDA Ministries is leadership training.  Let us join with Das and Doris as they encourage, instruct and resource Christian leaders.