[img_assist|nid=311815|title=UTC Seminar Group|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=300|height=217]The second seminar of this trip finished this afternoon. Another wonderful three days: each session was started with singing and prayer, there was good dialogue about what we were working on, and for the most part (the exception was late Tuesday afternoon - it was quite hot in the room, the fans created a peaceful, droning sound - to go with the droning of my voice...zzzzz...heck, it was hard for me to concentrate!), the pastors and leaders were very engaged. When the seminar was over, many stayed to ask questions, to offer thanks, and to share about their own settings. They asked about Bethlehem, and I just "happened" to have some photos to share with them! I also shared my email address. I have found that the dialogue continues when I come home: there are questions; I am able to coach, and to learn from the questions asked.
Both seminars were quite successful. The TAFTEE folks are already thinking about the next round (please, let me catch my breath!) from Punjab in the north to Uti (another hill station in Tamil Nadu) in the south, and Andhra Pradesh in the middle, they are planning for next year!
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[img_assist|nid=311816|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=200|height=150]After the seminar ended, I visited Evangeline Anderson-Rajkumar, about whom I wrote last time. She, her husband (an IELC pastor), daughter Davina and I drove about forty-five minutes to the Gershom Lutheran Church, located in the Gershom tenements - or should I say slums. The pastor of this mission congregation is a remarkable young man named Devamaher, who rented a one room apartment, put a huge awning on the outside and opened a church. They were in the midst of Vacation Bible School- fifty children were waiting for us when we arrived. Because we arrived with a huge thunderstorm, another 50 had already returned home. Thunderstorms turn the dirt roads in slums into a gooey mud. The children were amazing: eager, friendly and curious. They sang for us, and shared their memorized Bible verse in the local language, Kanata. They also presented me with a gift: a small brass lamp. It brought tears to my eyes. These people with so little are so generous. I shall treasure this lamp always!
[img_assist|nid=311814|title=Evangeline and Devamaher|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=200|height=150]I had a good, but short conversation with Deva- he is worried about the congregation: because of the Arcot Lutheran Church policy of rotating pastors, he is likely to soon leave. Who will take over in this very, very difficult congregation- a congregation with no building, and no money? It is not impossible that this congregation- and all the good work it is doing in this slum with the poorest of the poor- will fade away. That would be a sad, sad day for the people of Gershom.
So I invite your prayers for Gershom, for the slum pastors I was privileged to teach and learn from these last three days, and for the good folks at TAFTEE, who make learning for these pastors available at prices they can afford. I depart from Bangalore tomorrow evening to Mumbai, and hope to be home on Friday. I'll see you in church on Sunday. I am grateful beyond words for your support for these trips. It is a privilege to share in ministry with you- and to be able to share what we have learned with pastors, leaders and congregations a half of world away!
Blessings to you all! Chris