I took Sheba to have two teeth pulled today. On the way too and fro we passed places where the Thane Municipal Corporation have cleared illegal buildings.
We had seen them at work a couple of weeks before. Police men on guard. Big yellow JCB machines were knocking down walls. People were scrambling to pick up metal bits.
So much of what is built is illegal. And yet to build something is almost impossible ... legally. And there are so many layers of corruption around everything that you really don't know where to begin.
Yesterday we found out that Sony, the lady who helps us out in the home with cleaning and making chappatis has had a terrible experience. Over the past few years, she and her husband have worked hard to save and borrow money to purchase a home of their own.
They were to get the possession of this home but for some reason the builder kept stalling.
Last week they found out that the whole housing complex has been demolished. It was all illegal in the first place. The builder duped them, lied to them and others that he had received the correct permissions. Their money is as good as gone. The builder says he will give money back - but only half of what they put in...
Last night we had a Bible study and looked at Zacheus. We talked about restorative repentence. We explored how followers of Christ have to be different in a world that is steeped in corruption.
One of the young men present shared at the end of the time. He said that his father had died leaving no clear title to the small 2 rooms in the slum they are living in. His mother died illiterate and blind when he was 14, leaving him in charge of his younger brother and sister.
Recently the municipality is saying they will widen the road and demolish all the homes there. They said that if they have clear title and evidence of tax payments that they will give alternative homes.
But this family does not. They have over the years tried to start paying the taxes, but have been refused, with the officials demanding money under the table. Last week he gave in and gave Rs. 20,000. He asked for prayer.
Meanwhile the breaking goes on.
Our hearts are broken with the horrible apparently no-win situation that engulfs so many. Rules that are meant to protect end up breaking people. And being broken at will.
May our Lord heal us and give us true hope to move forward in this rubble of a society we are in.
In the mean time, we cry for the breaking that continues on...
We had seen them at work a couple of weeks before. Police men on guard. Big yellow JCB machines were knocking down walls. People were scrambling to pick up metal bits.
So much of what is built is illegal. And yet to build something is almost impossible ... legally. And there are so many layers of corruption around everything that you really don't know where to begin.
Yesterday we found out that Sony, the lady who helps us out in the home with cleaning and making chappatis has had a terrible experience. Over the past few years, she and her husband have worked hard to save and borrow money to purchase a home of their own.
They were to get the possession of this home but for some reason the builder kept stalling.
Last week they found out that the whole housing complex has been demolished. It was all illegal in the first place. The builder duped them, lied to them and others that he had received the correct permissions. Their money is as good as gone. The builder says he will give money back - but only half of what they put in...
One of the young men present shared at the end of the time. He said that his father had died leaving no clear title to the small 2 rooms in the slum they are living in. His mother died illiterate and blind when he was 14, leaving him in charge of his younger brother and sister.
Recently the municipality is saying they will widen the road and demolish all the homes there. They said that if they have clear title and evidence of tax payments that they will give alternative homes.
But this family does not. They have over the years tried to start paying the taxes, but have been refused, with the officials demanding money under the table. Last week he gave in and gave Rs. 20,000. He asked for prayer.
Meanwhile the breaking goes on.
Our hearts are broken with the horrible apparently no-win situation that engulfs so many. Rules that are meant to protect end up breaking people. And being broken at will.
May our Lord heal us and give us true hope to move forward in this rubble of a society we are in.
In the mean time, we cry for the breaking that continues on...
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