YAA Festival - Prayers needed!

Our countdown at the JSK office says 19 days - Dec. 1st is just around the corner. YAA Festival is almost here!

The stakes are high. We hope and prayer this Festival on World AIDS Day 2007 will be a real time of challenge and decision for young people - to really open up minds about what can be done and how it is possible to live a life of purity in a sex-satiated world.

Please pray that the right publicity will go to the right people and that we all the myriad things that need to be done between now and Dec. 1st will get done!

We have finally updated the Youth Against AIDS site - you can see it by clicking: here

Ten Lions

What do you call the first 10 Sikhs on top of mount Everest? Ten-Singh!

That was one of the dreadful jokes that came out this morning as we had a visit by Tenzing - the cousin of our very dear friend Dr. Cherring from Sikkim (see: A hospital far, far away).

Tenzing has been travelling the country - for the past 9 months - on his trusty Enfield. After leaving his IAS posting in Kerala, he has hit the road in his Kerala-registered steed and is writing a book about journey.

The journey so far has taken him up and down our dear country - including a visit to his cousin Cherring at Nav Jivan Hospital - and this morning we were included in the itenary.

A brief breakfast - time for a few songs sung by Asha and Enoch - then over to the centre for morning prayers - a summary of our work on powerpoint - and then it was off for Tenzing. He mounted his iron horse, and rode it up the Godhbandar road towards the Mumbai-Gujarat highway towards Ahmedabad.

Riding sounds romantic. But 10-12 hours every day? Tenzing confessed that the first 2 weeks were excruciating for his posterior - but that things worked out better then. All the same - this is his last month - then off to Nepal for quiet and writing for the next 4.

Fare well traveller! May you have the strength and courage of 10 lions!

Spare a thought for Pakistan

Something dramatic is taking place in Pakistan.

No, I am not talking about the latest emergency / dictatorship / martial law.

That is old hat - or should it be old military topee?

What is different was pointed out in the Indian Express article 2 days ago.

Pakistani army forces on the Indo-Pak border are at an all time low. Not because peace has broken out - but because Pakistan is now fighting an all out war on its north western frontier. And inside its own territory.

There seems to be an all-out civil war in Swat - a beautiful mountainous region of Pakistan - where Taliban-like forces seem to have dug in. The difference between the Talibs and the locals seem to be virtually none at this point. The dogs of war have returned with a vengance. Years of rhetoric (and support) of jehadi activities in Afghanistan and Kashmir seems to be pushing a fragile state to its limits.

There is no joy in my writing these things. As we look across the border, it is with sadness that we see the inevitable taking place. The good book says that those who live by the sword will die by it.

Though we have our own insurgencies of various scales, India seems to be on the ascendant, while the rump state of what was to be the land of the pure looks increasingly precarious. A state cannot be based on a relgious identity - which is the raison d'etre of the birth of modern Pakistan (the two winged bird without a body is what Rushdie called it once). More so when the Bengali Muslims defected and formed their own country of Bangladesh.

Our prayers need to be directed to see that this radical shift towards a total breakup of our fragile neighbour will be averted. We need a solid, freedom-loving and open neighbour. We do not want one where the car bombs go off everyday. Someone has said that after Iraq the most people killed to terrorism are from India. I don't know the truth of it, but we see a vast belt of discontent of the most violent sort spreading out from Iraq and Afghanistan. Pray hard that this will be rolled back - and that our dear friends between here and Jerusalem will live in true Shalom.

100 Years

100 years is a long time.

In 1907 - Christian Eicher and others from the Christian and Missionary Alliance started a training institute to prepare Marathi-speaking village evangelists to reach out to their communities. The location was Bodwad, a small village out side of Bhusaval, Maharasthra - near the main railway line that runs between Mumbai and Kolkotta.

Today, the Maharashtra Bible College celebrates its centenary. Among those present is Christian's grandson Ray who will be sharing about God's faithfulness and his heart of love and compassion which seeks to reach out to this broken world.

This morning at Jeevan Sahara we were blessed with guests - the support group for Dr. Adam's from the Queen's Park Baptist Church. As we introduced ourselves and shared how God had brought us here, Lata Pote, one of the JSK staff shared her story. After making a decision to follow the Lord Jesus, Lata was sent to the Maharashtra Bible College for training.

Today she is ministering to people with HIV with a deep passion and joy.

For Christian Eicher's great-grandson - it was a great joy to know that the small institution he was instrumental in starting 100 years ago - still continues to bless many. Even people with HIV/AIDS in urban Thane.

100 years may not be so long a time after all.

An urban hike

We started with a birthday party. We ended with a time of silence.
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Today our young people celebrated the successful completion of their Youth Against AIDS Club (lead by Santhosh, Ryan and Joshua) - and the completion of the exams, with a picnic and hike.
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A happy group of 17 trooped into the Borivali National Park - whose Manpada gate is a stone's throw away from our house - just after noon.
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The generosity of sundry mothers was immediately experienced as we tore into a sumptious (and very carnivorous) lunch.
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The setting was the beautiful little arbour next to the Nature Interpretation centre. We had it all to ourselves on a hot but lovely afternoon.
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Yash and Shashank, the two members of the YAA club along with Joash (seen right) fit right into to the rest of the crew.
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After rousing song for Sanjeev's birthday - a cake was cut and bubbly shared (the orange and black coloured stuff - peddled by the Pepsi co.).
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Then some games and a time of praise and sharing. The sun filtered through the overhanging branches as we took stock of what God had done through the YAA club. It was exciting to hear the lads talk about how valuable it was for them to learn about relationship and sexuality and God's purposes for them. What made it even better was to hear the plans to further the clubs in different parts of the city next year. The training of trainers concept had hit home.

As the heat wound down a bit, it was time to head up.
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We took to the trail walking through the drying grasses that the monsoon had left the hillside covered with.
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Asha and Enoch did an excellent job on the trail. We passed the spot where we as a family had reached 3 years ago when Asha was 3 and Enoch was 1. It helps when little feet move on their own and we do not have to carry them the whole time!
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After a stop or two for water along the way we were in sight of the ridge.
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Finally we got to the top.
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From the ridge Thane spread out in front of us.
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The ribbon of water in the distance being the creek which empties into the sea.
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The Happy Valley housing complex - where we Eichers live -can be seen in the middle of the picture.
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A series of new sky-scraping residential houses continues to shape the city. All around them are the low-raising squalid slums that house all those who do not have the almost obscene amounts needed to live in 'standard housing.'
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But from here it all looked tranquil.
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And it was.
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The sheer beauty of creation.
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The wind blowing through the grasses.
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The view of the other side - green hills.
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A sunbird froliking in the sky.
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God's good creation reminding us of His beauty.
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We spent 15 mins in silence.
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Alone.
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A short de-brief later: people shared how God had spoken to them.
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We headed down refreshed.

Prayers of illiterate saints

WH Auden has a poem in which a line goes something like this:

...and maculate cities are spared by the prayers of illiterate saints.

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I can't find the actual poem for love or money (I think it was called Plans for Departure) but that line has stayed with me.

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This week we saw it in action.

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We have a young lady called Neharika (name changed of course). She is HIV positive. Her man left her when she was very sick. Her aged, one-eyed mother looked after her as best she could. They are garbage pickers. Neharika had an infant daughter who was only drinking watered down milk months after she should have been eating solid foods. The little shrivelled girl was behind in all milestones. She mirrorred her little shrivelled mother Neharika who had been left to die.

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But this is not about Neharika. Her story will have to wait another time.

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This is about her mother. The simple, at times crude lady. Who loves her daughter Neharika so much. And who now loves the Lord Jesus.

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Last week the mother called up. Thinking it was about Neharika being sick Sheba asked her what the mother wanted. The mother only asked about how we were doing. How is everyone at JSK? How are the children? Are we all fine.

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Finally it came out. She had had a dream about Sheba the night before. She wanted to know if we were safe.

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She prays for us all every day. Every single day we have the privilege of being prayed for by this illiterate saint.

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Priceless.

30 Days till YAA Fest 07

The countdown continues.

We have 30 days left before the YAA Fest 07.

A lot has happened - we have a great theme: Lead the Change!

We have clarity on the main idea: to see young people take leadership in showing what it means to have a passion for purity - to live out their lives against so many of the flows around them - and to make a bold and confident stand for that which is good and right!

We have our main speaker - Indrajit Sunderam - poet, song-writer, pastoral care-giver, teacher, activist - a Bombay boy yet serving with an urban church in Delhi... a man passionate for living out Jesus in the here and now.

We have a band: CommonUnion

We have a great location: St. John the Baptist School - down in the heart of Thane.

We have lots and lots and lots of work to do!

Thanks for praying - all extra hands, feet, eyes, etc. very much appreciated - contact us immediately if you can help out in any way!