The Rock Barack River Trip

The Rock Barack River Trip was organized to recreate the a route that Watkin Roberts used to take back in the early 1900’s. He traveled the Barack River by boat and delivered rice and preached along the way.

Before I get into that, one huge highlight of the Centenary for me that I left out of the last post was when I got to represent Watkin Roberts during the carrying in of a page of the 1898 of the Gospel of John. That was the edition that Watkin Roberts first sent to the Hmar tribe. The grandson of the native missionary who accompanied Watkin Roberts, along with some other relatives, and I carried it to the front of the assembly hall and then handed it over to the grandson of the man who was the chief of Senvon at the time of Watkin Roberts. It was a neat experience.

After arriving at our campsite on Monday evening, we set up our tent and ate our dinner. The evening service was already in full swing by the time we got there.

Each day’s schedule was basically the same. The morning service was followed by the morning meal, and then we would load up the boats and head out. There was usually one scheduled stop during the day and then we would arrive at our destination.

Notice that I said one “scheduled” stop. I always knew that Dr. Ro and Mawii were well known and well respected in this region, but I had no idea that it was to this scale. In many of the little villages we passed, people would stand along the banks, just to be able to see Dr. Ro and Mawii pass. And some of the villages wanted them to stop. So we would stop and Dr. Ro would talk to the people from the boat. So besides the scheduled stop each day, there were also a few other stops. And they got a well deserved hero’s welcome at each stop.

On the second night, we camped out at a beautiful spot along the river, and one the third night we stayed at people’s houses in the village of Ankhasu. Our hosts there were awesome, and after two nights of sleeping in a tent along the river, a bed felt really good! On the fourth and final night of the trip, we had a big final service in Hmarkawlien.

Again, words don’t do justice to the experiences we had on the river trip. It was an amazing time with old friends and a great time of meeting new ones.

The next morning (Friday) we flew from Silchar to Imphal and then drove here to Churachandpur where we are now. Churachandpur is when most of the former India Children’s Choir children live and we have been having a great time hanging out with all of them.

Michael

The Gospel Centenary Celebration

Wow... where to begin???? I was planning to keep a journal of sorts during our trip to the hills, but there was so much happening there that I didn’t get it done. The experiences we had on this leg of our trip were incredible and I will try to describe some of them to you...

We left the city of Aizawl on the morning of January 20th and drove all day, then spent the night at in a little town called Sawkardai. Even though we were driving through some very mountainous terrain, the roads were not that bad. We stopped at one little village along the way where Merlin got to meet the child he sponsors.

The story with the roads the next day was totally different. They went from bad to worse and then to even worse. We probably average less than 20 miles per hour the entire day!

We finally arrived in Senvon around 4:00 that evening. Senvon is the place where the young Welsh missionary, Watkin Roberts, first preached to the Hmar people in 1910. At that time they were still fierce headhunters and one of the most feared people groups in that whole region. With the help of a missionary from Aizawl, Roberts travelled to Senvon to share the message of the Gospel with these people.

We were greeted in Senvon by quite a few familiar faces. The sleepy little remote village of 3,000 or so people had been transformed into a busy place with people coming from miles and miles around to be a part of the celebration.

The opening service of the Gospel Centenary Celebration was that evening, so after eating dinner and getting cleaned up a little, we went to the service. The opening was so beautiful, it brought tears to my eyes. First they turned of all the lights. The grandson of the missionary who helped Watkin Roberts get to Senvon brought in a torch from the back. He lit the torch of the grandson of the chief of Senvon. He then lit the torch of the pastors, who used their torches to light the candles being held by the people. That little ceremony ended with singing and a mass prayer. Considering the fact that there were probably 1,500 people there with candles, plus the torches, it was an impressive sight.

The next few days were filled with worship services, one in the morning and one in the evening. Every service lasted for three hours or more, and one lasted for four and one half hours!

The highlight of the second day there was the arrival of Dr. Ro and Mawii. For those of you who don’t know, Dr. Ro’s father was one of the very first Christians from the Hmar tribe. Dr. Ro is the one who translated the Bible into the Hmar language. Besides that, he has had a tremendous impact on Northeast India in other ways. He and his wife planted over 300 churches and many, many schools in the Northeast. They are very well respected and well know in that region.

Dr. Ro’s health has been declining over the last year, and travel over the rough roads was basically impossible, so they flew in by helicopter. Now, that may not sound like of big deal to you, but most of the people in Senvon, even the older ones, had never seen a helicopter before in their lives! So it was a really big deal! Not only were Dr. Ro and Mawii arriving, but they were arriving by helicopter! Thousands of people gather around the makeshift helipad on the outskirts of the village to welcome them and then lined the street that led to the village.

Another big highlight came on the third day... the big feast. Now I have been part of feasts in Northeast India before, but they were only for 500 people or so. But not this one... over 11,000 people attended the feast in Senvon! 37 animals were killed for the feast! It was an impressive gathering to say the least! And, keep in mind that this is a village of 3,000 people.

Other events during the celebration included unveiling the Centenary stone, beating the Centenary drum 100 times and ringing the Centenary bell 100 times. After the final service was over on Sunday night, people stayed and sang and danced for another two hours or so. After having told their story hundreds of times during my time with the India Children’s Choir, it was a huge honor for me to celebrate this event with them. One afternoon we even got to go see the very place where they used to honor the men who would go and fight and bring back heads during the headhunting days. There was a stone there that the warrior would stand on and they would all dance around him.

We headed out of Senvon on Monday morning with a caravan of vehicles and a lot of people... including Dr. Ro and Mawii and some of the other head people from over here. We visited the villages of Parbung and Lungthulien, two villages where there are Bibles For The World schools, and at each place they put on a grand reception for our group.

We worked our way down to the river, but before we got there, we were stopped in another village where the people had planned a reception for Dr. Ro and Mawii, but we didn’t know anything about it. We finally arrived at the campsite around 6:00 that evening.

I will write about our trip down the river within the next few days.

Michael

Headed To The Hills

Hey everyone,

Just an FYI. My group and I will be heading for the the interior hills of Northeast India tomorrow morning, and that means no internet access for the next ten days or so. I will be keeping a "journal" of our time there so I can share it with you when we get back.

We will be celebrating the 100th year anniversary of the Gospel coming to the Hmar tribe with hundreds, if not thousands, of descendants of former headhunters. It is sure to be an amazing experience.

Michael

Our Time In Chandigarh

It's not often that I pull an all-nighter. In fact, I have not done that for years... that is until last night. I am sitting at the Delhi airport typing this, and it's about 5:15 in the morning.

We arrived back in Delhi last night after our six hour train ride from Chandigarh. We never got back to our guest house until almost 2:00 this morning, and with the repacking that needed to be done, their was just no time to sleep.

But enough about that.

Our time in Chandigarh... in one word... WOW!

Backing up a bit... the main reason I decided to go to Chandigarh on this trip was to see Amethyst, one of the girls who was supposed to be in the 2009 India Children's Choir. She is a very sweet, outgoing girl, and I got to know her pretty well during our time in India last year. I had heard about the work going on there, but didn't know much about it and didn't know anyone else who lived there.

Amethyst's parents are missionaries who work for Bibles For The World doing Bible distribution and church planting. Her father is an incredible man with a heart for ministry and the people he is called to minister to. Our group and the family hit it off right away.

We arrived in Chandigarh on Friday and were received at the train station and then spent the rest of the day getting to know the family and settling in at their house.

On Saturday is when the "WOW" happened. Soon after our arrival in Chandigarh on Friday, Thanga told us that their was a lot of literature from Bibles For The World that was being delivered to a town about an hour and half away and wondered if we wanted to go and with him there. Of course I jumped at the chance since Chandigarh Bible distribution was one of the projects we promoted while I was on the road with the India Children's Choir. We arrived in the town just after the truck had been unloaded and had lunch with the local pastor there. There are a lot of new converts in that area and a growing church, primarily among the religious group of Indian people that wear the turbans. They are not Hindus, but a movement that broke away from the Hindus.

We met some of the other people there, and were just getting ready to leave when our missionary friend, Thanga, told us that some people had come and wanted to pray for two of their children... twins who were crippled. We prayed for them, and then someone else brought their elderly mother who was sick, and we prayed for her. We prayed for a few boys who were getting ready to take an important exam in their schooling. It was a neat experience.

And then it happened... we were just finishing up praying for the people, and as usual, a small crowd had gathered. Thanga came and told us that a family in the crowd, from the "turban" religion, wanted to become Christians! Father, mother, and a teenage son sat and listened as Thanga explained the salvation of Jesus Christ to them. He prayed with them and then we prayed with them. It was an amazing experience! Pray for this family... they cannot read or write. I don't know their names, but pray that they could grow in faith and knowledge. These people, like a lot of the others who have come to Christ, have no knowledge of Christianity whatsoever.

On Sunday, we attended a small church house service at Thanga's house and then spent the rest of the day relaxing there. On Monday, Thanga took us out sightseeing in Chandigarh. First we went to the mall and spent a little time there. We went to the lake... a beautiful man-made lake on the edge of the city, and then visited the Rock Garden, and incredible masterpiece of man-made rock formations and designs made with trash... literally. Broken toilets, plates, cups, floor tile, old bracelets, etc. It was quite intriguing.

Later in the evening, we said goodbye to our new friends and boarded the train back to Delhi.

Well, I've got a flight to catch.

Until next time,

Michael

Greetings from Chandigarh

Hello everyone,

Greetings from the city of Chandigarh in northern India. We arrived here yesterday after a four hour train ride from India's capital of Delhi.

Our two days in Delhi were spent getting over jet lag, meeting some friends who live there and getting a taste of the local culture by going out to one of Delhi's biggest markets for an afternoon.

Connaught Place is an interesting place with anything from sidewalk vendors to fancy shops to McDonalds, KFC, and Subway to movie theaters and about everything that you can imagine in between. Oh, and thousands upon thousands of people, about half of which seem to be trying to sell something to the "foreigners" for about five times what it is actually worth. But with a little bartering skills you can usually get a few good bargains.

We went there by metro... Delhi has a very clean and efficient metro system. It is actually nicer than most of the trains in New York City. The biggest difference though... the sheer masses of people who were riding it. For those of you who have been in New York, imagine the fullest train you have ever been on, and then double it, at least! You literally could not move. We thought the train was full, but the officials kept telling people to get on. At every stop, a few people got off and a LOT more people got on.

Delhi is a city of over ten million people. Hinduism is the major religion here, but there are also quite a few other religions too. The hopelessness and despair in the people's eyes is something that is hard to forget.

And that is why it is such a breath of fresh air to meet with Christian people here in this country and to see that God is working in the lives of these people... and that is exactly what we witnessed last night after our arrival here in Chandigarh.

We were greeted at the train station by one of Bibles For The World's missionaries here. He and his family have been here for at least ten years and God is doing a great work through them. There have been thousands of Bibles distributed here in this area and God is at work. We had the opportunity to visit one family who came to Christ a few years ago and through their witness, eight more families have renounced their old religions and become followers of Jesus! Amazing things are happening!

Well, that will be all for now. More updates will follow, and hopefully some pictures too. We appreciate and ask for your prayers as we continue this trip.

Michael

Back In India

OK... this is gonna be a short one for two reasons:
1. I am in an internet cafe and paying by the minute for the use of the computer.
2. The spacebar on this computer doesnot work properly andit's apain to type.

Anyway, we are in Delhi. We arrived here on schedule a few days ago and have been having a good time exploring the city and meeting up with some of my friends that live here.

It is so good to be back in this country again! I am enjoying Delhi, but what I am really looking forward to is heading to the Northeast in a few days. I can't wait to see my kids and all my other friends again.

Michael

India Trip

Hey everyone,

It has been eons since I last posted here. As you all know, the India Children's Choir never did make it to the United States in 2009 due to complications with getting their visas, and so this space went unused.

But... in less than 24 hours, I am planning to board a flight back to India! And... I am planning to be there until the middle of March, and I plan to put this space to good use... hopefully pictures, maybe some video clips, and lots of narration of our trip.

2010 is the 100th year anniversary of the Gospel coming to the Hmar people. Big celebrations are being planned, and I and my group will be a part of a few of them. It is sure to be an exciting time, so stay tuned.

If you know of anyone else who would be interested in reading about this trip to India, please feel free to let them know about this blog.

Michael Esh