India Trip Day 5

When we met the V.B.S. teachers for prayer, Dr. Isaac, one of the seminary teachers, had something to say. He announced it was Beka's and my first wedding anniversary. What better way to spend it than surrounded by children, he mused. He proceeded to wish us two hundred godly children. I was thinking one or two eventually, but thanks.

Ashish asked where I was from in America. I answered with the standard response of "New York, not the city."

"Is that near New Jersey?" he asked.
Maybe three hours away.
"Is it near Texas?"
Not exactly.
We settled on it being closer to New Jersey.
I wanted to take a picture for the second class. One teacher tried to direct the children to stand together. The boys and the girls didn't take too well to that. I took pictures of the individual sides. It makes a better story anyway.

I spent the entire afternoon preparing a sermon for the evening service. Shajy asked me around four if I'd be willing to share something. I had about two hours.

I told him I could come up with something.
"Be prepared in season and out of season", he replied.
I wanted to say I'm not a preacher, but I don't think that would translate as a good excuse.

I tried my best to write legibly, since Shajy would have to translate the message as I preached.

We decided I could play "Sanctuary" on the guitar for the special music. I'm not a musician either, but see the retort above. No excuse.

It was time for the service. We sang a few hymns, then it was the visitors' turn. I played "Sanctuary" and Beka, Alexa and I sang it through twice. I missed a chord here and there, but somehow we survived.

The V.B.S. teachers shared the popular Mizo song with less shouting. They didn't have the kids for volume. It still sounded great.

Shajy had my hand-scribbled notes during the hymns, roughly ten minutes to preaching.
Them's skills if you can work that quickly.

It was time to preach. I stood behind the pulpit, next to Shajy with our shared notes and dueling microphones. Somewhere between twenty and thirty people looked back at us. I didn't bother to count.

I thanked everyone who worked with us at V.B.S. for being a blessing and mentioned the blessing of being in India. Shajy translated.

I shared a little about our school and the fruits of the Spirit using Galatians 5:16-26. To add some time, I read through some other verses as well. Thank you, cross-references.

I don't enjoy preaching in the least. I prefer dialogue to monologue any day. This night, however, it didn't cross my mind. God said what He wanted to.

I ended with verse 26 and the warning not to be prideful or compare to others. Help each other toward Christ, the common goal. I hope it translated okay.


When it was over, Dr. Roy prayed and we dismissed. Shajy drove us to Dr. Roy's house for a nice late supper.

It did occur to me how unselfish Dr. Roy and Shajy are as pastors. Most pastors I know keep their pulpits locked up like Fort Knox. To encourage a visitor they just met to share something shows a lot of trust. I'm just glad I didn't try it on my own.

While we waited for our huge, delicious meal, Dr. Roy's wife had a surprise for Beka and me. Plum wedding cake. Not content with that, they ushered us up front and for the third time in our life together we fed each other wedding cake. It is the charm, as they say. With plums.