Last day

On Wednesday I went to Bankura to see a new school the Diocese of Durgapur has established.  Seven girls live there. There have about thirty students who now have a larger horizon than before.  The ministry here is one of presence and persistence. The Church is filling the gap to make sure people have schools and medical care and dignity.

Thursday morning Lisa and I went to St. Peter's School here in Durgapur. It's almost 60 years old and has over 1,500 students. At the assemply they all stood at attention and heard the news for the day (including sports)  and the thought for the day. One student read a bible verse and said a prayer.

I looked at their classrooms. They have chalk boards but little of our technology. However, the students sit and learn. It's so fascinating that in the streets India feels like chaos but in places like the schools there is a strict sense of order.  Today was the day for report cards. The parents come to school to get the grades with their child.

I am grateful for the friendships we've established over these years. This is my 4th trip and we have all grown together. Being here reminds that our faith is about core essentials--prayer, community, service, love of the Lord, bread and wine.

I am looking forward to visiting Kolkata Friday--especially Mother Teresa's----but not to getting on the plane. God willing we fly Kolkata to Dubai; Dubai to JFK; and JFK to Charlotte.
Keep us in your prayers.
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Tuesday we went to Purulia and visited two parishes--St. Bartholomew's and The Church of the Resurrection. The priest there has so much enthusiasm. He has built up both these parishes even though almost everyone around is Hindu.

This morning I went to St. Michael's School which is next door to the Diocese's compound and is a school connected to the Diocese. There are about 1,800 students. They were all at attention when I got there. The Lead Girl said a Christian prayer and everyone listened to the thought for the day. I talked about making a difference where you are. Although the classrooms are not furnished as the ones in the States, the students sat with full attention and dedication.

 

It made me think about the common hopes of parents around the world. There is a yearning for your child's life to be better--not just in comfort but in meaning. There's a yearning for them to flourish and find their way. The principal told me of the sacrifices parents make to send their children and I understood that as a parent.  Travel just gives us a perspective that we can't get any other way.

 

The group from New Zealand left today so Lisa Clark and I are the only pilgrims here. This afternoon I am off to another school sponsored by the diocese (there are five) and then tomorrow I'll think about how to pack all the gifts I have been given (especially a cope and miter given by the Daughters of the KIng).

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Today (Tuesday) went to Purulia to see St. Peters school and the local Church as well as St Mary's Sewing Center. As always the children's joy is contagious. I am aware of what their parents sacrifice to give their children a better life, but more I am aware of what the Diocese of Dugapur is willing to do. In a place where Christianity is a small minority, the diocese is giving hope to parents and to people like me and you. The world gets changed one person at a time. This child.

I am so proud of our diocese being part of this movement. When I go around the diocese I see plaques with our names on them--schools, clinics, centers. Somewhere in our hearts we know that when these brothers and sisters' lives are better, we are all better.

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Pictures from India

Thanksgiving Service

2/1/15

Today we gathered for the annual Thanksgiving service. There were thousands of people--some of whom travelled eight or more hours to be here.  The procession is always led by dancers--men and women from the remote parts of the diocese with tribal costumes.  It's not George Herbert but it is holy.

I felt as if this gathering was a glimpse of Pentecost---visitors from New Zealand, Austrialia, England  and, of course, the USA--South Carolina and North Carolina. I was the celebrant and although this was the liturgy of the Church of North India, it was our liturgy.

When you say "The Body and Blood of Christ" five hundred times, something happens. It becomes a breath prayer and we know once more that the love and grace of Jesus is beyond our capacity to understand or to diminish.

The time change remains a challenge. I've discovered what a good time 4:30 am is for writing and thinking but it would be okay with me if my body would get on Indian time.

I can tell the visit is already too short--too many old friends to see and places to go. However, my sense of what it means to be companions has been renewed.
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Last night we went to the Inter Project Cultural Meet in the Compound. This was an occasion for the young people across the diocese to perform mainly traditional Indian dances. It was wonderful. So much talent and so much beauty.  Lisa Clark, from Holy Cross, Tryon, was the "Chief Guest" and gave some touching remarks before the audience.

I confess I was determined to get on Indian time so I took no nap yesterday but paid the price.   I think I have gotten my internal clock close to being acclamated.

Today we had the Tribal Award Ceremony---dance groups from all over the diocese came. It was amazing. The movements look simple but are incredibly difficult. There is such an honoring of the past and how it feeds the present here.

Bishop Dutta has made a custom of honoring scholars who write about the Tribal people in this part of India and he did so today.

Tomorrow is the large worship service---over 2,000 people.

I have renewed friendships and caught up with men and women I haven't seen in three years. Being here reminds me that companionship is not some canonical category thought up by a church administrator but is a relationship.  We have almost ten years of history here and our lives are simply intertwined. I see older teenagers that I say as children when I first came. Most of all, I witness the grace of the Lord.  I see how Christ moves men and women to do holy work and binds us togehter regardless of countries.  I look around the compound and see names on buildings--Thomas Murphy and Anne Fritschner--and they are outward and visible signs of how God has connected us together.

And then there the children. I brought colored pencils so that each child would have his/her own set. They took them with such seriousness. It made aware again of how little I think of how much I have. That these children have such a grounded home here and that we are part of this makes me so glad.

 

 

Passage to India

At some point you quit counting the hours you've been travelling. You just switch your watch over to the current time zone and don't look back.  Lisa Clark and I spent a long time getting to Durgapur. I did have a thought or two about what we were doing during our seven hour layover in Dubai, but when we stepped out of the airport in Kolkata, and our friend Raja met us, all that vanished.  It is so good to see our Indian friends and witness what they are doing and have done in the name of our Lord.  I can't explain how or why India heals me, but she does.  It's something about the humanity mixed with the sheer struggle to get on here. There's is a beautful chaos that pushes me out of my button down linear self and a radical openness that reminds me of how big God's love is for everyone. I mean who else is 11 and 1/2 hours different from Eastern Time?

And then there's the work. Schools, medical clinics, safe houses to get women out of trafficing, a Cathedral, eye clinics and on and on.  I always daunted by how much our Indian companions do with so little. It reminds that Jesus sent the disciples out with no equipment because we are the equipment when we are connected to him.

And most of all, it's friendship. I am so glad to see my friends here. They remind me how big God's mercy is.

Tonight is the Festival for the Inter Project Cultural Meet and tomorrow is the Tribal Award Ceremony.

I give thanks that we belong to the Anglican Communion--but most of all I give thanks that we belong to Jesus Christ and, therefore, we belong to one another.
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