Trading Up

From Don Iverson’s Diary, January 24, 2007

Crossing an overpass in Nagapattinam, I stared through the window remembering what things were like only two years ago. This city was one of the most devastated by the tsunami of December 26, 2004. The area where I now traveled had been strewn with fishing boats. Just ahead was the location of one partially destroyed house where a baby crib teetered, ready to fall from the second floor. I remembered how an infant’s body had been recovered from that house.

This area was one visited by me and Jim Waldron just days after the December catastrophe. Burned into my memory are the faces of two widows who stood hopelessly staring into space. They had come back to their homes to gather whatever belongings might be found. Their houses were completely gone, and so were their families. The poor widows agreed to let me take a photo and as I snapped the picture someone explained that I was standing on the cemetery, a large gully that had been scooped out where dead bodies were placed. What had been a busy neighborhood was now an open field strewn with litter and debris.

The field looks much different now. Many have returned and built grass huts in which to live. In the early days of tsunami relief we tried to assist this village but were warned by the radical Hindus to stay away. Some of the residents came to us secretly, seeking buckets, soap, clothing, and necessary household items. There were plenty of other places to work and because of the threat, the brothers agreed to return to this area only after some time.

Against the orders of the Hindus, our brothers eventually began having Bible studies in this Oceanside village. Prior to the tsunami it would have been almost impossible to reach these people with the gospel. Now they were open, searching and receptive. Even in the face of Hindu threats, the Indian evangelists baptized forty souls into Christ from this community. These who had suffered for so long were now set free from the ruler of the darkness (Eph. 6:12). We rejoiced at the power of the gospel and for a brief time the churches had rest (Acts 9:31).

The liar (John 8:44) was angry (Rev. 12:12) and paced about (I Pet. 5:8) seeking how he might destroy our new brothers and sisters. Satan cannot fight with truth. He has only corruption and evil in his arsenal. The local officials, unable to stop the spread of the gospel, placed a 10,000 rupee fine ($220) on any of their people caught worshiping with the church of Christ. Even though these are babes in Christ, they have been forced to grow up quickly. Some had not matured beyond the point of hay and stubble, while others, within a matter of a few months, had become gold (I Cor. 3:12). The fire of persecution is the discerner of men’s faith and fear of the Hindus caused fifteen to go back. Though they would not have the money to pay the fine, many would have been kicked from their homes and out-casted from their families and the village.

Oh yes! As far as the other twenty-five, they refused the mark of the beast (Rev. 13:16), and they refuse to miss a worship service with the Nagai church of Christ. “They can take everything,” my new brothers explained, “but I am not giving up Jesus Christ.” In the middle of the afternoon I stood to preach in the Nagai church building which was originally built for tsunami relief. The Nagapattinam School of Preaching will begin in this same facility in June. More than two-hundred souls (ladies on the right and men on the left) sat cross-legged listening to my message. Through tears I preached about the city, a light set on a hill (Matt. 5:14) in this place that two years earlier had seemed the darkest place I had ever known.

Our new brothers are not unhappy. They are some of the most thankful people I have ever seen. I think of their sacrifices and the worldly possessions that Satan has snatched. I think of the friends they have lost and the family members who will no longer speak to them. What are they thinking? They are thinking about that grass hut that they traded for a mansion.

MY SPIRIT IS STIRRED

From Don Iverson’s Diary, January 29, 2007

Making my three-hundred-mile journey from Coimbatore to Kanniyakumari, the far southern tip of India, I considered the enormity of our task in taking the gospel to the entire world. This is Pongal season, a special time for Hindu people, and many are making their annual pilgrimages to Palani and Madurai to worship their gods of stone. Sacrifice is part of their purpose and none of the wearied travelers wear shoes. The journey (often hundreds of miles) is on pavement heated by the intense Indian sun. The moving mass lines the highway almost constantly. All are wearing their sacred colors of orange, yellow, black or green. They proudly display the red dot on their forehead that says, “I worship Muragam, Vishnu, and the hundreds of other Hindu gods of silver and stone.”

The accumulation of travelers is in the hundreds of thousands, but each is an individual. One man carries his handicapped son on his shoulders. Perhaps he hopes the pouring of his sacrifice of milk or water on his false god in Palani will cause his son to be healed. Scores have bound up their feet with rags wishing for relief from their blisters. Acres of souls gather in various spots in open fields to take sleep for the night, lying on bare ground. I thought of the apostle Paul and the way his “spirit was stirred in him” (Acts 17:16). These who are so zealous for their false gods have no hope. Salvation is not in the name of Vishnu or Muragam, but in Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12), and it is our responsibility to tell each and every one (Matthew 28:18-20).

My spirit sunk with depression. I wanted to stop the car, get out and just start preaching the gospel. The Lord will return with a shout (I Thessalonians 4:16) and all of these souls will be asking, “What is this? Who is this? What is happening in the sky?” Though they are sincerely wrong, they are so zealous. Though they walk in ignorance, they enthusiastically sacrifice their feet, hands, and their time. My first emotion is anger. To myself I am thinking, “I can’t believe these foolish people! Who can create a god with their own hands and then bow down to call it their maker? What kind of god has to be dressed and carried? Are you ignorant?” Yes, they are ignorant. They do not know Jehovah God. They did not grow up in families where parents taught them about the Good Shepherd.

God please have mercy and forgive me. Forgive me for my audacity. Please forgive me for all of the times when I was too lazy to prepare food in my nice kitchen and drive it over to my sick neighbor in my air-conditioned car. Please forgive me for all of the times I have murmured and complained because I was serving until late in the night. Please forgive me when I chose my easy chair and an episode of “Law and Order” over a home Bible study in someone’s nice clean living room. Please forgive my aggravation at the times when I felt like the preacher was too long-winded. I am sorry for the motel beds about which I have been unhappy, and for feeling sorry for myself because my car is five years old.