What gives

Sheba,Andy ,Asha and Enoch were here for three days.Fiery people with a single track mind .Andy always bubbling to share the Word,the kids ready with their kitty of jokes and Sheba oh Sheba!I think it's because she is rather on the quiet side I always find myself talking non-stop with her!There were moments when I actually had a a jaw-ache.When I keep quiet she asks after my health and when I tell her I am resting my tongue she laughs away to glory.... It was good to have them here! I see a lot of things about myself ,I normally don't otherwise in the nitty-gritties of living everyday. Two days before their arrival while praying with the officers ,I was lead to pray "only what we do for christ and His kingdom will stand" and the entire time Andy's message went along those lines.

A pastor today was sharing about a little boy in the heart of the naxallite belt who saw the light and is working towards sharing ‘the Word ‘.A shy nine year old tribal boy sidled up to the pastor and started asking umpteen number of questions.His queries were taken up and dealt with each time the men and women of God entered the poverty-stricken village which lives under the fear of gun.At the age of thirteen he made a resolution to take time after his school to spread the word,He finishes his school work and walks three miles to another village to spread the word.He was a back-bencher and a tongue-tied fellow who ,the teacher says, is changed over-night.He spends time in prayer and as per the leading he moves out. He looks in the eye of the adults and individuals ,even the senior pastors are scared of ,and boldly preaches “those who live by gun will die by a gun”. Isaiah 9,vs 2. ‘The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow o...

God’s hand The perfect hands , A beautiful craft , Beyond skill . Every contour,a work of art, Every line –a divine part, Perfect untouched,holy. I saw the hand of the savior, Deformed ,bleeding ,used,abused, Imperfect mark of the nail, The pain, the drops of scarlet….. The precious hands marred , My sin , a part – I belonged! I saw the hands of the risen christ, Ablaze in the wings of Glory, Resplendant in the halloed form, Throned in the most high, I saw the mark of the nail that’s mine In the hands of the King ,most Holy, This king is mine !This King is mine! My failures-a part of glory!

I am a good christian, That is what I have been , As far as I remember. I live my life packed with activities, I attend the church regularly, I work for a Christian organization, I have been involved in charity work , Yeah that’s what I do! I have a life!or do I?sometimes I wonder? I can pray!oh yes I can pray for hours and ends! Just ask the pastor-I pray the best prayers in the church! I sing,I make the right noises! Everyone looks up to me. Jesus of Nazereth?? -Who is he?? (Might not be so drastic but our lives read this way sometimes!mine does very often.)

Got a mail from a longtime colleague,more of a consultant from my PG days,Manoj Jacob.A friend of his had this call to fast and pray in all the states of india-he had done so in most states and now it was JKD he needed to pray for. He was on a meal and a cold drink during the day ,and a charpoy in the room where he can sit down and pray. He gave a talk in the chapel today. It was about looking up and at Jesus carefully ,to know him ,and about the call to be a disciple.

The story did not end there.The locals had their share of heartaches which precipitated towards the evening.Had a detatched look at the whole issue.Got a vague understanding of unfairness of it all.Decided to review the whole scenario.Have had to do some soul-searching,change the existant,and move forward. In the mean time decided to review the community's village health comittee's progress.The team is persistantly doing their bit against gigantic odds.They have been working on changing the reproductive child health status in the villages.Under normal circumstances,the RMP's(a synonym for quacks)have a phenomenal hold over the village health.They are at the doorsteps of the villages with their bag which contain the standard dexamethasone,Taxim ,gentamycin and IV fluids.They have an association which meet periodically to review the situation.They earn a minimum of Rs 500 per day which is much more lucrative than selling vegetables or mending shoes.Most of rural India, these ...

A body lay unclaimed in the mortuary.The lady had died of tuberculosis and the relatives had abandoned the dead body.The hospital authorities(read us)had to seek permission before we could dispose it off.After lodging a formal complaint in the local police station ,a staff was sent off to the village with a police personal .The village was deep in the jungle,no roads,no nothing and the entire family was dead drunk,drowned in alcohol.They were not fit for conversation. The staff were told to dispose off the body in the hospital premises. This is Jharkhand for you ,more han 80% of the population live in the villages steeped in alcohol,poverty,superstition......endless bondages. Where does the process to liberate them start??

There has been a lot of news in the recent past highlighting the Gandhi scions apparent philia towards the aam aadmi.He visited JKD and the latest breaking news in Times Now read 'Rahul Gandhi visits Francis Induvar's family in Ranchi'. A day before there was another news item in the Times Now site about how a cab driver who had driven RG to the airport received all the attention and how he was the only person in the cab he spoke to,how he thanked the driver personally for driving him to the air-port,etc.... What makes this aam aadmi so special??I guess it is this very air of innocence and perhaps an unawareness of their worth which takes them to a different league.They are the 'salt of the earth'.Just being with them must be so very refreshing after inter-acting with layers and layers of slimy politicians on a one upmanship game. I remember the look on Rajiv Gandhi's face when he was with the aam aadmi before the indian politics actually got to him.Just after I...

I happened to be going through an old copy of India today(Feb 2006 issue)-an article by Jaideep Sahni ,the author of the movie 'Bunty aur Babli'struck a chord. He categorises India into three parts then.India A,India B and India C.India A were the big city public school babas,India B were the small town kids and India C were the types who were seen dancing tribal dances with Indira Gandhi on doordarshan and famine,farmer's suicide and poverty were their lot. He talks about the times when India A types used to be bullied to high heavens when they came to small town campus'.He talks about how Michael Jackson cascates used to be burried deep into their pant pocket's and the moment they opened their mouth they would be Ya Ya ed cutting all their hipness to shreds! Times changed.Suddenly the small towns loks were an aggressive lot ,moving into the bigger cities ,working hard and going for the kill.It didn't matter suddenly that your boss had never listened to Michael...

Hot,hot winds of change are blowing through this land.There are noises and more noises!Government has resolved to go all out on the offensive against the maoists.It is a tough stance no doubt and a sensitive one as well.A police officer,Francis Induvar was abducted from a market place in Ranchi and was beheaded in cold blood. The relevant question today is-Who are the Maoists? and whose interests are they protecting? In the cross-fire between the authorities and the red rhetorics ,will the poor and the tribals,get crushed as usual???

Effortless flight, In a clear blue sky, Up,up,up,and up. Over the landscape,rivers,hills and plain, Over the eternal sun-shine and rain. swooping,skirting, skipping ,pecking, discovering,floating, skirmishing,flirting , just enjoying….. then gently disappearing……

Pramila Kacchap topped the ANM results and came out second in Mid-India board.This girl was sharing how the lord has been faithful in providing for her family of five on her father’s meager salary of two thousand rupees a month.Today during the bible studies she gave her testimony .She belongs to a hindu background in a predominantly Hindu community.Her family converted ,her father’s siblings did not.The village ostracized her family and deprived them of their ancestral properties.The father with five children and a low-income job was pressurized in every which ways to deny his faith.The family persisted and prayed their way through all the persecutions-today her family stands as a testimony of God’s goodness and grace.The very brother’s who had denied them their birthright have come back to offer them the land unable to manage on their own.Pramila has grown into a fine nurse ,more so because she is filled with gratitude towards God’s goodness and grace.