Bethania Journey

The Indian people seem to be meticulously clean.   But they obviously go about personal cleanliness in a different way than we do.  Case in point:  Just today we had our first hand towels placed in our bathrooms.  Up to now, (at least since we left Chennai), no hand towels, no washcloths, only large bath towels.  Are hand towels a peculiarity of Americans? Another cultural practice that has taken some getting used to:  eating with your fingers.  And we’re not talking chicken drummies, either.  Rice, chutneys, vegetables, curries, dal, everything scooped up with fingers or pieces of yummy chapati or dosas (Indian flatbreads).  Some of us have held fast to the use of spoons - or if we can find them - forks.  Others of the group have happily eaten Indian style, and quite proficiently, too. We had a restaurant lunch where we ate, not off of plates, but off of banana tree leaves.  Spoonfuls of food are put on the leaf, you eat with ...

On our second night, we gathered in the hotel bar to give our first “impressions” of India.   You can consider the rather random statement below as if they had quotation marks around them, because they are the thoughts expressed by members of our group. It was surreal flying over land that is just 50 miles east of Baghdad.  The plane avoided both Israeli and Syrian airspace, although not sure if that was on purpose. I have a new appreciation of parents who fly with babies.  Lots of crying and sore ears, especially on take-off and landing. Interesting to be on a plane where part of the pre-take-off instructions included telling  people to remain seated for prayer. I’m so glad we’re not driving in India! Lane stripes and stop signs are only suggestions here! The constant horn honking.  I can imagine that the horns are having conversations, because after a while, they become like background chatter:  “Hello there!”  “Sorry to hear your husband ...

This was another day of travel: flight to Madurai and a van journey to Dindigul, a city of 300,000 in south central India.  About a 45-minute drive from Dindigul is the location of the original Bethania home, It sits in an area known as Kannivadi, off the highway and down a long, bumpy and rutted dirt road.  This is the site founded by the Hennigs  and two other families to help support a woman who was taking in orphaned children.  Now called the Dayavu Home for Boys, it houses 28 children between the ages of 5 and 15. Because our flight was delayed and we took a brief side trip to a famous Hindu temple in Madurai, we arrived at the home after dark.  The boys came rushing out of the school, jumping for joy that we were there.  They all wanted to shake our hands, ask our names, and tell us their names.   The younger children are just beginning to learn English; the older ones are more proficient.  We had some gifts - a Jenga game ...

Seen through the bleary eyes of people who had been traveling for over 24 hours, even at 4:00 a.m., Chennai was noisy, crowded and hot. The recent air quality problems made the city look foggy and mysterious.  The Hotel Trident is a cool and calm oasis, with a lovely bowl of locus flowers sitting in the front lobby. Today we met Mark’s wonderful friend, Prem,  who generously took the day off, rented a van and a driver, and took us to some of the sights.  Chennai is the place where one tradition says that St.Thomas the Apostle was martyred is AD 72, so there are several St. Thomas sites. We visited Malankara Church, that houses his tomb, and that has a reliquary with a piece if his bone.  Mount St. Thomas, the site of his death, looming high above the city, has another shrine, a convent, and a lovely little statue depicting the devotion to the Virgin Mary as “the Untier of Knots.” We also visited the Hindu Karpagambal Temple, and were reminded that we know little...

Of the group making this journey, I am the "newcomer" both to attending Mt Olive and to the ministries of Bethania.   I approach the experience without expectations, being free to observe, interpret, learn and reflect as we go.   I do know my life will be enriched.   

I never thought I’d travel to India. If you had asked me several years ago whether India was a place I’d want to visit, I’d have said to myself that it was well beyond my comfort zone and politely declined with some sort of excuse. Yet when the possibility of traveling to experience Bethania Kids with a group of people from Mount Olive presented itself, I immediately said yes . It wasn’t just because my wife was asking that I agreed—though she would say that’s reason enough! It was also that I value relationships and this trip is a once-in-my-lifetime opportunity to create relationships with the people that work at Bethania as well as the children and women they serve. I’ve heard about Bethania Kids over the nearly two decades we’ve been at Mount Olive, knew of Gene’s deep and personal investment in this charity and witnessed Mark’s experience traveling to Kodaikanal ten years ago. I also recall hearing about a Concordia Seminary in India as a boy in the denomination of my upbr...

Ten years ago I strolled around the grounds of Bob Granner’s cottage outside of the hill town of Kodaikanal in south India.  Kodaikanal is the hill station where my mother was born and where with other missionary kids she attended boarding school. I came upon a campfire ring and had a vision of sorts: a small group of Mount Olivites having a devotion around a fire while there to visit our Bethania centers. God provides! In several days, a small group of us leave for India. India had its hold on me even before I set foot there. My grandparents, great-grandparents, and even a great-great-grandfather served there as missionaries. Whether it was because of Mom’s incredible stories, the smell of sandalwood and incense (no one else in rural Minnesota burned incense!), the succulent flavors of Indian food which we begged for on special occasions, or something bigger and more spiritual, India got under my skin. When I stepped out of the Mumbai airport on that first trip 10 years ago,...