Khandili -- Jeremie

Jeremie posing in a village church. The space is about 10 feet wide by 20 feet long. You can see a greater description in the previous blog and see other shots of the churh as well. Jeremie gave a wonderful sermon, though no one was there to hear it.


Saturday, June 16, we visited a new medical clinic in Kahndali, India. After seeing the facility, Uncle Jay had a meeting at the clinic. Stanley, an elderly Indian Christian who accompanied us to the clinic, introduced us to the pastor, Thangaraj, who has been serving in Kahndali. Anil then drove us out into the villages of Kahndali.

Within the villages there is an elaborate Hindu Temple. The Hindus of the area (I do not know the details of their beliefs) consider snakes to be the highest form of life and worship them. They will pile up a mound of soil and then sort of hollow out holes for snakes to live in. I kept my eyes pealed for a cobra, I would have liked a picture of one, but the midday sun was far too hot to be seeing anything cold blooded about.

As we drove through the villages I would roll the window down for pictures. Children and their mothers would come up to the car and stare blankly at us. I smiled back and motioned for them to smile and held up my camera. The people know English, but they just seemed so confused with my interest in them. I took some pictures and then I reached out my hand to shake the hands of the children. As soon as my hand touched theirs they started laughing and pushing each other out of the way to shake my hand. All of a sudden they were smiling and laughing. I showed them the result of my pictures through the viewfinder. It was after all this that I realized the works that pastor Thangaraj is doing. He visits, preaching and teaching, at least one village everyday, on bicycle with his wife on the back. The amount of Christians in each village is at least 25 or more. Imagine yourself in heaven finding out that some of those Indian children I took pictures of lived and died a life devoted to the Hindu beliefs, bound to the fires of Hell. Thank God for his grace and mercy. Also for men like Thangaraj who serve the Lord and share the Word of Truth with people of villages like those who live in Kahndali.

Alan and I were sort of in awe of the quality of life for these people. We spent most of our time while walking and driving just listening to the stories and explanations of the life and beliefs within the villages. Alan pointed out that there was never a span of time that we were not within sight of another person, and there we were in what you would consider rural India. In some places where you would expect to see only wilderness, there would be a few Indians sparsely scattered, walking through paths in the foliage. The girth of the Indian population truly is present as we traversed the highways.

We have videos of the traffic to be posted on this blog in the future.

Alan also posted a blog right before this one, so if you want you can read it as well.