The same but different

I've probably read somewhere that your 20's and early 30's are the time of the biggest change in your life. You leave school, go to university perhaps, get frustrated about not knowing what you are going to do next when everybody is asking you what next... The expectation, particularly in Christian circles of finding a husband or wife and beginning a family is huge and totally over-emphasised in too many places and if you are not one of the ones who gets married off quickly you become unusual and people feel sorry for you (when there is nothing to feel sorry about). 

Ten years ago I was finishing my time working with UCCF (Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship) as a relay worker with the CU at York St John's College. It was a strange year, a year when lots of stuff happened, but a year that I really valued and came out a stronger and more determined follower of Jesus. 

Life has changed abundantly since then. I've grown up, a lot. I've become more confident. I am more outspoken (in a quiet, Claire like way) and I'm totally sure of my identity in Christ. 

Last week I went to Keswick Convention for the first time, just for a couple of nights... don't want to push it! We went to a question and answer session, I didn't really want to go. I was reminded of a question and answer session in a Biblical Evangelism Conference before I went on to be a relay worker where we were told that of course, male headship was a given even if we do let women speak..... 

I was expecting it to be like that. But it wasn't. Although the views of the panel on the issues they were asked about were generally clear, and I didn't necessarily agree with them all the time, there was a huge amount of grace and understanding that real people were involved and that people need to discover the way forward for themselves and we need to support them as part of Christ's family. 

When we are listening and answering one another we should never make assumptions about where anyone is coming from, perhaps we should always expect to be surprised. 

Would I go to Keswick again? Probably. I was disappointed that it was very male dominated, but I was only there for two days. I disagreed with almost everything one of the speakers said, but that's OK. I loved the commitment to Young Adults and being part of something bigger, the commitment to Scripture and the focus on the cross. In some ways it was like going back to the stuff I used to do ten years ago, but I've gone back with a different attitude and a more thoughtful mind..... so that makes it very different to what I was doing ten years ago. 

So yes, I've changed a lot. I'm doing my second degree, embarking on a totally different way of working, living in the smallest place I've ever lived in on the rainy side of the Pennines where life is very different. God is changing me, transforming me, but he stays the same - unchanging, awesome, loving, gracious, creator God.

Looking beyond the obvious

I've always been quiet, but I'm not shy. I don't say much sometimes, but that's not because I lack confidence. So many times throughout my life, however, my natural tendency not to talk in people's faces or to push myself to fit in with the 'in-crowd' has left me on the side lines. I had a conversation with someone when I was a teenager about celebrity Christianity. Some people go out of their way to mix in the 'right' circles to make sure that they are first on anyone's list for anything - to comment, to speak, to be known.... 


I don't want to be one of those people (otherwise I would just become one of those people I get frustrated with) but I also don't want to be overlooked. Why do we so often take the easy route and go with what is jumping up and down in our face rather than look beyond the obvious to see what is happening behind, and at the sides, and below, and above? God's love and empowerment stretches much wider, much higher, much deeper than what we can see straight ahead, yet too often we look at who or what is straight there instead of turning our heads. 


In Kolkata a lot of the work was about empowering those people on the margins - those people who are overlooked by society as society progresses without them. The New Hope School's vision was not to bus in the best teachers from outside but to enable those with skills within the community who would be overlooked by society generally to teach. These teachers from the community were helping to enable the children to go to high school at a higher grade than they were expected to. The leadership are not looking for elitism or for those who shout the loudest or for those who are part of the 'in crowd' but are looking to empower those who are so often overlooked - the children and the women who live on the edge of a symbol of the 'progression' of India (the IT district - celebrated, desired, wanted). A tiny school, easily missed, in a small community, easily missed, but living out the Kingdom of God in more ways than we can possibly imagine. Real progression?

Never be without love

The last day of 'work' in Kolkata. Tomorrow we rest, Sunday we go to a Bengali speaking church and then Monday is home. Second weeks are always the fastest..... Good news today - I had FRESH toast WITH butter for breakfast (instead of cold toast without yesterday) and our air conditioning was mended so I might sleep tonight....! The small things make a huge difference. 


We spent another day with freeset today - this time we were putting waterproof covers at the windows so that the screen printers stay dry in the crazy rain (the area around the freeset factory flooded knee deep earlier in the week - there was a picture in the newspaper of a boy swimming in the water). We heard more of the vision for the future (which was very exciting - they are praying that if it is God's will he will create a way for it to happen) ..... and learned of the UK distributor of their bags - checkout http://www.freesetbags.co.uk/ 


As our time in India comes to a close we've been thinking about how we might have changed, what has inspired us and what it might prompt us to do or change when we get back home. We've seen a lot, much of it still needs time to sink in and be processed. As we were praying tonight I was very aware of how God created each one of the group beautifully different and brought us all to India for different reasons. My brain still needs more time to work through all of this, but these verses from Colossians sum up what we have seen and experienced in action through the projects we have visited in the past couple of weeks and through our time together as a team.


'So - chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive and offence. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It's your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without love.'
                                                                                          Colossians 3:12-14

Living Hope

Driving through Kolkata we enter Salt Lake - the up and coming IT district of Kolkata. All around us are shiny office blocks and new build flats in different colours. Hundreds and hundreds of young adults head for work. We drive on, through more building work, glimpsing lives that feel the closest to the UK cities that we have been since we've been here... Between the office blocks and high rise we have a glimpse of another world - old Kolkata - where people live in traditional small houses made of brick, mud and corrugated iron. Living in the shadows of the commercial future.....

We cross a bridge over a small stretch of water and we enter that world that lives in the shadows of the shiny new. As we walk down the mud path we pass through a settlement of small houses. These are brick maker's houses and the houses of people who collect useful rubbish to make stuff from or sell on - their poverty is clearly evident. We attract the normal stares that a group of white westerners attracts and the silence contrasts with the busyness of the Kolkata traffic jams we have just left. 

At the end of the track is a small building, built by the villagers themselves - the New Hope School - a school for local children. Set up by a visionary couple who are hands on in running the school alongside two young men from the local community it gives the children opportunity to learn where they might not have before. It is a place where they can hear about the Gospel and see people actually act out the Kingdom of God Jesus talks about. Some children are encouraged by the school to go to high school so that they can take their education further and their lives can be transformed from the poverty they now live in. It focuses on the development of the community.

There were four sewing machines in the room - strange for a school of young children. it was explained that they were trying to reach out further into the community - giving women the opportunity to stand on their own feet by teaching them a skill. Again the women are taught about the love of God and that love is demonstrated through the actions of the people who are teaching it. 

Of all the schools this one spoke to me most - working in the community, for the community and with the community, embodying that community with the love of Christ. Sometimes it is easier to take people out of where they are familiar with to change lives. This was about changing from within - transformational love. 

After visiting the school we made a surprise visit to William Carey's church. It was established in 1809. We got a chance to stand in the pulpit where William Carey had preached from. It was exciting to see some of our Baptist history right in front of our eyes. William Carey has inspired me from when I first heard about him as a teenager and when you see the impact he had in Kolkata and around it inspires even further. 

Inspired, humbled and probably slightly overwhelmed we were taken out for dinner to a Chinese restaurant. We couldn't help but see it as a sign of the contrast of our abundant wealth compared to what we had seen earlier in the day. 

Thunder, Maths and Whirlwinds

Somebody said that the second week would go much faster, and it has so far. Can't believe it's Wednesday already! Today we have experienced some dramatic thunderstorms - the thunder just kept coming and coming... very loudly! It then rained very hard for a while, I even had to get my rain coat out that I bought to deal with the weather in the North West. It means the roads are covered in puddles and my shoes that must not be named squeak as I walk.


This morning we went to visit the Divine Fellowship School for the Blind. The School was set up by a visionary man who saw how blind people were not accepted in Indian society as having any sort of future (they couldn't work, they couldn't get married....) to provide them with an education so that they could have a future. He started small but the school now has about 100 pupils.

We arrived to the sound of drums as the school assembly began and then we sang with them and acted out the parable of the sower (I was the seed that fell on rocky ground - I wasn't as good as the seed who fell on the path who got very scared by the birds!). We then had a tour of the school. 


I was most fascinated by the teaching of writing (in Braille) and Maths (of course). The inspirational methods of teaching to suit the pupils needs are fantastic. For Maths to write out a sum they had a metal peg that must have been a dodecagon with a line across it which was turned 36 degrees to represent each different number which placed in a peg board. The operator signs were done in a similar way but with the other end of the metal peg. I then just wanted to know how they took Maths further and regret not asking.

The school fits in with the theme that keeps coming back - that of transformation. These are people who might not have had a future, but given this opportunity to learn are able to get jobs (and so often are welcomed back by their families) and go to university. All of this again motivated by the love of God. 


I was reading again when Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment is. He says love God and love your neighbour as your yourself. The Divine School is an example of a vision motivated by that love for neighbours, seeing the potential in all, using that love to change lives.


The school has expanded a lot since the beginning... from a few small classrooms to a new two storey with the potential to be three storey building. The vice principal was very aware of and blessed by God's provision.

This afternoon we went shopping with Rebecca, who has come back to India for a second time after coming with a BMS Action Team. This was a totally different experience to the market. We were sat down as we looked around with a cup of chai..... less pressure, more browsing time! The shop looked like a whirlwind had hit it after we left - I think they showed Louise every top in the place.....but it was nice to be looked after and see another bit of Kolkata shopping.

Big Life continued....

The second day out in the villages with the Big Life Ministries. This time we went south and it was a much shorter drive with less pot holes. It rained for most of the day on and off so it was much cooler but a lot more muddy!

Walking through the village was a surreal experience and felt like a dream. There were palm trees on every side, the road was too narrow for a normal car (but could fit an auto-rickshaw, just about !), there were green pools and brown pools surrounding us, goats and cows and chickens that were not concerned about human company. It was beautiful.

We began at the local Big Life House Church, which was mostly women, a few men and a couple of children. We sang songs and shared testimony. The testimonies of the women were ones of blessings through the small things when life is really hard. We were told that for some of the women, as they had converted to Christianity, their husbands resented it, and as a consequence their home life became difficult. I really felt for these women who had all sorts of other troubles, around poverty and family life but who could still testify to God's greatness. We spent some time praying for the women before they left to go further into the village. 

The rest of the day was taken up by going to homes to which the church had been invited to pray for the house and to talk to them about our faith. This kind of thing seems alien in a western culture where we keep our selves to our selves in our houses and don't like being intruded on. In this situation, however, it felt natural and welcomed, even when the householders disagreed with the people from the church. Most of the conversations were conducted in Bengali, but it was interesting to watch and listen to the conversations to try and understand what was happening. 

It has been really interesting to be part of Big Life the last few days and to see how they work. Their passion and commitment sets a great example and is something we all commented on. There is so much we can learn from that at home......

Big Life

Sunday - Church - arrived in a hall rented from a Methodist building to the Big Life Church. It was an English speaking service and felt very familiar. The chairs were out when we arrived, but the rest of the setting up was still going on (reminding me of setting up at Junction in Derby every week). At first we thought the service looked a bit empty but the congregation gradually trickled in and by 10.35am the church was reasonably full. The preacher was Brazilian, but am not sure where from, and preached for a long time! We had that dreaded 'will the visitors please stand up' moment but after that we were handed a welcome pack with a pen, a bookmark and a tract along with some other stuff..... the service finished and then we joined them in a small cup of chai, which as sweet tea goes was very nice! Sunday was finished with rest and watching Andy Murray lose in the tennis with a picnic tea in the boys bedroom.


Monday - we travelled north out of Kolkata to a small village on the border with Bangladesh. The village was in the middle of human made ponds where we could see people fishing for shrimps and crabs between the brick works. It was like being by the sea side in smell (most of the time) and breeze, which made things feel good!

When we arrived at the village the Big Life Ministries were serving the community through a health clinic and then through distribution of medicines. The queues for the clinic were huge but the crowds got bigger as we arrived! There was a football match going on in the pond next to the building we were in (yes, IN the pond) which was very interesting.... 

It wasn't long before we were approached by a woman who wanted us to go and pray in her house. We walked with one of the Big Life Pastors down to her house - a mud hut about 10 minutes walk away - and gathered children on the journey fascinated by our cameras and our strange hats I think! On arrival in the house we told some stories, sang some songs, and then Rosemary gave a short message which was continued by the Big Life Pastor who continued to preach in Bengali. It was an honour to be inside the house and view the relationships being built. We were offered a cup of chai and biscuits and felt like honoured guests. 

After leaving the house we walked back up the road and there was a shout from the back. A  man had asked Andrew and Louise into his home as his daughter had a fever. He wanted prayer. It was an honour to be standing at the back and be part of that and as we read the story of Jairus' daughter tonight that experience brought a different view point on that story. The Father later went to get the doctor from the clinic and we prayed for her again tonight that God would answer our prayers and work through the medicine. 


We spent some more time with the children, although the heat was getting to me (it was HOT), so I missed some of it. The people in the village were very open to the visitors and appreciated hearing what they had to say.


Let's see what tomorrow brings.