India Mayterm 2007

Dean of the Chapel and Mrs. John Brittain led a mission team of nine Houghton Students and one alum on a three week trip to southern India during Mayterm, 2007.  Working mainly with Youth For Christ of India under the direct supervision of the National Director, Prabakaran George, the group’s desire was both to learn about the Christian Church in this overwhelming Hindu nation of 1.1 billion persons (The national newspaper is The Hindu) and to be involved in direct ministry. They prepared songs, skits, puppet ministry and testimonies prior to leaving for India on Monday May 14.

After thirty-six hours and ten time zones of travel, the group landed in Chennai (formerly Madras) early on Wednesday May 16.  In Chennai they visited the Ragpickers School a residential institution for street boys begun by Youth for Christ (YFC).  The group ministered in song and shared testimonies with the residents of the home and learned about it program which prepares the student educationally as well as vocationally as carpenters.  A parallel non-residential program works with young women preparing them in tailoring and art.

The group then flew to Bangalore where they stayed at Horeb, a YFC retreat facility where a state-wide conference for YFC volunteers was taking place.  The group ministered in song and skit at the conference and Dean Brittain addressed the conference three times on scriptural leadership principles through an interpreter.  Bangalore the group visited the studios of FEBA, the Far Eastern Broadcasting Association and the headquarters of the Indian Bible Society, in each case meeting with the executive director. They leaned of the dramatic strides the church is making in the face of mounting persecution and were reminded of the words of the great north African Church Father Tertullian that “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.”

The team led Friday morning staff worship at the Bangalore Baptist Mission Hospital and toured that facility as well as a hospital run by the Church of South India (CSI).  They had the opportunity to visit the campuses of two Bible Colleges, the headquarters of India Evangelical Missions (IEM), an indigenous Christian mission-sending organization, and an independent children’s’ home begun by a graduate of Asbury Seminary.  They also assisted in leading worship in a Tamil-language congregation at which Dean Brittain preached through an interpreter. The team then traveled south to Kanyakumari where they joined a nation-wide YFC Staff Conference in progress at the Peace Trust Center.

Once again the team led in worship at one of the conference sessions while Dean Brittain spoke three times, now in English.  While in Kanyakumari, the group ministered and interacted the students at a CSI tailoring program, led opening worship and assisted with classes at a large CSI Vacation Bible School as well as leading worship for a VBS at a local Salvation Army Church and doing some physical labor.  They had the opportunity to visit two notable tourist sites in Kanyakumari by boat:  the Vivekananda Rock Memorial built in 1970 to honor the later 19^th/early 20^th century Hindu Swami who spoke at the 1893 Congress of World Religions in Chicago and the Thiruvalluvar statue dedicated to the honor of the ancient Tamil poet and sage which was dedicated in 2000.  A measure of the scope of the Boxing Day 2004  tsunami was brought home by the fact that the waves reached the neck of this statue which measures 95 feet and  is placed on a 38-foot-high pedestal    At the conclusion of the conference the team  moved a few miles to Nagercoil, their final ministry location.. 

On Sunday May 27 the team ministered at the morning service of a SA church in Nagercoil at which Dean Brittain preached through a Tamil interpreter. In the afternoon they were privileged to participate in a special area-wide Salvation Army Youth Conference in a church immediately adjacent to a Hindu Shrine.  As Hindu and Christian music competed in volume, the Youth Conference concluded with an old-fashioned Salvation Army procession through the community complete with bass drum and singing. The next day they traveled to a third SA Church to once again assist with a VBS Interestingly, a wedding had been scheduled at the SA Church concurrent with Bible School, the group was able to witness the wedding with the Brittains and the Houghton Team being treated as honored guests.  In Nagercoil the group spent a long day assisting a professional crew laying the cement room/ceiling and a new building to house a YFC tailoring program for survivors of the tsunami which took a heavy toll on this southernmost tip of India.  Their final ministry opportunity was at a remote CSI congregation where they led VBS.

They also had the opportunity to flag down a passing elephant for rides!