IndiaGreetings to you all from the Cameron highlands, Malaysia, where I am recovering from a tough, eventful visit to 5 places in south and west India.
The trip went well, thanks largely to your prayers, and I saw miracles of guidance and preservation and God’s blessing on the teaching to bible school students and pastors. Public meetings in churches or in the open air in tribal villages were fruitful too. My health and energy stood up well to the travelling and the many hours of teaching, and I was very conscious at times that people were praying. Here are some details of the answers.

27 Jan. Left Kuala Lumpur on the evening of Holocaust day and arrived Bangalore about midnight, to be met by leaders of Village Reach India, who aim to reach all the thousands of villages of Karnataka state, the least evangelised in south India

28 Jan. I planned to start my tour in Surat, a big city in Gujarat state north of Bombay, now called Mumbai. Travel is much easier now in India due to cheap airlines, but there were no flights there from Bangalore so I had to fly to Mumbai in the evening and hope to catch a train from there. After some rest and shopping during the day I flew to Mumbai by 9.30 pm to discover the ticket booth for rail travel had just closed! But I was able to catch a bus from the airport to a nearby mainline railway station…5 rupees plus 5 for my bag.. And discovered that the Bhuj express left in about 1 hour and I was able to get an air-conditioned berth for the 5 hour overnight journey. Could not sleep much as there was a cold draught from the window that I could not completely plug. On arriving at Surat station about 3 am I felt I could not wake my contact there so tried to find somewhere to rest. After being refused entry to the first class waiting room I appealed to the stationmaster, who allowed me in, so I was able to stretch out in comparative comfort.

29 Jan. Rang my friend Johnson George about 7.30 and he came to fetch me and I spent the day resting at his flat. He and his wife Susan lead a group called Good news ministries, with several churches in Gujarat state He had a phone and internet in the flat, and I recalled that, when I first came to India with Johnson’s father in 1984 hardly anyone had a phone, and his father had to wait 7 years for one as he would not pay a bribe. Surat too is much cleaner than when I first visited it, and is a fast growing city with a big diamond industry and several new flyovers. Pastor Regu from a local brethren church called in during the evening and we had some prayer.

30 Jan. Today was the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination in 1948, and 2 minutes silence was observed at 11 am. After a late start we went by jeep to the inland town of Vyara, where Johnson has a house with office and church. He oversees 5 churches and visits 7 others that are independent and self-governing now. His ministry has visited about 100 villages since he came to Surat in 2001. In the evening about 12 of his workers gathered and I spoke to them by interpreter.

31 Jan. Got a good rest and took the 2nd session of the day with the workers for about 1 hour on various motivational themes. One worker had been healed of dumbness and was so grateful he gave some land in his village for a church. Prayed for one pastor, San Mukh, who had a bad foot. Returned to Surat later in the afternoon and the roads were quite crowded with bullock carts hauling overloaded trailers with raw sugar cane to the factories for processing. Had some nice food at Johnson’s place and chatted to his 3 growing children, who all love the Lord. In a recent survey in a national newspaper, people of various religions were asked if they would change their religion if reincarnated. Only one group said 100% not the Christians.

1st Feb. Had a quiet day and did some shopping. Discovered that Johnson’s son Ashish was 12 so we had a birthday buffet in a nearby restaurant.

2 Feb. Fasted today after the big buffet and we travelled back to Vyara in the afternoon in readiness for the service the next day. It was a nice crisp sunny day, but I was told it was very cold for the time of year and that lots of crops had been damaged by frost. So much for global warming!

3 Feb. Sunday we were up early for a visit to the village of Doswada which I have been to at least twice before. it is known locally as Sodom and Gomorrah but after a lot of persistence a church was established, in fact there are 2 churches as another ministry came along and took away half Johnson’s congregation! But it has built up again and about 100 sat on the hard floor of mixed mud and cow dung, which keeps away the mosquitoes. The first rain since august had come overnight. As everywhere in India, the men sit on one side of the church and the women on the other. The children sit anywhere. Spoke on various themes by interpreter and discovered afterwards that what was said was very relevant as the church had been through a recent upheaval. Very few wanted prayer for healing as they had been taught basic hygiene, i.e. boiling all drinking water. I received a gift after the meeting which was so unusual that I have not opened it. The church has been taught to be self sufficient and not to rely on overseas gifts. In the afternoon we travelled about 1 hour by jeep to Navapur for the 2nd leg of the tour. There was a huge jam at the border between Gujarat and the neighbouring Maharashtra state, mostly of heavy goods lorries, so we turned off the main road and after about 10 minutes on the country lanes we saw our objective, a huge new building of the Native Missionary Movement (NMM) with a big illuminated cross, which was almost completed and due to open in June. Johnson left me here and I met pastor Regi who runs the bible training school at which I was to teach over the next 10 days.

4 to 14 Feb. The campus at Navapur consists of an English medium school for about 100 young pupils, an orphanage, a church, a small bible training school, some rabbits, doves, chickens and a peahen. All the schoolteachers come from Kerala state in the extreme south of India. Navapur also has an annual convention in November where up to 50,000 mostly tribal Christians gather. After last year’s record attendance a western Christian saw the need and offered to pay for a big new building so that the work could expand. It is on 3 floors and has classrooms, dormitories, a dining hall and conference room. It can take up to 100 students, but has only 7 at present because potential students were frightened off by opposition and persecution by militant Hindus. For this reason it is being called a leadership training centre, and will teach music and computers as well as theology. During the day I taught for about 4 hours on the beatitudes and the book of revelation, and gave the students a test on each at the end, which they all passed. In the evening there was little to do as the site was quite isolated and there were power cuts daily from midday to midnight…just when you need electricity! So I was able to rest quite a lot, cut down on my food and fasted for 5 days which gave me new energy and a 5 kg weight loss! I stayed in the school and was woken every morning at 8 am by the banging of a drum, after which the schoolchildren sang the national anthem and did some laughter therapy before classes; a lot of cooking i.e. chapatti is done on wood fires. The weather was beautiful but it was cold at night. On 5 evenings I went out with pastor Regi and another translator Samuel to different villages. Bhondambla..Pastor Datu, Payarveer..Pastor Jayanti, Kilwanpada..Pastor Kanthu, Karanjikhurd..Pastor Panthu Vasave, and Bhilmanjara..Pastor Kasiram. These are villages of the Gavit tribe and crowds of up to 1000 sat on the ground to listen to the messages, despite the cold weather. Some had come from other nearby villages. About 75% are illiterate. Pastor Regi advertised the new training school at every meeting. I felt the messages went across well thanks to prayers for good communication. This part of Maharashtra state has been well evangelised, and over 20 ministries operate here, and some of their churches could be seen as we drove along the main road. Sometimes churches change their allegiance if offered a better deal. Pastor Mirajibhai, who runs about 30 churches in nearby Gujarat state, came to visit me one day. He had been in a serious road accident but seemed completely recovered after hospitalization and prayer. So despite a heavy schedule and somewhat primitive conditions I felt quite refreshed at the end and a pain I had in my right foot had virtually gone. Thanks to a friend in Kuala Lumpur I was able to leave some quality chocolates for the teachers and the cook, and I had enough to do this at all the places I visited. These are much appreciated.

15 Feb. This was a travelling day and a jeep took me to Surat in the afternoon. After dinner with pastor Blesson and his relatives at a Biriani restaurant I got the midnight train to Mumbai and I was not sure where to get off for the best connection to the airport, so prayed about it. A man in my compartment knew exactly what I should do so I followed his instructions and after a short auto rickshaw ride from a suburban station I got to the airport at 5 am in good time for the 8 am plane to Bangalore.

16 Feb. Arrived Bangalore 10 am and the VRI brothers were there to meet me and took me to pastor K S Samuel’s house where after a sleepless night I rested for 18 hours in preparation for the Sunday service.

17 Feb. Sunday up early for a visit to the church of Binu and Sabu, 2 of the VRI leaders. The message went down well and about 15 people raised their hands after the appeal for those willing to give themselves more fully for missions and service for God. They were prayed for. After lunch at an Andhra restaurant, where the curries are really hot, and quite a busy afternoon, a group of us from VRI got the night train to Hubli, a city of about 1 million in northern Karnataka, where a workers conference had been arranged in a rented house. I had a reasonable rest on the train.

18 Feb. Arrived Hubli 5.30 am and we all went to a big house owned by a brother Balavant, a big businessman who was sympathetic to our work. However, our arrival was noticed by some Hindu extremists who informed the police that they suspected that people including a foreigner had come to convert Hindus. This is a sensitive thing in many parts of India, largely because so many Hindus are becoming Christians. So the police came round mid morning and I was advised to stay in my room. They questioned and warned all the workers, some of whom still retained their Hindu names and who were suspected as potential converts. They came round again shortly afterwards and looked into every room except the one I was in! As I was eating lunch in my room the brothers felt I should not stay there any more so I got into a jeep to go to a hotel. 2 minutes after I left the police came round again and made a thorough search. So as I rested in the hotel Balavant smoothed things over with the police and K S Samuel gave the opening message to the workers.

19 Feb. After a quiet morning in the hotel our worker in Theartea, Danappa, came round and took me to an ATM. This is another big change in India, as cash can be got any time in all big towns and cities. Sent off some emails for prayer for the situation in Hubli, and K S Samuel rang later to say the police had been round 6 times that day and he felt it would be better for me to return to Bangalore. In the meantime the conference was moved to Balaam’s main residence in the city centre, which was more private and where he had converted one floor into a church. So there was plenty of room for the 30 or so workers, and I was able to give one motivational message to them before getting the 10pm bus to Bangalore, accompanied by one of the workers, Sunil Isaac.

20 Feb. After a bumpy overnight ride with little sleep got to Bangalore about 7am and stayed at the home of a brother Vesly, where I was well looked after whilst the conference continued in Hubli. Rested most of the day and K S Samuels oldest son Jonathan came round in the evening and I went on the back of his motorbike, crash helmets not worn in India, for food and shopping.

21 Feb. As I had some time on my hands until the others came back from Hubli I hired an auto rickshaw with a Christian driver and had a big shopping day. Bangalore has some good shops. He had a notice on the front of the rickshaw. Jesus is the way to heaven. A useful thing to know when driving on India’s dangerous roads. Jonathan came with me. In the evening I went to Sabu’s house to speak to a small mixed group who meet regularly for prayer and fellowship. The children recited scriptures and sang songs.

22 Feb. Another fairly quiet day, visited the home of a brother Das who I met near an ATM machine and visited some Christian bookshops. Moved to K S Samuel’s home.

23 Feb. Today was the graduation day for one of the VRI converts, Veena, from a high caste Hindu village family who opposed her conversion. She left her village and came to Bangalore and VRI paid for her to study at the new life bible college for 3 years. She did well and got a special prize for her spiritual life. She will work with VRI in the office and villages. 60 people graduated and a group of students and teachers sang the hallelujah chorus unaccompanied. It sounded good!

24 Feb. After a Christian nurse came round to take a blood sample I went with Binu and Sabu to the church pastored by Sunil Isaac on the outskirts of Bangalore. The congregation was almost entirely nursing students from 6 colleges, all from Kerala state, so the message was translated into their language by Sunil Isaac. After giving a testimony and speaking on how to prosper and succeed in life I gave an appeal for people to stand for salvation. No one responded, and I realized later that people from Kerala are notoriously shy and in any case felt inhibited in front of fellow students. But I felt the message went home and I shall have to wait until the next life to find out who responded in their hearts. A power cut occurred half way through the message so I had to speak louder to compensate, no mic., there are power cuts daily throughout India; sometimes 3 or 4.

25 Feb. Had a quiet day and the workers came back from Hubli and K S Samuel said they would have another conference at John Vesly’s place where I could speak.

26 Feb. This was a medical day as I got the results of the blood tests and visited Wockhardt heart hospital where I had been treated about 3 years ago. The test results were good and the specialist was satisfied and signed a letter I had prepared saying I needed more exercise. I faxed it later to the organization in Jerusalem to which I had applied for voluntary work, and they accepted me, much to my surprise.

27 to 29 Feb. Most of this time was spent teaching about 12 workers from the book of revelation, and answering questions. We had a good time and they left happy, after giving testimonies that they had never had anything so deep yet so simple, and with humour! So although I was prevented from speaking in Hubli I was able to give some teaching in Bangalore instead.

1 March. After a quiet start and some emails at K S Samuel’s place I got the 6 pm flight to Ahmedabad, a city of about 5 million people, where I was expecting to work with the local NMM pastor. However after arriving about 8 pm and waiting for about 30 minutes I realized that no one was coming to meet me. So I prayed and I think others did too because God did a miracle. As I was wandering around outside the airport thinking I would get a taxi to a hotel in the city and look for a church next morning an Indian man asked me if he could help. I explained my predicament and on looking through my diary I noticed some mobile phone numbers including that of Joy Punnoose the president of NMM who lives in USA but who was in India at the time. He was busy in Orissa state where some churches and Christian homes had been burned down by fanatics whilst the police looked on. The man used his mobile phone to ring the numbers and I got through eventually to Joy who said their local pastor was in the Middle East and could I go to Udaipur! The Indian man got me a taxi to the railway station and refused any payment for the phone calls. On reaching the station I discovered an overnight train left for Udaipur in about 1 hour, and I could get a sleeper seat. I also got a 50% discount because of my age! So the timing was perfect and after a fair rest on the train I arrived at Udaiput 7.30 the next morning and got an auto to the bible school campus.

2 March. Sunday. The people at the Filadelfia centre..NMM.. were surprised to see me even though Joy had told them I was coming. But after freshening up a bit I was able to speak at their morning service, to a congregation of about 500..the biggest in the city I think. The campus is on the outskirts of Udaipur, a beautiful city with lakes and palaces, and surrounded by fields and a lot of bird life. They have a school for 400 poor pupils. They charge less than half what the 6 catholic schools in Udaipur charge. Care for about 60 orphans, and have 110 students in the bible school, 24 of which are ladies. They have about 900 workers in north India and supervise about 1200 churches.

3 to 13 March. I spent this time teaching the students twice daily at their chapel service on the book or revelation, plus 2 or 3 question and answer sessions. These were quite interesting, especially on the subject of marriage, which is not discussed much. I was asked whether they should have a love marriage or an arranged one. Most marriages in India are arranged by parents or pastors and love marriages mean elopement. So I said they should have an arranged marriage….by God. Communication was good and the students were appreciative. This centre had a very good cook and I had some good curries. A Canadian family were visiting whilst I was there. On 9th I visited the town of Kankroli about 1 hours bus ride away with camels, elephants, tame peacocks and donkeys on the mountain roads to the town. About 40 came to the church and I was quite surprised when after appealing at the end about 12 people said they had become Christians that morning. I think the pastor was surprised too!

13 March night. Got the 10 pm bus to Ahmedabad that dropped me off at about 3 am a 20 minute walk from the airport. So I had a long wait before the 9 am flight to Bangalore, another sleepless night!

14 to 16 March. My last weekend was spent in Bangalore and visited the J P colony just outside the city for a brief message before a final lunch with the workers and catching the midnight plane to K.L. My bag was very overweight but just as I was about to be checked in they switched me to the first class queue where baggage weight is not so important, so there was no problem. Spent the evening with pastor Anbu and his family, who had just got back from a visit to Malaysia where he stayed at my flat. So I felt that prayer had been answered in many ways and although I felt tired on getting back to K.L. after another sleepless night I feel better now after relaxing in the highlands and before my 3 month work in a food bank in Jerusalem starting 23 April. Your prayers have been so helpful and I appreciate your fellowship very much. To God be the glory!

Bill Yates

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