Hinduism is everywhere in India. In particular, roadside shrines attract the faithful. Typically, the entrance to such shrines feature statues of a pair of roaring lions, considered sacred in the Hindu religion. (Interesting -- lions, not native to India, are sacred...
We've spent the last three days making visits to church work going on in various villages throughout the remote ("interior") areas of the state of Orissa in Northeast India.For the first day, we ministered with the Dalit people who live in the coastal area near...
This portion of our journey has been head-spinning, overwhelming, exhausting, and invigorating.But enough of all that. Here are the top five things I'm noticing about India:1. Brakes are optional when driving in India, while horns are mandatory.2. Everywhere American...
So yesterday I spoke on two very different occasions to two very different congregations about two very different subjects.In the morning, it was at the United Church in Bhubaneswar, a city of 1.3 million people in northeast India. I delivered the morning sermon to a...
Here are some odds and ends from our trip. I will give a more comprehensive Friday post later tonight . . . or early Friday morning, Charlotte time.Random notes:The world really is flat, as Thomas Friedman says. While delivering yesterday's sermon in a village with no...
Today we a real highlight because our team was able to visit the Phnom Penh field office of the International Justice Mission.IJM works in the darkest corners of the human race: sexual slavery. Its four-fold mission: ersis1. Victim Rescue2. Perpetrator...
Our final meeting in Phnom Penh was the most important of them all as our GSUMC team gathered with 10 District Superintendents of the Cambodian Methodist Church. We were struck with the courage of these pastors and leaders. Most are the only Christians in their entire...
As I mentioned in Tuesday's post, Good Shepherd's founding pastor Claude Kayler forged a relationship with Cambodian pastor Sopeung Sok in 1999 and 2000.As a result, our church was able to build a church building for Pastor Sopeung's church early in the last decade.So...
On our first night in Phnom Penh, we had a dinner with about 15 United Methodist pastors and young adult leader.I sat down next to a very nice young woman who introduced herself to me. Turns out she is the president of United Methodist Youth in Cambodia. That's a...
Yesterday, I posted that my colleagues and I were on our way to Phnom Penh, Cambodia and ultimately to the state of Orissa in India.So why would we want to travel such great distances to spend 12 days in cultures that are so unfamiliar?Turns out there are at least...