India Report January 2005

Namaste from Kazakhstan!

We are back from a life-changing trip to India. What an amazing country. There are so many people, all quite friendly, many poor. We saw sights – and smells - of desperate poverty and misery. And we saw exquisite beauty. Words and pictures cannot convey the incredible magnificence of the Taj Mahal. We learned much about their rich and varied history. Awesome forts and palaces of successive conquering rulers continue to speak of their ancient powers. We were impressed by their resolve to build a nation – shown in their refusal to accept outside aide for tsunami relief.

We were in the northern city of Delhi, far inland, when the tsunami struck on December 26. We watched the television pictures in shock like the rest of the world. There are twice as many people just in Delhi – not India’s largest city – than in the entire county of Kazakhstan. We spent about a week touring the northwestern area, the state of Rajasthan. Then we went to Agra, city of the Taj Mahal. From Agra we had a 30 hour train ride to the western coast of Goa – unaffected by the tsunami. There in Goa we enjoyed almost a week along the Arabian Sea – lounging on wide sandy beaches, enjoying fresh fruits and fish, and riding the waves, with very few people. Our time in India was restful, inexpensive, and interesting. It’s quite different to be back in our ‘small town’ of Almaty with just a million and a half people. We seemed to pass that many people just walking around some blocks in India.

I’m sure I’ll sound like a preacher, but I came away very grateful. I do not know why God allowed me to be a fat, rich American. We traveled very light – by our standards – with just a couple changes of our ‘oldest clothes’ but we looked well dressed. It was not unusual to see entire families living in the median strips of congested city highways, in tattered tents with a bunch of half naked children. I have seen the ‘ghettos’ of America, and it is a scandal that they exist, but they’re palatial by comparison. I ‘cruised’ through school – making more memories than grades – while students in India intensely compete with millions of others for the very few places available in Universities. When an ‘outsourced’ job is offered at one of the new communications centers, hundreds of thousands apply for the modest salaried positions. I suppose it won’t be long before I have an extra scoop of chocolate on my Jamoca Almond Fudge, but I hope what we saw continues to challenge my decisions.

We are packing again for a trip. The teaching I was supposed to do in Dushanbe, Tajikistan in early December has been rescheduled to next week. We were unable to get the Tajik visa at that time. Dayna and I will be leaving on Sunday, Aaron will be here with a friend. We will teach an intensive week-long course on “The Trinity” to about 30 ministry leaders.

God is good! Thanks for praying us all through this year. We are very grateful.

May this New Year be one of joy and blessing to you through Jesus Christ – Lord of the Nations, Hope of the World.

Love and prayers, Mark, Dayna, and Aaron Blair