What a Racket
I'm pretty sure when Jesus went out into the wilderness it was to escape from endless noise. The chatter, the marketplace clamor, dogs barking, small children wailing, rent collectors banging on the front door and pharisees making self-serving loud prayers. The same could describe a regular day here in Hyderabad. Walking down the stairs from the rooftop laundry back to our apartment I'm right there with our Lord in the pages of the New Testament. Today the prayer chants are Hindu temple songs or calls to the mosque for prayer. Dogs can and will bark all night. Collectors for rent, debts and chits are always on the prowl. Decent earplugs are a good investment to calm the night's noise.
The message of the gospel in this raucous land has got to be a sweet one, occasionally a clarion call, but more often than not a quiet word with just one person. That's why India might be the place for you to volunteer your time for WCF. You might think your skills are not the right kind for mission work but if you can sit and talk about the love of God one on one with someone then you are already more than half way there. WCF has at its heart the message of grace and faith and hope and love that Jesus embodied and asked us all to promote.
This is a land where the current political climate means that modern-day disciples live in somewhat of a climate of fear. For the most part control is exercised by endless deliberate bureaucracy to keep Christian charitable work bogged down in paperwork, inspections, suspicion and red tape. Sometimes it spills over into violence - burning down churches, harassment and ostracism, mostly in northern India. In Hyderabad there is a daily struggle with compliance with endless edicts but thankfully everyone can still freely meet for bible classes, memorial meetings and hold camps, cyc, Sunday school and Vacation Bible School.
WCF seeks to support the message of grace and faith and hope and love that Jesus modelled and it has a receptive audience here in this small pocket of India. Practical care, health provision and gospel preaching can thrive right now so it feels like we should make the most of these days of freedom. Hyderabad always been a safe place for us as foreign travellers. We are still a novelty in rural areas and in the back streets of the old city. We are never complacent but we have never felt in any danger, we walk freely everywhere, we feel very much at home.
More than 11 million people live in metropolitan Hyderabad - billionaires, movie stars, tech workers and doctors jostle with goat farmers, street food cooks and sweeping ladies with their brooms. You can use your Uber app or cram onto a rickety bus and weave your way with stretch Hummers, Mercedes SUVs, a million motor bikes and rickshaws and herds of buffalo all using the same stretch of road. It is a constant excitement and privilege to be here in this noisy and chaotic city where there are people interested in learning about God. "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world" Matthew 24:14.