The sun was happily half way
through its morning stroll as we drove into Pollachi on Wednesday afternoon.
Jim, Aaron and I were excited to see where the new church would be built-but
little did we know that we would begin by seeing where its members met at
present. In-between two rough walls sat a beautiful congregation of brown eyed
brothers and sisters! The little roof was a patch work of bamboo sticks and
straw, and maybe a little tin too. A young boy played a simple beat on his drum
and their Tamil worship continued, but with a little white skinned distraction
interspersed. I was invited to lead an English song, and Jim found it necessary
that I use the tambourine happily quieted at his end of the table in front of
the church. So I very Pentecostally shook it and led them in “Every Move I
Make.”
The Pastor of this humble church
began to express to us the measure of their gratitude for our commitment to
fund the building project. He explained that just outside of the curtain
hanging behind him was a wash area for clothes-which in India is quite
a loud process. Clothes are first soaked in water, then scrubbed on a sheet of
metal with a brush or just hand and rinsed. The whipping action for drying the clothes is
what is so loud though. Little concrete squares are lashed with the clothing to
beat out the water. This was cause enough to need a different location in my
mind, but he continued. Chili peppers were gathered in large baskets just
outside and were popped and divided by workers daily. He explained to us that
often his congregation would sneeze and cry because of the potent and
irritating scent. The rent for their small space was high and did not allow for
room or functionality for any type of celebration, growth in numbers, or
sustainability. The heart that spoke to us, as a leader in his congregation,
was humbled and blessed by the visual and tangible expression of grace being
given in the financial gifts of those we were simply their to convey as
Ambassadors from Hope Church, and ultimately our Savior!

After meeting with the congregation
we were taken to the location where the building will begin being constructed.
The plot of land that has been purchased is nestled up close to plenty of
opportunity to reach their neighbors for Christ. Pray for the pastor and the
church as this will also cause potential confrontation to have a church built
in a staunch Hindu area. It is a blessing to know that our church in America has been able to collaborate with a
church in India
to simply obey the desires of our Lord!
While we were looking around the land, some of the villagers came up and wanted to see one of the guys in our team, Vince. They began calling him Tom Cruise and wanting his picture. At first it was funny and we all enjoyed a laugh, but then the crowd increased and it became a bit more aggressive. Jonathan asked that we get in the bus and we all obliged without much hesitation. The door of the bus was even crowded with villagers trying to reach out for one more touch of famous flesh! It was a really interesting experience, and I think that "Tom Cruise" will now be known in that village where the church is being built. Vince does not really resemble Tom Cruise, but Aaron, who is definitely not Asian at all was called Jet Lee, and that made us laugh really hard!!!
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