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Mission Helper Trip to India 2001 Excerpts from the Pastor Todd Ohlmann's Report to the CLC Mission Board August 15, 2001
Participants:
Summary of the Trip: All five participants departed from St. Louis, MO on Sunday July 15th following a special worship service held at Faith Lutheran Church. Pastor Ohlmann conducted the liturgy and Pastor Mike Schierenbeck preached the sermon. As part of the service the participants were asked to come forward to receive a special prayer and blessing upon them and the work they were about to do. We flew on Northwest Airlines from St. Louis to Detroit to Amsterdam to Mumbai and Jet Airways from Mumbai to Chennai. We made all of our connections coming and going. The only major inconvenience was a 16 hour layover in Mumbai. Upon arrival in Chennai Pastor Koenig met us outside the airport where he had arranged for a Tata Sumo to pick us up and take us to the Hotel Melody. We spent the next day just resting up and taking care of a few necessities like exchanging money. The next two and a half days were spent at the first annual Joint India Pastoral Conference. This was a big success! Following the Conference Mike and Peter traveled to Nidubrolu where they spent the next 5 days teaching classes in the Seminary of the CLCI in the mornings and visiting and preaching at congregations in the evenings. Pastor Ohlmann spent four days with Pastor Bas and Pastor Vallaban meeting with the pastors and congregations in the Andaman Islands. (see attached report) Nathan and Karl traveled to Uthukottai almost every day to work with the orphans. On July 29th Peter and Mike went to Nellore to begin their work with the pastors of the BELC Nellore District. Pastor Ohlmann helped Pastor Koenig with quite a bit of painting of the office building at the old BELC site and painting the new building at the new site. On July 31 and August 1 Pastor Ohlmann and Pastor Koenig taught classes to the pastors of the BELC at the new building in Uthukottai On Thursday, August 2, Pastor Ohlmann and Pastor Koenig traveled with Pastor Bas to Nellore to work with the pastors of the BELC Nellore District. Following two days of classes in Nellore, Peter, Mike, Todd and Koenig returned to Chennai. On Sunday we visited two congregations and toured the BELC facilities in Uthukottai and then did some touring. Summary of the Work: It should be noted that this trip truly worked well because of the advanced preparations arranged by Pastor Koenig. All of the helpers had specific work that they were assigned to do by Pastor Koenig. We were indeed there to be "helpers" to him. Pastor Mike Schierenbeck and Mr. Peter Evensen: These two came prepared to deliver papers at the pastoral conference and teach on various subject areas to various groups of pastors, laypersons, and seminary students. They were also told to be prepared to preach in many of the congregations. From what I have been told the teaching and preaching went well and was well received. Pastor Schierenbeck taught lessons in Pastoral Theology using sections of "Shepherd Under Christ" along with lessons on the first few chapters of Genesis. Peter taught lessons that he had prepared from "Pieper's Dogmatics" on Baptism. They both taught in the seminary of the CLCI in Nidubrolu and to the pastors of the BELC Nellore District. They were also given opportunity most every evening to visit and preach at some of the congregations of the CLCI and BELC Nellore District. Overall both of these men expressed a great joy for the work they were given to do. They both commented that they felt the time spent teaching was beneficial to the students. The language barrier is obviously not ideal but they commented that they knew they were getting things across by the depth of the questions being asked and answered. Mike commented that he would have liked to spend more time with the orphans in Nidubrolu but also understood that a mission helper can only do so much. Mike and Peter were also asked by Pastor Koenig to attempt to take pictures of all the orphans for KINSHIP. This was accomplished. All in all, both Mike and Peter were thrilled with the trip and the work they were able to do. Both expressed a desire to one day go on such a trip again. Nathan Greve and Karl Koenig: Nathan and Karl spent their entire time working with the orphans of the BELC in Uthukottai Overall, they made the most of the time they had. Pastor Koenig arranged to have a film strip projector lined up for them to bring over, along with some film strips of Bible stories. They used these each day to teach Bible lessons to children and at the same time taught English. Project Kinship sent $400 to Pastor Ohlmann to purchase items to be used with the orphans of the BELC and CLCI. Several Christian craft projects were purchased by Pastor Ohlmann and given to Nathan and Karl to make use of. These included a cross necklace made of three nails to represent the nails used to nail Jesus to the cross. They also made faux stain glass crosses. One other craft/lesson that Nathan and Karl did with the children was the Color Gospel Bracelets. This project was used to teach them the Gospel message by using colored beads that were to remind them of the Law and Gospel. For example a black bead reminds us of our sins and a red bead reminds us of Jesus' blood and a white bead reminds us that we have been washed clean in baptism. We also purchased an English letters banner to hang in the school classroom which Nathan and Karl used with the children. The remaining funds were used to develop the orphan pictures and to purchase paint for the buildings. Nathan and Karl both commented on how attached they had become to the orphans and how they enjoyed the work. One of the benefits of what they accomplished is the camaraderie and rapport they developed with the children and with the teachers. The warmth that the children had for them at the end of our stay was very evident. It is hard to put into words or a price on the value of this type of expression of Christian love. Pastor Ohlmann: I probably had the greatest variety of work in India. I attended the pastoral conference in Chennai where I delivered a paper titled "Considering Natural Disasters in the Light of Scripture." This timely paper was well received and much appreciated since the topic of natural disasters is quite common in India due to the recent earthquakes, flooding in Orissa and Kerala, and the cyclones and typhoons that seem to be so prevalent in India. I was also given the opportunity to serve as chairman of the conference for one day. Following the pastoral conference I preached at and visited four BELC congregation before leaving for the Andaman Islands where I did some exploratory work with Pastor Bas. (see attached report) After returning from the Andamans I spent a few days painting and working with Pastor Koenig at the old and new sites of the BELC in Uthukottai This was quite enjoyable work. I also spent some time helping Nathan and Karl as they worked with the orphans. During the pastoral meetings in Uthukottai, I taught for about 3 ½ hours on two mornings. I presented a brief lesson on the history of the Pentecostal movements followed by a more thorough examination of the Scriptures that deal with this area of theology. These classes were taught both in Uthukottai and Nellore and were very well received with much discussion and questions. Follow Up Impressions: I can only comment from my own point of view and attempt to share some of the thoughts that the other participants expressed. At the time of this report, responses to a follow up survey have not been given. The general feeling of the group along with Pastor Koenig were positive. Other than the typical traveler's illness that is so common with travel to India the trip went off with out a hitch. Of course there are details that I, as the coordinator, noticed and have learned from and will implement in the planning of the next trip. The work that was done was necessary and done to the glory of God. There is always the thought that since the travel expenses are so costly the work being done must justify the expense. While much of the work that was done could have been done by Pastor Koenig or some of the pastors and workers there, I feel that the benefits of this trip far outweigh the expenses. One of the greatest non-tangible benefits is the first hand, one on one contact that is experienced by the participants and by those they came into contact with. There are no means by which we can properly evaluate the value of the camaraderie and shared Christian love and concern that is enjoyed, experienced and appreciated as like-minded Christians join together in the work of spreading and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There is a very special bond that is developed among the 2001 mission helpers with each other, with Pastor Koenig and with the pastors, teachers, orphans, contacts and members of the CLCI and the BELC. This bond of Christian love and concern will be shared and relayed to the members of the CLC here in the US as the mission helpers go back to school, to their congregations and to their friends. Another benefit of this trip is borne out of the very concept behind the name of the program - "Mission Helper". It became very obvious to me, at least, that we were in India doing exactly what we volunteered to do. We were there helping our missionary. This has to be kept foremost in mind as we plan and arrange trips in the future. Mission helper trips, whether group trips or individual efforts, must keep in mind that they serve the purpose of helping our missionary to accomplish the great load of work we have called him to do. This trip served as an excellent example for the future. The mission helpers were able to accomplish many of the things that Pastor Koenig would like to do but just doesn't have the time for. We were able to teach approximately a combined 60 hours to pastors and seminary students of the BELC and CLCI. We were able to spend many hours working with the children and teachers of the BELC. The exploratory work in the Andamans will allow Pastor Koenig to spend 5 more days working with the mainland India congregations and pastors. Many more congregations were visited than Pastor Koenig would be able to visit since we split into three groups. One other aspect of helping our missionary that should not be overlooked is the Christian fellowship and companionship that he is able to enjoy while Americans visit. Having spent just 5 days alone in the Andaman Islands I can see how lonely it must get for Pastor Koenig while he is away from his family and friends in India. This is a burden that our missionaries must bear but one that can be somewhat lightened by Mission Helper Trips. Of course the greatest benefit of this trip was the spreading of God's saving word to our fellow Christians and the souls who sit in darkness in India. This truth was made so evident as we visited our last congregation on the Sunday before we left. It was a small congregation a few kilometers from Uthukottai We were especially invited because they were having ten baptisms that day. There were six adults and 4 children receiving the washing and regeneration of the Holy Spirit that morning. It was Mike's turn to preach the sermon. As Mike preached the message of Salvation through the blood of Christ I watched out the front door of the church building as several men dressed in saffron robes walked barefoot past on their 100+ kilometer Hindu pilgrimage to honor the false god Ganesha. We were detoured on our way to the church and had to drive across a dry river bed to avoid the ten's of thousands of people who were gathered in the village by the river bed to celebrate and honor the huge idol of Ganesha housed in a Hindu shrine on the river bank. It was somewhat surreal to say the least. I couldn't help but get a little choked up as I sat and listened to God's word being proclaimed with such boldness and love as we sat in the midst of such an obvious display of Satan's darkness and deceit. I can only thank our God that for the privilege, opportunity and joy that this trip has provided. Looking to the Future: It is my enthusiastic recommendation that the Mission Board give permission to begin planning another such "Group" Mission Helper Trip for the summer of 2003. I believe that the Lord has certainly blessed this year's effort in many ways and I personally look forward to seeing His hand at work again in two years. After talking with Pastor Koenig at length we came up with the concept of planning a similar "group" trip for every other year. In addition to planning and organizing a "group" trip, the Mission Helper Committee could also take upon themselves the task of making other individual opportunities known to the members of the CLC through e-mail and bulletin inserts. This would allow individuals to plan their own trips (such as the Hansens and Bades have done). There are many things that I, as the trip coordinator, learned from this trip that will be implemented in future trips. Some of these ideas and lessons will be discussed among the mission helper committee members and then a proposal for the ongoing work of the program will be forwarded to the Mission Board for approval. If you have any questions or concerns about this trip or the program in general please feel free to ask. In Christ,
Todd Ohlmann |
