Herb Hoefer
Update
31 January 2006
Family and
Friends,
I thought of one more dimension of the discussion I had with the Muslim
group in Nagpur. They have a strong conviction that their beliefs are
totally rational and that their conviction that the Qur'an is the final
truth from God is totally based on reason. I insisted that every religion
asserts that its scriptures are the total truth from God. The acceptance of
such an assertion is a matter of faith. They asserted that their
conviction was not a matter of faith but founded totally on rational
reason.
Orthodox Muslims really believe that the message of the Qur'an in its
original Arabic is completely convincing if one would only use reason. If
people would just read the Qur'an in its original, they would be convinced
of its truth. For them, the Qur'an is the equivalent of Jesus'
Incarnation. We Christians would assert the same: "If you would just meet
Jesus, you would be convinced of His divinity."
I had the opportunity to visit the "Seva Ashram" ("seva" = "service,
"ashram" = place of spirituality") yesterday. Its founder, Tonbaba, is from
Holland. Unfortunately, he is stuck in Germany just now, trying to get
his visa renewed to return to India. His nephew is a volunteer at the
ashram, and he told me
his story. For 17 years, Ton ("baba" is a term of affection and respect in
Hindi) was a drug addict in Amsterdam. One day someone didn't have cash for
his drugs, so he offered Ton a Bible instead. When Ton got home, he just
opened it to the first passage that fell on his eyes: Rev. 3:20 ("Here I
am! I stand at the door and knock....") He gave his life to the Lord, went
cold turkey, and joined a Christian rock band. Ten years ago the tour came
to Delhi, and Ton witnessed the homeless on the streets. He rented a house
to care for some of them and eventually got support from German donors to
buy land for an ashram about 1 1/2 hours from Delhi.
Now there are over 100 former street people living at the ashram. They have
a school for 12-15 mentally retarded children and medical care for the
people's various ailments. They also make trips into the city to help the
homeless get care in gov't. hospitals and to bring them to the ashram if
they desire. Their biggest challenge is the teenage boys. They never had
the opportunity to develop their intellect. They just
lived from day to day. The youth need intellectual training and practical
skills so they can cope with normal society.
They have accommodation (10'x10' rooms, common toilet) for foreign
volunteers. Usually there are 6-7 volunteers, usually from Europe. I
discussed with four of them. One young girl was returning to go to teachers
college in Germany soon. She was quite disturbed about this move because
she knows she won't feel nearly the meaning in life that she feels now with
the retarded children at the ashram.
The long-term volunteers said that people really need to commit for at least
2 months to be able to do anything worthwhile. Six months is the best,
especially when working among the mentally retarded. The areas in
which they can use volunteers are:
-
crafts
-
alternative education (e.g., drama) for the teenage boys
-
physical/occupational therapists
-
medical doctors/nurses
-
"field workers" (to escort street people to the city hospitals)
The
volunteers, including Tonbaba, seem to manage quite well not knowing Hindi.
Street people know a smattering of English from their interaction with
tourists.
Almost all of the staff and volunteers are Christians. I attended their
evening worship, lasting about 40 min. They use the Hindu forms that people
are accustomed to: a painting of Jesus with candles and incense as the
"altar," Christian bhajans (antiphonal songs with the leader, one of the
residents), an
assortment of percussion instruments, prayers at will from the residents.
One of the young men from [name withheld] 's training center came with me.
On the way back, it was fascinating to listen in on the conversation between
him and our Hindu taxi driver. The driver carried on for 45 minutes how he
sees now how the radical Hindu activists have been deceiving people. He
said, "They keep telling us that all these foreigners are coming here to
convert Hindus. But all I see are a bunch of 'Mother Teresas.' They are
following Hindu dharma (righteous living) better than any of us Hindus."
If you want to get more information - or to volunteer! - I think their web
site is <christasevaashram> I do know that Tonbab's e-mail address is:
<tonbaba@delhihouse.org>
"Delhi House" is the name he gave to the original building he rented in the
city. Of course, they need funds all the time, so that's another way to help
significantly.
Tonight I fly to Colombo and my visit with the Lanka Lutheran Church. God
bless.
Herb