I have been in the village sielmat, India for the past couple weeks – it’s that little chunk of land in northeast India that looks as though it should belong to China. It is quite safe and we have incredibly gracious hosts that cook our food, give us clean water, and house us in their newly built dorm. We are using the facilities of the trinity college and seminary (TCS) that our hosts are running. TCS offers extensive education, including a full masters of divinity program, and is under the umbrella of the organization we are partnering with, bibles for the world (BFTW). It is headquartered in Colorado Springs and has sent bibles to 150+ countries. The CEO of BFTW, John Pudaite, has gotten to know some of us throughout our ministry.
Sielmat is a pretty isolated village with dramatic mountains surrounding it. A 15 minute walk will get you into more populous areas of the surrounding city streets. Locals are welcoming and helpful in informing us of the area. The people here are split up into surrounding villages that each have their own unique dialect; however, peoples of differing villages can still communicate with one another.
Our hosts have been intentional about informing us of their village history with the gospel. The gospel first came to this part of India a little over 100 years ago by way of a British missionary. They celebrated the centennial of the coming of the gospel in 2010.
John Pudaite’s father, Rochunga Pudaite, completed his doctorate in Chicago and learned how to translate the Bible into the local language of Hmar. Unfortunately, he passed away last year. The people in Sielmat celebrate his life as a hero since he was responsible for bringing the gospel to the locals in their native tongue.
As a result, the majority of the people in this part of India are Christian. The gospel has spread so rapidly, it is quite astonishing. The vast majority of the rest of India practices Hinduism.
So what have we been doing here?
We have been doing construction on church buildings (moving bricks and dirt), painting the local school, teaching elementary students, making gauze pads for the local hospital, praying over patients, VBS, and befriending the local children. TCS is growing quicker than they can build, so it has been a blessing to assist them in a smooth transition to a larger program.
Our squad is split up into 8 teams which are sent to various ministry sites every day depending on the current need. Some teams are combined for especially large and taxing projects.
Keep praying for our squad and ministry sites. Be on the lookout for another update at the end of the month.
Stay classy
Daniel
