So my journey has led me once again to distant places. I am residing now in Dehli, India for this last day till I am off to a village about 7 hours away by train. My stay so far has not been short of action. One of the main reasons for my coming was to come and be with the Dalit people and to come help support and see those who fight on their behalf.
On my first day here, our tour guide, an Indian man named Josee (a team member of Operation Mobilization) took us to meet one of the Dalit politicians...a man namd Outee Raje. He is a leader who has begun his own political party to fight for the rights of the Dalit people, very similiar to a Martin Luther King figure I guess. Whats interesting about him is that he is not a Christian, but he is encouraging the people to become Christians, because he knows that Christianity would eliminate the caste system in India. So OM has been helping him in his cause to bring social justice to the Dalit people, who are among the poorest of the poor in India.
Well when we met him, we were attending one of his public rallies in downtown Dehli. Now he knew about our connection or affiliation with an organization called Dalit Freedom Network. He has been to the states many times and even before Congress to ask for the U.S. support on these human rights issues. So, when he saw us, we were immediately escorted to him and sat at the podium next to him as he spoke to the people. Haha, definitely made me nervous. We, Dan and I, were adorned with flowers, handshakes, and were escorted along with him in his political convoy through Dehli to go to the next public place where the same thing would go on. So our attempts to be low key sorta failed you could say.
Some things that caught me off-guard: there are definitely cows just chilling in the road here, roaming around like a lost dog, everyone here wears pants all the time, everyone here wears a collered-shirt as well, IIT college puts out 100,000 engineers a year here. As far as issues concerning the church and India's history there is much I do not know.
I had not really given thought before to the real spiritual darkness the caste system has brought here. For they believe that the system was God's design and will. This is most significant, for then it is God's will and desire that this injustice is occurring. In the caste system it tells those of low caste that they will be nothing and are nothing to God and everyone else. If you are lucky enough to be in a tribe, you do not even have a soul. However, though the low castes must fight for the rights...I fear they do so with a slanted disposition towards their brothers of higher caste. How can they show love to their oppressors? Is it happening? I must say that so far I do not see it, but how could they I wonder? Their "conversion" to Christianity as a belief system, means nothing without the heart change and change to their ways of thinking and living...especially among their brothers of higher and lower caste.
There is an identity problem in the Indian church. For the caste system has infected the church as well. Some leaders here refuse to acknowledge the truth of God's love for all men, even those of higher and lower caste. There are church's where everyone is a doctor or engineer...mostly the Brahmin churches. (Sounds like some church's I know back home) where the church is indifferent to the poor and marginalized...(now that sounds just like the church in America, maybe the problems are more similiar than I realize) This blindness helps to explain the heavy darkness in this place, and the lack of change, and unaffect the gospel is having among the people.
Now, I am told that the situation in North India is much different than the South. THe North has historically been a much harder field. Many teams come and go up here. Many cannot stand the intense spiritual struggle and persecution and the hardship of laboring without much visible reward. I was told by my friend who teaches at a Bible college here that the classic mistake by westerners who come here is that they come in a team, without the charchter and spiritual development necessary to be in India long-term. The plan is good, budget is good, vision is good, but the people are all wrong. His advice was to find the right people and then come up with a plan and all. Yes and amen, couldn't agree more.
Being here among the poorest people I have ever seen. I find myself asking the same questions. What is the best way to help the poor? Surely it is not just the financial aspect. Nor is it the educational aspect. Yes I desire for them to be educated and financially well off, but does that solve their problems? Does that give meaning and purpose to life? The cycle of poverty here in India is thousands of years old. What grips me the most about India is the hopelessness of the poor. In the states, if you are goodlooking enough, athletic enough, smart enough, a man/woman could change his/her stars. There are many rags to riches stories. In India there isn't. There was an article in the paper here asking five Dalit boys what they wanted to be when they grew up. You know what their response was...."nothing". Five Brahmin boys asked the same question responded...doctors, lawyers, engineers,etc. Thats whats wrong here. The hopelessness and lack of identity. They do not believe they are loved, nor that they are special. So they live that way. Unreal. Sad to think just the other day I was upset that my car wasn't nicer.
