India – Day 6

India – Day 6

July 13, 2009, 7:05 pm
Filed under: India Tour '09, Mission

We’ve spent the last couple days in Shimla with our friend Joey and his family.   Its been great to spend time with them.   Shimla is a town built vertically.   It lays on the side of mountains, and the mountains are steep.   The layout of the town is a series of switchback roads.    Its been fairly hazy since we got here, and the weather couldn’t be more opposed to that in Delhi.   Its been cool, and we have had to layer our clothes a bit.

Sunday night,  Sean led worship at a house church gathering.  We had a good meal (chicken and mashed potatoes) and Bible study.   Our plans for a show in a coffee shop in Shimla fell through today, so we decided to just have Sean play outside.   There is a ridge at the top of the town with a pavilion area.  It also has a church, which was built in 1844 by the British  (This whole town was originally laid out by the British).   There has since been a temple built next to the church, along with a large statue of Ghandi.    We didn’t get up there till late, and it had been raining off and on all day.  The clouds were rolling over the mountains, and there was a haze at the top.   As Sean was unloading his guitar, a Sikh man came and wanted to inquire about Sean’s beard.  The Sikh’s grow their beards and hair out like Sean’s, but they tie theirs up in turbans.   This man wanted to know why Sean had grown his hair out and what religious significance it had.  Sean was able to share the gospel with that man as he listened attentively, which is surprising since the Sikh are known to be devoted Hindus.  The man said Sean had “peaceful eyes” and knew it was because a Good Spirit rested on him.   We likely won’t get to follow up with that guy, but hopefully seeds have been planted in him that will grow to bear fruit one day.    As Sean began to play, a pretty large crowd developed.  We were able to interact with some of the crowd, but as it got later some of the crowd got rowdy.  The Punjab are a group known for their affinity for alcohol, and several Punjab had gathered.   Some of the others in the crowd told us that we should probably leave, with one man even saying, ” you are too talented for these people.  they don’t appreciate you.”   As Sean packed his stuff and met with some people afterwards,  a large group of the drunken Punjabs started screaming and chanting.   We weren’t sure what they were riled up about, but we knew that it wouldn’t take much for things to turn ugly.  So we headed on back to the house.

In the morning we (Sean, Jay, Joey, and guy from Mississippi named Levi) leave for Dharmsala.   That’s the place were the Dalai Lama is exiled, and there are probably more Tibetans living there than Indians.  We have some contacts up that way, and hopefully have a show arranged at a venue there tomorrow night.    We’ll see what we can do about getting audience with the Dalai…

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