roland william jean 1948 india

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IND I H R IST I N

G o ye into al l th e

tcorlil an d

pr<*fic/i th e f ioapel to every creature. (Murk 16:15)

Vol. H I

THIS IS A SHOPPIN

Wil l iam

The center of every village is t

bazaar. In the smaller places it

consisjts

of simply one street two or three blocks

long. The villages and towns may have

a .square block devoted to the bazaar

or one long street with smaller streets

running off from the

main

one.

One

always knows when he is approaching

tliis section, because of the large crowds

of people and animals.

The

people are

c rowded so thickly

that

it is a

horn

blowing and pu.shing ordeal to get

through in a car.

It is be tter to park,

always being sure to leave someone to

watch the car,

and

go on foot with a

shopping bag.

The

shops are usually one room with

some sort of porch in front. The floor

of the shop is built about waist high so

cus tomers can

s ta nd o n

the outs ide

and

examine the supplies.

The

larger places

are .sometimes arranged so the custo

mer can go in aiid sit while he shops.

Sometimes the front portion is made

so it can be closed in at night to protect

t he me rc h and is e. The

stores are b uilt

very close togethe r depending on how

much the storekeeper has to .sell bu t

they can get enough in a small room to

furnish a good sized s tore in America.

Tiiere is

not much attempt made

at

arranging things and hardly anything

done to clean them. The storekeeper

will sit cross- legged in t he middle of

the porch with his wares laid around

him so he can hand them to pro.spective

buyers. He will have his son or

another

boy

around

to go

into

the store for any

thing he doesn t have handy. Besides

these

permanent

shops

there

arc the

merchants who sit cross-legged by the

side of the street, in fr ont

of

the shops,

with their wares spread ai ound them.

These merchants are most plent iful on

JANUARY, 1948

VmjER IN

INDIA

..l baz_aar days which

come

twice a week,

in

Maudaha

on Tuesdays

and

Satur

days.

First let us go to the provisions store

and get

what

we need.

Here

we see

the owner sitting in the midst of piles

and piles of supplies.

The

wheat looks

pretty good except for the stones

and

dirt mixed with it to add to the weight.

It will take quite a bit of this since no

flour

is

available and we

have to

us e

ground whole wheat exclusively.

If

they

would charge a little more and leave

the

dirt out,

it

would

be

much better

be

cause all the wheat has to be cleaned by

hand, grain by grain, before it is taken

to the mill for grinding. Asit is, though,

1 guess 8c a pound is enough for it.

We won t need so

much

of the rice,

which is 16c a pound, because it

.swells

up and goes much far ther than wheat.

This

man

also has the sugar, so we will

get all ou r rat ions will allow. Because

we

l ive in

a r ur al a re a

we are allow ed

2 pounds per month per person. Vil

lage folk get 1 pound. This sugar would

hardly be recognized as such by the

average American.

It

is coarse grained

and very-dark, sort of a gray color. This

is partly due to dirt

and

partly because

it isn t refined well. When we get home

and

start to

ca t

some, we always think

of the big pile of sugar with flies and

bees helping themselves and.the mer

chant

us ing his toes to assist in measur

ing it, paying no attention to his dirty

children running through the pile as

they play. And then he charges 10c a

pound. Besides the things

that

we buy,

this

man

also has piles of cream of

wheat and native grains, one of which

is dal, something like the yellow split

pea in America.

(Continued on page fou r)

No. 1

MISSION

IR

At

this

Yuletide we would like to

send our Christian greetings to our

fellow-workers the w orld around . We

pray that the fruits of your Gospel

labors may ever increase, and that you

may have health and happiness for your

selves.

To

those

o f ou r

f ri en ds who are

not in the fold of Christ, we would

remind you that we are still praying

for the salvation of your souls.

The

October issue

o f

th e

INDI

CHRISTIAN found your missionaries

of t he Chr is ti an Mission

to

India to

gether at the hill station. Now we have

all returned to Ragaul. Dr. Rothermcl

returned first,

the Rolands and Mr.

Hartcr .second, and Miss Hunt last.

Each succeeding journey became more

difficult,

but

the

Lord

was with us.

Mrs.

Roland

intends

to

write an

account

of these and other Indian journeys in

the April issue.

On October 5th an Anopheles mos

quito got Mr. Roland s range, which

sent him to bed ten days later with an

attack of malaria. Thanks to prayer

and

the new remedy Paludrine he made

a quick recovery.

When informed

that

baggage had

arrived at Bombay, Mrs. Roland made

a hurried trip;

bu t

because of disorder

and confusion prevailing there she had

to return home with many pieces miss

ing.

Later

the American Express located

the missing pieces,

and

on November

4 th Dr. Rothermel

wen t

fo r

them.

Other journeys include three trips by

the jeep to Clawnpore,

and

a business

trip to

jhansi

by Dr. Rothermel.

Mary Esther Roland has found many

playmates here and is learning the lan

guage rapidly. She now asks for a

chummuch

instead of a spoon.

Miss

Hunt

successfully completed

her e xamin atio ns o n October

22nd.

She celebrated by t reat ing

he r

fellow-

missionaries to candied popcorn and a

table game. But wc tire easily and the

party

broke

up

before

nine.

Mr. Har ter

treated well o ve r th re e

hundred patients during October. These

have included such things as malaria,

dy.scntery, pneumonia, boils, ulcers, the

itch, conjunctivitis,

granular

lids, sup

purating ears, colds, and the extraction

o f teeth. He has

extracted five

teeth

here, which raises his

grand

total to

twenty.

The

meat situation has been helped

by our hunters, commandeered by Mr.

Roland, who have supplied us with

such delicacies as a peacock

and

a quail.

A peacock, we find, is

just

like turkey.



THE

I ND IA CHR ISTIAN

Published Quarterly

by

t he Chr is ti an

Mission

to India,

Inc.

Address Abroad: Ragau^, Dist. Hamirpur,

U.

P. ,

India

Forw ard ing Secretary for Dr. Rothermel,

Mr.

and Mrs. Wil li am H.

Roland, Mr.

Ralph

Bar t e r :

Mrs. Grayce

S.

Ensign

90 6 W. 33rd

Street

Laton ia

Stat ion

Covington,

Ky.

Forward ing Sec re ta ry for Miss

Edna

Hunt:

Mr. E. E. Breakenridgc

1910 6 th N. W.

Calgary, Alberta

Canad a

BUSY

DAYS

FOR

ALL

Zoeiiii

S. Rothermel

It

iswith pleasure that I report that all

of our new missionaries have been very

busy helping in many ways since their

arrival. Miss Hunt has also done her

sh re

in helping teach our older boys

for they need it, attending a secular

school as they do.

Last month our evangelists

and

Bible

women were called in f rom th e out

stations and are being taught by Miss

Hunt and Jean each day in the after

noon. Mornings they go to the villages

to proclaim Christ. Jean also has a

class for the older boys once a week, as

Miss

Hun t does. This is besides their

Sunday School cl ss It was thought

best to give thc se classes to the evan

gelists as it has been some years since

they have had any special classes or

study. Then, Ralph

Harter

has been

doing most of the medical work, except

as

he

desires to call

on me

fo r

a

b it

of

advice occasionally. Each day they take

two hours of language with their pandit

so you can know that with the necessary

study they are kept

bu sy

They have

l so helped out on trying to solve all

the problems which arise in the schools

and

elsewhere in

our

work, things which

lake plenty of my time always.

It is good to have a man around who

can mend things, make things, and look

after

various

outside work; and so I

appreciate William s help in many ways

for he has made himself very useful

even though he cannot speak much

Hindi as yet.

Many

hours have been spent in stand

ing outside offices trying to get iron,

which is rationed, in

order

that we

might proceed with ou r much needed

schoolhouse.

After many

days

and

hours

of such waiting we have at last received

the iron rods necessary.

Cement

also

had

to be secured

through

the rat ion

office.

In

November I had to

make anothe r

trip to Bombay to get the freight which

had

been delayed in reach ing Bombay

for ou r new missionaries. On my re

turn journey I was met

part

way home

by Miss

Hunt

and

Jean

(Mrs. Roland)

INDIA

CHRIST IAN

THIS

IS

DAISGER IN

INDIA

Jean

Roland

No doubt you are wondering what

th e a ctu al

r io t cond it ion s

are

here

in

Ind ia . W e sometimes wond er t he same

thing, for even here the newspaper re

ports are not always accurate.

Many

false

rumors

ar e circu la ted, whi le some

times facts arc kept from the public.

I shall try to distingui.sh between eye

witness reports

and

rumors to the best

of my ability in

what

I say now.

It is impossible to tell who actually

s ta rt ed t he trouble,

bu t most of it is

lx;ing carried on by the Sikhs

and

the

Moslems. They burn a nd destroy homes

and

stores.

They

kill,

and

in

many

cases

instead of killing outright, they wound

the person in

such

a way that death

will be prolonged in agony. In Pakhis-

tan the Moslems

drive out

th e

Sikhs

and

Hindus,

and

throughout Hindustan

wherever

the Sikhs go

they

seek revenge

by destroying whole Moslem villages or

sections of villages.

A Methodist missionary, who came to

India on the Marine

Adder

with us,

recently wrote, Our district evangelists

have not been able to go

out

much,

bu t

have been helping in refugee camps.

. . .

About 5000

refugees

have

come to

Brindaban from the Punjab. Many have

lost all of their goods homes, shops, etc.,

and a good many have witnessed stab-

bings and killings of members of their

own families.

The

things they tell are

that

we together might attend the wed

ding of one of our splendid young men,

Samuel

Nath.

His f at li cr

had

been

ou r

cook at the time Jean was born. About

that

time

he

was married, an d Samuel

is his oldest son. We arc sorry to lose

Samuel in

our Church

work

and in th e

community for he was one of our few

independent Christians who worked in

a

Government

.school which our

older

boys attend, and he was a help in keep

ing track of their progress and of them.

Although he has not had any special

training, he has been hired by Mr. O.

D. johnson as an evangelist. With train

ing he .should make a very good evan

gelist. We had hoped he might stay

here and take training for personal

work and remain independent. We wish

him well and trust he will some day be

as good if not even a bet ter soul-winner

than

his

father

has been, for

he

is now

one of

our

mo.st trusted evangelists.

Since

our last

INDIA

CHRISTIAN

went ou t there have been three persons

in one of

ou r outstations

who

were

taught the way of the Lord more per-

pectly and were obedient to Him in

baptism. In Madras four more Hindu

people have accepted Christ through

the teaching of Brother Manuel Jacobs.

Please

remember

them all an d us in

you r prayers .

terrible. So many here are facing the

winter with no

warm

clothes, bedding,

etc.,

and

already some have not enough

food to eat .

Recently a missionary in Delhi saw

a girl stabbed outside his gate, so he

went to see if she were dead, or if he

could help her. A Sikh, standing near,

saw him

and

warned the mi.ssionary

that

if he went

near

the girl the mis

sionary s life would also be taken.

They

do not

want any

help given to those

whom they

hami.

It is reported

that

in

some cases hospitals have been

warned

not to give help to the wounded, or they

too would be in danger,

and

the refugee

camps have to be heavily guarded to

protect the refugees from those who

seek revenge.

In

October , when Mi.ss

Edna

Hunt

was coming from the hills, the train

stopped

soon

after

it left. There

were

many Gurka troops on the train, and

they

made

a thorough search outside

and

under

t he t ra in for any h idden ex

plosives,

and

then they

entered

every

compartment and searched the baggage

of every native, looking for weapons

and

explosives.

One

missionary who had a

firearm was told to keep it handy,

and

if any trouble start ed to shoot to kill.

Some of tlie troops returned, (probably

to assist in searching

other

trains , while

a good number continued on the train

as guards. Before this method was

adopted

trains

had

been stopped

out

in

the jungle, where there were

armed

Sikhs or Hindus who pulled off

and

killed every Moslem on the train.

In some

cities where

there

h as been

rioting the trouble is now reported to

have subsided. We suspect

that

the

reason there are no more incidents is

that

all the Moslems

of

the community

have fled o r

been kil led.

Thus fa r

th e

Sikhs have not

come

into

our

district,

and

we hope they will

not , f or that would mean trouble. Our

nearest city, Cawnpore , which is in the

next district, has in years past been a

source of repeated riots

between

Hindus

and

Moslems,

bu t

such rigid laws have

been

made

there that the city has been

calm fo r several years.

It

is said to be

the key city of the United Provinces,

so the au thor it ies are doing all they can

to keep trouble down.

They

know

that

if it breaks there it will probably spread

throughout the

United

Provinces.

At prc.scnt there is practically no

per

sonal danger for the missionary. The

riots

and hard

feelings are between the

Sikhs and Moslems mainly,

and

the

Hindus

to .some extent. The political

leaders, who would be th e ones to

ac t

against tlie missionaries, are too busy

with

other

problems to worry

about

the

missionary.



INDI HRISTI N

Joseph,

Mary,

t he c radl ed Jesiis, and the

Wis e M en

in

an

Indian

Christmas

pageant.

TH IS IS CHRISTMAS IN INDI

Miss

Edn a

Hu n t

To icll of Christmas

in

India I must

tell

of

th e

activities

of

Christmas

1946.

I am sorry we could not tell of this

year

with

our

new missionaries bu t this

must

get to

the

press long before

that

if you arc to read of it before May.

We have been trying to tell the peo

ple here just

what our

Christmas is like,

aud

they can t imagine it as being fun.

We have gifts to share with our family

and

friends, an d then we eat . It sounds

stupid and dull to these people. I hope

you can enjoy this Christmas with us

and

won t think their holiday too dull.

It

is hard to say jus t when Chr istmas

really starts,

bu t

for the small children

(5-8) it started the middle of Novem

ber when they started to work on a

play. They memorized the story of the

birth of Christ as recorded by Luke.

They

learned many of the carols; and

these were worked into a play with

Mary, Joseph, the Shepherds, wise men

and

angels. The play was lovely, for

it was so filled with scripture

and

was

done so nicely for such small chi ldren.

Hou.sc cleaning is the thing that keeps

the women busy, bu t as most of them

iiave only one room it is no t such a job.

I sat in the sun one day trying to get

warm

(it is cold in

India

in December

and

January)

and

enjoyed watching all

the people. One woman was washing

he r hair, an d another was bathing her

children. One was wa.shing he r clothes,

and another was lepoing her floor.

Many

of the homes have earthen floors,

and

to keep the house from being a

dirty dust hole they plaster the floor

with a

mix tu re

of cow manure

and

water. When this is dry it leaves a

hard crust all over an d is rea lly c lean.

Mos t

of

the women s

work is clone out

in

the yard for

it is so much warmer in

the sun than inside the house.

During

the cold months these

people

live

out-

•side except at nights. They cat, cook,

work

and

study in the sun.

Here they call Christmas Big Day

and it is true in many ways. Christmas

real ly star ts on the eve of the 24th. Our

evening services arc usually held be

tween four and five p. m. so people can

get home before dark. The program on

this occasion started a little l ate r th an

usual when

eighty

to ninety crowded

into our living-dining room.

After

a

short devotion

and

a play by the boys

the gifts were given out. Each year the

mission gives clothes to every worker—

a .shirt for the men, dresses for girls,

and

blouses for women. This year there may

be enough old clothes sent from home

to go around, and warm clothes, old or

new, are appreciated. About mid-night

the men start to run about to get things

ready to sing carols.

The

one who plays

the dru ms sits

in

the ox c art an d th e

others walk all through the village. When

they come to the hou.se of a friend, they

may be asked in for tea and sweets. Some

even have a meal prepared for them.

They

return to the bungalow about

6 :30 a.

m.

and close with a final carol

and prayer. It is a thrill to hear

them

sing

of

the

King

of Kings

and

is a

testimony and message to the unbe

lievers.

Christmas day begins with a good

many sleepy people getting their best

clothes on to go to

church

at 9 a. m.

The

women wear their brightest sarics

and some of the children even

wear

shoes.

One

little girl walked to church

with shoes that must have been bought

for

her

the year before,

and

you could

see

that

it was painful for

her

to walk

in th em ; bu t wea r them she mus t for

this was Big Day . The next meeting

was to be at 2 p. m. so there was just

enough time between the two fo r a

quick lunch. This meeting is for all

the people of the village and it was

at

this time that the children gave their

play.

They

did well

and

it was a fine

message for all. The play was fol

lowed by a sermon to unbelievers.

Then

grain was given out to the poor who

c me

By the time the afternoon meeting-

was over we

had

all

decided t ha t

the

celebrating of two Christma-ses in one

day

was too much. We were all tired

enough to go to bed,

but

the dinner

was

ready

— so we made one last

brave

attempt to look alive

and

gathered for

an hours fellowship together. You will

want to

know

what we had, so I will

hurriedly mention some of the things.

We had wild peacock to take the place

of turkey, and we all like it just as well.

We had carro t .salad, sweet potatoes,

Irish potatoes and gravy.

Then

from

parcels from home we had saved cran

berry sauce, fruit cake, fruit, candy and

nuts. I don t think we missed anything

usually considered necc ss ry to this great

feast.

The

candles

on

t he t ab le

and

th e

gifts in the corner made it veiy much

like home.

Friday was sports day and from

9 a. m. till dark they ran race.s, had con

tests and played games. Saturday was

a rest and we were all ready for it.

Sunday the regular meetings were held,

but with all

th e visitors

hom e it made

it a special day. Early Monday morning

things started again.

The

women were

ou t in the back

yard

to clean the rice

and prepare the feast. I spent as much

time helping as I could for I wanted to

know how this food was cooked. They

rented two large brass pots from the

village to cook the food in. It reminded

me of the pictures we see of the pots

tb(; cannibals use to boil the missionary.

The

rice was cooked in one pot, and

the meat and potatoes in the other.

The mea t

dish is much like our stew

without the

thickening,

and

made so

ho t

with peppers we can hardly

ea t

it. When

these people

cut

up an animal for food

they don t waste any meat. I tried to

close my eyes when eat ing

it ;

for it is

best not to know what

part

of the animal

you

are

eating.

bout

fou r

in the af te rnoon the

food was

ready and

one of the boys

was sent to call everyone to

the

feast.

This is still

done

in this

land as

in the

days of Christ. No

one

offered excuses

for they were all ready to enjoy the

food. They all came with

t he ir p la te

and cup and sat on the floor of the big

tent.

The

huge pots were brought in

and

the rice was served in large basins

and

the

meat

in pails.

They servo

no

extras so everyone fills up on rice.

Tue.sday we went about

our

work

as usual and at about 10:30 that night

the bell s tar ted to r ing to call the people

together for the watch-night service.



THESE

ARE TH E SOUNDS

O F INDIA

Ralph R. Harler

India is the soundingcst nation in the

world. I do not say noisiest because

noise annoys, while sounds astound.

(My own definition.)

There is

never

a

time here

when

things arc completely silent, although it

is quietest just before dawn. Whenever

we awake in the middle of the night

there is plenty to entertain us.

The

drums which were beating when we

went to sleep may still be beating. The

bats arc swooshing; the rats arc chew

ing ; the jackals are screaming; and the

crickets are cracking.

During the day the air is constantly

filled

with

th e

sound of

bird

calls.

Be

sides many of the birds we have at

home, most prominently the dove, there

are a hundred birds

we

have never

heard.

With them wc hear th e cows

and the dogs.

The

road past the mission compound

is no Lincoln Highway, but mcthinks it

ca n

boast of more sounds. There

ar c

the o.x-carts with their big iron-rimmed

wheels grinding on the hard-mud road.

There is the sound of a pack of donkeys

laden with bricks. Then occasionally

there

is a motor vehicle with

th e

driver

leaning on the

horn

—

and

these horns

are ferocious almost beyond description.

The losest we have come to a descrip

tion is that they

are

a mixture between

a cow and Donald Duck . At T imes

of Parting the departing guest can be

heard walking along the road wailing

his sweet sorrow. Other times the pedes

trians entertain themselves by singing,

and we think, The Dormitory was

never

like

this.

There

ar e tw o

bells which

are com

mon to ou r ears, th e d in ner bell an d

the

Hindu

Temple Bell; but there are

plenty of clangs. Some cows wear bells,

but more often it is just a couple pieces

of tin. The

metal

anklets

and

bracelets

of th e heathen women

remind

us of

th e

Georgia chain gangs. Every morning we

are

awakened an d summoned

to

m o r n

ing devotions by a clanging of metal,

and

just such an apparatus calls us to

the

Lord's

Day

Sewiccs

and

to

Wcd-

esday night prayer meeting. At the

T H E CHRISTIAN MISSION T O

INDIA

c o MRS. G RAY CE S.

ENSIGN

9 0 6 W 33r d St r e e t

Latoniu

Sta t ion

Covm|;ton,

Kentucky

I N D I A

C H R I S T I A N

Tahsil (Tax Collectors Headquarters)

the time is banged out every hour, but

no t on the

hour .

T he Mohammedan s

are not rung to prayer, bu t we can hear

their vocalist every morning and eve

ning.

It seems

that

one can always hear

voices. There may not be a person in

sight,

bu t

voices can be

heard

from

every side. As one nears the bazaar the

d in

becomes as

voluminous

as the

beach

at

Coney

Island

on a

hot summer aft er

noon.

It

appears

that

there are so many

people here that they must all talk loud

in order to be heard

T h ere a rc o th er sounds w hic h c an be

heard

in ru ra l

areas al l

o ve r th e world:

clashing of buckets, chopping of wood,

chickens, roosters, closing of screen

doors, and the breeze rustling the leaves

of the

trees.

Last but not least arc the joyful sound

of the native brethren at worship —

the singing, the praying, and the preach

ing. And on week-days we enjoy hear

ing the children studying aloud in their

school.

In the evening wc are thrilled to hear ,

This

is the Voice of America (Amer

ican Government Broadcast) ;

and

on

some afternoons it is the postman who

delights us with his,

Here

is a let ter for

you .

T H I S IS

A S H O P P I N G

C E N T E R IN I N D U

(Continued from page

one)

By this time one usually gets hungry,

but it doesn t do us any good to turn

to t he r es ta u ra n t . I t loo ks like th e

other places except for a wide plank

counter across

the fron t over which

things are served. The food isn t pre

pared in a kitchen and then served, but

it is .seen cooking there behind or on

the counter .

To

those who buy, the

food, always Indian of course, is served

on large tree leaves usually along with

tea. These places also sei ve

Indian

sweets

of

various

.sorts. I f we

se e

them

made, wc .sometimes indulge; bu t not

knowing how dirty the food is

and

see

ing

flies

standing all over, we never try

to satisfy our hunger at an

Indian

res

taurant.

In

the cities, however , there

are restaurants

much

like

European

one.s,

which

can

be rel ied

upon.

It won't take us long at the clothing

store. To buy our ration of cloth doesn t

take long The cheapercottonmaterials,

on which the natives

are

dependent, are

all rationed.

If

we

had

plenty of money,

which we don t, we could buy all the

more expensive cloth we need. We

are certa inly thankful we are able to

bring clothing and considerable yard

goods with us.

Now it is time to go to the fruit

and

vegetable section

and

finish

our

shop

ping. Here wc find a big disappoint

ment, especially in the village bazaars.

In

Maudaha,

potatoes, the onlv

Euro

pean vegetable, are not always avail

able at this season. Some days oranges

and

bananas

that

are

not

very good arc

displayed. For these things wc have to

go to Cawnpore, 65 miles distance. Here

we find potatoes , cauliflower,

Indian

beans, turnips, onions, egg plant, etc.

Examining the cauliflower, wc find there

arc no heads larger than three inches

acro.s.s; all arc soft

and wilted;

and they

want

12c a head. Wc bargain with

them

and

they agree to sell us three

heads

at

8c, so we visualize

the

nice

big solid heads wc

u sed

to buy in Amer

ica and put three of these in our shop

ping bag. How much arc your pota

toes? 20c a

pound

No,

thank

you, not for those things the size of

walnuts

and

smal ler . W c

move on to

another stand, being careful not to

molest one of the

many cows waiting for

a chance to snatch a vegetable while

an owner is not looking. At this stand

potatoes are the same price

bu t

nice

loig ones, so we pick

out

a few that are

not sun burned. At another place wc

find a few egg-p lant that arc long like

long cucumbers

and

a few red turnips.

Witli these few supplies we must make

ruir way to the car

and

thcncc home

ward

Watching the many people constantly

coming and going in the bazaars, peo

ple bound by fear of idols and super-

••itition, I have oft en

wondered

if noth

ing is ever done to tell them of Christ.

To my joy I find that our evangelists

often go to the bazaar, especially on

bazaar days, to preach and to teach the

people as they pause from their buying

weekly supplies.

It

is one way of reach

ing these needy people with what they

need, and the evangelists are taking

advantage of it.

S ec . 5 62 P L P

U. S. POSTAGE

PAID

Cincinnati, Ohio

Permit No.

6204



I N D I C H R I S T I N

Go ye

i nt o a ll

th e

world

an d p reach t he gospel to

every

creature. Maik

16:15)

V o l

ll

Y O H U N FINDS A H O M E

E d n a H u n t

When one begins the day s work on

the

mission field,

one

never knows what

might

happen

before it is finished.

March 5, 1947, was just such a day.

Mrs. Rothermel went to Cawnpore for

the day, so I had the house to myself

with nothing to keep me from studying

Hindi.

In t he a ft er n oo n

I was c al le d

out by one of our women. With the

little Hindi I knew I just went hoping

I

would

be

able to unders tand

some

of

the excited chatter later. In front

of

this woman s home stood a group of

our

Christians looking

into

a large

basket that seemed filled with dirty

rags.

When

I came near, they lifted

some

of

the cloth, an d there

was a

thin, naked, starved baby three weeks

old. His body ^vas covered with sores,

and I could no t se e

how he

could live

or what I could possibly do to help him.

Then they explained that he was

without a home

and

they wanted me to

take him.

They

told how a sweeper

woman

had

gone

into the

house

and

found this

child

beside his

de a d

mother

They had planned to give him sufficient

opium to kill him, for there was nd one

to care for him. Someone .thought of

the mission and brought him to us. I

was

happy

to take the child and sent

for a few necessary things from Mrs.

Rash. About that time I was wishing

that Mrs. Rothermel were near to help,

but I managed to bathe the child and

get him into warm clothes. When

wrapped in soft, sweet smelling blankets

he looked very sweet, and within half

an

hour

he had won his way into my

hear t .

He had

been given

opium

before he

came, and the effects of it and of being

so nearly starved

made him

very hard

to c are for.

Since

I was not well

and

I

felt he n eed ed b etter care th an I was

able to give, we decided to take

him

to

a mission hospital

about

seventy-five

miles from here. One of

our

girls,

Naomi, was in training there at

the

time;

and

two others spent

their

holi

days there.

They

loved Yohun so

and

took such good care of him that he was

able to pull through the first

ho t

summer

OCTOBER,

1948

Yohun

and Naomi,

March,

1948.

picture of what love can do.

I

was

over

to se e Y o hu n w h en

he

was

just over a year old, and he is a lovely

boy now. He is not fat

bu t

is the pic

ture of health. He is well, bright, and

normal in every way. I

thank

God for

this.

There a re tw o

other b ab ie s i n th e

hospital with Yohun, and they are

separate from

the

sick.

They are

used

to teach the nurses the proper care of

children. A couple of years there will

give him a real start for life, and I am

thankful to be able to find such a good

place for him. The last word we have

had f rom t he re was a

le t ter

w r it te n t h e

last

of

July which reads as follows:

John is fine except for some malaria

which he has been having off and on

in spite of adequate treatment. He takes

three or four steps alone now but still

prefers to creep, going all over the place.

I found

him

sitting out in front of the

hospital, all alone, big as life the other

day and quite pleased with himself.

The Sisterhood group of the churches

in Calgary, Alberta

and

the Loyal

Daughters class of Yellow Grass, Sask.,

Canada, have t aken over his support;

and

we are

thankful

for their help .

Our

desire is that Yohun

may

grow

up

to

serve th e Lord . I f he is t o s er ve

his

own

people, he must live among them; so I

want to bring him home before he is

too old. I would love to keep him with

me, but we have seen too many children

become

misfits in their own

country

in

this way. I

want

him to live in a home

where

he will ea t th e same

kind of

food

a nd live in

the sam e

kind of house as

other

Indians.

I

am

looking

fo r

a good

home

for him, bu t those with large

families do

n o t w a n t a no th er t o c ar e for.

Pray for Yohun that he might grow up

to

be a

t rue

se rvant

of

th e

Master .

N o

4

MI SSI O N IR

T h e Lor d

h as c on ti nu ed

to shower

His blessings upon us, for which we

praise His Name. There was a bit of

sickness, but the Lord granted speedy

and complete recoveries. Mrs. Rother

mel was in the hospital five days with

an infected foot. Jean Roland followed

suit by spraining her ankle. Then Wil

liam Roland and his neighbor, Gemel

Getter of Bilaspur, were ill for a few

days about the same time.

Before th e monsoon, workmen were

busy rebuilding the retaining wall that

supports Zoar Cottage on the moun

tainside. But because they neither fol

lowed our directions nor completed their

job, the first heavy rain sent two-thirds

of

it

back

dow n the

mountainside.

A

second heavy downpour took the rest

of it

and

some of the yard.

This

.sent

Mr. Harter seeking safer ground at

2 :00 a. m. Since

then no

more damage

has befallen the property. Mrs. Roth

ermel is busy getting the work started

again.

Upon returning to the plains Mrs.

Rothermel and

Mr.

Harter will take up

residence in Hamirpur, twenty-one miles

from Ragaul. (Address; Christian Mis

sion, Hamirpur, U. P., India). Miss

Hunt and the

Rolands

will

continue

living at Ragaul. Mrs. Rothermel and

Mrs. Roland lived at Hamirpur some

years ago while the Fred Smiths were

in India . Three

native

Christian

fa m

ilies have been living there, including

one of

our

evangelists, Peter.

During the absence of the other mis

sionaries, Miss

Hunt

has very efficiently

carried on the work alone at Ragaul.

The day school which Miss Hunt super

intends reconvened in July.

Cha rle s W illi am a t three months

weighted ten pounds. He isgood look

ing like the rest of the family, says

M r

Har te r

Manuel

Jacobs,

ou r

evangelist in

Madras,

reports continued progress in

the work there.

Samuel,

the recent

convert pictured on page three, had

been

a nomina l Ch r is ti an of th e C.

M

S. mission ;

bu t

slid back into

Hinduism

for

business

advantage.

Through Man

uel s preaching he was brought to re-

pentcnce and a full acceptance of

Christ .

This m an a tt en de d t he

final

service

of our

inst i tute

a t Madras

in

February.

Manuel

is

expecting

a

mass

bapt ism in that district in the near

future



THE

INDIA CHRISTIAN

Published Quarterly by th e Christian

Mission

to

India, Inc.

Address Abroad:

Ragaul, Dist.

Hamirpur,

U. P., India

Forwarding Secre ta ry for

Dr .

Rothermel,

Mr an d Mrs W i ll iam H Ro l an d :

Mrs.

Grayce

S.

Ensign

100

Commonwe al th Av e nu e

Erlanger , Ken tucky

Forwarding Secre tary

fo r

Miss Edn a

Hu n t

M r. E .

E.

Breakenridge

1910 6th Street,

N.

W.

Calgary, Alber ta , Canada

Forward ing Secretary

fo r

Mr. Ralph Harter,

Miss

LaVon

Eagley:

Mrs

L ou is e B Ha r t e r

Box 14 4

Clin ton , Ohio

WITNESSING FOR CHRIST

Tjoena S. Rothermel

Women have far less opportunities of

speaking to men about their souls' wel

fare than do men, yet this pas t month I

had this privilege twice within just a

few days.

The

first was a group of

Hindu

young

men working in the office where I went

to reserve a seat on the lorry. They

ofl ered me the opportunity by asking

questions,

and

soon all were listening. A

few seemed quite interested, and one

followed

me

ou t

of

the

office, so I in

vited him to come to Ragaul to

leam

more. One's heart goes out to such

young men who know nothing of

the

love of

God for them

and

who

do no t

realize their

need of

a Saviour who

was

victorious

over sin and death

and

who

can give victory to those who have faith

and

ar e obedient

to

Him.

Three days later the young

man

who

was taking toll

at

the

Jamna

River,

which I was endeavoring to cross, hin

dered me so that I failed to make my

train tha t night and

had

to wait over

twenty-four hours in Kanpur. After

hindering my crossing, however, he be

gan asking questions which gave me a

wonderful opportunity to tell him of the

marvelous

Saviour.

He

was a Sikh and

new to

our

part of India, having come

from Pakastan; but we hope that we

may have the chance of seeing him

again and that his heart may be opened

to the truth. I think of all these young

I ND IA CHR IST IAN

LESSONS FROM LIZARDS

Ralph R. Harter

Although the name of Agur is prob

ably unknown to most of you, neverthe

less his wise sayings in the thirtieth

chapter of

roverlss

provide some of the

Bible's most interesting reading.

In

this

small

remnant

of his teachings we read

of the four things that are l it tle upon

the

earth

and yet

are

exceeding wise.

The fourth little thing he mentions is

the lizard, and he mentions it because:

T he lizard taketh hold with

her

hands, yet is she in king's palaces.

(Prov. 20:28)

The

l izard

is one o f th e mos t c ommon

animals in India, only here it is called

chhipkali. Because they are so plenti

fu l

and because

sh e t ak et h h ol d with

her

hands they

are

to be found almost

everywhere.

There

is no house built

men

and

pray for them, though I do not

even know their names; but I trust that

we may see the day when

many

shall

turn to Christ for their true liberty.

India

has

he r

freedom, it is

true; bu t

we long for the time when

her

young

men and

women,

and

older

ones also,

may have their liberty in Christ our

Lord, for then we know they shall be

free

indeed.

Recently Brother Manuel Jacobs

wrote telling of the baptism of another

young

man

who

had

been a member of

the Church of England.

He had

come

to Madras to get work

and had

been

passing as a

Hindu;

but upon hearing

the Gospel message he felt convicted of

his awful sin, repented, and asked for

immersion. Brother

Manuel

always

pleads for

our

prayers in his own behalf

and those who are laboring with him.

We should all remember this godly man

daily before

the

Throne

of

Grace. At

present he is laid low, having been at

death s

door with

cholera.

He

had

hi s

brother

write to tell us how wonderfully

the

Lord had

spared his life

and

how

grateful he is. Though very weak he was

gaining strength. How he has prayed

and pled for missionary help these past

several years We continue to pray

that his pleading and prayers may soon

be answered and that help

may

come

while he lives to assist them. Will you

join us in this prayer?

well enough to exclude them, and

usually at least one is to be found in

every room. They are often known to

fall from the ceiling, walls, windows,

and doors upon your head or shoulders;

or worse still to fall upon your dining

table while you are eating. Sometimes

they meet their end by fall ing into your

bath

water .

We

are

told the story of a dis

t inguished notable who, while visiting

India,

was entertained by one of the

British governors. This must be one of

the king's palaces to which Agur re

fers us. During the course of the

pompous banquet a lizard fell into the

distinguished visitor's soup.

We

never

kill t he se l iz ar ds because

they are both harmless

and

helpful.

They

perhaps have a greater terror for

m an than other common anima ls and

make all haste to get

out

of your way.

They

live mostly on insects, which is a

great boon to us.

One

day Mrs.

Roth

ermel heard tapping at her window, and

investigating she found a lizard busy

beating a scorpion to death. So you

can se e

that

this

cold-blooded creature

almost becomes l ovabl e.

Last

winter

one

l i za rd seemed

to

make

his home in my study. I named

him

Dave after my little nephew in Knox-

ville, Tennessee. At nights he slept on

the window screen—evidentally a fresh

air

f iend.

Another thing that God has given

them is speed. Standing at my door I

h av e n ev er

ceased

to be

amazed

as

I

watched them dash from tree to tree,

from tree to house, and back. They are

almost quicker than the eye.

I was spared one of the shocking

experiences with lizards that many new

arrivals in India suffer. When th e

new

arriva l sees his first

Indian

lizard, he

may desire to remove it and then grabs

it by the tail. The tail comes off and

it is a surprised individual indeed that

remains holding the tail as

the

lizard

escapes. Perhaps we

can

admire this

proficiency

at

details.

Agur

mentions

that the

lizard takes

hold with her hands to encourage his

readers

to

also

take hold with their

hands. It is a symbol of industriousness,

persistence, and determination.

You

must now be

somewhat

envious

of the fine qualities of the wise little

l izard.



Fo r

the missionary who enjoys tramp

ing

and

crawling through the forest

shikar khalna is both an enjoyable

and profitable relaxation from his daily

duties. So

that

you

may

know

what

I

am talking about shikar khalna is a

Hindi phrase meaning to play the

prey —in other words, to go hunting.

Within

a

radius

of

twenty

miles from

Ragaul there are .several good places to

hunt. Throughout India

there are gov

ernment

reserve forests. Eighteen miles

from Ragaul there is quite a large one.

To

hunt

in these, one must have permis

sion from

the

District Magistrate. Be

sides the reserve

forests the re

arc numer

ous

smal le r f or es ts— la nd

t h a t is no t

cul t ivated. In mos t

cases th e

areas

are

left so

that

there will be grazing places

fo r th e cattle.

A

hunting

trip will usually

award

the

hunter

with the sight

of

several different

kinds of birds

and

animals.

The

game

birds are quails

and

peacocks. Quails

are not to o

numerous .

So fa r

I have

gotten only one. Peacocks are quite

numerous

and

are very destructive to

the crops. We have enjoyed the pleas

ure of eating several of these. They

arc

about

the .same size as a full grown

turkey. We think they

are better

than

turkey for eating, because the meat is

not so dry. In spite of the fact that the

peacock Is considered a sacred bird, the

people of many villages are glad for one

to kill them, provided one does not shoot

them

close to the village.

The

Hindu

thinks that those

which

roost in the

trees in or

near

his village are certainly

some dead relat ive

come

back

to

live

near

him.

One

morning early, I was

hunting, accompanied by two of our

high school boys. We were going along

th e bank of a

sma ll s tr eam .

On

th e

opposite side was a village. Near it

was a large tree with a peacock high up

in the top. I .said to one of the boys,

G o

over

under

the tree to get the bird,

and

I will shoot it. As he was going, I

shot. The bird fell; he picked it up

and

s tarted

back

to where we

wore.

Unfortunately another

boy was sitt ing

on

the

wall of

the

village.

He

im

mediately st arted yelling. In no time a

crowd

had

gathered, shouting to us

about

the evils of killing the peacock.

Needless to say, we

made

ourselves

scarce in a hurry .

I believe the male peacock is the most

beautiful bird I have seen. Dur ing the

winter months the long tail is shed.

Along in February a new one begins

to grow out. By the

end

of

March

it

has grown to its full length

of

about

three feet. A full feathered peacock sit

ting in the top of a leafless tree in the

INDIA HRISTI N

SHIK R

KHALNA

William H.

Roland

Manuel Jacobs, Christian evangelist

in Madras, is shown with a new con

vert, Samuel, at the baptismal cere

mony in the Saidapet River.

early morning is indeed a beautiful

sia:ht to r cward

the

hunter.

The

best animal for eat ing purposes

is the .blue-cow. It is given this name

by the Indians because of the bluish

color of

the

male. The dictionary refers

to it as a white footed antelope. The

male grows to the size of a small horse.

The female is a grayish color and a bit

smaller than

th e

male. L as t w in te r I

was able, with the help of

Mr.

Harter

watching the Jeep, to get two blue-cows.

It was during the Christmas season, and

it

made a fine

Christmas

treat fo r the

Christian

community.

There are two types of small deer

that are

often

seen. One is a small,

mouse co lo r ed aiumal

about th e size of a

veal calf.

Then

the spotted deer, for

which

India

is quite famous, is some

larger and is reddish brown with white

circular

spots

all over the body. The

male is a very beautiful animal, espe

cially when he has full grown antlers.

Another animal

that

we always look for

when hunting is the wild boar. I have

seen several bu t as

yet have no t been

able to

shoot any . In

the vicini ty of

Landour

there are wild goats

and wha t

are called

barking deer.

Last April, soon a fter we had gone

to Landour, I went hunting with an

Indian

gentleman who is a ret ired

Cap

tain

of

the army. We left early in the

morning and descended into one of the

valleys. As luck would have it we saw

nothing bu t two pheasants which we

were no t able to shoot. The Captain

blamed our

luck to

th e fact

tha t

Sikh

refugees

had

killed everything during

the winter. The hike was enjoyable ,

nevertheless,

and

on the way back he

started reminiscing

about

the good old

days when hunting around

Landour

was better.

He

told me, among others,

the following

story:

One

day my servant told me that

he

had

seen a

bear below the

grave

yard. Just below the lower fence of

the cemeteiy there is a cave. I de

cided to walk

past

the cave so sent

my servant

a round ano ther path

to

watch for the bear. Just as I passed

the cave I heard a deep throated

growl behind me. I turned, and

there at my side was a

big

she-bear,

standing on he r

hind

legs, ready to

hug

me. I quickly pushed the shot

gun against her chest and fired both

barrels. She fell to the

ground and

ro l led down the hill head over tail.

We stood listening for some time as

she continued crashing down the

mountain,

breaking

off small trees

and

loosening rocks. We followed

her down, expecting to find her

lying dead, but instead found the

place where she had lain for a while.

We decided to follow her, thinking

that she couldn t have gone far with

two rifle slugs in

her

chest. Follow

ing the blood trail down the valley to

the stream, wc crossed it

and

went

up

th e

other side unti l

th e

b lo od e nd ed .

After looking around for some time

wc decided to give up the .search for

that day, as it was get ting late. That

section of the forest belonged to a

Jain, who lived here in Landour.

(Jain

is the

name

of

one

of the

religions.)

The

next morning

I went

to his house to get permission from

him t o s ea rc h

fo r

th e bear . When I

arrived, he greeted_me cordially; and

we

sa t

down

on the veranda

to talk.

Eventually I ventured to ask permis

s io n t o

.search f or th e b ea r.

The man

looked at me and thought for a little

while. Then

he

said, No I

can t

permit

you to

enter

my

property

to

s ea rc h f or th e bear .

She has

come

into mv l and for protection. I must

do all in

my

power to protect her

and

save

her

life. We Jains believe

in the transmigration of

the

soul.

Tha t

bear

is a

friend

or

relative

of

mine

w ho h as died.

She

knows that

T will protect her , so she has entered

my domain for protection. I will

give her

what

protection I can.

After seeing how he

felt

I didn t

press the question any more. As I

was l eaving, he

walked

to

the gate

with me. Looking up into a tree he

said, Sec those birds there?

We

be

lieve

that

all b irds ,

animals,

insects,

etc.,

th at a rc a ro und

us

are reincar

nated

relatives

and

friends.

They

have come to live

near

us while they

are in this

form.

He then

motioned

(Continued

on

page

4)



AN ENJOYABLE

SUMMER

OF SERVICE

LaVon

Eagley

Many opportunities were opened this

past summer in which I tried, with the

help of Almighty God, to do all that I

could for Him.

It

was my aim to

pu t

into practice some of the things I had

learned while attending the Cincinnati

Bible Seminary

and

from studying His

Word. Although I did

not

get to

speak in as many churches as I would

like to have, I feel as though my sum

mer

was well spent.

This summ er th e

activities were

co n

fined to

Indiana,

Illinois, Ohio,

and

Michigan with speaking engagements in

each of these states. After spending the

first few weeks visiting various congre

gations in

behalf of

the

Christian Mis

sion to India, I returned to my home in

Buchanan, Michigan, where I taught in

the Deiily Vacation Bible School

and

also assisted in a revival being held at

the same time. Immediately

after that

I went to Angola, Indiana , where I was

house mother and taught Missions

during Junior Weekof camp. Returning

to Buchanan for a week, I was able to

star t a Daily Vacation Bible School in

the Negro section of the city. For the

two Junior weeks at Lake Region

Christian Assembly;

Cedar

Lake, Indi

ana, my

classes jvere Missions

and

The Life of Paul . At

Pioneer

Chris

tian Service Camp, Clermont County,

Ohio, I had some interesting experi

ences as Chapel Speaker. In August I

THE CHRISTIAN MISSION TO

INDIA

c o MRS. GRAYCE S . ENSIGN

100 Commonwe al th Ave nu e

Erlanger , Kentucky

INDIA

CHRIST IAN

attended Lake James Christian

ss m

bly

and

Lake Region Christian As

sembly dur ing their Missions Week.

Here I was able to display curios and

pictures from India which were of in

terest to those who s aw th em .

I

have

also supplied as teacher at the colored

mission

in Cincinnat i, Ohio. The re

maining weeks have been spent talking

to groups and congregations.

At the present time I am attending

the Cincinat i Bible Seminary

and

am

available for engagements

at

mid-week

services and

on

week-ends. I

have

a

projector and colored slides of India

.

and

those laboring there to use if people

desire. By filling every possible date

while attending the Seminary, I hope to

raise enough support so that I can go to

India after graduation in 1949, it if is

God's will. I thank God for guiding

me during this summer, and I pray

that

much good might have been done by

my humble efforts in His behalf.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS

In

the future please send all corre

spondence and contributions for Dr.

Rothermel

and M r.

and Mrs.

William

H. Roland to Mrs. Grayce S. Ensign at

her new

address :

10 0

Commonwealth

Avenue

Erlanger, Kentucky

All personal letters for Dr. Rothermel

and Mr. and Mrs. Roland should be

sent directly to them in India unless they

contain a contribut ion also.

SHIKAR KHALNA

(Continued from

page 3)

toward

another

tree, where a man

was lying on a bed. He said, 'See

that man lying there. I pay him to

lie there for a while each day.

There

are bugs in that bed. They have

come to live with us so it is my duty

to feed them. That

man

is paid to

le t

them

suck his blood.

If

he desires,

he may push a bug loose and make

him move to another

place;

bu t if he

should kill one he doesn't get paid

for the day' .

Such is the story the Capta in told me

t ha t morning. You will probably say

that

I have strayed far from the subject.

That

I have, but

the

story illustrates

very well one of the beliefs

that

the

Christian has to refute in India. I

guess it isn't too far from the subject,

though, for it all came in the course of

a hunt ing trip.

The f if teenth of September we had

the first

part

of our language examina

tions. I decided

to celebrate

it s com

pletion by going hunting. I started

early, taking our servant boy, Stephen,

with me, hoping to get down into the

valley before the villagers came

out

to

cut wood

and grass. Shortly before

sunup we got down far enough and

found a place where I thought it would

be well to sit

and

wait

for something to

come along. The wrong thing came

along. We didn t do

much

celebrating.

We

turned

out to be the prey, because

I soon noticed leeches on my shoes

and

legs, drawing blood. I immediately lost

all interest in hunting and resolved not

to go hunting in Landour again during

the rainy

season.

Sec .

56 2

P. L. R.

U.

S. POSTAGE

PAID

Cincinnati ,

Ohio

Permi t

No .

6204

roland william jean 1948 india

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