roland william jean 1976 india
TRANSCRIPT
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RO LAND
R I P P L E S
NEWS
OF
WILLIAN
JEAN
ROLAND -
MISSIONARIES
TO
INDIA
Vo l . 6
JANUARY
1976
No.
1
CHRISTMAS
IN
INDIA
Seve ra l
hav e as ked
about
Chris tmas
ce leb ra t ions
in I nd ia .
Since we have j u s t
f i n i shed c e l
ebrat ing
our
f i r s t
Christmas
in
India
since 1963
it is
a good time
to
t e l l you about
i t .
Yes,
it i s celebrated on December 25th. The Hindu
year
is different than the
Christ ian
year,
the
Hindu year now being 2032.
Their
year
begins
on
our
October 25th. Though some calen
dars l i s t
th e
Hindu
year
and days, the
Christ ian calendar
is
the off ic ia l one of India. Christmas
i s a government holiday, and our ew
Years
day is
celebrated
by
most.
Christmas is the most
important
holiday for
Christians in
India.
In North
India it i s
called
in
Hindi
the
Big Day. Here
in South
India we haven t
heard
it cal led anything
but
Christ
mas. For some th e se aso n i s one of feverish shopping here, too. e were
in
Madras December 22nd,
23rd and
24th
and parking
lots and stores
were
crowded.
One doesn t
see
this aspect, however,
in the towns and vi l lages . Christmas cards are exchanged
by
many. Some homes have a Christmas
t r ee
d eco ra te d w i th
t r i nke t s
and
Chris tmas cards .
Many var i e t i e s
o f
decora t ions
beaut i fy
the
homes. Most d ecora tio ns a re t issue paper or plas t ic .
Wealthier
homes use e le ct ri c l ig ht s for
decorations,
too. I t i s t r ad i t iona l ly
a time for
cleaning, whitewashing and d ecora ti ng t he
church
bui ld ings .
The Christmas s tory i s
dramatized in
many churches on Christmas eve or some
time
during the
week.
Caroling
is a
special
feature. The men and
children vis i t
Christian homes
beginning
at midnight or early Christmas
morning
and go unt i l there
are
no more homes,
or
unt i l
dawn. At each
home,
a f te r
songs are
sung,
it i s t r ad i t iona l for the
women
to serve
tea and
Christmas goodies.
You can imagine one gets stuffed
i f
th ere a re many homes
to
vis i t . There
are
s p ec ia l s er vi ce s
in t he c hu rc he s on Christmas Sunday
and
Christmas
day. At
the Lutheran
Church
in
Kalahasti they
also
had
a
meeting
on
the
second
day
of
Christmas.
There
is
an
ex
change
of
g i f t s
by
some
and v is i t ing between
homes with spec ia l meals .
New
Year
celebra t ions begin
with
a
watchnight serv ice , or
as
the case was in Kalahast i ,
a
s erv ic e e arly New
Years
eve
so
ch i ld ren
could
a t t end . At 12 midnight the church be l l
was rung
fo r a^ew
minutes . .
.T.hen
beginning
a t midnight
a loudspeaker in the town
began broadcas t ing
songs and
messages
and
continued unt i l
about 6 :30 a.m.. Special
meetings
are
held in the churches
New Years
day.
Some
conduct annua l e lec t ions then,
too.
A ll
day one receives and
gives
the
greet ing,
I
wish
you a Happy New
Year.
Our
hol iday began t h i s year with a dinner
a t the
Eldon Weesner s in Madras on the 23rd .
Chris tmas day morning
we
had
a 7
a.m. breakfas t with one
of the
s t a f f fami l ies . At
8
a.m.
we
went ou t
to
the hosp i t a l
to have
a
meeting fo r
the
pa t ien t s with
a f lanne lgraph
Chris tmas lesson.
Then we helped prepare and ea t a spec ia l Christmas dinner fo r pat ients and re s iden t s t a f f . I t
was mutton Briani (mutton, vegetables , spices cooked
in
the
r i ce
and
curds with raw
vegetables .
Deser t
was
sweetened
ve rmace l l i
cooked
with sp i ce s
and
cocoanut .
On
the
26th
th e
l o ca l
Lutheran
pastor
and
daughter
vis i ted and brought
f ru i t
and
sweet mea ts
and
invi ted
us to
have
dinner
with
them the
next
day. Sunday morning the 28th we had worship service a t the hospital
with
a flan
nelgraph lesson on
the
f l igh t to
Egypt and
re turn to Nazareth.
Sunday
afternoon
the Sunday
School
ch i ld ren of the
l oca l Lutheran
Church
presented
t h e i r Chris tmas drama
to
th e
pa t ien t s
a t
the
hospital . On
the 31st
we were invi ted
to
a special breakfast by
one of the families
on
the
compound. They had
oppum
pancake
like things made with
rice
flour)
and chicken
curry. didn t
ea t un t i l about
9
a.m. so
we cal led it brunch.
They thought t ha t was
a
good
name fo r
it
New
Years
day
we were
invi ted
to a
supper by
one
of the s ta f f
families l iving on the compound e had
songs,
scripture
reading and prayer before the meal of rice and cu rry w ith several l i t t l e
side
dishes
Christmas in India
is
a
very
spec ia l
and happy
time in the l i f e of the Christ ians. There
is s t i l l much emphasis on worship and remembering th e
coming
of the Christ
Child
with
salvat ion
for ll
BIRTHDAYS
Christmas i s
celebrated
in India very
much
l ike
it i s in the
Sta tes . Bir thdays ,
however,
are some
di f feren t ; the
main dif ference being tha t
the
one having a bir thday gives ra the r
than
receives
gif ts .
On November
23rd, for
Jean s
birthday,
we made up l i t t l e
packets
o f sn ack s,
cup
c ak es , c ookie s and candies. e distr ibuted
these
to
homes of people l iv ing on
the Kalahast i
compound. I t was a surpr ise for them and
they seemed
very pleased to have us
v i s i t .
Some said
they
would come
to our
house
in
the evening
fo r a
prayer se rv ice .
After
the worship
serv ice a t
the
hospi t a l
we gave the pat ients
and s ta f f
bir thday t r ea t s ,
too. In
the evening
most of
the
people
of the
compound came
to our house
and
sang
hymns fo r
awhile ,
some
of them to tunes
we
knew, so we joined in
w ith E nglish words.
Then they had two
passages
of
scr ip ture , asking
William
to
read
one
in
English.
One
of
the
men,
a
re t i red
school
teacher ,
had
prayer
in
English.
A pleasant
day was closed with
many g re etin gs o f
I
wish
you
a Happy Birthday.
Since December
24th i s
William s bir thday
the
ce leb rat ion o f ten gets mixed in with Christmas
celebrat ions.
This year was
no exception.
e
had
intended
to retu rn from
Madras
early
enough
to
d i s t r i bu t e
g i f t s ,
bu t
d ela ys k ep t
us
from ge t t ing
back
in
t ime.
When we did
a r r ive about
6
p.m.
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three of the workers were waiting to give William birthday greetings, a garland and an
apple.
The
doctor
and h is
c l in ic s t a f f
had
also
come with a
garland,
f lowers and sweets.
Later
in the
evening
another
s ta f f member and family came to v i s i t ,
wish
William a Happy Birthday and leave
some
sweets
and
I nd ian goodi es .
Our
bir thday
t r ea t s
( three
kinds
of
f r u i t )
were
given out
to
people
on
Christmas day.
PREMA
The Indian word P rema means love . She
doesn ' t
have
an
of f i c i a l name,
ye t , bu t we used
Prema for th e l i t t l e
Indian g i r l we
had in our
home
for
a
week and
a
half .
The
Eldon Weesners
were neighbors o f the family
whe re Weesner s previous ly l ived in a v i l l age . The mother
has had
s e r i ou s
emo t iona l and
men t a l
t r oub l e s
so
cou ldn ' t tak e ca re o f Prema. When
th e
Weesners saw th e
baby 's cond it ion they took her to their home. Weesners wanted to do some
traveling
during
the
holidays so we agreed to care
for
Prema awhile. The Christ ian
love
and a t ten t ion she has
gotten
i s slowly helping Prema recover from pneumonia and near
s ta rva t ion .
The
family
i s not Chris t ian .
We are
hoping
this
further
contact and
Christ ian concern wil l
help
to win
them
to Christ . Please
pray with
us
to t h i s end .
WATER WATER
EVERYWHERE
The m on so on s
were
good
over
most of India this year; in some places
too
goodcausing some
damage
In our par t -of
Andhra
Pradesh
they
were goodthe best for ^our years or so.
_Our
wel l
has benefi ted. When nearly went dry
l a s t
May we had dug s ix fee t deeper and had f ive fee t
of
water for awhile. The leve l kept going down and got as low as about three fee t
before
the
rains began. Now we have about 13'
of waterl I t
i s good to have
plenty again, and
to have i t
pumped
into
the
house. That means, of course,
we
have
elec t r ic i ty ,
too. Yes, that problem
was
finally
taken ca re of. The city
electr ic
board pu t in
new
wires which we had
to
buy) from their
pole to
the
house. Then
they
corrected some
faults
between
the t rans former
and
our
house. Now
we have good
current
coming in on all three phases, steady and strong enough
to operate
fans
w hich we don't
need
in this cool
weather),
washing machine,
refr igerator ,
and water pump. I t
s t i l l
goes
off
occasionally without
warning,
but
we don't mind that
too
much.
FINANCIAL STATEMENT
Our
f inancia l
report for
th e p erio d
September 1, 1974 through
March
31 ,
1975 i s ready.
I f
you
contributed
during this period a copy
is
enclosed for you. If you do not
get
a copy and
would l ike one you may ask the
Firs t
Christian
Church,
LaCrosse,
KS
for a copy.
THE ROADS IDE CLINICS
The
week of December 15th Wi ll iam d rove the c l i n i c Jeep
Monday
through Fr iday. Henry, the
regular
driver,
was on leave.
We
have visi ted
various ones of th e clinics ,
but
this
is
the
f i r s t time to v i s i t a l l
of
them. The
Township i s divided into
s ix areas. C lin ics are
held
in
five
of them, at
eight
d i ffe ren t v il lages:
two on Mondays; one each Tuesday, Thursday, Friday;
and three on Wednesday. At each vil lage equipment
has
to be
unloaded
and se t up ; then af ter the
c l i n i c i s
taken
down and loaded
to
move
to
th e
nex t s i t e . A hundred
o r
so gene ra l and Leprosy
patients
are
treated
a t
each
place.
Nine
to twelve
hundred are
treated
each week. Some of the
backward
and
unsanitary practices of
the
staf f are difficul t for
us to tolerate . But
i t brings
t reatment
so much bet te r than was
avai lable before ,
tha t much
good
i s
being done;
and
most are
grateful for i t . Many
make i t a point
to express their thanks.
The week was
quite t i r ing,
but
i t
gave a
bet ter insight
into
th e
work being done
through
the
cl in ics .
In
the
Monday, Tuesday
and
Wednesday cl inics
the
roost
patients are
treated.
On
those
days
our
full-time
doctor t rea ts
Leprosy pat ients ,
and
our
part-time
doctor
t reats
general pat ients . Also
on
the
team
are in
jectors , a pi l l man, a dresser, an
ointment
man; plus
the
area Paramedic, who
handles th e
record
cards. One
in jector
gives
injections to
the
general
patients;
the
other
to
the Leprosy pat ients .
There are
usually
a lo t of inject ionsthe Indians seem to think they haven't been treated unless
they
have
gotten
an injection. The
p i l l
pusher , as
we
jokingly
call
him,
gives
out medicines
ordered
by
the
doctors. The dresser
cleans
and
bandages
ulcers,
sore
and
injuries .
He
i s
the
one who uses
most of the bandages
so many
of you have laboriously
and
lovingly prepared and sent.
. . . the
dayspring from on h igh hath visited
us, to
give l ight
to
them
that
s i t in darkness
and in
the
shadow of
death,
to
guide
our feet
into
th e way of
peace.
Luke 2:78,79
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RO L A N D
R I P P LES
NEWS
OF WILLIAM
JEAN
ROLAND
-
MISSIONARIES
TO INDIA
Vo l . 6 MARCH 1976
No.
2
I thank my God in a l l my remembrance of you,
always
offer ing
prayer
with joy in my every
prayer
fo r you
a l l , in
view of
your
p a rt ic ip a ti on i n the gospel from the
f i r s t
day
un t i l
now.
Phi l ipp ians
1:3-5
February
and
March
a re
anniversary
months
fo r
us .
February
4th l a s t yea r we
a r r ived
in
Ind ia a f t e r th e long, win te r
road
t r ip from France .
March
6 th we a r r ived in
Sr ika lahas t i to
begin a no th er y ea r of service in India .
had
intended to s t a r t language study before
get t ing
involved in
any
of
th e
work. Being ab le to speak
the
language
of the
people
with whom
one
works
i s
absolu te ly
necessary
if
one
expects
to ca rry
on an
e f fec t ive
and
s tab le
work.
But ,
a f t e r
a r r iva l
we
learned
t ha t
the
Reeses
had planned to take
a
furlough r igh t away. They urged us to
manage the work
during the i r absence. Very re luc tan t ly we agreed to do so . As we have become
acquainted with the
work,
and have t r ied to manage it through i n t e rp r e t e r s , our convict ions
about
the
need fo r
language
s tudy
have been con fi rmed
over and over . When
Reeses
re tu rn in a
few
weeks
we
wi l l re l inquish these dut ies
and
hopeful ly get on with language study.
Bui ld ing cons t ruc t ion
h as o cc up ie d much
o f our
t ime
dur ing
t h i s
pas t year .
Before Bro. Rees
l e ft l a st May he go t work s t a r t
ed on the mens ward of the new hospi ta l building. have been
working a t it
o f f
and on.
Progress
i s very s low. About
ha l f
o f
t he f ou nd ati on was pu t
i n
With cem ent we had
on
hand . No
more
cement was ava i lab le ,
except on t he b la c k-mar ke t,
so const ruc t ion
was
delayed
for
severa l
months.
When
the
Dis t r i c t
Col lector
gave
us
a permi t we were
able
to ge t
cement
and bu i ld the
walls up to
window he igh t . Work has been stopped the re
fo r about
th ree months,
wait ing
fo r
an e ng in ee r to
come
from Madras to put
up
the s t e e l
structure fo r t h e r o o f a n d walls
Construction so
fa r
has
been
with gran i t e
s tones .
These are
qua r r i e d
from
nea rby
mounta ins and
de l ive red
i n t r ucks
o r ox c a r t s .
Gravel
i s not avai lab le
( there
i s noth ing but sand in the
stream
beds). have to use small pieces o f the grani te fo r g rav el. I t
i s
broken
by hand into various
s i z e s ,
and
cal led
j e l lyI
I t
has
been ra ther di f f i cu l t get t ing used to o rd erin g 1^
j e l ly
fo r con
s t r u c t i o n pu rposes .
W i l li am
a nd K ris hn aswam i
d i scu s si ng con st ru c t ion
of new ho sp it al b ui ld in g
The
rema in ing
p a r t
o f th e w al ls
w i l l
be
o f
b r i ck .
These
a r e
made loca l ly
by
hand
and
burned in an open k i l n .
We are
t ry in g to
work out
an
agreement
with
a l oca l contrac tor to ge t some made so
they wi l l be on hand when we a re
ready fo r
them.
A novel fea ture of
th is
new bui lding
wi l l
be
t o i l e t and
bathing fac i l i t i e s . Toile ts are
non-exis tant
a t our hospi ta l
sitenearby f ie lds
and deser t brush serving the purpose. This i s
not uncommon in
India, but it
i s n t very
sanitary
prac t ice , and
leprosy
patients
need f ac i l i t i es
close 80 they
don t
have to do so much walking on ulcerated fee t . Bathing
i s
done near the well
on a
flat
s t o n e .
Pa t i e n t s
have to
walk
a c r o s s a
field
f o r
this acilities a t t a ch ed
t o th e
bui lding wi l l sure ly be
a
big improvement.
The foundation has
also
been l a id
for
an
i nc inera tor . There
are
a lo t of used bandage s and
other waste to burn.
The
dresser an who does the bandaging) t r i e s to bum things out in the
open.
WitH
the
usu^ s t rong
winds,
more
s ee^ tb~~get
blown
away
than
burned
upT
You
can
ima
gine
tha t th is doesn t help the appearance of the
surroundings.
A
closed
incinerator wi l l hope
fu l ly be
a
good
answer
to th i s problem.
Another piece
o f c o ns tr uc ti on being
planned i s
a
wate r
t ank . Near the wel l we want
to
put
up a tw o
s to ry
bu i ld ing and have the w ater tank on t op . The first f l oo r
w i l l
house th e w ate r
pump, and
the
e l ec t r i c genera to r we brought ou t . The
s torage
space on
the
second f l oo r wi l l
help keep th ings a
little
be t te r organized.
Running
water wi l l be a b ig improvement over the
bucket
system.
The hot
weather
i s upon us
again
and it was good to have a refreshing time in Kotagiri over
a week. William was
Convocation
speaker for the Bible College a t
i t s
opening
on
Feb.
22.
Jean
led
devotions a t prayer meeting
on Wednesday and
had the morning devotions
for
th e te ac he rs and
Bible students
one
morning. Jerry Hea ther Lacson, whom we
had
f i r s t
met
when they were s tu
dents
a t
Lincoln
Chris t ian
College,
had
invi ted
us
to
come
for
the i r
school
opening.
Besides the
Bible College
they have a
boarding school for Indian chi ldren from nursery through
eighth
c lass ,
where Bible i s a ls o ta ug ht .
Kotagir i
i s a
town
in
the
Nilg i r i Hi l l s about 350
miles
southwest
of Sr ika lahas t i . With an e leva t ion of
about
6500 f t . it
was very
cool and pleasant .
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When we
told
of Prema, our l i t t l e
guest
a t
Christmas
time, we didn ' t
mention
her age. She
was about
6
weeks
old .
At about
one
month she
had weighed l e s s than 5
lbs . Her young
mother
had re fu sed to accept the fact that Prema was not
a
boy.
But af t e r
the
t ende r lo vi ng
care
Dorothy
Weesn er and Jean gave
her ,
Prema was
such a
pre t ty ,
a le r t ,
lovable little th ing
her
mo th er want ed he r back when she saw
he r .
However, th e d octo r had sa id the mother should no t work
fu l l time yet , and they
needed for her
to
spend as
much time and
energy as poss ible
weaving to
earn
money
to he lp
make up fo r l o s t
t ime, so Dorothy
consented
to
keep
Prema ano the r
month
to
give
both mother
and
baby
a
l i t t l e more time to
gain
st rength.
We
haven t heard
how
they are
doing
s ince the parents took the baby back, bu t
our
hear t s ache to
think
of
sending
her back
i n to
a
l i f e of i do l a t r y . Poverty
in the
home o f
a
v i l lage
weaver
i s bad. Paganism i s fa r worse.
For some months Jean has been p repa ring f lanne lgr aph
l essons
fo r the
pa t ien ts
and t eaching
them
to
one o f
the
men
to g ive
in
Telugu. We s ta r t ed
ou t
w ith t ea ch in gs o f
Jesu s w ith many pa rab le s i nc lu ded.
I t
seemed appropr ia te
t o h a v e t h e birth o f J e s u s
at Ch r i s tma s
t ime b u t
we
d id
n o t
have
a s e t
and knew it
would
be too expensive to
have
it
se n t a i rm ai l in t ime,
so
Jean
s t a r t ed making
he r own s e t .
Before she
had
completed
it
we l e a rned t h a t
Standard Pub
l ishing
sets
were available
in Madras,
a t
a very reasonable
pr ice , so we got them. Since then we have b ee n h av in g
the
life
o f
Chr is t with many o f the
mi r a c l e s .
This seems to be
an ef f ec t ive way o f
teach ing
the
pa t i en t s
and
hold ing t h e i r
at tent ion.
The
teacher asks quest ions
and
allow s tim e
fo r di scuss ion and sometimes s eve r a l pa r t i c ip a t e .
Most
o f
the
pa t ien ts
a re
non-Chr is t ian
and
many do
not
know much
a b o u t
hrist Ot h e r s
h a v e b e e n in an d
o u t
o f
Ch r i s t i a n
hosp i t a l s
enough
to
have
l ea rned
qu i t e
a
b i t .
Some
a re
quick to
l ea rn
and others
s low. But a l l seem
slow to
changefrom
t h e i r
pagan ways and b e l i e f s .
Henry, on
l e f t , te ac hin g le ss on
with
flannelgraph
(Jesus
Samaritan woman
a t well) . Jean teaches the lessons
to Henry before the g iv es them
in
Telugu.
Re in fo rc in g o ur
Chr is t i an t each ing
with
deeds
o f kindness i s
also
impor tant . And the phys ica l man
ne eds food as
wel l
as
the so ul .
So we t ry a t l ea s t once a week to
have
some spec i a l little t r e a t fo r
th e
h o s pi ta l p a ti e n ts . Jean t r i e s as of ten as
poss ib le
to have cake ,
cupcakes , cookies , o r some sweet l i ke
t h a t .
When
t ime
o r
ing red ien t s
a re sho r t
fo r these , bananas
o r
some
o the r
f ru it i s
usua l ly
ava i lab le
in
the bazaar . We
t ry
ALWAYS to mention t ha t
what
we do
fo r them
and
give
to them
i s
done
IN
THE NAME
OF JESUS, AND
BECAUSE
OF HIS LOVE
We tell them
t h a t
because o f HIS love and s a c r i f i c e you Chr i s t i a n s
i n
America
send us , and send
money fo r the work we
a re
doing
fo r
them. We
hope
the t r an s l a t i on
i s
accura te and t h a t th e message ge t s
through. We pray t h a t the seed may
f a l l
on
f e r t i l e
s o i l and bear
f r u i t .
Otherwise
our se rv ice i s in va in .
Please
pray with us .
And
th is
I
pray,
that your love may abound
s t i l l more
and more
in re a l knowledge
and
a l l d is ce rnme nt, s o
tha t
you
may
approve the
th ings t h a t a r e
exce l l en t ,
i n orde r to be s incere and
blameless
un t i l
the
day of Chr is t ;
having been
f i l l ed with the
f r u i t of
r igh teousness
which comes through Jesus Chris t , to the glory
and
pra ise of God.
Ph i l i pp i a n s 1 : 9 - l l
Jean
giving cake
to leprosy
pa t ien ts .
-
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ROL ND
RIPPLES
NEWS OF WILLIAM JEAN ROLAND - MISSIONARIES TO INDIA
Vol. 6
Y
976
No
3
I
will
l i f t up my eyes to
the
mountains...
We have not only looked at the mountains as the Psalmis t did, but since last writing to you
we
have
packed up part
of our belongings
and
moved
into' the mountains. This
news letter
will
be
our f i r s t
greeting from
th e
Nilgir is
(Blue Mountains) of Southern India.
In
our
last
news le t ter we
mentioned
our February
vis i t
to
Kotagiri
and the school work that
the Jerry Lacsons are doing. Lacsons have been planning for a year of advanced study in the
States.
They need someone
to
manage
their
schools
while
they are away, so a
note
was
printed in
Horizons.
When
we
read
th e
ar t ic le
William
said , Maybe that
would
be
a good
opportunity
for
us;
we could
look a f te r
the schools , and t would give us a good place
in
which to work on language
study. I t would also solve the problem,
a t
least for th e time being, of finding a place to live
af ter
Reeses returned
to India. Last January, while
they
were in
Madras, we
visi ted with Lacsons.
They asked us to take
charge
during their absence and we d iscussed the possibi l i t ies.
After
our
visi t
here las t February we
decided
to accept the Lacson s
invitation
to l ive here and manage the
schoo l s fo r a
yea r .
Much of April was taken up with sorting and packing. Most of our things were packed and
stored in Madras. Other
things
were packed in drums and boxes to be
moved
up
here
in
the
Truck/
Camper and Trai ler .
I t a l l took
more
time
than usual
because
we
couldn t
work very fas t or
for
very
long at a time in the Kalahasti heat;
then, too,
we had
to
f i i - the packing into
spare
time
in tervals between Leprosy Center jobs . Reeses returned to
Madras
April 21st . J.
Lois
spent a
week
with
us
a t
Kalahas ti be fo re
we
l e f t .
David
was
in
Madras
most
of the
time so
we
d idn t
spend much time with him.
During rest stops
from packing we
d iscussed the
leprosy and church
work
with
J .
Lois
and
turned
the
books,
accoun t s ,
e t c .
over to he r .
\^e
had hoped to
finish
the work
in
Kalahasti and
get
to
Kotagiri in
time to be here for
Parents Day
April
30th, The spir i t was willing, but the flesh just couldn t work fast enough
in
the heat.
It was
not until Wednesday evening.
May
5th,-^that
we finally
got everything loaded
and
ready
to go. Most of the
people
l iving
a t
the
Kalahasti
compoundLeprosy
Center s taff
and
othershad an
impromptu
farewell for us. After they sang,
God
be with you
t i l l
we meet again
and prayed w ith u s, we got on our way
about
6
p.m.
To take advantage
of
cooler
weather
(s t i l l in the 90s) we
decided
to drive most of the
night. At about 3
a.m. we finally
stopped and
slept for awhile.
Our camp was a few
miles
east
o f Vello re ,
so
we were able to stop at the Christian Medical
College
and Hospital
Thursday
morning
to
get
medicines the doctor had
prescribed for
Jean.
The
Truck airconditioner
made
that day s
d ri ving qui te p lea san t in spite
of the
continuing
heat
outside. By evening we had
gotten
into
a
l i t t le
higher
elevation
with
cooler air .
We
stopped at about 10 p.m. west of Bhavani fo r a good
n ig ht s re st .
The next morning we looked forward eagerly to getting to
the
6500 elevation
of
Kotagiri
and
even cooler
weather.
But,
the l as t part of th e t r ip wasn t to be without
trouble.
The
road
into the mountains i s quite steep
with
many
turns
and several hair-pin curves. The
heavy
load
made
i t
necessary to
climb
in low gear most of the time. Toward the
top
the engine
began
to get
hot so we were looking for a level place to stop, but didn t find one. Then the last hairpin
bend
wasn t
marked and
William
didn t swing
far
enough
to
th e
outside to
make
i t .
While he
tr ied
to
maneuver
back
and
forth
to
make the turn
the
engine
died and
wouldn t s t a r t .
I t
was
about
lunch time so we put
stones
behind
the wheels
and had lunch
while
the
engine
cooled off.
We
didn t
know
what would happen
i f
other
traffic
-came,
but
we soonfotmd
cut.Our
rig
was stopped
in the center
of
the curve
and toward the
ins ide. A truck and bus
coming
from
above were
able
to pass. A truck coming from below was also able to get around, but a bus coming up couldn't
make i t . After trying several times the driver gave up, got out and started gesturing and shout
ing
at
William
in
Tamil. William
doesn t
understand Tamil and the
driver
didn t know
English
so the al tercat ion didn t las t long. Fortunately one of the bus passengers
got off
and did some
t rans la t ion. When the driver
learned
that our r ig
was
s ta l led , and not jus t parked in h is
way
on purpose, he stopped
shouting
and walked off muttering. William felt li ke t el lin g
the
driver
that
th ree o th er
vehicles had gotten
around,
and that i f he were a good driver he also could
have
gotten
around.
Instead
William decided to try
starting
the
truck.
I t was cooled
off
enough
so
t h a t we could move
t and l e t
the bus
go mer r i ly
on
t
way.
After
getting
started we hadn t gone far t i l l a
t ruck forced
us to stop on
another
curve
(even though down
tr aff ic is
supposed
to give
way
to
up
t raff ic) .
We managed
to
back down a
ways
and
get
started again.
The engine
kept missing,
though, and
didn t
seem to have
much
power;
-
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After getting started
we
hadn't
gone
far ' t i l l
a
truck
forced
us
to stop
on
another curve
(even though down traffic is supposed to give way to up traffic).
We
managed to back down a
ways and
get started
again. The engine kept
missing,
though, and
didn't
seem
to
have
much
power;
finally
i t
quit
completely.
After
checking
several
things
William
decided i t
needed a
tune-up
job.
When
i t cooled off
he proceeded to install a
new fuel
f i l te r
and
clean
and
adjust the plugs
and poin ts . During the three
hours
beside the
road
we
had
an
a t t en t ive
crowd most of the time.
One young man
sent
a boy up the road a
couple
of furlongs to bring coffee
for
us. At
one
time
Jean
had some boys singing Jesus Loves Me. In the process of
handing
up tools Jean h it one of
the
rear
view mirrors and cut her nose. Then
af ter
a l l
th e tune
up work
William
found the
dis
t r ibutor
bol t loose so that the
timing
was offi That was
probably
the t rouble a l l along. At
l e a s t
it ran w ell the res t of the way up the h i l l and we got to Community School before dark.
We were
glad to find t ha t
the
schools were
on
vacat ion
fo r a
month. I t has given us time
to
r e s t
and g e t
some o f f i c e work
done
t h a t we
had
l t undone whi l e
a t
Kalahas t i . The enc lo sed
Financ ia l Statement
fo r
Apr i l 1
through
December
31, 1975 i s
one job we have
got ten f in i shed .
Lacsons
plan
to
l eave the
f i r s t
week of June . We wi l l
have
to spend much t ime with them before
'then to
learn
about
the
work
so
we
can
get the schools
s tar ted
again
May
31st .
From whence sha l l
my help come?
My
help comes
from th e Lord,
who made
heaven and ear th .
Please
pray
with
us as
we work
for
a time
in th is
new
area
of
service. We
wil l
be
glad to
hear
-fromyou-at--ur-new-address-; -
Community School Kotag i r i 643 217
Tamil
Nadu; INDIA
FINANCIAL
STATEMENT
FIRST CHRISTIAN
CHURCH
India
Mission Fund; William
& Jean
Roland
Apr i l
1 December 31, 1975
balance on hand March 31, 1975 2,235.20
Rece ip t s :
From groupschurches, classes,
e tc 5,476.07
From
individuals 2,032.50
M i s c e l l a n e o u s -
Bankamericard
overpayment refund
37.63
Automobile
Assoc ia t ion Carnet refund , 150.00
Roland persona l expense refund 43.40
Truck/Trailer
insurance refund , 5.63
7,745.23
Total
funds available for
the period 9,980C43
Expendi tu res ;
Travel;
inc ludes vehic le opera tion ,
repairs, maintenance, insurance & licensing;
road
tolls; Truck/Trailer
bond fee- 319,64;
bus, taxi,
train
&
ricksha
fares lodging;
maps;
immunizations 1,744.65
Office;
includes postage; printing;
phone
bil ls ;
exchange
charges
&
loses;
publicity;
s ta t ione ry 261.57
Uti l i t ies ;
includes
elec t r ic ,
g as, w ater & kerosene o il
bi l l s .
. . . 201.33
Equipment;
includes
one Super-8 projector 100.90; three
elect r ic
current s tab i
lizers 355.19;
hospital equipment 114.83;
water filter 50.29; two
steel cupboards
& one fi l ing cabinet 315.94; elec t r ic transformer 59.26;
gas
hotplate 35.43;
pipe vise; bicycle pump; s tee l table & stools 1,100.12
Building Repair &Maintenance; includes lumber; paint; hardware, electrical &plumbing
i tems
77.53
Edu ca tio na l: in clu de s te ach in g
materia ls ; Bibles; t r ac ts ; language
study
books 24.50
Salary; to
Rolands for e ight
months
2,400.00
Customs;
expenses
a t
Madras
&
Amri t sar
178.55
Loan Payments: 2,000.00 7,988.25
Balance
on hand December
31,
1975
1,992.18
(In the La Crosse,
KS
bank 1,812.62; in
India 179.56)
r
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R O L A N D
3
R I P P L E S
NEWS OF W IL LIAM
JEAN ROLAND - MISSIONARIES TO INDIA
V o l .
6
July 1976
No.
4
Greet ings aga in from
th e
beautiful Nilgiris
of
Kotagiri where the air is sof t and
mild a l l
through the
year .
That i s the
way
the tourism
folder
describes i t . I t also l i s t s
a maximum
summer temperature of 72, and a minimum
winte r
temperature of 40, so , so f t and
mild
i s a
pre t ty
good
descr ipt ion.
We.keep being
told
tha t
it
i s one of
the
two
most
healthy places in
the
world;
and tha t
the
o th er p la ce , in Switzer land, has recent ly becomepolluted by factor ies .
We
have had
some
temperatures
warmer than
72,
but
not hot
enough
to
be uncomfortable; some
52 temperatures
with
rain
have seemed
very
cold.
I t i s a beaut i fu l
place to
l ive
and work ;
we thank God often
fo r the
oppor tu ni ty t o spend some time
here .
We ju s t wish we had
more
time
to v i s i t and enjoy
some of
the
scenic surroundings. The
work
of
the
School
and
College
keep
us busy,
l i t e r a l ly
from
mom
till
night ,
and
then
some.
The bes t way
to get
the
f ee l ing i s
to r e c a l l the
nursery
rhyme about
the Old
Woman
in the Shoe. The only
difference
i sin our case it is a L i t t le Ole
Woman and
Little Old Man in the shoe.
The
50 Qr_so^l ively kids., and about
2
staff sure can keep a body
busytwo
bodies,
that is .
,J^an
is usually up by 5:30
to
ge t the cooks out and working.
William
usually
follows
at
6:S0
to
go down
the
h i l l
to get the
water
pump
going.
Drought
has
h it
us
hard
here
this
year with the Southwest Monsoon not coming
in
as i t should. are able to run
the pump
fo r only
30 minutes or so .
Most of
our
water has
to
be
carr ied from another
wel l .
We
employ two men who spend most
of
each day trying to
keep
vessels f i l led for
cooking, drinking,
washing, an d
o ther uses .
If we don t get breakfast by
7:00 i t is
difficult to f i t
i t
in
between repeated rings of
the
doorbell. Staff and
students eat
at 7:30, then
return
to their dorms for an
hour
of
study before
school s ta r t s .
Nine o clock
i s devotions and
assembly
time. Jean
has
.devotions
with
the teach
ing s t a f f ; Will iam conducts chapel
for
the
s tudents ;
one of the Indian
l ad ies has
devotions in
Tamil for th e other staf f . Classes s ta r t a t 9:30Kg and Firs t are
in
th e main building which
houses our
apa rtment , t he gir l s
dorm,
off ice, and
kitchen and
dining
room.
Grades
2 through 8
are
in Timothy Hal l ,
the second
bu i ld ing ,
located up
and
around the
h i l l about
two
blocks . It
-
houses
th e chapel,
class
rooms,
and
older
boys
dorm.
Across
th e
valley
f rom Timothy
is
Titus
Hal l , where the younger
boys l i ve .
Lunch
i s . a t 11:45 fo r Kg and Grade 1; we
t ry
to e a t with them. The others ea t a t 12:15 ,
then
have classes
unti l 3:30. Afternoons,
until_6:30_dinner tjjne, are
f i l led with
various
act
iv i t i e s :
games, music
pract ice,
baths
for
a different
group
each
day,
reading,
writ ing
l e t t e r s ,
etc. Four afternoons William has Bible College classes for the college students. Comparative j j
Religion and Homiletics classes meet on Mondays and Wednesdays; Thursdays and Fridays he has yy
L i f e o f C h r i s t and G a l a t i a n s .
Tues^y i s
our
big shopp ing day . Each
week,
or every other week, we go
to Coonoof,
about
14 miles,
for
f ru i t s , vegetables, eggs
and
other provisions for
the
kitchen.
We
a lways have a
long list o f s up pli es t h a t the s t a f f and s tuden ts seem to always be needingfrom books to
pencils
and
nai l
clippers
to face
cream; yo^n^e
i t^
tbev^need
i t .
I t
usually
takes
most
of
the day to complete the shopping list -
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Parents of ten v i s i t
on
Saturdays
and Sundays . Sometimes p are nts o r
r e l a t ives
come to take
the i r
chi ldren
out of boarding
fo r the
weekend.
Sundays
we
have
services
in
th e c ha pe l,
or
attend
s e r v i c e s
at
t h e
local
Un io n Chu r c h . Our s e r v i c e s
h e r e consist
o f t h r e e
B i b l e
Schoo l
classes and Worship.
Jean
has the
o lder ch il dr ens
c lassWi l l i am has
the
adul t study group.
William
has brought
th e
messages
a t the worsh ip hour so. far , arid has
had
a couple of the '
college
students
lead a t different times.
One of the students
plays
th e Harmonium
(a
l i t t l e
por table organ) fo r
the
se rv ice .
In between, and
sometimes during,
a l l
these
ac t iv i t i e s it
seems
people are constantly
coming
and
going,
bringing problems and various requests.
Sometimes
it
gets
to
the
place
we
hardly know whether we
are
coming
or
going. There
certainly
is seldom a
dull
momenti Often
we fee l we ju s t
can t
keep up with
it a l l .
Most o f th e sch oo l s tu de nts a re
Hindus .
Some
a re
Ca t ho l i c o r members o f one o f th e
Denominat ions.
One
t e ache r i s a Hindu; th e o th ers a re denominat ional Chr i s t i ans . S.o we. have
plenty of
opportunity
for
teaching and
witness. The three
Bible
College students take
the
classes we mentioned
before , as
wel l
as teach in the sch ool and help
with the
school work
in var ious ways.
.One
of
Jean s
b igges t
jobs i s t o s up er vi se the kitchen and dining
room.
I t seems
honest i s a word many of the
workers
don t know,
so
she
has to keep
a
close
watch on pro
vis ions
so tha t s ta f f and
students get
the food they
are
paying for . She has also spent
much
t ime working
up
a
balanced
menu
and r eo rgani zi ng the
food-serving arrangements.
Then there
are
many who
keep
coming
with colds,
tummy
aches, cuts and
scra tches , so
she i s
put t ing
her
n urs in g to good use .
Well,
maybe
this
wil l
give you
a l i t t l e idea of how we are
spend ing our
time. At l eas t
you know now why this July news
le t ter
is a
b i t latel
Our
sincere
thanks
to each
and a l l
of
you for le t te rs , parcels, money; and to a l l who have offered prayers on
our behalf
to
our
great God and Savior. y He
continue
to bless and sustain us a l l in
the work
of
His
Kingdom.
Now may our Lord Jesus
Christ
Himself
and
God our
Father,
who has loved us
and
given us
eternal comfort and
good
hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts
in
every good work
a n d wo r d .
F ina ll y, b re th ren , pray
for
us tha t the word of
the
Lord may spread
rapidly
and be
glor i
f ied ,
jus t
as it did also with you; and tha t we may be delivered from perverse and
ev i l
men;
fo r
no t
all
have f a i t h . 2
Thess . 3 :163:2 .
Community
School; Kotagir i 643
217;
Tamil Nadu,
INDIA
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R O L A N D
R I P P L E S
WS OF WILLIAM JEAN ROLAND> MISSIONARIES TO
INDIA
V o l . 6
N o v e m b e r
1 9 7 6
N o .
5
Train
up a
chi ld
i n
the
way he should
go,
and when he i s old he w i l l not depar t from it. Prov. 23:6
Th is admoni ti on
of Cod through
Solomon
i s
i n s t r u c t i o n fo r
the
teacher i n
the school ,
as
wel l as th e p aren t i n the
home.
Our i n t e r i m p r o j e c t i n Kotagi r i involves the t r a i n i n g of many
c h i l d r e n
who a r e e n t r u s t e d to o u r c a r e .
There
i s
n o t o n l y the
c l a s s work, b u t s p i r i t u a l n u r t u r e
and
day
to
day
care ,
a l s o .
This
month
we
want
to
share
with
you
through
p i c t u r e s some
of the
s c h o o l
activities.
Each school day s t a r t s with two chape l
s e r v i c e s l e a d by Will iam o r one
o f t h e
tw o
B i b l e
Col lege s t u d e n t s . The
o l d e r
s t u d e n t s
g r a d e s t o 8
meet
i n Timothy H a l l
th e
main c l a s s r o o m b u i l d i n g ; l e a d h e r by John
V a r g i s .
T h e r e
are
m o s t o f t h e u s u a l classes
for
r e a d i n
w r i t i n and r i t h m a t i c
plus
others
l i k e
s e v e r a l
la ngu ag es. S tu de nts
come
from
f o u r
o r f i v e
d i f f e r e n t language
a r e a s .
I n
s ch oo l Eng lis h i s th e te ac hi ng medium; Tamil
and
H i n d i a r e seco nd and t h i r d l a n g u a g e s .
In
case
you
c a n t
read it
the
heading on
the
c h a l k
board
s a y s :
H i n d i C l a s s - 3 .
K i n d e r g a r t e n
and F i r s t Grade have
t h e i r
c h a p e l s e p a r a t e l y . K.C. John
l e a d s them
each morning.
They l e a m
of God s
love
as
they
s i n g
songs
l i k e . My Beloved i s
Mine.
Mrs. Luke
and
K.C. t e a c h
Kg.
and F i r s t
Grade
r e g u l a r
c l a s s e s .
And t h e n it i s
t i m e f o r
r e c e s s o r
p i c t u r e
t ak ingas
some
o f t h e Kg. and
F i r s t
Graders
g a t h e r
around
the
t e e t e r - t o t t e r .
The
little
guy
on t h e
l e f t
decided
chalk was f o r making
a m u s t a c h e .
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