As Sara mentioned in her post a few weeks back:“Our b-team is off shooting the documentary all over the state of Uttaranchal. The three Ecclesians plus one host are traveling, as much as eight hours in a day by car to get the footage they need--this is not an easy task in these road conditions. They've met so many inspiring people already, and been treated to a hospitality that is the norm in these parts. Their days have been full and committed and they are happy with the work they've completed so far.”
Having been in Los Angeles for nearly two weeks now we felt it was about time to expand on this paragraph with a brief synopsis of the B-Teams’ adventures.
I couldn’t begin to describe our experience in India without first introducing our ministry partner. He grew up in a village in the Garhwal region of Uttaranchal, converted from Hinduism to Christianity at a young age and is now a full-time pastor in Mussoorie. He holds a handful of master degrees, runs the ministry with his wife and trains disciples among the Garhwali, Tharu and Kumaoni people groups of northern India. On top of all that he’s a father of four beautiful, intelligent and hilarious children.
He was the mastermind behind the documentary that brought our small crew of filmmakers to India. He also turned out to be an amazing teacher and friend. And cautious and responsible driver…can’t forget that one. I often felt humbled and honored that our team was able to travel half way around the globe to offer our skills as a service to his ministry. He has such a rich wisdom about him, relentless persevering spirit, hilarious dry wit and an impeccable taste in music.Much of our time with him was spent traveling to specific villages to film the home churches that his ministry has planted and conduct interviews with the disciples he has trained. Life in this region isn’t easy. Although the landscapes are mind-numbingly beautiful in their terraced fields and meandering streams the people are constantly battling for survival. He mentioned that the dry monsoon season this past year left many families eating just one meal a week! This region is also what he refers to as “the Hindu stronghold”. The people groups in this region are extremely superstitious and a form of animistic Hinduism has flourished. There are gods, idols and spirits lurking around every corner and the people are constantly striving to keep them content. Endlessly attempting to win their favor. Their forgiveness. Their mercy. This sort of god/devotee relationship leads to a multitude of sacrifice – vegetable, animal, and yes, sometimes human.
These factors, paired with the isolation of the villages, make the job of ministering to this region a strenuous task. The disciples that they trains are native to these tribal areas. They grew up in the villages. They know the land, the dialects and the intrinsic mindset of the people groups. Some disciples will walk for ten days through mountainous terrain to reach a village and share God’s word. They share with those that may have never heard the name of Jesus let alone the Bible. They risk exhaustion, injury and persecution but it’s the path that God has called them to follow. It’s their vocation. To spread the Gospel each and every day through unreached areas, to plant and guide home churches in the villages, to nurture new disciples and show these people the love of Christ. The conversion to Christianity is not taken lightly. It’s transformative and freeing which can seem threatening to Hindus tied to their gods, idols and ancient ways. It causes conflict in the communities, amongst families, friends as well as internally. Often those that have converted will feel attacked by their old gods, angered by their acceptance of a new and greater God. There is constant and devout prayer amongst these people and they look after each other like one family, continuously taking in new members.
And that’s what the ministry wanted us to capture: simple moments in the life of these people, their testimonies, their struggles, devotion and ultimately the joy of their life in Christ. In the nine days we spent with him we covered a tremendous amount of ground. The roads we traveled were often dirt, steep, winding and only wide enough for one vehicle. We visited three villages and their subsequent home churches. We interviewed a multitude of pastors, disciples, and Christ followers. We filmed the baptism of a family that walked five hours through the mountains to a beautiful river valley so our partner could pray over them and then, after 30 minutes, they said good bye and began the return trek just as the sun began to set behind the Himalayas. We filmed the people in prayer and in worship, singing beautiful songs in Hindi and even taking the time to teach us one.We also witnessed the darkness of India, the suffering, the injustice, the cycles of oppression and the logic of the people that at times was overwhelming for our Western brains. I was constantly reminded of the complexity of the culture, feebly stretching to imagine the world through the eyes of a native, reflecting on my simmering feelings of sympathy, empathy and anger. In that time God reminded me that he was far greater than all I saw before me. Far greater than this world. He was generous in his patience and support, reminding us that the simple matter of our presence there was a blessing.
Obviously we have so many stories and experiences we’d like to share, far too many for one blog post, and we hope that the completed film project will do it’s part in furthering awareness and support of the ministry. His main goal for the finished film is just that, to spread awareness of the Gahrwali people, their struggles and the dedicated work of his ministry. He often reminded me that spreading awareness and nurturing prayer support is much more important for them than financial support, although I do feel it’s been put on our teams’ hearts to help them with both. :: Andy
Visit our photo streem on flickr for more from the b team.
We’ll be sharing more about our experience at Ecclesia on Sunday November 8th, 11am.
