New boys dormitory further modernising the DHBS buildings.

DHBS Mirik, Darjeeling Hills, 6 March 2015

I arrived at the Darjeeling Hills Bible School and was immediately ushered to my normal room in the upstairs quarters of Dr and Mrs Rai.  We spent most of our time talking about the ministry at Mirik which is seeing a lot of our vision for the Bible School beginning to materialise with the additions to the Library/ Resource Centre to which PresAid made a substantial contribution.

Also there has now been a completely new two-storey Students' Accommodation Block built which has made a wonderful difference for the students attending the Bible School.  They have also managed to dig another well which has relieved the shortfall in freshwater.  The student intake seems to be about the same as previous years and may be a little larger.  The whole ministry at the Bible School is going very well and everyone is happy.

Rev. James and Mrs Katie Playford with their family of seven from the Broadford Presbyterian Church, Victoria is going to be part of the ministry at DHBS during their long-service leave, which they hope to take in October, November and December this year.  The plan would be that the Playford family would be stationed in rented accommodation near DHBS - which would mean that they could walk to the Bible School and the little Mount Zion School each day to participate in the various activities.

Prayer points: 

Teachers from Faith Academy, Delhi  attending the Phonics Workshop

Faith Academy, Delhi and Presbyterian Reformed Churches of India, 15 - 20 March 2015.

I arrived at the Solanki's for dinner on Saturday, and I put my thoughts together for taking the worship service both morning and evening on the Lord's Day.  These messages were well received and I felt a sense of liberty on both occasions.

Faith Academy was well and truly organised as I arrived at the school about half an hour before I had to start on the LEM Phonics Seminar.  This whole event was by far the most significant highlight of this season of ministry; and it will be remembered as a highlight in our Ministry generally since I have been returning to India since 2004.

Last year's seminar has proved to have been extremely successful and the whole school is buzzing with LEM Phonics as their literacy program for the School.  Mrs Elizabeth Robert, the Vice-Principal of the School, is proving to be the driving force in the School, and she is a sheer delight.  Her husband is the Manager of the School, and there is a genuine movement forward in the School, as it is expanding rapidly.  With 3000 students at the moment there are buildings being built to house a further 1500 students by the time the year is finished.

Also, their new Pre-school program called 'Little Flock' is being franchised, and has now four centres - two in Delhi and two in Goa and Tamil Nadu.  There were several teachers from the 'Little Flock' Preschools participating at the LEM Phonics Seminar.  It is intended to use the phonics system as a primary signature to the 'Little Flock' Pre-schools.  The extraordinary thing about Faith Academy and these 'Little Flock' Pre-schools is that all the teachers are genuine Christians - in that they profess faith in Christ and attend a Protestant church.  It is clear that my visits to prepare the teachers in the discipline of intensive phonics is being received as being a signature feature of the School, and they will be dependent very much on continued involvement of LEM Phonics.  They treated me as an honoured guest and assumed that I was really part of the School as an honoured consultant coming amongst them.  Where this will lead us I don't know, but I am obviously very excited about it.

When I arrived in the conference room there were more than 70 teachers ready to take a 26-hour workshop.  The greater body of these teachers had not done Module A, and I had to give them the full course.  However, all the teachers who were at last year's workshop were there with wonderful stories on how the students had improved as the School introduced LEM Phonics.  They were set to do Module B of the Introductory Course for teachers.  I was able to then develop the course for both modules, and it worked extremely successfully as all the older teachers appreciated a full dose of revision and the new teachers appreciated being 'pushed into' the new work of Module B and did not have to sit the exam for Module B.  The enthusiasm in the room as I conducted the workshop was inspiring and infectious.  It was by far the best seminar that I have ever conducted.

Hard at work for five days.

On the second day a group of 12 students visited the seminar room, participated in the seminar for half an hour, and then gave a presentation on what they had learned.  These were teachers of kindergarten to early-childhood, and it was evident that a lot of work had gone on into the background to implement the intensive phonics discipline, with lots of work in the data projector which I was dazzled by.  Then they perfectly pronounced the phonograms - including the Successes 17.  They then began reading texts that they had never been given before.  They did it individually and as a group, and then the students were asked to read a small section from the day's newspaper; and they did it with remarkable skill!  The executive staff was absolutely astounded at the improvement in these children.  Elizabeth Robert said that even the standard of English amongst the teachers had improved dramatically, and the general pronunciation of words was far above any previous year.

The final day with the examination was thoroughly prepared for, and the largest percentage I've ever known to get over 90% was found in this cohort.  A few got above 55% which showed that they were not the best at phonics.  Indeed, they were encouraged in the classroom because many of them were the more experienced teachers who were struggling with a new system that required a totally new mindset.  However, they all passed above 55%, and the whole school-staff body was rejoicing with them.  Apart from a few teachers all achieved above the 70% pass mark.

One evening I was invited to the official signing of papers for two new 'Little Flock' Preschool franchises where all the executive staff was in attendance and I was invited as a guest.  Apparently, it is a prerequisite for those who work in these 'Little Flock' Preschools that they are to undertake an LEM Phonics course.  I thought to myself, 'How about that!'  I was also impressed by the quality of the facilities that they had rented and decorated very tastefully - with kitchen, proper bathroom and several rooms.  This looked to me to be a very upmarket type of setup.  I asked Mr Robert, the Manager, whether the 'Little Flock' Preschools were making good margins financially and whether they were a safe investment.  'As a business proposition,' he said, 'they are doing extremely well,' and they were able to have excess funds to invest further into the Preschool.

Hiralal Solanki very wisely felt that such a project would not help them in the Delhi situation.  He said that when a Pastor is divided in his attention, often the business aspect of this kind of ministry can take over the pastors' real job as a Preacher of the Gospel and the setting up of the church fellowship. I couldn't agree with him more as I have found that when we start an educational work this work really has to be handled separately to the work of the church; although one can supplement the other.

Nepal Campus Church, Kathmandu, Nepal, 22 - 24 March 2015

Pastor Uma Sharma met me at the airport, and had arranged for me to stay with Uma's family at their house on the rural outskirts of Kathmandu.  Uma, with his family, have been wonderfully provided for through his mother who apparently softened her stance against her Christian son whilst she was looking after Uma for a full month when he had a motorcycle accident with me as his pillion.  You will remember that he had to have an operation on his knee and there has been a very slow healing process.  He is walking quite confidently now, but he has to be careful.  Uma's mother, who is now widowed, had an opportunity to see his ministry - particularly to the little children at the Playschool that is operating out of the rented buildings that the Nepal Campus Church is using.  Uma's family life is quite affectionate; and it was standing as a testimony to Uma's living faith.  As a result, she arranged to sell land in their ancestral family area and use the money to buy a simple but very comfortable house for the family to live in.  She purchased this house that I am presently staying in, in her own name.  The family has now got a permanent place to live rent-free.  So the goodness of God was expressed in the motorcycle accident!

The purpose for my visit this time is simply to come and talk with Uma and get a first-hand perspective of the ministry he has conducted.  Uma's mother has chosen to take up residence alongside the family as her choice of accommodation; and it seems to work very well.

For two hours every morning I have been delivering a series of lectures on the 'Kingdom of God' to a small Bible school for Nepali-speaking people who are involved in Christian work.  It's hard to know whether the material that you are using to teach these biblical truths is actually entering into the mental framework of the students; but Uma seems to think that they are well and truly engaged as he translates for me.

In my conversations with Uma we have covered an enormous amount of material - particularly in the area of the distinctives of the Reformed Faith as they apply in his practical situation as pastor of a relatively small group of people.  Uma is a particularly strong evangelist, and it appears his preaching is very effective.  He is resisting the 'entertainment game' that almost every other church in Kathmandu is involved in - with electrified music and a lot of singing with very little in the way of preaching (if anything).  The difficulties that he has had are with those who have become settled opponents to his ministry, and who believe that he should be subject to them, and who would rejoice if there was a failure in his ministry.

Uma and Santosh Sharma with their family

Thankfully this ministry has been supported to some measure by IRFA and also by a Reformed man who is a ministerial licentiate in Holland.  Reuben J. Jansen's Dutch Reformed Church, Tholen, Initiating Group, has sought to find support for the ministry here in Nepal, particularly in assistance toward the rent of the church buildings.  Reuben has been a great support ever since the work began.  He apparently met Uma whilst he was studying at the London Theological Seminary (LTS), and I met him at the Banner of Truth Conference in Leicester.  Uma has been church-planting the Nepal Campus Church for now just over four years, and there are about 29 settled people who come together for worship.  There are others who attend, but he does not count those as settled people in the congregation, as he is constantly evangelising.  He adopts expository preaching as he was taught at LTS, and his Reformed Faith is settled and robust.  When people are converted he then baptises them; and I have noticed that he does use immersion baptism which is the only common practice used in Nepal.  There is quite a long way to go to try and establish a Presbyterian system of government, but he does prepare eldership candidates with the hope of establishing a Council of Elders.  So, to that extent, there is a deliberate plan to move toward a Presbyterian system of government.

Of course at this stage, there doesn't seem to be any opportunity to consider the multiplicity of churches where a denomination can be formed.  Because of the difficulties he has had with people who are jealous of his ministry and seek to destroy his work, he is being sensible in making sure that the congregation is pastorally secure under his ministry in these foundation years.  As time goes on, these issues will begin to emerge as something that needs to be reformed. There have been no difficulties thus far.

Then there is the particular missionary work that Uma is now developing.  The Christianity Explored translation and publication work was funded via IRFA, and we received all the necessary documentation to verify that this money has been spent for the purpose that it was given.  Now the missionary journeys of Uma to the remote parts of Nepal come as a special feature in his developing ministry.  IRFA has sought to fundthese missionary journeys in the past two years.  Further materials such as the purchase of Nepali Bibles are being purchased with funds that have been sent through IRFA.