Palm Sunday means church to
most of us, the start of Holy Week, and praises to our King. It just feels a little different in India.
We started early, heading
north toward Guntur
from Bapatla, and found ourselves along the same mountains as our first week.
Fields of red chili, cotton and rice kuppas
(huge round stacks curing in the fields) slipped past us. Men threshed seeds in the road, leaving the
ripened plants for traffic to run over, then tossing the crop into the air for
the wind to cleanse.
Building materials changed
from concrete to native rock. The village
of Peddigothi Paddu
appeared like a morph of an Irish village with stone buildings, narrow streets
and thatched roofs. Except the signs
were in Telugu and barefoot men wearing lungis trudged along the road.
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| Palm Sunday, Peddigothi Paddu, India |
A beautiful church came into
sight, surrounded by coconut palms. Palm branches—decorated with flowers on the
tip of each leaflet—were waving from the fencing. It was a fitting place to worship on this Palm
Sunday.
Christ Lutheran Church was built in 1927 and has a congregation of over 300. Most of them were here today to worship the
Lord as King of kings—and as the Lamb of God whose death would become His
destiny in a few more days.
Pastor Ravi Prasad, Santha
Rao’s elder brother, had invited Russ to preach on this important
occasion. Church began with throbbing
drums and jangling tambourines; hymns and prayers mixed the flavors of India and Europe,
yet there was a sense of profound worship.
God desires to be praised by all nations, tribes, peoples and languages
of His earth.
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| "The Road to Jerusalem" |
Russ spoke of The Road to Jerusalem—Jesus’ path of
submission, fulfillment of prophecy, destiny and ultimately, our salvation at
the Cross. We had a skilful interpreter
and the service flowed beautifully. We
were impressed at the large number of men present, and how Pastor Prasad
involved young and old, men and women during worship. It was a blessing to us.
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| Worshiping with Grandpa |
India is a land of incredible contrasts. We have brought the Gospel to people in
thatched huts and in concrete church buildings; in village crusades where the
mosquitoes outnumbered the people; in prayer meetings packed with sweaty bodies
eager to hear about Jesus; walked through mud, buffalo manure and monsoon
floods to reach the poor living in slums.
The lost are hungry for the hope of Jesus Christ, and God has given us
the responsibility to feed them with His Word.
On this Palm Sunday, we truly experienced His reality as Lord of lords,
King of kings, and the One True God in a land of a million idols. Hosanna to the Son of David!
--Alice Sharrock
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