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This October, 2013 has been even more fully active than our normal busy schedule, thanks to the visit of the Merritt Island Christian Church Tour from October 1-10. This tour came to visit the work of the South India Church of Christ Mission in some of its Fields and the College.
Add to this visit the full force of the north-east monsoon, a major cyclone (hurricane) along India’s east coast, and preparations for the upcoming Christmas Program. And then the planned travel and meetings that keep the South India Church of Christ Mission community active from day to day, month to month, year to year! A full and blessed month, for which we praise Jesus as He leads the Mission forward to the Christmas Program, 2013.
October began at midnight October 1, as Philomina and I met the 10 members of the Merritt Island Christian Church Tour at Chennai International Airport. This “study tour” is an experiment in having teams from supporting churches come to visit the work that Jesus is doing through His leadership of SICCM since 1950.
Rather than the Tour being one where a physical building is constructed by members of a visiting tour, the idea of the study tour is to have Tour members work on their own spiritual growth. This is to be done in the context of experiencing a New Testament-based mission and church “in real time.” By combining prayer, reflection and discussion along with visiting churches, Southern Asia Christian College, and mission station hubs of various SICCM Fields, the prayer was that both the visitors and the visited would gain in spiritual strength through singing, sharing, discussing and praying together.
 
In this way, the study tour would be a learning experience for all involved, both visitor and visited. And so, praise God, the Tour fulfilled the promise of the vision. From the moment when the Tour members first sang “Amazing Grace” in the first village church visited to the moment when we parted ways at Delhi airport ten days later, the harmonies of the songs and the reflections of the Tour members were lessons learned and gifts given to all of us who shared this visit.
Hosting the Tour for 10 days also gave the Mission preachers, teachers, elders, leaders, and congregation members a chance to link with their American brothers and sisters in the Church of Christ, of which he is the Head. As was said in the discussions, “now we see that Christ’s church is truly world-wide.” And it gave Philomina and me the opportunity to view “with fresh eyes” the blessings we daily experience as part of being His servants here with SICCM.
The Tour schedule included one day of seeing old Madras and new Chennai, two days of visiting village churches, two days of visiting Southern Asia Christian College, two days of visiting the greenfield mission work in Idukki District and then three days traveling in northern India, visiting Delhi and Agra.
The Tour members happily accepted the suggestion that they visit the Mission work not as a passive bus of tourists, but as an active choir of committed Christians who were taking the opportunity to broaden and deepen their own faith and understanding of Christ’s church around the world. The singing power of the choral group was extraordinary, truly God-blessed. Being able to communicate in song as an introduction, the walls and barriers of different languages and culture were quickly torn down.
The congregations and the students could respond with their own singing and a tour of their local context. In the villages, this included churches at various level of growth. At the College, this included the larger church services and also small group discussions to explore deeper the thoughts and testimonies and discussions with students and faculty. In Idukki district, this included viewing the progress made in developing a new field from nothing to a growing community of like-minded believers and contacts in ever-widening circles.
Then at night, we met to pray and reflect and discuss the day’s events. The Tour was blessed with having two fine preachers as part of the Tour, Jed Fuller from Merritt Island Christian Church and Rob Jankowski from New Hope Christian Church in Whitestown, Indiana. There were also two senior servants of Jesus, long active in Christ’s Church and especially missions. These were Miriam Fuller from Merritt Island and Karen Brandt from Bright Christian Church, who shared their wisdom gained over decades of service with younger members of the Tour.
Each of the two day segments of experiencing the work of SICCM and the local context could easily have been two weeks or two months or two years, as the potential of working together to plant a Restoration Movement church in every village in south India is so challenging.
The Tour members were very generous in the energy they gave to exploration, the singing, and the sharing as the Tour went from old Madras to Periyapalyam, Uttokotai, up across the Andhra line, back to Gummidipond for a night in the Mission station dormitory, and then to the Madrapakkam area where Arthur and Ruth Morris began their ministry over 60 years ago.
It was heartwarming to see how the members of the Tour responded so positively to the open-arms reception they received at the several village churches selected for their visit. It was also thrilling to see how the Tour and the Southern Asia Christian College students and teachers so quickly began to enjoy and learn from each other.
The purpose of Southern Asia Christian College, ever since its earliest days as the Rural Training Institute back in 1953, has been to train the local leadership of Christ’s church. As you know, the College is now at a new stage in its growth, offering the equivalent of a B.A. in Christian Ministry and the M.Div in Missions & Ministry through a recognized university degree. The Tour’s visit was the first visit of our supporting churches from America to the new campus and the new B.D. program. We thank God that the Tour members had such appreciation for the quality and the strength of the newest generation of leadership.
  From the College to the new mission field in Idukki District, over 500 miles away, meant an overnight train trip. For Tour members, this was an experience in how the average person and family in India travel. The Tour members took the train ride with great cheer, even with three bunks on each side of the 3-Tier coach. And then a visit to the Meenakshi Temple in Madurai and up the hill to Ellakul. Once again, the Tour members had the experience sleeping in a Mission station dormitory and did so without hesitation.
The natural beauty of the Western Ghats always speaks for itself and the glory of God’s creation. Before a dinner hosted by several families, the Tour members had a chance to see how the spice cultivation supports the Mission station while also rooting the Mission station in the daily life of the surrounding community. And also the impact of the mud slides which we saw in August. On the way to Cochin Airport, the Tour members had a chance to meet in person one of the survivors written about in the August, 2013 Prayer Partners letter, Indira.
The 2013 Christmas Program is coming soon. The last two weeks of October and all of November are the weeks for the village congregations to prepare their Christmas dramas and worship services during December. We wait to see how many villages can receive the Christmas gifts, Bibles or New Testaments and special food that comes from your gifts to the Christmas Program. Our prayer is to be able to reach 250 villages this year. The Christmas Program is one of the major evangelistic outreaches of SICCM, as the Christmas days of the calendar are considered “Christian festival days.”
During the week or so of the celebration of the birth of the Christ child, a village’s Christians can openly celebrate the grace and love of God and the hope of salvation offered by the coming of the Christ. The Christmas drama is for all the village and the night when it’s held the big event in the village. Here the Christian families of the village can share through the Christmas drama, the singing and preaching and teaching, the sharing of faith and the giving of gifts: all this is the Christmas Program.
Praise God, we are already receiving indication that the Christmas Program 2013 will be one of the larger Christmas Programs carried out by the South India Church of Christ Mission. We ask your prayers for the goal of reaching 250 villages with the full Christmas Program this December, 2013, so that “the name of Jesus may be celebrated” in villages all across southern India.
Never a dull moment in serving Jesus here in South India! We thank God for your prayers and support during this very busy year and look forward to sharing more of the Christmas Program 2013 in following letters. Thanking God for your interest and participation in the work of planting a Restoration Movement church in every village in South India,
David Morris
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