roland william jean 1988 india

8/11/2019 Roland William Jean 1988 India

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B i l a s p u r, INDIA February 1988

Dear Co-Worke r s ,The b ig news fo r February i s t h a t we have rece ived an ex ten sion o

ou r r e s i d e n t i a l pe rmi t . In 1975 we en te red Ind ia on th e 4 th o fFebruary, so our resident^ial permit exp i re s each year on th a t d a te .This time we rece ived the extens ion on the 11ththe quickes t i t hase v e r been g r a n t e d Fo r t h e l a s t two t i m e s t h e e x t e n s i o n h a s beensanct ioned by the loca l pol ice o f f i c i a l are espec ia l ly thankfulfor i t because so many are being refused. Dr. Pletner and family hal e f t Kulpahar and I n d i a G e t t e r s s t l l c o n t i n u e e f f o r t s to r e v e r s et h e i r expu l s ion o r d e r

We have r e c e i ved word t h a t o u r new v e h i c l e M a t a d o r Ambulance/Sta t ion Wagonis ready. There is some quest ion as to whether we havto pay a l o c a l t a x , so d e l i v e r y i s be ing delayed .

The Rostvi t Twins v i s i t ed Bilaspur th i s month. They were out inSarguja Dis t r ic t with the Getters for the spring convention, so stoppeo f f here fo r three evening meetings. This is t he i r s ix th time to beBilaspur to present their witness and messages in song in differentl a n g u a g e s .

Both o f us had an unusual exper ience in connec t ion with the Twinv i s i t Usually one of the Indian men t ranslates for foreign guests aspeakers . But for two meetings there were no Indians present who knew

E ng lish w ell enough to do the t r a n s l a t i o n So Jean was ca l l ed on fo rone meeting, William the other. both know Hindi wel l , but sometimei t is d i f f i c u l t to think of the proper word quickly.

The photo copier continues to be very use fu l . Every time we usei t we are so thankful for i t More than 13,000 copies have alreadybeen run o f f . Most of tha t has been for the study notes for the Bookof Acts and Firs t Peter. The Kududand Church Youth Group is using ouActs study notes for t he i r Bible study. have given out many copiesto former s tudents and church men who take turns preaching. The notesare much appreciated and are being used. are now doing the Hindityping of the Hebrew Epis t le notes . They wil l be ready to run offo o n

We had a v i s i t from a former s t u d e n t t h i s month . He s t u d i e d twoyears with us, then completed his t ra in ing at a B ib le C olle ge up northe i s now back in th i s area , doing preaching in a new indus t r ia l areae stayed over night with Ajeet , who was a classmate. For the morningchapel , he brought a good message ent i t led You are a Let te r , emphas iz ing the fac t tha t we must not only preach the Gospel, but must l ive

t t o o

An o u t - o f - c l a s s p r o j e c t tha t s tudents a re working on i s the Ju leMiller V isualized Bible Study Series . Ishwari Lai, our pr inc ipa l ,has t r ans la ted the captions of the pic tu res and had i t pr in ted Now


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B i l a s p u r , INDIA March 1988

Dear Co-worke r s ,Our Matador is in the Bilaspur s t a l l . Yes, we f i n a l l y have the new d ie se l

vehic le . I t is ca l led a S t a t i on Wagon , but is not l ik e S ta te si de s t a t i o n wagons. t i s more l i k e t h e VW M i c r o b u s we d ro ve aro un d th e w o r l d i n 1 9 6 4 .

On th e 19th we got word from th e factory tha t th e van was ready. William wentto the s t a t i o n the same da y to ge t t r a i n r e s e r v a t i o n s to Bombay. He was ab le to g e t

only one for the 24th, with one name on th e wait ing l i s t . Fortunately the railwayha s an emergency quota fo r some t r a i n s . On the 23rd evening we got one rese rvat i o n in t h a t , so we were a l l s e t to go .

In Bombay we spent a few hours on the 25th c he ck in g w ith a i r l i n e o f f i c e s for info rm at ion about our summer t r a v e l to Belgium, Uruguay an d the U.S. Then we go t a3:30 p.m. t r a i n to Puna, where th e va n i s made and where we were to take d e l i v e r y.Puna i s a f ive hour t r a i n t r i p from Bombay. We had made arrangem ents w ith the UnionB i b l i c a l Seminary fo r accomodations and were glad to be ab le to spend two n i g h t s ont h e i r b e a u t i f u l campus , up on a h i l l o v e r l o o k i n g th e c i t y .

We d i d n ' t know i f we could t ake de l ivery of the va n on the 26th a Saturday-since some off i ce s t h a t supply t r ave l papers would be c losed . But we got to thed e a l e r s showroom by abou t opening t ime to see what we cou ld do . To our s u r p r i s e an dpleasure the d e a l e r had a l l pa pe rs re ad y: temporary r e g i s t r a t i o n an d road tax an d

t r ave l insurance . were able to check out th e vehic le , get some ext ra par t s an ddo some shopping before re turn ing to the Seminary. There we checked th e va n over al i t t l e more thoroughly for loose screws and nuts, got packed up and ready to leavee a r l y n ex t m o rn in g.

The f i r s t day we got s t a r t ed at 4 a.m. and drove t i l l 10 p.m., then s l ep t inthe van a t a roadside truck s top . The second day we drove from 6 a.m. ' t i l l pastmidnight and got to Raipur, our shopping center 70 miles south o f B il as pu r. spent two nigh ts t h e r e , did some shopping, ha d some repa i r s done on th e va n an dvis i ted Abhimanyu and familyour former s tudents , now ministering in tha t area . got back home to Bilaspur Wednesday evening. The whole t r i p took j u s t one week.

Our thanks to a l l who have given generously to make the vehic le poss ib le . Students are very happy with i t . The f i r s t r ide they had in i t was to a government garden and small zoo west of Bilaspur about 5 miles. believe i t will be very useful

in the work, and much le ss c os tly to operate. I t gets about 34 miles to a gallon offuel . Diesel fuel costs about 1.20 pe r gal lon , as compared to gasoline at about 2 . 9 0 .

always t ry to avoid Sunday t r ave l , but sometimes i t is impossible . By t r aveling over the weekend and during some of the Easter Week meetings, we were able tomiss a minimum number of classes . At one of ou r res t stops on Sunday we paused topartake of th e Lord 's Supper with th e emblems tha t Jean had taken along.

The Eas te r Week meet ings were very good th i s year and well a t tended . Though wedidn ' t get to attend a l l , we did par t ic ipate in th e las t two or three. Sunday morning, April 3rd, following the sunrise service , was a f i t t ing climax, as we rejoicedin the b ap tis m o f six of the Kududand Church youth.

are s t i l l working on plans for ou r summer t r i p . The return visa is appliedfor and we have hopes of gett ing i t so we can s ta r t t raveling in f i r s t week of MayTentat ive plane reserva t ions are made for a two-week stay in Belgium, a three-weekstay in Uruguay and a June 11th a r r iva l in the States . Besides attending th NACCmost of our time wi l l be spent with business matters and vis i t ing family. aren ' tpreparing a vis i t ing/speaking schedule for s u pp o rt in g c h ur ch e s, groups and individua l s . But, i f you would l ike fo r us to v i s i t you, please l e t Mrs. Oelkers know andwe wi l l arrange a v i s i t i f poss ib le . wil l be available unt i l July 28.To our Lord and Savior Jesus Chris t be the glory, both now and to the day of e te rn i t y 2 P e t e r 3 : 1 8 .

In C h r i s t i a n Love,W i l li a m J e a n R o l a n d


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B i l a s p u r , A p r i l 198 8

D ear C o- wo rk er s f o r I n d i a ,

I n o u r l s t l e t t e r w e t o l d a b o u t

t a k i n g d e l i v e r y of th e Matador, th e newd i e s e l van t h a t you he lped to p u rc h a se .S ince t hen we have been ab le to g e tsome p i c t u r e s so w a n t t o s h a r e o n e w i t hyou . Th e p i c t u r e he re does n* t r e a l l ydo th e v a n , o r u s , j u s t i c e , b u t you cana t l e a s t g e t some i d e a o f w h a t t h e v a ni s l i k e

A p r i l i s t h e l s t m o n t h o f t h i ss c h o o l y e a r f o r th e Tr a i n i n g I n s t i t u t e . Me a r e w r i t i n g t h i s l e t t e r a l i t t l ee a r l y o n t h e 2 5 t h b e c a u s e i f we

wai t u n t i l the end o f the month, whenwe u s u a l l y w r i t e th e monthly l e t t e r , we w i l l g e t c a u g h t up i n t h eend-o f - schoo l r u s h , and the rush of g e t t i n g ready to s t a r t ourt r a v e l t o B e l g i u m , Uruguay and t h e S t a t e s . The 2 9 t h i s t h e l a s tday of schoo l , a f t e r which s tuden t s w i l l be r e tu rn ing to t h e i rhomes fo r the summer ask you to be in prayer with us t h a tthey w i l l be f a i t h f u l i n u s in g th e th in g s th ey have l ea rned tow i t n e s s i n t h e i r home a r e a s .

As fo r our t r a v e l p l a n s : - t h i n g s are shaping up very w e l l .I t c o n s t a n t l y amazes us how God works t h i n g s o u t , even in th ef a c e o f seeming d i f f i c u l t i e s . On t h e 2 1 s t t h e r e t u r n v i s a wasg r a n t e d , a f t e r 7 / i l l ia m s much r unn ing back and f o r t h t o th eDis t r i c t Court . The next day he went to the rai lway s t a t i on tot r y fo r t r a i n rese rva t ions to Uew Delh i , from where we expect tof l y o u t . T h i s i s t h e b u s y t r a v e l s e a s o n i n I n d i a so he wasexpect ing to have to go to a l l the t roub le of ge t t i ng spec ia lquota r e s e r v a t i o n s . But , happ i ly, he was able t o g e t r e s e r v a t i o n sfo r May i th a t the t i c k e t coun te r. The e n t i r e f l i g h t schedule i st en t a t ive ly hooked, and we expect to f ina l ize i t a f t e r reacViingDew Delh i May 5th . As scheduled now we w i l l f l y out o f Uew Delh iMay 7 th ; spend a week and a h a l f i n Belgium; v i s i t P a u l and h i sfami ly i n Uruguay f o r t h r e e weeks; r each th e S t a t e s a b o u t th emiddle of June. A member of the /estside Church in Vichita, KSi s arranging a car fo r most of our U.S. t r ave l sfree of charge IOu r re tu rn to Ind ia i s scheduled fo r th e f i r s t week o f August.

Please cont inue to pray wi th us t h a t our t r i p may go w e l l ,a n d t h a t we w i l l b e a b l e t o t a k e c a r e o f l l t h a t n e e d s t o b edone, yje plan to be in Cinc inna t i , Ohio fo r the Uorth AmericanC h r i s t i a n Convent ion , so may g e t to see you t h e r e i f no t e l s ewhe re ,

T he g race o f th e Lord Je sus C h r i s t , and love of God, andth e f e ll o w sh ip o f t h e Holy S p i r i t , be wi t h you a l l .

S i n c e r e l y i n C h r i s t

W i l l i a m J e a n P o l a n d


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D e a r C o - w o r k e r s ,

M o n t e v i d e o ; U r u g u a yM ay 1 9 8 8

T h e m on th o f Ma y c a n v e r y a p p r o p r i a t e l y b e c a l l e d t r a v e l m o n t h ,b e c a u s e i t m a r k s t h e b e g i n n i n g o f o u r summer t r a v e l s t o B e l g i u m , U ru gu ay a ndt h e S ta t e s

T h e T r a i n i n g In s t i t u t e w as c l o s e d o n A p r i l 2 9 t h f o r t h e s u m m e rv a c a t i o n . Then we made f i n a l p r e p a r a t i o n s a n d l e f t B i l a s p u r o n Ma y 4 t h f o r

D e l h i a 2 4 h o u r t r a in t r i p .

I n D e l h i , a f t e r much r u nn in g b ac k a n d f o r t h t o t h e t r a v e l a g e n t so f f i c e , we w e r e a b l e t o f i n a l i z e a l l b u t o n e o f o u r a i r p l a n e r e s e r v a t i o n s . Wh a d h o p e d t o l e a v e D e l h i f o r B e l g i u m S a t u r d a y t h e 7 t h , b u t h a d t o c h a n g e t h a tt o Monday t h e 9 t h . T h a t m e a n t s e n d i n g a t e l e g r a u n an d t r y in g t o c a l l B e l g i u mt o i n f o r m B o o n a e r t s o f o u r l a t e r a r r i v a l . U n f o r t u n a t e l y t h e y d i d n o t g e t t h eword on t i m e , s o h a d t o make tw o t r i p s t o Amste rdam t o m e e t u s .

T he f l i g h t t o Amste rdam was p l e a s a n t , and we a r r i v e d t h e r e i n g o o dw e a t h e r . Mary E s t h e r , J o h n Mark a n d J a m e s m et u s ( H e n k i h a d n t b e e n a b l e t omake t h e s e c o n d t r ip t o Amsterdam . We h a d a v e r y e n j o y a b l e 10 -days i nB e l g i u m . W i l l i a m t o l d a b o u t t h e w o r k i n I n d i a a t t h e R e k e m C h u r c h o n S u n d a y

m o r n i n g . I n t h e e v e n i n g t h e Genk C h u r c h h a d a s p e c i a l m e e t i n g w h e r e h e s p o k ea g a i n a n d a n s w e r e d q u e s t i o n s . H e n k i t r a n s l a t e d f o r b o t h m e e t i n g s . I t wasgood t o g e t t o mee t w i t h t h e B e l g i a n s u p p o r t e r s a g a i n . B e s i d e s r ene w in gf o r m e r a c q u a i n t a n c e s we m e t m a n y new b r o t h e r s a n d s i s t e r s i n C h r i s t .

Meo^ 19 a n d t h e f l ight f rom A m s t e r d a m came a l l t o o s o o n . H e n k i a n dMary E s t h e r t o o k u s t o t h e a i r p o r t . J o h n a n d J a m e s c o u l d n t m i s s m o r e s c h o o lt o make t h e t r i p . The f i r s t p a r t o f t h e t r ip t o U r u g u a y w as t h e f l i g h t t o NewYo r k . We h a d a s e v e n h o u r l a y o v e r i n New York . B u t t h e t i m e w e n t q u i c k l y a sw e w e r e a b l e t o d o s o m e c o r r e s p o n d e n c e a n d s e n d s o m e ro l l s o f f i l m f o rd e v e l o p i n g . And we e n j o y e d a g oo d m ea l i n o n e o f t h e a i r p o r t c a f e t e r i a s .

O u r f l i g h t f rom New York was a t a b o u t 1 0 : 3 0 p .m ., n on -s t o p t o R io d eJ a n e i r o , B r a z i l ; a t o t a l o f a b o u t n i n e h o u r s . A f t e r a n e i g h t h o u r f l i g h t f romA m s t e r d a m t o New York ; s e v en h ou rs l a y o v e r i n Ne w Yo r k ; n i n e h o u r s t o R io an dtw o h o u r s t o M o n t e v i d e o we e x p e c t e d t o b e c o m p l e t e l y t i r e d o u t . B u tf o r t u n a t e l y , f o r u s , t h e f l i g h t f rom Ne w Yo r k t o R io w as n o t c r o w d e d , s o b o t ho f u s w e r e a b l e t o l ie down on em pty s e a t s an d s l e e p m o s t o f t h e way. A f t e rp l a n e c h a n g e i n R io we a r r i v e d i n M o n t e v i d e o e a r l y i n t h e a f t e r n o o n o f t h e2 0 t h . P a u l , J o n a t h a n a n d my m e e t u s w i t h a l o n g b a n n e r w e l c o m i n g u s t oU r u g u a y. H e l e n w as i n s c h o o l w h e r e s h e t e a c h e s s o c o u l d n t m e e t t h e p l a n e .We a r r i v e d i n c o o l w e a t h er w i t h t h e w i n d b l o w i n g . I t h a s s t a y e d c o l d , w i t hr a i n s o m e d a y s , s o we h a v e b e e n a b i t u n c o m f o r t a b l e - e s p e c i a l l y a f t e r b e i n gu s e d t o 1 0 0 + d e g r e e s h o t w e a t h e r i n I n d i a . We a r e g l a d f o r warm c l o t h i n g a n da f i r e p l a c e .

We h a v e a t t e n d e d t w o S u n d a y w o r s h i p s e r v i c e s s o f a r , a n d o t h e rm e e t i n g s a n d f e l l o w s h i p g a t h e r i n g s . S h o p p i n g a n d s i g h t s e e i n g h a v e b e e ne n j o y a b l e . W i l l i a m p r e a c h e d o n t h e 2 9 t h , a n d h e i s s c h e d u l e d to s h o w s l ideso n I n d i a a t tw o o t h e r m e e t i n g s . The b e s t p a r t o f t h e t r ip t h o u g h , i s g e t t i n gto v i s i t w i t h P a u l H e l e n , J o n a t h a n Amy. I t h a d b e e n a b o u t f i v e y e a r ss i n c e we sa w t h e m , s o we a r e g r a t e f u l f o r th is t i m e t o g e t h e r .

No w we a r e s c l j e d u l e d to l e a v e h e r e J u n e 1 0 , r e a c h i n g New Yo r k t h e1 1 t h . We l o o k fo rwarc i t o g e t t i n g t o s e e y o u d u r i n g o u r U . S . t o u r . B l e s s eda r e a l l w ho f e a r t h e l . o r d , who w a l k i n h i s w a y s . . . M a y t h e L o r d b l e s s y o u f r o mZ i o n a l l t h e d a y s o f >-our l i f e . P s a l m 1 2 8 .

I n C h r i s t i a n L o v e ,


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C i n c i n n a t i OhioJ u n e 1 9 ^ 6

D e a r G o - w o r k e r s

iVe c o n t i n u e t o t r ave l g e t s o m e w o r k d o n e a n d v i s i ts o m e s u p p o r t e r s f r i e n d s a n d f a m i l y .

A f t e r a v e r y e n j o y a b l e b u t c o l d w e a t h e r w i s e t h r e ew e e k s i n U r u g u a y we r e a c h e d new Yo r k J u n e 1 1 an d f l e w t oL o s A n g e l e s t h e same d a y . P a c i f i c C h r i s t i a n C o l l e g e g a v eu s g o o d a c c o m o d a t i o n s i n u h e i r d o r m i t o r y . We w e r e a b l e t ov i s i t w i t h t h e L l o y d T o m l i n so ns a nd a t t e n d s e r v i c e s a t tw oo f t h e a r e a c h u r c h e s . We w e r e s o r r y t o m i s s t h e P a r kn e t t i n g s who w e r e v a c a t i o n i n g i n A l a s k a .

J u n e 1 4 t h we a r r i v e d i n W i c h i t a Kb a n d w e r e m e t b yiv ier le Ve r a b e a v e y . I t i s a l w a y s g o o d t o m e e t t h o s ep l e a s a n t f r i e n d s and s t a y i n t h e i r home i he n e x t day wet o o k d e l i v e r y o f t h e 7^3 Pord f rom B r o . Ray an d w en t t oL a C r o s s e . B u t t h e P o r d w a s n t r u n n i n g a s w e l l a s d i dtv/o y e a r s a g o . e v/e re a b l e t o c o r r e c t t h e r o u g h r u n n i n go f t h e e n g i n e b u t n o t t h e o v e r h e a t i n g a n d v a p o r l o c k . bow e d e c i d e d t o r e t u r n t o W i c h i t a . O n t h e w ay a s t e e r i n gt i e r o d d r o p p e d o f f f o r t u n a t e l y w h i l e we w e r e p a r k e d i nH u t c h i s o n K b B r o . R ay s e n t h i s t r a i l e r t o h a u l i nT h e e x t r a c o u p l e o f d a y s i n Wich i t a p r o v e d t o b e a r e a lb l e s s i n g . B r o . beavey h e l p e d u s w i t h some s h o p p i n g a n d

we g o t t o a t t e n d b u n d a y S c h o o l a n d w o r s h i p s e r v i c e a t t h eWests ide Church

P o l l o w i n g s e r v i c e s on t h e 2 6 t h we f lew t o Chicagow h e r e s o n D a v i d an d f a m i l y m e t u s a n d t o o k u s t o L i n c o l nI L w h e r e L i n c o l n C h r i s t i a n C o l l e g e h a d a room r e a d y f o r u si n t h e i r h o s p i t a l i t y house . Son Paul ha d purchased a 78Chevy f o r t h e i r fu r lough t r a v e l s l a s t w i n t e r. They l e f t i tw i t h David t o be s o l d an d f o r u s t o u se i f we needed i tS i n c e t h e W i c h i t a F o r d d i d n t w o r k o u t we a r e happy t o h a v eth e Chevy ve have been able to ge t severa l th ings done i nI l l i n o i s a a w e l l as v i s i t w i th f r i e n d s and f ami ly.

Ju ly 3 rd we worsh ipp ed w i th Davids i n Linco ln XL.and met many f r i e n d s t h e r e . I t was a s p e c i a l jo y to se ethe very ac t ive p a r t t h a t David Clenda Boomer and Benh a v e i n t h e work o f t h e J e f f e r s o n b t . C h u r c h . R i g h t a f t e rthe morning services in Lincoln we s ta r ted fo r Cincinnatiand the Ror th American C h r i s t i a n Convention. Ou r week i nCinc inna t i w i l l be p a r t of nex t month s l e t t e r .

I n C h r i s t i a n S e r v i c e

W i l l ia m J e a n R o l a n d


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B i l a s p u r INDIA Ju ly I988

D e a r Co-workers

Th e t r i p from Linco ln IL t o C i n c i n n a t i O went wel l and we go t i n the c i t yj u s t i n t ime t o w o r s h i p w i t h t h e Weste rn H i l l s Church . T h i s i s t h e c h u r c h weat tended dur ing our co l l ege days a t th e C in ci nn at i Bible Seminary dur ing the 40sWe had planned t o s t a y i n one o f the Seminary dorms as we have done b e f o r e bu tt h i s t ime they could not g ive us a room. So we ended up f ind ing a nearby motelabout midnight and s tayed t he re fo r the week whi le a t t end ing the North American

C h r i s t i a n C o n v e n t i o nTh e Convention a s a lways wa s a w on de rf ul t im e o f fe l lowship and worship .

We me t Wil l i am s b r o t h e r Clyde an d h i s w if e C ar ol ee and had lunch one day. Wehad a good v i s i t and s u p p e r one e v e n i n g w i t h t h e Ron Hendersons . Ro n i s on t h es t a f f o f th e Seminary. They a re keeping a p iece o f f u r n i t u r e f o r us t h a t belonget o J e a n s m o t h e r. D r. Rothermel . R e p o r t s o f s p i r i t u a l w ea kn ess an d i m m o r a l i t y ith e c h u r c h e s h a s been very d i s t u r b i n g and f r i g h t e n i n g . But i t was encourag ing th e a r much good p reac h ing a t th e Convent ion; e s p e c i a l l y t o hea r men l i k e Ch ar l e sMcNeely pres iden t of Lincoln Chr i s t i an College an d Seminary en jo in B i b l i c a lm o r a l i t y among C h r is t i an s , e s p ec ia l ly among l e a d e r s .

The S a t u r d a y a f t e r t h e C o n v e n t i o n we had l u nc h w it h t h e Duane D a v i s e s , whowere p r e v i o u s l y c o - w o r k e r s w i t h son P a u l and f a m i l y i n Uruguay. Then we w ent on

t o L e x i n g t o nKY

f o r t h e weekend w i t h Clyde and C a r o l e e and tw o o f t h e i r s o n s a nf a m i l i e s . We had a r e a l K en tu ck y m ea l Saturday even ing topped o f f wi t h homemadi c e cream t h a t Will iam h e l p e d make. I t was good t o worsh ip a ga in w ith th e FordChurch where Clyde p r e a c h e s . We t o l d about th e I n d i a work du r ing Sunday S c h o o l .

Our n e x t t r i p was t o B a l t i m o r e , M t o s p e n d t h r e e d a y s w i t h son C h a r l e s a n dfami ly. Since v i s i t i n g them i n 86 t hey have moved i n t o t h e i r own house .Char les cont inues t o se rve i n the Air Force . Daughter- in-law Mary i s a l l exc i t e d about th e prospec t o f an a d d i t i o n t o the fami ly. They a re hoping fo r as i s t e r f o r t h e i r s o n C h a d .

On th e wa y t o Ohio we s t o p p e d a t Bethany t o se e t h e Alexander Campbel lhomes tead . We r e a c h e d C e n t o n O S a t u r d a y e v e n i n g and s t a y e d w i t h P a u l and A l i c eWeiner. On Sunday we e n j o y e d t h e w o r s h i p and f e l l o w s h i p o f F i r s t Church . I n t h

e v e n i n g Weiners to o k u s o u t t o t h e Round Lake camp grounds f o r an e v e n i n g s e r v i c eThen on Monday Weiner s i nv i t e d l ad i e s o f t h e Rothe rme l Miss ion Group and o t h e rmembers o f F i r s t Church t o t h e i r home f o r a n i n f o r m a l m e e t i n g w i t h u s . t w asa mos t e n j o y a b l e e v e n i n g a n d made i t p o s s i b l e f o r u s t o g e t b e t t e r a c q u a i n t e dw i t h many i n Canton wh o c o n t i n u e t o s u p p o r t u s .

On t h e way back t o I l l i n o i s we v i s i t e d Lake James C h r i s t i a n Assembly whereth e manager t r e a t e d us t o a camp s u p p e r. We s p e n t th e n ig ht w ith R ob ert andMiriam Brokaw f r i e n d s i n Angola IN. The next day we had lu nch w ith th e WiltonA s h t o n s r e l a t i v e s o f J e a n , l i v i n g n e a r Buchanan M I. Tha t e v e n i n g we made i tt o Hammond IN where we s t a y e d w i t h t h e S e t h Adamsons who had been w i t h t h eLa C r o s s e KS Church u n t i l r e c e n t l y . On t h e 2 1 s t we were back i n L i n c o l n , IL f oa f i n a l v i s i t w i t h so n D avid and f a m i l y and o t h e r f r i e n d s t h e r e . The week was

t a k e n up m o s t l y w i t h making f i n a l p u r c h a s e s a n d g e t t i n g packed f o r t h e t r i pb a c k t o n d i a

The- 2 9 t h we f l ew t o B u r l i n g t o n , VT f o r t h e 5 0 t h r e u n i o n o f J e a n s WoodstockH i g h s c h o o l c l a s s , and t h e a n n u a l g e ne ra l r eu n i on o f s t a f f and s t u d e n t s . T h a twas one o f th e high p o in ts o f our t r i p . There were 2? who graduated i n the 1938c l a s s . Of t h o s e a c c o u n t e d f o r and s t i l l l i v i n g 15 were p r e s e n t . There weret h r e e who had b e e n a p a r t o f t h e c l a s s , b u t had n o t g r a d u a t e d a t Woods tock . Mano f t h e s p o u s e s a l s o a t t e n d e d . Dur ing t h e t h r e e - d a y s c l a s s members and s p o u s e sm et s e v e r a l t i m e s t o r e l i v e - o l d m e m o r i e s a n d r e l a t e a c t i v i t i e s o f t h e 50 ^ e a r s .Many c l a s s members and o t h e r s e x p r e s s e d how i n c r e d i b l e i t was t o have so many g et o g e t h e r a f t e r so many y e a r s . Seven a r e known dead and f o u r were u n t r a c e a b l e .Only one a c c o u n t e d - f o r l i v i n g member was n o t a b l e t o a tt e n d .


7/10

The reunion was a f i t t i n g climax to ou r I988 world tourBelgium Uruguayand th e S t a t e s Th e t r i p back to I n d i a was t i r i n g b ut w it ho ut mishap. ereached Bi la spu r August 7 th evening a f t e r a 28 hour t r a i n journey from Delh i .We a re slowly recover ing from the t ou r ; I n s t i t u t e c l a s s e s a re s t a r t e d again wia l l but one student who i s i l l having returned; i t i s good to be home againan d g e t s e t t l e d i n t o a work r o u t i n e

Our thanks to a l l of you who helped make the t r i p possible: by r egu la rsuppor t ; with spec ia l f inanc ia l g i f t s ; with use of veh ic les for U.S. t r ave l ; bopening your homes to us; an d by your prayers and encouragement. ay odcontinue to b less you a l l and guide in His Service here in India and in yourl o c l r e

I n H is Love

W i l l i a m J e a n R o l a n d


8/10

Bilaspur INDIA August 1988

Dear Co-workers

The Christian Training Institute has two new members I One is Mnason infantson of Johnson and Nimin Kajur. Nimin teaches the l i teracy class for the womenI f you wonder where they got that name fo r their son you can read about i t inActs 21:16. The other addition is Sima a beaut iful l i t t le daughter of Biswas andSaudamini Kushal They are one of the couples from Orissa State and are the onlystudent couple who did not have children. Sima was born during the summer vacation.

August i s th e month when th e Muslim rel igious celebrat ion of Muharram takesplace. On th is holy day members of the Shia sect of Islam celebrate th e d eath ofHussain, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and one of the caliphs of Islam. nimportant part of the celebration is a k ind of passion play accompanied by frenzied

tears wailing and self-flagellation. e unexpectedly witnessed part of theperformance this year by a group of Irani Muslims These people are immigrants fromIran many years agowho now live in many places in India as gypsies. The womendress in t ight colorful knee-length blouses and full flowing skirts. They covertheir heads with just a bandanna which is quite unusual for Muslims This daythe women were al l dressed in black. When we came to an intersection on our wayto a restaurant downtown the group was gathered there in a rough circ le chantingtogetherwomen on the outside and men in the center. THe men were stripped toth e waist dancing around and around and beating and cutt ing themselves with^^ives and other ins truments . Some of the men had scars from previous year sbeatings. One man l e f t th e inner circ le with a bleeding back. A woman took abucket of water and washed him off before he re turned to the c i r c l e . All thewomen were str iking the l e f t side of the i r chests with the i r r ight hands. Afterwatching a while we went on to the restaurant. While waiting to be served weheard the Muslim group chanting out in fron t of the hote l where the res tauran tis located on the second floor. e went out on the balcony and had a good viewof the performance. They chanted and beat themselves fo r a few minutes, thenstopped and moved up the s t reet a l i t t l e ways and repeated the performance. Inthis way they moved down the main s t reet of town. During the hour or so we werein the restaurant they covered about a block. The whole thing was quite sad, buti l lustrates again the intense religious devotion of the Muslim people.

You have probably heard about th e bad earthquake up in north central Indiaon the border with Nepal. I t was so strong that tremors were noticed way downhere. William was sleeping too soundly to notice. Jean di d notice i t bu t didn trecognize i t a t the t ime. The next morning t he b ac he lo r students sa id t he i r bedswere shaking an d pots and pans were r a t t l i n g

Bilaspur is now on th e a i r map of India with two f l ights each Tuesday,Thursday and Saturday. e are connected with Raipur to the south and with ourS ta te C ap it ol Bhopal, to th e northwest. Both of those places have connectionsto Bombay and Delhi. The airport i s south of town about 12 miles. During WorldWar I I there was a mil i ta ry a ir base there. I t ha^ been renovated and pu t to useagain. So now i t is easier to vis i t us . Just le t us know when you ar e comingan d we w i l l meet you-in th e new van I

I n t h e s e r v ic e o f C h r i s t

W i l l i a m J e a n R o l a n d


9/10

/ /73>

Bi laspur INDIA September 1988

G r e e t i n g s C o - w o r k e r sI t begins to look like the annual rains are over. Even the weather man says the

monsoon i s receding. This year i t s tar ted out well and gave promise of a break indrought stricken areas and hope for good crops. But, during August and September,rainfall has been very short over much of India so i t does not look good just now.

Since Jean is a nurse, besides her classes and work with with the nursery, shealso does some medical work. Most of i t is ta kin g c are of the Ins t i t u t e studentsneeds, but she helps with others too as she can. Luka is one of her patients forthe past two years or so . e is one of the teachers in the mission primary schoolthat is l ocat ed a cros s the s t reet from th e compound where he and we l ive

Luka was born up in th e Tibetan region. His mother a Tibetan died a t hisbirth. e also has an older sis ter. Ellis Back and hi s wife were doing missionwork there at th e time so took Luka and his s i s t e r to adopt. Backs had childrenof their own also. When the communists took over Tibet Backs lef t fleeing throughth e jungles and reached India. They intended to adopt Luka and his s i s t e r and takethem to th e U.S.A. The U.S. Government di d not allow them to do so so Luka and hissister were left in the orphanage/boarding here in Kududand which Harry Schaeferswere running. Luka was kept in the g i r l s hos te l with h is s i s t e r u n t i l he was oldenough to be o n his own in th e boys hos te l .

Luka s tud ied through High School here in our mission schoo l . He a l so took someBible College training in Madras. Then he took t eacher s t ra in ing and has taughtfo r some years in o ur pr im ary schools . While he was an adolescent he f e l l from a t reeand broke his leg. I t was set and put in a plaster cast which annoyed Luka. ethreatened to break h is other leg i f the cas t was no t removed. I t was removed andhi s leg knit out of alignment and has caused trouble since that leg is shorter.

Luka wanted to get married and knew g i r l s he would l i ke but the ones he l ikedwould no t marry him. Ones that might have married him, he did no t l ike fo r one reasonor another so he remains a bachelor. His s i s t e r took nurses training af ter finishinghigh school here and then married and has children. They live near Mussoorie , where wego during th e summer, about a 36 hour t ra in journey. So Luka l ives alone.

Some time back L uk a s b eh av io r became increasingly strange and e r ra t i c . Histrouble was diagnosed as schizophrenia. Medicine was prescribed bu t he di d not takei t regularly so hi s teaching suffered. e earns the same salary as his peers whohave wives and children to feed, yet he spent a ll hi s money and borrowed and begged.So a couple of years age Jean agreed to su pe rv is e no t only his medicine but alsohis money. As long as he keeps s t r i c t ly to his schedule of medicine he does muchbetter. I t has been a long time since he kept us awake at night shouting, singingor riding his bicycle back and forth. e s t i l l rides a lot during the day wheneverhe has free time, but he is much improved and takes care of his teaching work well. e as k you to pray with us tha t with God s he lp he wil l overcome his - t roubles andbe a good C h r i s t i a n w o r k e r.

e had a f i r s t the other day I William went upstairs one evening to work withAjit. on some translation (they are doing the Hebrew Letter now . hen he stepped around

one of the typing tables where they were going to work, he noticed a snake over againstthe wall. I t was about a foot and a half long and had pretty rings. I t had swalloweda frog or something similar. William backed off and showed i t to Ajit who called oneof the students who could identify i t . Joseph came and said i t was a krait a verypoisonous snake. Fortunately because of the slick floor and i ts sumptous meal, i twasn t able to travel very fast . Joseph was able to kil l i t easily. That is a secondfloor room and a ll the wondows and doors are screened, so we are wondering how i t gotin . It is the f i rs t time a snake has gotten in this building and we will not be sorryi f i s th e l a s t i

In C h r i s t s S e r v i c e

W i l li a m J e a n R o l a n d


10/10

B i l a s p u r INDIA 0 c C o b e r / N o v e m b e r 1988

D.ear C o w o r k e r s

In our l a s t l e t t e r we ment ioned t h a t the shor tage o f Monsoon r a i n s wa s caus ingconcern fo r the c rops . T he M on soo n t r a d i t i o n a l l y ends about October 15 . During th ef i r s t two weeks of October we had good r a i n s so r i c e an d o t h e r crops tha t depend onth e Monsoon a re good in t h i s a r e a . End-of -Monsoon r a i n s were so heavy i n n o r t h e r n

I n d i a though, t h a t t he re was e x t e n s i v e f l ood ing , which yo u may have hea rd about in thenews. I t i s th e p e r e n n i a l p a t t e r n o f s h o r t a g e and e x c e s s .

O c t o b e r / N o v e m b e r a r e c o n v e n t i o n m o n t h s f o r t h e Church i n I n d i a . T h e r e a r e s e v e r a limpor tant Government, Hindu an d Muslim ho l idays and c e l e b r a t i o n s . Some of the hol idayt i m e s a re j o ined so t h a t schoo l s and o f f i c e s have ex t ended v a c a t i o n s . Th e C h r i s t i a ncommunity d o e s n t c e l e b r a t e the Hindu and Muslim f e s t i v a l s but we do t ak e a dv an ta geo f th e f r e e t ime people have fo r s p e c i a l mee t ings . Th i s y e a r we were inv olv ed int h r e e

F i r s t th e Kududand Church You th G ro up o rg a n i z e d a conven t i on fo r th e a r e a y o u t h .That wa s O c t o b e r 14-16 . Th e second wa s th e 5 th A l l I n d i a Eng l i sh Language Meet ,O c t o b e r 19-23 . I t wa s h e l d i n Kanpur t h i s y e a r . I t i s a lways s chedu l ed a t a d i f f i c u l tt i m e f o r u s s o we have n o t b e e n a b l e t o a t t e n d b e f or e . S i n c e it was i n t h e a r e a where

J ean wa s bo rn an d we had p r e v i o u s l y l i v e d an d worked , we dec ided to tak e o f f and a t t e n d .Wi l l i a m spen t s e v e r a l days g e t t i n g th e new Van o u t f i t t e d and s e r v i c e d fo r th e t r i p .We went v i a th e j ung l e r o u t e which proved t o be a m i s t a k e , b e c a u s e r oads were badmuch o f th e way. We drove n i g h t an d day, s topp ing by th e s i d e o f the ro ad fo r o n lyseven hours o f s l e e p . I t took 32 hours for the 47 0 miles . We enjoyed a very f inec o n v e n t i o n d i r e c t e d by Ralph H a r t e r and h i s I n d i a n c o w o r k e r s . D r. G a r r e t t a u t h o ro f T he Stone-Campbel l Movement , wa s th e main sp e a k e r . S e v e ra l In d ia n b r e t h r e n spokea bo ut c hu rc h u n i t y and th e n e e d s o f th e Church in I n d i a . A ll t h e m e s s a g e s were t r a n sl a t e d i n to Hindi , so we enjoyed them tw ice l Mark an d Walter Maxey were s p e c i a l v i s i t o r sfrom Japan. We enjoyed meet ing many former co-workers an d acqua in tances . We r e tu rnedthrough Hamirpur, Maudaha (where Jean was born) , an d Kulpahar. The t r i p was by ano the rrou te an d longer. ha d hoped fo r b e t t e r roads , but p a r t of i t was through jung le ,too. On one ba d bump the muffler came o f f I Then about p.m. on e night we ha d a f l a t

t i r e . Afte r t h a t we were so t i r e d we p ark ed u nd er a tamarind t r ee an d s l e p t t i l lmorning. All an d a l l i t was a long an d t i resome t r i p but we are glad we could do i t .

Th e t h i r d conv en t i on wa s th e a n nua l Hindi Language a r e a g a t h e r i n g t h e 3 7 th on e .I t was held a t Suryapara in Sarguja D i s t r i c t whore th e Bernel Get te r s are l i v i n g . AllI n s t i t u t e s t a f f and s tu d en ts a tt en d ed . We t o o k t h e 10 m a r r i e d s t u d e n t s and e i g h tch i ld ren in the Matador Van; the o the r s went by t r a i n an d bus . For us i t wa s a ninehour t r i p for the 170 miles; which included a picn ic s top a t a water f a l l . The mainspeaker was our I n s t i t u t e P r i n c i p a l , Ishwari Lai . The second speaker was I . B KangalooThey brought messages based on the theme from Isaiah 60:1, Arise , shine, fo r your l ighthas come and th e glory of th e Lord r i s e s upon you . Ralph Harter, with th e help of h ispuppet , Mary, taught , the a d u l t c l a s s with prayer as the s u b j e c t . Mrs. Get te r t augh tth e chi ldren s c l a s s . William took along 110 copies of th e c lass notes . They were alle a g e r l y taken an d s t i l l more were r e q u e s t e d . We took names an d addresses so more canbe s e n t . a re happy t ha t C h ri st ia n workers want them and hope they w i l l be used tot e a c h and p r e a c h t h e Word.

Once again we l oo k fo rw ar d to ce lebra t ing th e b i r t h of our Lord. ay the s p i r i tof Christmas bring yo u peace; may the gladness of Christmas give yo u hope; may thewarmth of Chris tmas gran t yo u love; an d may His love remain with yo u throughout theNew Year. T he Word was made f l e s h , an d dwel t among u s , John 1:14.

S i n c e r e l y i n Him,

W i l li a m a n d J e a n R o l a n d

roland william jean 1988 india

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