Tuesday, October 02, 2007
 

October 2007

Dear Saints.

Shalom.

Thank you for your prayers for my visa.
My struggles for a visa to remain in India for the almost now 36 years are almost legendary. This time again, with the help of God and Bapu and Vijay, a friend, and the prayers of the saints ? we prevailed! After a tension-filled five-month struggle I finally got my visa stamped in my passport; it is valid till the expiry of my present passport i.e. March 2010. After that we will see. Starting Monday we will actively and with determination pursue my application for Indian citizenship.

The past five months have been extremely difficult even for one like me who thrives on the difficult. For three month out of these five I have been under the intense scrutiny by various law enforcement agencies. I have felt insulted; I have felt humiliated (whether that was intended or not) and I have almost cried before some of these men? Why would anybody in his right mind go through all this? But reading about the hardships of some of the great missionaries of old - and the hardships of the many we never heard of - I am a wimp to even mention it. Nevertheless we all feel our own pain more acute.

And God was silent! The strange thing was that in that very silence I felt encouraged. God was at work and was not about to tell me about it till it was done; if I could not trust Him that was too bad for me. I remember when once I went through another one of these real bad times I told God,"Father I am worried." God said, "Don?t worry I am with you." I replied, "Still Father I am worried." His answer, "Well, then worry. What can I do about it?"

It was also a time of introspection; I tried objectively to look at what I was doing both in terms of the translation and the kids. There were times when I wondered if all that which was wrought in the crucible of hardship and established as the result of many sacrifices would one day disappear and collapse. What would be left?

It took all this for me to remember that I never intended to make the translation of the Bible the goal of my Christian life, leave alone looking after kids. Neither did I set out to prove myself nor had any intention to project myself. It was and is not Frank I set out to prove - but God. My goal and aspiration has always been to show a cynical, unbelieving world that the God of the Bible not only exists but in a real way interacts with those who love Him. And the only thing that can harm this cause is not my character, not my stupidity, not my waywardness, not the absence of a visa but - my lapses of trust in Him. The problem with such lofty goal is that you have to be willing to place yourself in such a position where God's faithfulness can unquestionably be proven.Many times that is not a comfortable position to be in.

Those who have followed my journey through all these years can testify that I have been faithful to this goal. And that, when all has disappeared and collapsed ? this will remain - not Frank, nor his puny accomplishments, real or imagined, certainly not his perceived saintliness - but GOD! The cry of the prophets is mine: "Behold your God!"

Our 25th Anniversary to be held on November 30th to which you are all invited - is all about that. God's faithfulness! I have tried to reach as many of you as I have in my address book with an invitation card. Those who did not receive the card are also certainly invited; we would love to have as many visitors as possible to join us in the simple celebration. The atmosphere of our home cannot wholly be captured by pictures alone even though they speak louder than a 1000 words, or by reports never mind how detailed they are or, for that matter, through the creation of a competent word smith. It must be experienced! So, if at all possible - PLEASE COME!!!!

With my visa secured, we now can plan my next furlough in all seriousness. My plan is as follows: I will leave Nagpur on the 11th of December for Mumbai, leave Mumbai on the 13th to fly to Germany and leave Germany for Canada on the 2nd of January. My length of stay in Canada depends on how many churches would want me to minister. PLEASE BELIEVE ME, when I come I will not look at the size of the congregation nor at the size of the offering, or whether or not you plan to support us, nor will I consider distance or ice or snow. You invite me ? will come. We never minister to a 1000 only to individuals; if they are alone in a coffee shop or in the midst of a big church - they are still individuals - only more of them. I tentatively plan on a six-month stay though have no problem making that eight months should the situation warrant it. I hope that during my stay at one point Bapu will join me for two months so I can introduce him to you. Please pray for his visa. You must be sick of hearing that word "visa".

No insult to your intelligence intended but please let me give you this information again for contacting Dawn Steinke who has again graciously consented to arrange my itinerary:

Her e-mail address is: DSteinke@bc.paoc.org Ph: 604-533-2232, Fax: 604-533-5405

Address:
British Columbia & Yukon Dist. of PAOC
20411 Douglas Crescent
Langley BC V3A 4B6 - Canada

On family matters... Yohan and Priya adopted a little baby girl, the daughter of one of our staff. Her mother died in childbirth. They are happy but have problems understanding why the baby insists on staying awake between 2 and 4 at night but has no problems sleeping during the day when the dog barks, trucks drive by and the house is being cleaned. I should suggest it's suffering from jetlag... In spite of it all, Yohan is busy to make sure the various jobs are being done and things get completed before the great day.

Bapu went to the village to attend a wedding and look in at the girls' home. I had gone there last week - with a driver. It was a sixteen hour drive over rain-ravaged-roads. But the reception from the girls was great. A lot of "hello Bhaisahib," accompanied by smiles and giggles.

Some 150 boys have conjunctivitis and the rest are in line waiting to get it. There are others with various problems. But generally they are happy; though some 100 kids left the home over the months. They came against their will and kept running away. They prefer to be free and hungry rather than caged and fed. May be I understand them; though my heart aches for them. Somebody wrote:

"One day we all will sit down to a banquet of consequences."

In closing let me thank you again for your help. Saints we cannot make it on our own. The tip of the iceberg would not be visible if underneath was not a huge mass of ice. I might be more visible than some of you but I am from the same stuff ? no different and certainly - no better. But then, as George Eliot wrote,

"The important work of moving the world forward does not wait to be done by perfect men."

Mega Blessings upon you!

Frank, Yohan and Bapu?