roland william jean 1976 india

8/11/2019 Roland William Jean 1976 India

1/10

RO LAND

R I P P L E S

NEWS

OF

WILLIAN

JEAN

ROLAND -

MISSIONARIES

TO

INDIA

Vo l . 6

JANUARY

1976

No.

1

CHRISTMAS

IN

INDIA

Seve ra l

hav e as ked

about

Chris tmas

ce leb ra t ions

in I nd ia .

Since we have j u s t

f i n i shed c e l

ebrat ing

our

f i r s t

Christmas

in

India

since 1963

it is

a good time

to

t e l l you about

i t .

Yes,

it i s celebrated on December 25th. The Hindu

year

is different than the

Christ ian

year,

the

Hindu year now being 2032.

Their

year

begins

on

our

October 25th. Though some calen

dars l i s t

th e

Hindu

year

and days, the

Christ ian calendar

is

the off ic ia l one of India. Christmas

i s a government holiday, and our ew

Years

day is

celebrated

by

most.

Christmas is the most

important

holiday for

Christians in

India.

In North

India it i s

called

in

Hindi

the

Big Day. Here

in South

India we haven t

heard

it cal led anything

but

Christ

mas. For some th e se aso n i s one of feverish shopping here, too. e were

in

Madras December 22nd,

23rd and

24th

and parking

lots and stores

were

crowded.

One doesn t

see

this aspect, however,

in the towns and vi l lages . Christmas cards are exchanged

by

many. Some homes have a Christmas

t r ee

d eco ra te d w i th

t r i nke t s

and

Chris tmas cards .

Many var i e t i e s

o f

decora t ions

beaut i fy

the

homes. Most d ecora tio ns a re t issue paper or plas t ic .

Wealthier

homes use e le ct ri c l ig ht s for

decorations,

too. I t i s t r ad i t iona l ly

a time for

cleaning, whitewashing and d ecora ti ng t he

church

bui ld ings .

The Christmas s tory i s

dramatized in

many churches on Christmas eve or some

time

during the

week.

Caroling

is a

special

feature. The men and

children vis i t

Christian homes

beginning

at midnight or early Christmas

morning

and go unt i l there

are

no more homes,

or

unt i l

dawn. At each

home,

a f te r

songs are

sung,

it i s t r ad i t iona l for the

women

to serve

tea and

Christmas goodies.

You can imagine one gets stuffed

i f

th ere a re many homes

to

vis i t . There

are

s p ec ia l s er vi ce s

in t he c hu rc he s on Christmas Sunday

and

Christmas

day. At

the Lutheran

Church

in

Kalahasti they

also

had

a

meeting

on

the

second

day

of

Christmas.

There

is

an

ex

change

of

g i f t s

by

some

and v is i t ing between

homes with spec ia l meals .

New

Year

celebra t ions begin

with

a

watchnight serv ice , or

as

the case was in Kalahast i ,

a

s erv ic e e arly New

Years

eve

so

ch i ld ren

could

a t t end . At 12 midnight the church be l l

was rung

fo r a^ew

minutes . .

.T.hen

beginning

a t midnight

a loudspeaker in the town

began broadcas t ing

songs and

messages

and

continued unt i l

about 6 :30 a.m.. Special

meetings

are

held in the churches

New Years

day.

Some

conduct annua l e lec t ions then,

too.

A ll

day one receives and

gives

the

greet ing,

I

wish

you a Happy New

Year.

Our

hol iday began t h i s year with a dinner

a t the

Eldon Weesner s in Madras on the 23rd .

Chris tmas day morning

we

had

a 7

a.m. breakfas t with one

of the

s t a f f fami l ies . At

8

a.m.

we

went ou t

to

the hosp i t a l

to have

a

meeting fo r

the

pa t ien t s with

a f lanne lgraph

Chris tmas lesson.

Then we helped prepare and ea t a spec ia l Christmas dinner fo r pat ients and re s iden t s t a f f . I t

was mutton Briani (mutton, vegetables , spices cooked

in

the

r i ce

and

curds with raw

vegetables .

Deser t

was

sweetened

ve rmace l l i

cooked

with sp i ce s

and

cocoanut .

On

the

26th

th e

l o ca l

Lutheran

pastor

and

daughter

vis i ted and brought

f ru i t

and

sweet mea ts

and

invi ted

us to

have

dinner

with

them the

next

day. Sunday morning the 28th we had worship service a t the hospital

with

a flan

nelgraph lesson on

the

f l igh t to

Egypt and

re turn to Nazareth.

Sunday

afternoon

the Sunday

School

ch i ld ren of the

l oca l Lutheran

Church

presented

t h e i r Chris tmas drama

to

th e

pa t ien t s

a t

the

hospital . On

the 31st

we were invi ted

to

a special breakfast by

one of the families

on

the

compound. They had

oppum

pancake

like things made with

rice

flour)

and chicken

curry. didn t

ea t un t i l about

9

a.m. so

we cal led it brunch.

They thought t ha t was

a

good

name fo r

it

New

Years

day

we were

invi ted

to a

supper by

one

of the s ta f f

families l iving on the compound e had

songs,

scripture

reading and prayer before the meal of rice and cu rry w ith several l i t t l e

side

dishes

Christmas in India

is

a

very

spec ia l

and happy

time in the l i f e of the Christ ians. There

is s t i l l much emphasis on worship and remembering th e

coming

of the Christ

Child

with

salvat ion

for ll

BIRTHDAYS

Christmas i s

celebrated

in India very

much

l ike

it i s in the

Sta tes . Bir thdays ,

however,

are some

di f feren t ; the

main dif ference being tha t

the

one having a bir thday gives ra the r

than

receives

gif ts .

On November

23rd, for

Jean s

birthday,

we made up l i t t l e

packets

o f sn ack s,

cup

c ak es , c ookie s and candies. e distr ibuted

these

to

homes of people l iv ing on

the Kalahast i

compound. I t was a surpr ise for them and

they seemed

very pleased to have us

v i s i t .

Some said

they

would come

to our

house

in

the evening

fo r a

prayer se rv ice .

After

the worship

serv ice a t

the

hospi t a l

we gave the pat ients

and s ta f f

bir thday t r ea t s ,

too. In

the evening

most of

the

people

of the

compound came

to our house

and

sang

hymns fo r

awhile ,

some

of them to tunes

we

knew, so we joined in

w ith E nglish words.

Then they had two

passages

of

scr ip ture , asking

William

to

read

one

in

English.

One

of

the

men,

a

re t i red

school

teacher ,

had

prayer

in

English.

A pleasant

day was closed with

many g re etin gs o f

I

wish

you

a Happy Birthday.

Since December

24th i s

William s bir thday

the

ce leb rat ion o f ten gets mixed in with Christmas

celebrat ions.

This year was

no exception.

e

had

intended

to retu rn from

Madras

early

enough

to

d i s t r i bu t e

g i f t s ,

bu t

d ela ys k ep t

us

from ge t t ing

back

in

t ime.

When we did

a r r ive about

6

p.m.


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three of the workers were waiting to give William birthday greetings, a garland and an

apple.

The

doctor

and h is

c l in ic s t a f f

had

also

come with a

garland,

f lowers and sweets.

Later

in the

evening

another

s ta f f member and family came to v i s i t ,

wish

William a Happy Birthday and leave

some

sweets

and

I nd ian goodi es .

Our

bir thday

t r ea t s

( three

kinds

of

f r u i t )

were

given out

to

people

on

Christmas day.

PREMA

The Indian word P rema means love . She

doesn ' t

have

an

of f i c i a l name,

ye t , bu t we used

Prema for th e l i t t l e

Indian g i r l we

had in our

home

for

a

week and

a

half .

The

Eldon Weesners

were neighbors o f the family

whe re Weesner s previous ly l ived in a v i l l age . The mother

has had

s e r i ou s

emo t iona l and

men t a l

t r oub l e s

so

cou ldn ' t tak e ca re o f Prema. When

th e

Weesners saw th e

baby 's cond it ion they took her to their home. Weesners wanted to do some

traveling

during

the

holidays so we agreed to care

for

Prema awhile. The Christ ian

love

and a t ten t ion she has

gotten

i s slowly helping Prema recover from pneumonia and near

s ta rva t ion .

The

family

i s not Chris t ian .

We are

hoping

this

further

contact and

Christ ian concern wil l

help

to win

them

to Christ . Please

pray with

us

to t h i s end .

WATER WATER

EVERYWHERE

The m on so on s

were

good

over

most of India this year; in some places

too

goodcausing some

damage

In our par t -of

Andhra

Pradesh

they

were goodthe best for ôur years or so.

_Our

wel l

has benefi ted. When nearly went dry

l a s t

May we had dug s ix fee t deeper and had f ive fee t

of

water for awhile. The leve l kept going down and got as low as about three fee t

before

the

rains began. Now we have about 13'

of waterl I t

i s good to have

plenty again, and

to have i t

pumped

into

the

house. That means, of course,

we

have

elec t r ic i ty ,

too. Yes, that problem

was

finally

taken ca re of. The city

electr ic

board pu t in

new

wires which we had

to

buy) from their

pole to

the

house. Then

they

corrected some

faults

between

the t rans former

and

our

house. Now

we have good

current

coming in on all three phases, steady and strong enough

to operate

fans

w hich we don't

need

in this cool

weather),

washing machine,

refr igerator ,

and water pump. I t

s t i l l

goes

off

occasionally without

warning,

but

we don't mind that

too

much.

FINANCIAL STATEMENT

Our

f inancia l

report for

th e p erio d

September 1, 1974 through

March

31 ,

1975 i s ready.

I f

you

contributed

during this period a copy

is

enclosed for you. If you do not

get

a copy and

would l ike one you may ask the

Firs t

Christian

Church,

LaCrosse,

KS

for a copy.

THE ROADS IDE CLINICS

The

week of December 15th Wi ll iam d rove the c l i n i c Jeep

Monday

through Fr iday. Henry, the

regular

driver,

was on leave.

We

have visi ted

various ones of th e clinics ,

but

this

is

the

f i r s t time to v i s i t a l l

of

them. The

Township i s divided into

s ix areas. C lin ics are

held

in

five

of them, at

eight

d i ffe ren t v il lages:

two on Mondays; one each Tuesday, Thursday, Friday;

and three on Wednesday. At each vil lage equipment

has

to be

unloaded

and se t up ; then af ter the

c l i n i c i s

taken

down and loaded

to

move

to

th e

nex t s i t e . A hundred

o r

so gene ra l and Leprosy

patients

are

treated

a t

each

place.

Nine

to twelve

hundred are

treated

each week. Some of the

backward

and

unsanitary practices of

the

staf f are difficul t for

us to tolerate . But

i t brings

t reatment

so much bet te r than was

avai lable before ,

tha t much

good

i s

being done;

and

most are

grateful for i t . Many

make i t a point

to express their thanks.

The week was

quite t i r ing,

but

i t

gave a

bet ter insight

into

th e

work being done

through

the

cl in ics .

In

the

Monday, Tuesday

and

Wednesday cl inics

the

roost

patients are

treated.

On

those

days

our

full-time

doctor t rea ts

Leprosy pat ients ,

and

our

part-time

doctor

t reats

general pat ients . Also

on

the

team

are in

jectors , a pi l l man, a dresser, an

ointment

man; plus

the

area Paramedic, who

handles th e

record

cards. One

in jector

gives

injections to

the

general

patients;

the

other

to

the Leprosy pat ients .

There are

usually

a lo t of inject ionsthe Indians seem to think they haven't been treated unless

they

have

gotten

an injection. The

p i l l

pusher , as

we

jokingly

call

him,

gives

out medicines

ordered

by

the

doctors. The dresser

cleans

and

bandages

ulcers,

sore

and

injuries .

He

i s

the

one who uses

most of the bandages

so many

of you have laboriously

and

lovingly prepared and sent.

. . . the

dayspring from on h igh hath visited

us, to

give l ight

to

them

that

s i t in darkness

and in

the

shadow of

death,

to

guide

our feet

into

th e way of

peace.

Luke 2:78,79


3/10

RO L A N D

R I P P LES

NEWS

OF WILLIAM

JEAN

ROLAND

-

MISSIONARIES

TO INDIA

Vo l . 6 MARCH 1976

No.

2

I thank my God in a l l my remembrance of you,

always

offer ing

prayer

with joy in my every

prayer

fo r you

a l l , in

view of

your

p a rt ic ip a ti on i n the gospel from the

f i r s t

day

un t i l

now.

Phi l ipp ians

1:3-5

February

and

March

a re

anniversary

months

fo r

us .

February

4th l a s t yea r we

a r r ived

in

Ind ia a f t e r th e long, win te r

road

t r ip from France .

March

6 th we a r r ived in

Sr ika lahas t i to

begin a no th er y ea r of service in India .

had

intended to s t a r t language study before

get t ing

involved in

any

of

th e

work. Being ab le to speak

the

language

of the

people

with whom

one

works

i s

absolu te ly

necessary

if

one

expects

to ca rry

on an

e f fec t ive

and

s tab le

work.

But ,

a f t e r

a r r iva l

we

learned

t ha t

the

Reeses

had planned to take

a

furlough r igh t away. They urged us to

manage the work

during the i r absence. Very re luc tan t ly we agreed to do so . As we have become

acquainted with the

work,

and have t r ied to manage it through i n t e rp r e t e r s , our convict ions

about

the

need fo r

language

s tudy

have been con fi rmed

over and over . When

Reeses

re tu rn in a

few

weeks

we

wi l l re l inquish these dut ies

and

hopeful ly get on with language study.

Bui ld ing cons t ruc t ion

h as o cc up ie d much

o f our

t ime

dur ing

t h i s

pas t year .

Before Bro. Rees

l e ft l a st May he go t work s t a r t

ed on the mens ward of the new hospi ta l building. have been

working a t it

o f f

and on.

Progress

i s very s low. About

ha l f

o f

t he f ou nd ati on was pu t

i n

With cem ent we had

on

hand . No

more

cement was ava i lab le ,

except on t he b la c k-mar ke t,

so const ruc t ion

was

delayed

for

severa l

months.

When

the

Dis t r i c t

Col lector

gave

us

a permi t we were

able

to ge t

cement

and bu i ld the

walls up to

window he igh t . Work has been stopped the re

fo r about

th ree months,

wait ing

fo r

an e ng in ee r to

come

from Madras to put

up

the s t e e l

structure fo r t h e r o o f a n d walls

Construction so

fa r

has

been

with gran i t e

s tones .

These are

qua r r i e d

from

nea rby

mounta ins and

de l ive red

i n t r ucks

o r ox c a r t s .

Gravel

i s not avai lab le

( there

i s noth ing but sand in the

stream

beds). have to use small pieces o f the grani te fo r g rav el. I t

i s

broken

by hand into various

s i z e s ,

and

cal led

j e l lyI

I t

has

been ra ther di f f i cu l t get t ing used to o rd erin g 1^

j e l ly

fo r con

s t r u c t i o n pu rposes .

W i l li am

a nd K ris hn aswam i

d i scu s si ng con st ru c t ion

of new ho sp it al b ui ld in g

The

rema in ing

p a r t

o f th e w al ls

w i l l

be

o f

b r i ck .

These

a r e

made loca l ly

by

hand

and

burned in an open k i l n .

We are

t ry in g to

work out

an

agreement

with

a l oca l contrac tor to ge t some made so

they wi l l be on hand when we a re

ready fo r

them.

A novel fea ture of

th is

new bui lding

wi l l

be

t o i l e t and

bathing fac i l i t i e s . Toile ts are

non-exis tant

a t our hospi ta l

sitenearby f ie lds

and deser t brush serving the purpose. This i s

not uncommon in

India, but it

i s n t very

sanitary

prac t ice , and

leprosy

patients

need f ac i l i t i es

close 80 they

don t

have to do so much walking on ulcerated fee t . Bathing

i s

done near the well

on a

flat

s t o n e .

Pa t i e n t s

have to

walk

a c r o s s a

field

f o r

this acilities a t t a ch ed

t o th e

bui lding wi l l sure ly be

a

big improvement.

The foundation has

also

been l a id

for

an

i nc inera tor . There

are

a lo t of used bandage s and

other waste to burn.

The

dresser an who does the bandaging) t r i e s to bum things out in the

open.

WitH

the

usu^ s t rong

winds,

more

s ee^ tb~~get

blown

away

than

burned

upT

You

can

ima

gine

tha t th is doesn t help the appearance of the

surroundings.

A

closed

incinerator wi l l hope

fu l ly be

a

good

answer

to th i s problem.

Another piece

o f c o ns tr uc ti on being

planned i s

a

wate r

t ank . Near the wel l we want

to

put

up a tw o

s to ry

bu i ld ing and have the w ater tank on t op . The first f l oo r

w i l l

house th e w ate r

pump, and

the

e l ec t r i c genera to r we brought ou t . The

s torage

space on

the

second f l oo r wi l l

help keep th ings a

little

be t te r organized.

Running

water wi l l be a b ig improvement over the

bucket

system.

The hot

weather

i s upon us

again

and it was good to have a refreshing time in Kotagiri over

a week. William was

Convocation

speaker for the Bible College a t

i t s

opening

on

Feb.

22.

Jean

led

devotions a t prayer meeting

on Wednesday and

had the morning devotions

for

th e te ac he rs and

Bible students

one

morning. Jerry Hea ther Lacson, whom we

had

f i r s t

met

when they were s tu

dents

a t

Lincoln

Chris t ian

College,

had

invi ted

us

to

come

for

the i r

school

opening.

Besides the

Bible College

they have a

boarding school for Indian chi ldren from nursery through

eighth

c lass ,

where Bible i s a ls o ta ug ht .

Kotagir i

i s a

town

in

the

Nilg i r i Hi l l s about 350

miles

southwest

of Sr ika lahas t i . With an e leva t ion of

about

6500 f t . it

was very

cool and pleasant .


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When we

told

of Prema, our l i t t l e

guest

a t

Christmas

time, we didn ' t

mention

her age. She

was about

6

weeks

old .

At about

one

month she

had weighed l e s s than 5

lbs . Her young

mother

had re fu sed to accept the fact that Prema was not

a

boy.

But af t e r

the

t ende r lo vi ng

care

Dorothy

Weesn er and Jean gave

her ,

Prema was

such a

pre t ty ,

a le r t ,

lovable little th ing

her

mo th er want ed he r back when she saw

he r .

However, th e d octo r had sa id the mother should no t work

fu l l time yet , and they

needed for her

to

spend as

much time and

energy as poss ible

weaving to

earn

money

to he lp

make up fo r l o s t

t ime, so Dorothy

consented

to

keep

Prema ano the r

month

to

give

both mother

and

baby

a

l i t t l e more time to

gain

st rength.

We

haven t heard

how

they are

doing

s ince the parents took the baby back, bu t

our

hear t s ache to

think

of

sending

her back

i n to

a

l i f e of i do l a t r y . Poverty

in the

home o f

a

v i l lage

weaver

i s bad. Paganism i s fa r worse.

For some months Jean has been p repa ring f lanne lgr aph

l essons

fo r the

pa t ien ts

and t eaching

them

to

one o f

the

men

to g ive

in

Telugu. We s ta r t ed

ou t

w ith t ea ch in gs o f

Jesu s w ith many pa rab le s i nc lu ded.

I t

seemed appropr ia te

t o h a v e t h e birth o f J e s u s

at Ch r i s tma s

t ime b u t

we

d id

n o t

have

a s e t

and knew it

would

be too expensive to

have

it

se n t a i rm ai l in t ime,

so

Jean

s t a r t ed making

he r own s e t .

Before she

had

completed

it

we l e a rned t h a t

Standard Pub

l ishing

sets

were available

in Madras,

a t

a very reasonable

pr ice , so we got them. Since then we have b ee n h av in g

the

life

o f

Chr is t with many o f the

mi r a c l e s .

This seems to be

an ef f ec t ive way o f

teach ing

the

pa t i en t s

and

hold ing t h e i r

at tent ion.

The

teacher asks quest ions

and

allow s tim e

fo r di scuss ion and sometimes s eve r a l pa r t i c ip a t e .

Most

o f

the

pa t ien ts

a re

non-Chr is t ian

and

many do

not

know much

a b o u t

hrist Ot h e r s

h a v e b e e n in an d

o u t

o f

Ch r i s t i a n

hosp i t a l s

enough

to

have

l ea rned

qu i t e

a

b i t .

Some

a re

quick to

l ea rn

and others

s low. But a l l seem

slow to

changefrom

t h e i r

pagan ways and b e l i e f s .

Henry, on

l e f t , te ac hin g le ss on

with

flannelgraph

(Jesus

Samaritan woman

a t well) . Jean teaches the lessons

to Henry before the g iv es them

in

Telugu.

Re in fo rc in g o ur

Chr is t i an t each ing

with

deeds

o f kindness i s

also

impor tant . And the phys ica l man

ne eds food as

wel l

as

the so ul .

So we t ry a t l ea s t once a week to

have

some spec i a l little t r e a t fo r

th e

h o s pi ta l p a ti e n ts . Jean t r i e s as of ten as

poss ib le

to have cake ,

cupcakes , cookies , o r some sweet l i ke

t h a t .

When

t ime

o r

ing red ien t s

a re sho r t

fo r these , bananas

o r

some

o the r

f ru it i s

usua l ly

ava i lab le

in

the bazaar . We

t ry

ALWAYS to mention t ha t

what

we do

fo r them

and

give

to them

i s

done

IN

THE NAME

OF JESUS, AND

BECAUSE

OF HIS LOVE

We tell them

t h a t

because o f HIS love and s a c r i f i c e you Chr i s t i a n s

i n

America

send us , and send

money fo r the work we

a re

doing

fo r

them. We

hope

the t r an s l a t i on

i s

accura te and t h a t th e message ge t s

through. We pray t h a t the seed may

f a l l

on

f e r t i l e

s o i l and bear

f r u i t .

Otherwise

our se rv ice i s in va in .

Please

pray with us .

And

th is

I

pray,

that your love may abound

s t i l l more

and more

in re a l knowledge

and

a l l d is ce rnme nt, s o

tha t

you

may

approve the

th ings t h a t a r e

exce l l en t ,

i n orde r to be s incere and

blameless

un t i l

the

day of Chr is t ;

having been

f i l l ed with the

f r u i t of

r igh teousness

which comes through Jesus Chris t , to the glory

and

pra ise of God.

Ph i l i pp i a n s 1 : 9 - l l

Jean

giving cake

to leprosy

pa t ien ts .


5/10

ROL ND

RIPPLES

NEWS OF WILLIAM JEAN ROLAND - MISSIONARIES TO INDIA

Vol. 6

Y

976

No

3

I

will

l i f t up my eyes to

the

mountains...

We have not only looked at the mountains as the Psalmis t did, but since last writing to you

we

have

packed up part

of our belongings

and

moved

into' the mountains. This

news letter

will

be

our f i r s t

greeting from

th e

Nilgir is

(Blue Mountains) of Southern India.

In

our

last

news le t ter we

mentioned

our February

vis i t

to

Kotagiri

and the school work that

the Jerry Lacsons are doing. Lacsons have been planning for a year of advanced study in the

States.

They need someone

to

manage

their

schools

while

they are away, so a

note

was

printed in

Horizons.

When

we

read

th e

ar t ic le

William

said , Maybe that

would

be

a good

opportunity

for

us;

we could

look a f te r

the schools , and t would give us a good place

in

which to work on language

study. I t would also solve the problem,

a t

least for th e time being, of finding a place to live

af ter

Reeses returned

to India. Last January, while

they

were in

Madras, we

visi ted with Lacsons.

They asked us to take

charge

during their absence and we d iscussed the possibi l i t ies.

After

our

visi t

here las t February we

decided

to accept the Lacson s

invitation

to l ive here and manage the

schoo l s fo r a

yea r .

Much of April was taken up with sorting and packing. Most of our things were packed and

stored in Madras. Other

things

were packed in drums and boxes to be

moved

up

here

in

the

Truck/

Camper and Trai ler .

I t a l l took

more

time

than usual

because

we

couldn t

work very fas t or

for

very

long at a time in the Kalahasti heat;

then, too,

we had

to

f i i - the packing into

spare

time

in tervals between Leprosy Center jobs . Reeses returned to

Madras

April 21st . J.

Lois

spent a

week

with

us

a t

Kalahas ti be fo re

we

l e f t .

David

was

in

Madras

most

of the

time so

we

d idn t

spend much time with him.

During rest stops

from packing we

d iscussed the

leprosy and church

work

with

J .

Lois

and

turned

the

books,

accoun t s ,

e t c .

over to he r .

\^e

had hoped to

finish

the work

in

Kalahasti and

get

to

Kotagiri in

time to be here for

Parents Day

April

30th, The spir i t was willing, but the flesh just couldn t work fast enough

in

the heat.

It was

not until Wednesday evening.

May

5th,-^that

we finally

got everything loaded

and

ready

to go. Most of the

people

l iving

a t

the

Kalahasti

compoundLeprosy

Center s taff

and

othershad an

impromptu

farewell for us. After they sang,

God

be with you

t i l l

we meet again

and prayed w ith u s, we got on our way

about

6

p.m.

To take advantage

of

cooler

weather

(s t i l l in the 90s) we

decided

to drive most of the

night. At about 3

a.m. we finally

stopped and

slept for awhile.

Our camp was a few

miles

east

o f Vello re ,

so

we were able to stop at the Christian Medical

College

and Hospital

Thursday

morning

to

get

medicines the doctor had

prescribed for

Jean.

The

Truck airconditioner

made

that day s

d ri ving qui te p lea san t in spite

of the

continuing

heat

outside. By evening we had

gotten

into

a

l i t t le

higher

elevation

with

cooler air .

We

stopped at about 10 p.m. west of Bhavani fo r a good

n ig ht s re st .

The next morning we looked forward eagerly to getting to

the

6500 elevation

of

Kotagiri

and

even cooler

weather.

But,

the l as t part of th e t r ip wasn t to be without

trouble.

The

road

into the mountains i s quite steep

with

many

turns

and several hair-pin curves. The

heavy

load

made

i t

necessary to

climb

in low gear most of the time. Toward the

top

the engine

began

to get

hot so we were looking for a level place to stop, but didn t find one. Then the last hairpin

bend

wasn t

marked and

William

didn t swing

far

enough

to

th e

outside to

make

i t .

While he

tr ied

to

maneuver

back

and

forth

to

make the turn

the

engine

died and

wouldn t s t a r t .

I t

was

about

lunch time so we put

stones

behind

the wheels

and had lunch

while

the

engine

cooled off.

We

didn t

know

what would happen

i f

other

traffic

-came,

but

we soonfotmd

cut.Our

rig

was stopped

in the center

of

the curve

and toward the

ins ide. A truck and bus

coming

from

above were

able

to pass. A truck coming from below was also able to get around, but a bus coming up couldn't

make i t . After trying several times the driver gave up, got out and started gesturing and shout

ing

at

William

in

Tamil. William

doesn t

understand Tamil and the

driver

didn t know

English

so the al tercat ion didn t las t long. Fortunately one of the bus passengers

got off

and did some

t rans la t ion. When the driver

learned

that our r ig

was

s ta l led , and not jus t parked in h is

way

on purpose, he stopped

shouting

and walked off muttering. William felt li ke t el lin g

the

driver

that

th ree o th er

vehicles had gotten

around,

and that i f he were a good driver he also could

have

gotten

around.

Instead

William decided to try

starting

the

truck.

I t was cooled

off

enough

so

t h a t we could move

t and l e t

the bus

go mer r i ly

on

t

way.

After

getting

started we hadn t gone far t i l l a

t ruck forced

us to stop on

another

curve

(even though down

tr aff ic is

supposed

to give

way

to

up

t raff ic) .

We managed

to

back down a

ways

and

get

started again.

The engine

kept missing,

though, and

didn t

seem to have

much

power;


6/10

I

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9 W V m i M

After getting started

we

hadn't

gone

far ' t i l l

a

truck

forced

us

to stop

on

another curve

(even though down traffic is supposed to give way to up traffic).

We

managed to back down a

ways and

get started

again. The engine kept

missing,

though, and

didn't

seem

to

have

much

power;

finally

i t

quit

completely.

After

checking

several

things

William

decided i t

needed a

tune-up

job.

When

i t cooled off

he proceeded to install a

new fuel

f i l te r

and

clean

and

adjust the plugs

and poin ts . During the three

hours

beside the

road

we

had

an

a t t en t ive

crowd most of the time.

One young man

sent

a boy up the road a

couple

of furlongs to bring coffee

for

us. At

one

time

Jean

had some boys singing Jesus Loves Me. In the process of

handing

up tools Jean h it one of

the

rear

view mirrors and cut her nose. Then

af ter

a l l

th e tune

up work

William

found the

dis

t r ibutor

bol t loose so that the

timing

was offi That was

probably

the t rouble a l l along. At

l e a s t

it ran w ell the res t of the way up the h i l l and we got to Community School before dark.

We were

glad to find t ha t

the

schools were

on

vacat ion

fo r a

month. I t has given us time

to

r e s t

and g e t

some o f f i c e work

done

t h a t we

had

l t undone whi l e

a t

Kalahas t i . The enc lo sed

Financ ia l Statement

fo r

Apr i l 1

through

December

31, 1975 i s

one job we have

got ten f in i shed .

Lacsons

plan

to

l eave the

f i r s t

week of June . We wi l l

have

to spend much t ime with them before

'then to

learn

about

the

work

so

we

can

get the schools

s tar ted

again

May

31st .

From whence sha l l

my help come?

My

help comes

from th e Lord,

who made

heaven and ear th .

Please

pray

with

us as

we work

for

a time

in th is

new

area

of

service. We

wil l

be

glad to

hear

-fromyou-at--ur-new-address-; -

Community School Kotag i r i 643 217

Tamil

Nadu; INDIA

FINANCIAL

STATEMENT

FIRST CHRISTIAN

CHURCH

India

Mission Fund; William

& Jean

Roland

Apr i l

1 December 31, 1975

balance on hand March 31, 1975 2,235.20

Rece ip t s :

From groupschurches, classes,

e tc 5,476.07

From

individuals 2,032.50

M i s c e l l a n e o u s -

Bankamericard

overpayment refund

37.63

Automobile

Assoc ia t ion Carnet refund , 150.00

Roland persona l expense refund 43.40

Truck/Trailer

insurance refund , 5.63

7,745.23

Total

funds available for

the period 9,980C43

Expendi tu res ;

Travel;

inc ludes vehic le opera tion ,

repairs, maintenance, insurance & licensing;

road

tolls; Truck/Trailer

bond fee- 319,64;

bus, taxi,

train

&

ricksha

fares lodging;

maps;

immunizations 1,744.65

Office;

includes postage; printing;

phone

bil ls ;

exchange

charges

&

loses;

publicity;

s ta t ione ry 261.57

Uti l i t ies ;

includes

elec t r ic ,

g as, w ater & kerosene o il

bi l l s .

. . . 201.33

Equipment;

includes

one Super-8 projector 100.90; three

elect r ic

current s tab i

lizers 355.19;

hospital equipment 114.83;

water filter 50.29; two

steel cupboards

& one fi l ing cabinet 315.94; elec t r ic transformer 59.26;

gas

hotplate 35.43;

pipe vise; bicycle pump; s tee l table & stools 1,100.12

Building Repair &Maintenance; includes lumber; paint; hardware, electrical &plumbing

i tems

77.53

Edu ca tio na l: in clu de s te ach in g

materia ls ; Bibles; t r ac ts ; language

study

books 24.50

Salary; to

Rolands for e ight

months

2,400.00

Customs;

expenses

a t

Madras

&

Amri t sar

178.55

Loan Payments: 2,000.00 7,988.25

Balance

on hand December

31,

1975

1,992.18

(In the La Crosse,

KS

bank 1,812.62; in

India 179.56)

r


7/10

R O L A N D

3

R I P P L E S

NEWS OF W IL LIAM

JEAN ROLAND - MISSIONARIES TO INDIA

V o l .

6

July 1976

No.

4

Greet ings aga in from

th e

beautiful Nilgiris

of

Kotagiri where the air is sof t and

mild a l l

through the

year .

That i s the

way

the tourism

folder

describes i t . I t also l i s t s

a maximum

summer temperature of 72, and a minimum

winte r

temperature of 40, so , so f t and

mild

i s a

pre t ty

good

descr ipt ion.

We.keep being

told

tha t

it

i s one of

the

two

most

healthy places in

the

world;

and tha t

the

o th er p la ce , in Switzer land, has recent ly becomepolluted by factor ies .

We

have had

some

temperatures

warmer than

72,

but

not hot

enough

to

be uncomfortable; some

52 temperatures

with

rain

have seemed

very

cold.

I t i s a beaut i fu l

place to

l ive

and work ;

we thank God often

fo r the

oppor tu ni ty t o spend some time

here .

We ju s t wish we had

more

time

to v i s i t and enjoy

some of

the

scenic surroundings. The

work

of

the

School

and

College

keep

us busy,

l i t e r a l ly

from

mom

till

night ,

and

then

some.

The bes t way

to get

the

f ee l ing i s

to r e c a l l the

nursery

rhyme about

the Old

Woman

in the Shoe. The only

difference

i sin our case it is a L i t t le Ole

Woman and

Little Old Man in the shoe.

The

50 Qr_so^l ively kids., and about

2

staff sure can keep a body

busytwo

bodies,

that is .

,J^an

is usually up by 5:30

to

ge t the cooks out and working.

William

usually

follows

at

6:S0

to

go down

the

h i l l

to get the

water

pump

going.

Drought

has

h it

us

hard

here

this

year with the Southwest Monsoon not coming

in

as i t should. are able to run

the pump

fo r only

30 minutes or so .

Most of

our

water has

to

be

carr ied from another

wel l .

We

employ two men who spend most

of

each day trying to

keep

vessels f i l led for

cooking, drinking,

washing, an d

o ther uses .

If we don t get breakfast by

7:00 i t is

difficult to f i t

i t

in

between repeated rings of

the

doorbell. Staff and

students eat

at 7:30, then

return

to their dorms for an

hour

of

study before

school s ta r t s .

Nine o clock

i s devotions and

assembly

time. Jean

has

.devotions

with

the teach

ing s t a f f ; Will iam conducts chapel

for

the

s tudents ;

one of the Indian

l ad ies has

devotions in

Tamil for th e other staf f . Classes s ta r t a t 9:30Kg and Firs t are

in

th e main building which

houses our

apa rtment , t he gir l s

dorm,

off ice, and

kitchen and

dining

room.

Grades

2 through 8

are

in Timothy Hal l ,

the second

bu i ld ing ,

located up

and

around the

h i l l about

two

blocks . It

-

houses

th e chapel,

class

rooms,

and

older

boys

dorm.

Across

th e

valley

f rom Timothy

is

Titus

Hal l , where the younger

boys l i ve .

Lunch

i s . a t 11:45 fo r Kg and Grade 1; we

t ry

to e a t with them. The others ea t a t 12:15 ,

then

have classes

unti l 3:30. Afternoons,

until_6:30_dinner tjjne, are

f i l led with

various

act

iv i t i e s :

games, music

pract ice,

baths

for

a different

group

each

day,

reading,

writ ing

l e t t e r s ,

etc. Four afternoons William has Bible College classes for the college students. Comparative j j

Religion and Homiletics classes meet on Mondays and Wednesdays; Thursdays and Fridays he has yy

L i f e o f C h r i s t and G a l a t i a n s .

Tues^y i s

our

big shopp ing day . Each

week,

or every other week, we go

to Coonoof,

about

14 miles,

for

f ru i t s , vegetables, eggs

and

other provisions for

the

kitchen.

We

a lways have a

long list o f s up pli es t h a t the s t a f f and s tuden ts seem to always be needingfrom books to

pencils

and

nai l

clippers

to face

cream; yo^n^e

i t^

tbev^need

i t .

I t

usually

takes

most

of

the day to complete the shopping list -


8/10

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Parents of ten v i s i t

on

Saturdays

and Sundays . Sometimes p are nts o r

r e l a t ives

come to take

the i r

chi ldren

out of boarding

fo r the

weekend.

Sundays

we

have

services

in

th e c ha pe l,

or

attend

s e r v i c e s

at

t h e

local

Un io n Chu r c h . Our s e r v i c e s

h e r e consist

o f t h r e e

B i b l e

Schoo l

classes and Worship.

Jean

has the

o lder ch il dr ens

c lassWi l l i am has

the

adul t study group.

William

has brought

th e

messages

a t the worsh ip hour so. far , arid has

had

a couple of the '

college

students

lead a t different times.

One of the students

plays

th e Harmonium

(a

l i t t l e

por table organ) fo r

the

se rv ice .

In between, and

sometimes during,

a l l

these

ac t iv i t i e s it

seems

people are constantly

coming

and

going,

bringing problems and various requests.

Sometimes

it

gets

to

the

place

we

hardly know whether we

are

coming

or

going. There

certainly

is seldom a

dull

momenti Often

we fee l we ju s t

can t

keep up with

it a l l .

Most o f th e sch oo l s tu de nts a re

Hindus .

Some

a re

Ca t ho l i c o r members o f one o f th e

Denominat ions.

One

t e ache r i s a Hindu; th e o th ers a re denominat ional Chr i s t i ans . S.o we. have

plenty of

opportunity

for

teaching and

witness. The three

Bible

College students take

the

classes we mentioned

before , as

wel l

as teach in the sch ool and help

with the

school work

in var ious ways.

.One

of

Jean s

b igges t

jobs i s t o s up er vi se the kitchen and dining

room.

I t seems

honest i s a word many of the

workers

don t know,

so

she

has to keep

a

close

watch on pro

vis ions

so tha t s ta f f and

students get

the food they

are

paying for . She has also spent

much

t ime working

up

a

balanced

menu

and r eo rgani zi ng the

food-serving arrangements.

Then there

are

many who

keep

coming

with colds,

tummy

aches, cuts and

scra tches , so

she i s

put t ing

her

n urs in g to good use .

Well,

maybe

this

wil l

give you

a l i t t l e idea of how we are

spend ing our

time. At l eas t

you know now why this July news

le t ter

is a

b i t latel

Our

sincere

thanks

to each

and a l l

of

you for le t te rs , parcels, money; and to a l l who have offered prayers on

our behalf

to

our

great God and Savior. y He

continue

to bless and sustain us a l l in

the work

of

His

Kingdom.

Now may our Lord Jesus

Christ

Himself

and

God our

Father,

who has loved us

and

given us

eternal comfort and

good

hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts

in

every good work

a n d wo r d .

F ina ll y, b re th ren , pray

for

us tha t the word of

the

Lord may spread

rapidly

and be

glor i

f ied ,

jus t

as it did also with you; and tha t we may be delivered from perverse and

ev i l

men;

fo r

no t

all

have f a i t h . 2

Thess . 3 :163:2 .

Community

School; Kotagir i 643

217;

Tamil Nadu,

INDIA


9/10

R O L A N D

R I P P L E S

WS OF WILLIAM JEAN ROLAND> MISSIONARIES TO

INDIA

V o l . 6

N o v e m b e r

1 9 7 6

N o .

5

Train

up a

chi ld

i n

the

way he should

go,

and when he i s old he w i l l not depar t from it. Prov. 23:6

Th is admoni ti on

of Cod through

Solomon

i s

i n s t r u c t i o n fo r

the

teacher i n

the school ,

as

wel l as th e p aren t i n the

home.

Our i n t e r i m p r o j e c t i n Kotagi r i involves the t r a i n i n g of many

c h i l d r e n

who a r e e n t r u s t e d to o u r c a r e .

There

i s

n o t o n l y the

c l a s s work, b u t s p i r i t u a l n u r t u r e

and

day

to

day

care ,

a l s o .

This

month

we

want

to

share

with

you

through

p i c t u r e s some

of the

s c h o o l

activities.

Each school day s t a r t s with two chape l

s e r v i c e s l e a d by Will iam o r one

o f t h e

tw o

B i b l e

Col lege s t u d e n t s . The

o l d e r

s t u d e n t s

g r a d e s t o 8

meet

i n Timothy H a l l

th e

main c l a s s r o o m b u i l d i n g ; l e a d h e r by John

V a r g i s .

T h e r e

are

m o s t o f t h e u s u a l classes

for

r e a d i n

w r i t i n and r i t h m a t i c

plus

others

l i k e

s e v e r a l

la ngu ag es. S tu de nts

come

from

f o u r

o r f i v e

d i f f e r e n t language

a r e a s .

I n

s ch oo l Eng lis h i s th e te ac hi ng medium; Tamil

and

H i n d i a r e seco nd and t h i r d l a n g u a g e s .

In

case

you

c a n t

read it

the

heading on

the

c h a l k

board

s a y s :

H i n d i C l a s s - 3 .

K i n d e r g a r t e n

and F i r s t Grade have

t h e i r

c h a p e l s e p a r a t e l y . K.C. John

l e a d s them

each morning.

They l e a m

of God s

love

as

they

s i n g

songs

l i k e . My Beloved i s

Mine.

Mrs. Luke

and

K.C. t e a c h

Kg.

and F i r s t

Grade

r e g u l a r

c l a s s e s .

And t h e n it i s

t i m e f o r

r e c e s s o r

p i c t u r e

t ak ingas

some

o f t h e Kg. and

F i r s t

Graders

g a t h e r

around

the

t e e t e r - t o t t e r .

The

little

guy

on t h e

l e f t

decided

chalk was f o r making

a m u s t a c h e .


10/10

roland william jean 1976 india

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