UPDATE OCT 3, 2009
There may even be information below that you have not seen. Scroll down.
Yesterday, Gandhi’s birthday, was to be the day that the four men from the church were going out to our village to assess the situation. After continuous prayers, counsel and advice they unanimously, again, decided it was too volatile. We are still waiting on the Lord.
Craig kept me so busy with two very long bible studies that I didn’t have time to even think about these matters. We have two new brothers born into the kingdom of God and I spent all day and into the evening going over
THIS with them, and we barely got started.
They are gobbling it up. You may like to have a copy and you’re welcome to spread it around as long as you keep my copyright there.
Please, please keep this matter in your most urgent prayers. I’m eager to get back home and face the situation head on. Those people deserve the opportunity to hear, believe, repent, confess Jesus and be immersed into his death & the resurrection.
Much love,
Don Wood & Children
Our Lives Are In Danger. Please PRAY!
4:00 am.
A little more information is that these people are “South Indian,” uneducated people. Mr. Naidu is a autorickshaw driver and our neighbor just thirty seconds from our door. He was sold by his relatives to a Roman Catholic priest when he was either a young boy or baby. The priest was (fortunately) a good man. He kept the boy for a couple of months and then returned him saying, “I don’t want him, you can pay me back when you get the money.” It was obviously a gift for people who desperately needed some money. So, Mr. Naidu has a tattooed cross on his arm and a “picture” of Jesus hanging on his wall. In other words, he has had a warm place in his heart for Christianity. Therefore, he has allowed his three sons who “speak” English to come to our worship assemblies. Almost every parent wants his children educated in an English medium. We provide that jealously desired element.
The boys are Mony (17), Kartik (15) and the same age as my boy, Donal. Then there is Kechuv who is now 13. These children are extremely poor, but in better shape than the slum children were when I got them. By the way, my children’s parents are all members of the church. None of them have been converted. BUT the children are only a small part of my work though they live 24/7/365 with me and ARE for all intents and purposes my own sons and daughters, even bearing my own name. We have five boys and two girls now. My main job is writing what we call the “
Audibles.” <– download them and use them for FREE. They are not complete, but I’m praying they will be soon. This time may actually give me more time to “get with it!”
Anyway, Kartik has expressed more interest in Christ than anyone else. He said, “But my parents would never allow me to be baptized.” I said, “You are still a child and must obey your parents.”
He is definitely at the point of knowing good from evil but the good side is now looking pretty far away — the natural effect of
Psalm 135:15-18. We are praying for a contact with his parents and the mob who threatened me directly. They hate “conversions” and in some Indian states the courts will prosecute you for attempted conversions! I’m going to put a paper here, just below, that will give you a modern, respected Hindu man’s view of the idea which was published in a HINDU newspaper! Those people the writer is calling out to are radical terrorist types who have been known to “burn preachers alive.”
Before you read the newspaper article, you should know that Kartic was speaking to Vicky (Christian boy 22 years old) and Donal (15 years old but not a Christian yet). I didn’t know about this talk, but learned later his interest in Christ, and at an emotional moment he shared with us the fact that his father had been sold when he was a boy. For some reason, the family is embarrassed by this instead of openly grateful. (???) It’s because of three factors:
1. Ps 135:15-18. They are “air heads” just like their 3,333,000 “gods.” (That’s their number not mine.)
2. They are uneducated and feel pretty low. We have some nice things, which are now really worn out, but that still makes us richer than they are, and my education smothers or overwhelms their self dignity. That’s why I don’t want to call the police. What they did is a crime, even though they didn’t do the deed. It’s like yelling “FIRE” in a crowded, darkened theater. The speaker doesn’t kill anyone, but the ensuing stampede will kill hundreds just trying to leave. I want to appear as Christlike as possible in forgiving them this crime, but I do not want their mob mentality to either become a reality or a method of future operations. It’s a very difficult situation.
3. They are now all part of a mob. Mob mentality is a structure of it’s own, and only air headed ideas come from them, but their works are often fatal.
The men in the church, two of whom are Hindu “converts,” know how to approach them, but state that they could easily be unsuccessful just for lack of education. Satan has SUCH a grip on these people that NO LOGIC will appeal to them at all. You have to work up to such a point and his three children had a chance because they’re being educated in the English language.
>
Who’s the Real Hindu?
> By Karan Thapar, Hindustan Times
> August 30, 2008
>
> Does the VHP have the right to speak for you or I? Do they reflect
> our views? Do we endorse their behaviour? They call themselves the
> Vishwa Hindu Parishad, but who says they represent all of us? This
> Sunday morning, I want to draw a clear line of distinction between
> them and everyone else. My hunch is many of you will agree.
>
> Let me start with the question of conversion – an issue that greatly
> exercises the VHP. I imagine there are hundreds of millions of
> Hindus who are peaceful, tolerant, devoted to their faith, but above
> all, happy to live alongside Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists,
> Jains and Jews. If any one of us were to change our faith how does
> it affect the next man or woman? And even if that happens with
> inducements, it can only prove that the forsaken faith had a tenuous
> and shallow hold. So why do the VHP and its unruly storm troopers,
> the Bajrang Dal, froth at the mouth if you, I or our neighbours
> convert? What is it to do with them? Let me put it bluntly, even
> crudely.
>
> If I want to sell my soul and trade in my present gods for a new
> lot, why shouldn’ t I? Even if the act diminishes me in your eyes,
> it’s my right to do so. So if thousands or even millions of Dalits,
> who have been despised and ostracised for generations, choose to
> become Christian, Buddhist or Muslim, either to escape the
> discrimination of their Hindu faith or because some other has lured
> them with food and cash, it’s their right. Arguably you may believe
> you should ask them to reconsider, although I would call that
> interference, but you certainly have no duty or right to stop them.
[Note: I have already been accused of giving money to the Naidus and of converting the children I have. The children were born into Christian families, and I have given no money at all to anyone. We only have enough for our own food! But they only believe what they want to believe. Understand, lies are their chief tools of indictment and they lie as a community or one unit. This is the Hindu mental and spiritual condition. This is why we will bring no police report.]
>
> In fact, I doubt if you are morally correct in even seeking to place
> obstacles in their way. The so-called Freedom of Religion Acts,
> which aim to do just that, are, in fact, tantamount to obstruction of
> conversion laws and therefore, at the very least, questionable.
>
> However, what’s even worse is how the VHP responds to this matter.
> Periodically they resort to violence including outright murder. What
> happened to Graham Staines in Orissa was not unique. Last week it
> happened again. Apart from the utter and contemptible criminality of
> such behaviour, is this how we Hindus wish to behave? Is this how we
> want our faith defended? Is this how we want to be seen? I have no
> doubt the answer is no. An unequivocal, unchanging and ever-lasting
> NO!
>
> The only problem is it can’ t be heard. And it needs to be. I
> therefore believe the time has come for the silent majority of Hindus?
> Both those who ardently practice their faith as well as those who
> were born into it but may not be overtly religious or devout? to
> speak out. We cannot accept the desecration of churches, the burning
> to death of innocent caretakers of orphanages, the storming of
> Christian and Muslim hamlets even if these acts are allegedly done in
> defence of our faith. Indeed, they do not defend but shame Hinduism.
> That’s my central point. I’ m sorry but when I read that the VHP has
> ransacked and killed I’ m not just embarrassed, I feel ashamed.
> Never of being Hindu but of what some Hindus do in our shared faith’s
> name.
>
> This is why it’s incumbent on Naveen Patnaik, Orissa’ s Chief
> Minister, to take tough, unremitting action against the VHP and its
> junior wing, the Bajrang Dal. This is a test not just of his
> governance, but of his character. And I know and accept this could
> affect his political survival. But when it’ s a struggle between
> your commitment to your principles and your political convenience is
> there room for choice? For ordinary politicians, possibly, but for
> the Naveen I know, very definitely not.
>
> So let me end by saying: I’ m waiting, Naveen. In fact, I want to
> say I’ m not alone. There are hundreds of millions of Hindus, like you
> and me, waiting silently? but increasingly impatiently. Please act for
> all of us.
29 September 2009
A silly children’s quarrel yesterday afternoon has led to three of our children being beaten up by our village men — and they’re explicitly threatening to “burn me alive.” Here’s the story:
We have prayed through the night while (hopefully) the last of nine nights of LOUD drumming “music” and dancing just below our window ended at 1:15am this morning. But there are still people prowling around outside the house as I can hear their loud drunken talking.
Many months ago one of the children’s friends, a 12 year old named Keshuv, and Donal were down by the river taking videos. I had given Donal my old JVC digital camera to make a video he wanted to do. He handed it to Keshuv with the command not to enter the water. But he did, slipped, fell and jammed the lens up into the camera case. It still plays the tapes but will not take any more pictures. It will cost Rs.4,700 to fix. My Fuji digital camera quit working just before that happened. It would cost another Rs.3,000 to fix and for these reasons they have just had to sit. However, Keshuv started laughing and bragging during this all day and nine nights idol event, that he had broken Cary’s glasses and Donal’s camera. We thought he was our friend. In fact, we thought their whole family were our friends. Yesterday proved quite different. Keyshuv’s next to older brother, Kartik, (not the one recently immersed), who is 15 years old is a sociopathic liar, pitting all opposing parties together with his many lies. These two boys have frequently attended our English worship assembly, and because their Hindu dad has had a picture of Jesus hanging in his home, we have been pretty free to present the gospel to Keshuv and Kartik, including Ps. 135:15-18, which has been discussed. We discovered, however, that the last nine days have been used to drum up resentment against us and the good news we preach.
So yesterday afternoon, my children called the Naidu brothers out for a talk to ask why they were laughing about having destroyed our video camera and glasses. An argument ensued, and a boy who had come to visit from the Vashi church unfortunately slapped Kartik because he promised to bring a village mob to “solve” the argument. This was all witnessed by one Muslim man who has said he would testify to the facts if needed. But this community hates him nearly as much as us.
Suddenly an adult mob of thirty or so appeared and caught my two boys and their guest down by the river. Mr. Naidu, the father of Kartik and Keshuv, beat Cary silly because Kartik had lied saying that all three of our boys had beaten him up. Another man beat up Donal and yet another man beat up Amos who had sadly slapped Kartik while other men and women chanted their insults, etc. One of our younger boys who had not been beaten or in any of the fight ran to the house to tell Vicky what was going on. He’s a 22 year old young Christian man who rushed down to the river, broke up the beatings and shoved our children in the direction of home. Before Vicky arrived, Cary had finally been able to reveal to Mr. Naidu what all the boys had been arguing about — our camera and glasses that Keshuv was boasting of having destroyed. Mr. Naidu had never heard the story of the camera and glasses because I had not made any issue of it, trying to value his friendship. Then the heated exchange turned to religion, and one man named Ashish started yelling, “Bring that white man out and we’ll burn him alive!” A chorus of voices joined him in his chant and they moved toward the house. I had no idea any of this was happening until all of a sudden all the children burst into the house and one after the other tried to say what was going on. Mr. Naidu and several others entered our house. I then ordered everyone out except the few that seemed to pertain to the event. I closed the door which locks automatically, and by God’s grace Ashish was not admitted into the house. He stood at our gate and waited.
I did not know all of the events I have just shared, but came to know them piece-meal after the meeting with Mr. Naidu and the others who came in the house. That meeting broke up with a tenuous hand shake and the stated threats are standing by. In other words, I did not know MR. NAIDU had also chanted to burn me alive, etc.
Our Options in order of preference:
1. My first option of priority is to talk to Mr. Naidu the father of Keshuv & Kartik, then to Ashish who repeatedly demanded I be brought out of the house to be “burnt alive,” and finally another man whose name we do not know, but who is a relative of Mr. Naidu. Speak to them in the order above and try to win their friendship, but also letting them know the gravity of their deeds is a jailable offense. I have never thought to beat up Mr. Naidu’s sons and would have expected a long bamboo pole brought after me if I had tried. He had no right to beat up my children without first having come to talk to me. This would cost only a few rupees in food and beverages, but conceivably could cost our lives.
2. Make a police complaint as just threatening anyone with being “burnt alive” for his religion is a crime. This country is drenched in the blood of just such persons. Six months ago we solicited police help when others threatened to destroy our belongings if we would not vacate the house in which we were living. Our lease was only in the 7th month of five years. They had violated the contract repeatedly but gained the favor of the other villagers. We didn’t know where to go until God opened up the house next door that we’re presently living in. We were able to move here because the Mumbai church helped us with the funds we needed to move. If we complain to the police there is a possibility it will inflame Ashish, Naidu and others. But it may also take the threat out of the picture. It did help last time and we feel a threat of our lives is greater than the loss of our property. This is a guessing game and only the Lord knows what is best. It may even be best to make choice number one our choice number two. But we are here to win the lost and thus I have given this order as above and as follows. This could cost our lives and property.
3. Our prayers for five years now have been for a piece of property upon which we could build our own house where we would have room for the children to play, for their pets, and animals we can raise for food. This would cost a cool $100,000 but could be reached if God were to supply the necessary funds. It would serve many, many ends from a retreat place for the churches, our home, religious center, a hostel for children’s education under an English medium, the training and teaching of people to teach the gospel, and for many other services unto the Lord. These are the things for which we currently use our limited rented quarters.
4.
Move out of here! This is the children’s first choice. They are scared and rightfully so. We have suffered first of all because we have been city dwellers and not villagers. We lost our chicken flock that we were to use for meat and eggs. Forty chickens were destroyed, Some by disease because our conditions were not very good, but mostly by our Punjabi neighbor’s dogs. Other of Donal’s animals, rabbits and pigeons for meat, were also killed by their dogs. We ate only a couple dozen eggs and one chicken for all of one year’s trouble. Nothing is left. The Punjabi’s use our belongings at will without asking. We’ve suffered the loss of children’s toys, the digital movie camera mentioned, eye glasses and a near scar on Cary’s face from the oldest of the Naidu brothers, Mony. In fact, for me to better serve our medical tourism guests (
http://americasmedicalsolutions.com – our “tent making ministry”),
I should be shifting all of us back into the city. But the whole reason we’re living in an Indian village is because we couldn’t afford anything more than what we have. Our rent is about $55 per month. If we move to town our rent would be at least $400 per month. Currently it is running at about $550 per month. Our medical tourism business has yet to “take off,” but we believe it will. We pray and are working for the day we will be self supported. We have never griped about these losses to the responsible persons who are now betraying us. We are glad to suffer for the sake of Christ, but think it irresponsible to rush ourselves into their bonfire.
This is a serious problem. We are seeking your PRAYERS most of all, your counsel so that we may have the Lord’s wisdom.
Thank you for your prayers and helps. They all help enormously!
God bless!
Don Wood & Children
Kechuv on the left, Donal, 15 years old in center with “Boxer,” and Kartik on the right. Can you imagine Keshuv (13 years old) & Kartik (15 years old) who had been such good friends, and their parents, relatives and friends want us dead?
See http://fiwl.wordpress.com
Addendum
Just the other day I read an article about a group trying to raise money for a horse that had been disfigured in a fire. They raised all the money they needed in a short amount of time. 
I am about to embark on my 2nd journey to Asia. A lot has happened in the last year including the addition of two new schools and the progress of our school in Singapore to offer two year student visas to Chinese national students.
