The Carson Center

March 8-11, 2009

From Dhamtari , I flew to Hyderabad.  About the same time the Mennonite Church was getting involved in Dhamtari, the Mennonite Brethren were getting involved in Shamshabad,  500 miles south of Dhamtari.  The purpose of this leg of my trip was to visit the Mennonite Brethren Centenary Bible College (MBCBC).

The international economic dilemmas stretch the soul.  The cost of operating the entire Bible College with its 80 plus students, including the residence halls, library, administration, and faculty costs, is equal to the listed cost of room, board, and tuition of educating four Tabor College students.  The funds that it takes to bring, support, and educate one international student at Tabor, could pay the $500 tuition fee for 50 students at the Bible College.  Ten Bible College faculty could have their salaries paid for what one faculty member is paid at Tabor.

The administration has had a vision for some years to establish an International Studies Center on the campus.  The College would be pleased to assist us and others who want to come but will want sufficient funds to hired one of their faculty halftime to be the International Studies Coordinator and funds for a computer and access to the internet.  Total cost would be $3,000.  In addition, one of the old missionary bungalows needs to be refurbished to meet western standards similar to the current bungalow that is used as a guest house.  The cost would be approximately $10,000.  This would provide housing for as many as 16 guests including dining services.  Together we developed a tentative job description and a memorandum of understanding which I was to take back to Tabor for support.

Friday was an especially inspiring day.  We went to the city of Hyderabad, one of India’s more important cities with its new international airport and it hi-tech companies that includes nearly all of the major technology players.  While there, we visited, and had tea as is always the case a mega-church in Hyderabad that has 22,000 members who meet in over 100 different locations.  As many as 10,000 come to the main church to attend one of four services on Sunday.

The time had come to return home.  I flew on a new low-fare airline from Hyderabad to Delhi, one that like US airlines required the purchase of food and drink.  I boarded the new Boeing 777 after going through four different security checkpoints and being forced to give up the pickles that I was given to take to the Indian student at Tabor.

I also learned that the plane was full and I was being moved up to business class with the luxuries of air travel I seldom enjoy.  A seat that becomes a bed so that one can sleep during the 14 hours of flight time.  Great meals served with silverware and china.  Bose headphones are provided, and such toiletries as toothpaste, a toothbrush, and great American style coffee.

As I looked down at the ocean below, I recalled the return of Uncle JA and Auntie Lina a century ago.  A monsoon had developed in the ocean which they steamed into.  For five days the ship was tossed about in a terrific storm as it began its long journey home.  All but the most seasoned sailors were sick for seemed like an eternity.  They had no way to imagine either the impact their nine years would have and certainly no way to imagine what my trip would be like.

And I can’t imagine what changes will take place in the next 100 years.  From ox-drawn carts to non-stop international travel – what could be next?  The dreaded curse of leprosy is essentially gone.  The small clinics with rudimentary medicine have made way to Cat Scans and angioplasty in hospitals with hundreds of patients and dozens of highly trained Indian doctors, with many more providing medical services in the US and other countries.  From a significant absence of a Christian witness in India to a vibrant church led by Indian preachers, leaders, theologians and a church that is growing more rapidly than the West.  How soon will it be that there is a missionary movement back to the West?

What lies ahead in the next century?  Is there anyway things can change as much in the next 100 years as the last?  Surely not, I am inclined to think.  But then again, why not, I ask myself?  Am I so arrogant as to believe this is as good as things can get?

My own area of work for 25 years has been education.  In some ways, education has not changed all that much in the past 100 years.  But as I see the development and impact of wireless technology in the US as well as India, I am certain the next hundred years will be different.  A new building for MBCBC is being planned.  Tabor has been invited to assist with a technology and distance education room.  I have a hunch that this invitation has the potential to bring students, faculty, and administrators together in ways never before imagined.

My only regret is that I  will not see what the third century will look like.  Maybe I, like Uncel JA, should write stories from India that my great, great nephew will read someday and try to imagine what it must have been like when I sat on the tarmac on February 26, 2009.  Then again, maybe I will be will around.