This is not a little miracle. Actually, it's a pretty big miracle. So I wasn't entirely sure it belonged here in this Little Miracle Report, but then I realized yes it does. It may not be exactly "little," it may stand a little taller than small, but it definitely belongs in any report about miracles.It happened only a few weeks ago, in the middle of January this year 2009, in a small village in West Bengal, India. Two men I know from a small house church I attend here in Austin, Corben and Robert, had decided to make a mission trip to India through an organization called E3 Partners that sends missionaries to remote places in the world to teach people about Jesus and to plant local churches wherever they can. They left in early January and were gone for three weeks. When they returned, they told this story.
This particular village (I don't know its name) is in West Bengal, a state in far northeastern India up near the border with Nepal and Tibet. It's in a remote area where the people are very aware of spiritual realities, but fewer than one percent has ever heard of Jesus. It's a place where spells are cast, witch hunts are common, and superstition scents the very air. Nevertheless, maybe because of their spiritual sensibilities, Corben and Robert found the people very open to learning and to hearing about the power of God.
For instance, in another village there was a family who had a cow. The local witch doctor, at the behest of an enemy of the family, had put a spell on the cow and its milk had dried up. The poor family was desperate and asked the Christian evangelist if his God could remove the spell. The missionary prayed, and the cow gave milk. Then the milk dried up again. This happened three times, and finally the missionary prayed for God to permanently deliver the cow from the spell and protect it from any further spells. The cow gave milk, and its milk did not dry up again.
The villagers are a mixture of ethnicities including Indians, and Gorhkas, Nepalese-speaking Indians with Nepali roots. The region is very politically unstable, and the village contains several groups of varying degrees of extremism who have long been agitating for the creation of a separate and independent State of Gorkhaland.
Politics in West Bengal are all very complicated, and the intricacies of the political situation aren't really important to this story, except to know that as a result of the ongoing political unrest, a frequent occurrence is the calling of a general strike, usually by one of the independence-seeking Gorhka groups.
This is not a strike in the sense that we in the U.S. or other developed countries would understand it, where laborers stop working in order to gain or leverage advantages such as higher pay or other workplace benefits, and set up a picket line where they march carrying signs, chanting and/or making speeches.
No, these strikes in West Bengal involve shutting down entire villages including all businesses and essential services, disrupting mass transport and communications, often blocking roads and bridges, in order to force action by the government, or to block implementation of legislation, or to try to coerce the opposition or ruling party(ies) into granting political concessions. Such strikes are political and volatile, and often erupt in fighting between government and protestors, and between protestors and their political opponents. They involve destruction of property, bloodshed and loss of life.
In this particular village lived a small handful of Christians, including one Nepalese man by the name of Manoj who, together with his wife, lived in and operated a small orphanage. A strike had been called for the week that Corben and Robert, together with their local guides, had planned to stay in this village, and they were unsure of whether they'd be able to go or not. But the strike had been called off at the last minute and so they arrived, and spent a fruitful week in the village, amazed to find so many people who had not only never heard of Jesus, but were interested, and receptive to the news brought by these strangers from a distant land.
This is not a strike in the sense that we in the U.S. or other developed countries would understand it, where laborers stop working in order to gain or leverage advantages such as higher pay or other workplace benefits, and set up a picket line where they march carrying signs, chanting and/or making speeches.
No, these strikes in West Bengal involve shutting down entire villages including all businesses and essential services, disrupting mass transport and communications, often blocking roads and bridges, in order to force action by the government, or to block implementation of legislation, or to try to coerce the opposition or ruling party(ies) into granting political concessions. Such strikes are political and volatile, and often erupt in fighting between government and protestors, and between protestors and their political opponents. They involve destruction of property, bloodshed and loss of life.
In this particular village lived a small handful of Christians, including one Nepalese man by the name of Manoj who, together with his wife, lived in and operated a small orphanage. A strike had been called for the week that Corben and Robert, together with their local guides, had planned to stay in this village, and they were unsure of whether they'd be able to go or not. But the strike had been called off at the last minute and so they arrived, and spent a fruitful week in the village, amazed to find so many people who had not only never heard of Jesus, but were interested, and receptive to the news brought by these strangers from a distant land.
As the week drew to a close, there came word that the postponed strike was to go on as planned in a few days time. Since transportation could be affected, Corben and Robert decided they had better leave while they could, or else they might be stranded for an unknown period of time. So they bid goodbye to Manoj and their other new friends, and hastily left.
The day after their departure they heard the news the strike had indeed occurred as planned, and violence had erupted. There was word of killings with machetes, burning of houses, fighting and all manner of destruction.
The day after their departure they heard the news the strike had indeed occurred as planned, and violence had erupted. There was word of killings with machetes, burning of houses, fighting and all manner of destruction.
They were especially worried about Manoj whose orphanage in the middle of a Nepalese neighborhood was vulnerable to attack by the opposition.
Some days later, after the fighting had died down and communications been restored, Corben and Robert attempted to call Manoj to see how he and the children had fared. They got through, and to their great joy and relief, Manoj reassured them that he and his family and the children were fine.
In fact, he related how after the fighting had finally ceased, a tentative and temporary peace restored, he emerged from his house to view the destruction. He saw that the entire neighborhood and all the houses round about had been burned, but the orphanage stood untouched, its occupants safe and unhurt. Manoj said that as he was talking to some of his neighbors, he asked them why they had not burned his house.
He said that the man looked at him incredulously, and said, "Well it was because of those giant men in white with swords standing all around. We were afraid to go near it."
Manoj had not seen any giant men in white with swords.
Some days later, after the fighting had died down and communications been restored, Corben and Robert attempted to call Manoj to see how he and the children had fared. They got through, and to their great joy and relief, Manoj reassured them that he and his family and the children were fine.
In fact, he related how after the fighting had finally ceased, a tentative and temporary peace restored, he emerged from his house to view the destruction. He saw that the entire neighborhood and all the houses round about had been burned, but the orphanage stood untouched, its occupants safe and unhurt. Manoj said that as he was talking to some of his neighbors, he asked them why they had not burned his house.
He said that the man looked at him incredulously, and said, "Well it was because of those giant men in white with swords standing all around. We were afraid to go near it."
Manoj had not seen any giant men in white with swords.
For he will give his angels charge of you to guard you in all your ways. (Psalm 91:11 RSV)
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