What’s The Deal With All The Idols Everywhere?

After a 14 hour flight from Newark to Delhi, then another 4 hour flight from there to north India, we met our friend Avia and hopped into his jeep for a 6 hour trek to the middle of nowhere at the base of the Himalayas.

The first thing I noticed were the Hindu idols and Buddhist shrines EVERYWHERE.

On the sides of the roads…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Under trees…

 

 

 

 

 

 

They even placed idols on their dashboards…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Because Banyan trees are considered sacred (and even inhabited by spirits by animists) just about every large Banyan tree we saw had a shrine placed under it…

 

 

 

 

 

 

I know this is a common sight throughout Asia, but I had never see this before. But rather than getting creeped out by it all, I was struck by two things.

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Thank You India

The reason I took a break from blogging a couple weeks ago is because a small team of us left on a covert exploratory trip to an unreached part of Northern India (where evangelism is illegal). As a part of our partnership with Team Expansion, we have adopted an unreached region there and are working with an amazing pastor named Avia to bring the gospel to a 1,000,000+ people who have never heard the name of Jesus.

To protect his identity and work we did everything possible to conceal the whereabouts of our trip (telling only the CCV staff and Leadership Team about our trip’s location, geographical references, etc.).

The trip was amazing.

Pastors walked a 5 day’s journey through the mountains and jungle to meet us and dream about what a church-planting partnership could look like.

We saw thousands and thousands of beautiful, gentle and loving people for whom we were the only Western faces they had ever seen in their entire lives. Not a single Christian walked among them.

Our hearts were broken by the need, and we left compelled to come back home and assemble a small army of partners to come alongside the amazingly courageous Christians there to help them share the gospel in the face of extreme ostracization and persecution.

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5 Reasons You MUST Add This To Your Bucket List NOW

I found this video while doing research for an upcoming mission trip to India. Our church is adopting an unreached people group through our partnership with Team Expansion, so I’ve been cruising the net trying to get a better feel for Indian culture.

Here are 5 reasons I’m adding this to my bucket list:

  1. Out of all the head massages in the world, this is reportedly the greatest one, like that coffee shop in the movie Elf. I can’t pass this up.
  2. This guy’s name is Baba. LOVE that name. If I had a son I was going to name him Nathan, but Baba was like 4th on the list.
  3. From Philly it’s only an 18hr flight to Delhi and then an 11hr train ride to Pushkar. That’s like driving from Philly into New York City at rush hour.
  4. Massaging your scalp is supposed to increase blood circulation and re-grow hair. I have a bald spot. Enough said.
  5. I need more cosmic energy! (note the application of cosmic energy!)

Enjoy!

(if you can’t view the video in your reader click HERE)

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