Praise Adonai: The HSI Gospel Concert

We announced the first HSI Gospel Concert to be held in the UAE at the prayer meeting today. It was only the second meeting I was attending in two and a half months. I was happy to see a good crowd in attendance, despite many people being away on vacation.

The Gospel Concert is an activity of HSI's Outreach Ministry which uses dance, drama and music to reach out to people. Last December, we had persuaded a few of the top rock bands in Goa to come together and sing gospel music. The experience seemed to touch them, as it did those who came to watch them play, and the bands came together for four more concerts after that.

We hope to achieve something similar in the UAE with a concert to be held on September 14 in St. Francis of Assisi Church.

Inner Healing Retreat

Two brothers Fr. Franklin Lobo and Anthony Lobo have been conducting inner healing retreats for the past thirty years. Interested in setting up a similar ministry under the HSI umbrella, I did a retreat with them between July 12-17 to see what I could learn. I left with a lot more than knowledge. Not only did the retreat help me personally, Anthony accepted my invitation to lead the HSI Inner Healing Ministry, which will engage itself in conducting retreats around the world and training others in conducting them.

A girl testifies at the end of the retreat

A Violent Welcome to Bombay

One of the compartments torn apart by the blast

One hour after I reached Bombay on the final leg of my India mission, a string of seven blasts tore through first class compartments of suburban trains in the city leaving 140 people killed and 257 injured. It was another grotesque act of senseless terrorism that angered me, and I used it as part of the subject of my talk at St. Anne's Church on the 17th evening, the only talk I gave during this visit to Bombay, though I did share a few things at the inner healing retreat I attended.

Divine Retreat Center, Chennai

One of the beautifully designed retreat halls in the Divine Mercy Retreat Center,

I was taken to visit the Divine Mercy Retreat Center in Chennai the day before I left. Like the Logos Retreat Center in Bangalore it is part of the Vincentian Mission. The Director of the Center had invited me to conduct a full day retreat there, but I was unable to do so because there was a conflict in schedules. It was an invitation he renewed when I met him, however, and I promised to return .... when it was cooler!

Inside the San Thome Cathedral

I was also taken to visit the beautiful San Thome Cathedral, where again I was invited to preach a full day retreat. Built close to the seashore, the Basilica is built over the tomb of St.Thomas which contains in it's crypt a small hand bone of the Apostle and the head of a lance which is said to have been used in the attack on him. Between the 14th and 15th centuries, the church fell to ruins.

In 1522 the Portugese moved the Apostle's remains to a new tomb, and built a new church which was given the status of a cathedral in 1606. In 1893 however, this church was also demolished and the present Gothic style cathedral was built and consecrated in 1896. in 1956, this cathedral was elevated to the status of a Basilica as a fitting tribute to the martyred St. Thomas.

Missionary Break

As I approached the end of what was mostly a very hectic three week tour of South India, I found the time to engage in some more worldly pursuits ... like taking a stroll on a Chennai beach. Vendors hawking sugar cane juice, corn on the cob, and jasmine flowers made little islands (along with courting couples) amidst a sea of ten thousand people.

A young girl selling jasmine flowers at the beach

More worldly pursuits followed later as I watched Federer beat Nadal to claim his fourth Wimbledon title and, then, Italy beat France to win the 2006 FIFA World Cup. I have never had much interest in watching games that I didn't play myself - it is why I enjoy discipleship so much as a disciple is something I CAN be - but I quite enjoyed both the matches. It might be another four years before I watch another game again, though.

Discipleship Program, Ainavaram

On July 8, I conducted the HSI Discipleship Program at Don Bosco Church in Ainavaram amidst a few other smaller engagements. The heat was so severe two bottles of ice cold water turned hot within an hour, but it didn't seem to faze the large crowd who attended.

Don Bosco Church, Ainavaram

A short talk at Br. Benjamin's prayer group

Chennai

After a day's rest (there were a flock of people who came for "counselling" - and one for an interview for a local magazine! - but sitting down and talking to people as opposed to standing before a few hundred people and preaching is definitely restful), my daughter and I flew down to Chennai via Bangalore.

We were received there by a friend Jessica and her father Rudy who set us up in a "guest house", a euphemism for a low cost hotel. It would have been quite comfortable were it not for the terrific heat in the city. We would have got the same thing in Mangalore too, except for the rains which cooled the place down. I told myself (and Lianne) that some mortification was good for the soul and settled in.

As the itinerary in Chennai was not as hectic as in the other two places, I got to spend some quality time with Lianne, taking in a movie (Superman Returns - the allusions to Jesus Christ were fascinating!), doing some sight seeing, meeting up with old friends, and eating traditional South Indian food!

The cave where St. Thomas (of 12 apostles fame!) hid before being martyred in 68 AD.

Swapna Abraham, a dear friend, with Lianne

A house along the road

Cone Dosa! Loaded with ghee,but absolutely sumptious!

Jesus Youth Again

I concluded my mission in Mangalore with a rather relaxed full day session with the Jesus Youth. The term is a misnomer, because a lot of the "youth" are really adults of varying ages who belonged to the Jesus Youth in their younger days. I recognized a few faces in the crowd as those I had seen in St. Agnes College and I was happy that they had enjoyed the retreat enough to want to hear more of what I had to say.

A section of the Jesus Youth

Retreat Two to College Girls

The day after I had concluded preaching a retreat to the junior college girls of St. Agnes, I commenced preaching a retreat to the senior students. Any thoughts I might have had of receiving a similar reception by the older girls was dispelled within the first hour. It was apparent that most of them didn't want to be there, and being the one on stage I was the obvious target of their hostility.

By the time the morning session was over, I was telling God I was going to retire the moment I returned to base. Rather sharply, he told me that I was having it easy; they weren't throwing stones at me like people often did. Abashed I returned to preach. By the time the retreat was over, the girls had changed and I wouldn't have been surprised if most of them would have been happy to go another day. Sufficiently humbled, I could only praise God!

Addressing the Senior College Students of St. Agnes

A section of the 18-20 year olds. The dress code is compulsary!