Indian Friends Offer Help to Those Recovering from Sandy

The clerk of Bhopal Monthly Meeting, Sunny Nathaniel, asked me last night in his home what the Quakers are doing about relief work for the victims of Hurricane Sandy. First, I explained how parents of students at Wilmington Friends School had organized to gather food and supplies to take to families in New Jersey. I hoped AFSC was doing something because Philadelphia Yearly Meeting probably didn't have funds to offer help given difficult financial straits. Sunny urged me to tell Philadelphia Friends that Bhopal Friends would like to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy recover.

Since Bhopal Friends are making major renovations to their meetinghouse/church, several families drove 30 kilometers north to Raisen yesterday where we worshiped on the rooftop of the extended Masih family's home. At the close of meeting leaders shared news, made introductions and gathered for lunch.

During lunch Bhopal members asked about travel conditions for reaching Bhimkothi, the tribal village in the National Forest lands north of Hoshangabad. Much to my surprise, they are planning to take clothing, which Bhopal MM families have collected, to this village that Unami MM has been helping over the last several years.

It was when Archana, Amit, Philip and I returned to Friends Rural Centre at Rasulia with Ekta Parishad staff (after an overnight stay at Bhimkothi) that our India Friends Working Group's two-pronged mission came together. We never anticipated that Indian Friends would become involved with Bhimkothi. Indian Friends are debating whether to go to Bhimkothi after attending Hoshangabad meeting, or making it a separate event on another day. 

Our visit - last evening back in Bhopal - to the Nathaniel family home was so warm and friendly. Actually it's home for three of the four brothers and their wives and children and grandfather, Alic Nathaniel, who live in a complex of three houses all connected to each other. I had met many of them in the morning at the meeting for worship in Raisen on the rooftop. So it was a treat to be talking again with the young people and their parents in their home. This is when Sunny Nathaniel offered to send assistance to those recovering from Sandy.

PhYM Delegation Shared Messages during Gathering

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On Oct 26th, Jack, Samantha and I shared a 45 minute spot on the Gathering's agenda. Copied below is my formal message of greetings from India Friends Working Group. Samantha followed this with an explanation of how she came to Quakerism from another faith tradition through her experience as a student at Swarthmore College. She described the loving support she receives from the West Philadelphia Worship Group as well as Swarthmore MM. Jack then concluded this section by helping Indian Friends to understand John Woolman's remarkable role as an 18th century Friend who followed his conscience in working to convince those who held slaves to end the practice.

Archana translated Jack and Samantha's message into Hindi, and Devdas translated mine. All three of us valued the many warm interactions we had with the 75 Friends who attended this five day event, which brings Indian Friends together about every three years.

Scott Rhodewalt’s Message for Friends Attending All India Friends Gathering

George Fox Hall, Itarsi,  Madhya Pradesh

October 2012

I speak first as a Friend who brings you warm greetings from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting’s India Friends Working Group. Many of you knew George and Lillian Willoughby who stood for peace and love among Friends in India. If George were living he would surely be here today. Mary Arnett, Henry Beck, Anne & Al Briggs, Philip Donnelly, Viv Hawkins and Chris Roberts all send their love and best wishes to you. As clerk of India Friends Working Group, I want to tell you how very much we value our ties with you. Thank you for inviting us to this sixth All India Friends Gathering. We trust and love our history together, with you, as Friends.

My second role is to speak to you as a teacher who is on sabbatical for one year. Wilmington Friends School, where both Devdas Shrisunder and Archana Gour have visited and lectured, is very happy for me to be here with Quakers in India. I teach Global Peace and Justice. This is where 9th standard students learn about Gandhi and King and nonviolent direct action. As a teacher, I also represent my school in a new NGO called Delaware Lahore Delhi Partnership for Peace. This builds people to people relationships among Indians, Pakistanis and Americans.

My third role is to speak as a husband because I learn most about peace and nonviolence from Susan, my wife. Susan is so happy that you are feeding me so well this week – both literally and spiritually. She joins me in thanking our hosts, Mid India Yearly Meeting, for taking such good care of our Philadelphia delegation.

My fourth role is as a father of two sons. Ian, who is 27, lived among Palestinians for the last two years. He is an activist for two causes. One is to end Israel’s illegal military occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza. The other is to abolish prisons in the U.S. for nonviolent crimes. His older brother Morgan, who is 29, is on trial this week in New York City for nonviolent direct action against the police. It’s because the police target African Americans and Latinos by misusing the “Stop & Frisk” law. I tell you about this court case because Morgan “loves his neighbor” so much that he is willing to risk two years in prison to stop a bad law. Please pray for Morgan this week.

My fifth role is that I am your friend and fellow traveler. Together with Buzz, Francis, Jack and Samantha, we are with you today to learn how to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. You have much to teach us. We can learn how programmed and silent yearly meetings respect each other. We can learn how Friends can forgive each other. We can learn how Friends reach out to others. Thank you for including us in your All India Friends Gathering.

Report of Young Friends Study-cum-Work Camp

                               Report of Young Friends Study -cum-Work Camp,
                                               Friends Rural Center, Rasulia
                                                 29th Oct. to 4th Nov. 2012

           A Study-cum-Work camp was held at Friends Rural Centre, Rasulia, Hoshangabad from 29th Oct. to 4th Nov. 2012. In this camp 4 from Nepal , 4 from Dharwad( Karnataka), 9 from Friends Girls School , Sohagpur, 2 each from Bhopal YM and MIYM  and 1 from Friends Rural center, Rasulia were the participants who introduced each other as part of the first day's orientation and first evening's cultural activity.
            Thereafter we had study and home group sessions in the morning and work sessions in the afternoon. In the study sessions Usha Samuel, Scott Rhodewalt, Sheela Jacob, Archana Gaur, Shamin Shelton, Bhaskar Sonkamble, and Denis Jonathan led sessions on Prayers,  Advices & Principles of Quakerism, History of Quaker Work in Sohagpur,  AVP,  Quakers and Christianity, Compassion, Peace Makers, and Friends World Organization. Young Friends very much valued and appreciated these classes. For some it was the first time to learn specifics about Quakerism. It was an entirely new way of thinking especially for those from Karnataka and Nepal . We had three "Home" groups that met four times to discuss what they were experiencing in the classes.  Their feedback showed how much they were amazed to learn these things for the first time. Many said that they wanted  to continue discovering more about Friend's practices.
              In the afternoon we had four work sessions. The road from the main gate to the Meeting House, about 400 feet, had become rough and curved over the years. Participants first made two straight lines for the borders of the new road. Then they leveled the newly marked road by filling the pits and gaps with baskets of stone fill.  They worked cooperatively in a long queue passing baskets of stone fill. Young Friends, Rasulia staff and other participants together watered the new surface to make it easier for a mechanical roller to level the new road.
              On the last day of the work camp Young Friends each claimed one of the holes, which a machine had made on both sides of the road, to plant their own tree. Each Young Friend and other participants mixed manure, black soil, and water to make ready the hole for planting a tree. They planted 6 Palm, 4 Gulmohar and 20 Ashoka  trees.
               Worship united us in spirit each day before breakfast and dinner when every one came together in the Meeting room. During this time different groups of students led the worship in different languages that always included singing, Bible reading and praying. Games and cultural programs, which included songs, drama and story telling in different languages, also preceded dinner each day. Then worship concluded each day during "epilogue."
               It was a joy to see how willingly the Young Friends and others always worked as a group with laughter and good humor. Even though they were tired from the hard labour they kept working to see that it was all completed before the end of this camp. There was a glow of happiness when they completed the road and planting  which normally would have been impossible in such a short time.
               We lived together at Friends Rural Centre, Rasulia  for one week as a family. Every one worked joyfully for food preparation, serving the food and cleaning plates afterward. We became closer even without knowing each other's languages, and sometimes this created good humor and laughter. Our closeness was especially evident when Young Friends left Rasulia in tears about losing each other. Clearly, Young Friends hope to meet again. Organizers were moved to create an opportunity to continue Young Friends Study -cum-Work Camps regularly.


                            Devdas Shrisunder                                Nalini Titus
                                 Trustee                                          Chairperson

Request More about These Topics from India

Please let me know which of these topics you would like to read more about. Consider inviting me to your quarterly or monthly meeting to learn more about our yearly meeting's continuing connections with Friends in India. My sabbatical from Wilmington Friends School makes it possible for me to visit you more easily during the winter and spring.

RUSULIA CENTRE CIRCLES BACK TO CONFERENCES
      Last week's Young Friends Study Cum Work Camp at Friends Rural Centre Rasulia showed resilience at this 45 acre Quaker Centre in Hoshangabad. The energy comes from Nilini Titus' presence as a manager, accountant and friend to five or six loving dogs. The vision comes from Devdas Shrisunder's experience at Pendle Hill in 2010. Together they and the board at Rasulia are recreating the idea of a conference place in central India that might in the future resemble Pendle Hill or Woordbrooke. Come visit Rasulia to discover its impressive renovations and new life.

PRAYER, BIBLE & SONGS DOMINATE QUAKER WORSHIP 
     Two weeks with Indian Friends worshiping together for the October 24-28th All India Gathering and then the Oct 29-Nov 4th Young Friends Study Cum Work Camp have demonstrated the power of "voice." Praying before and after each session or event and always at the beginning and ending of each day, singing together with clapping, and using biblical scripture for support of every point - all of these practices mesmerized participants.

MID-INDIA YM SEEKS PARITY
     Voicing pride as descendants of the founding expatriates from UK who set up Quaker mission work in the 1870's in Hshongabad District in central India, leaders of Mid India Yearly Meeting desire the focused attention of Philadelphia YM's India Friends Working Group. Challenges they face include holding tightly to perceptions that led them to feel overlooked during the past decade. 

FRIENDS SCHOOLS IN INDIA FACE DILEMMA
     Friends schools have not shifted to English medium as the Catholic schools in India did 30 years ago. Indian Friends send their children to English medium schools, instead of the Friends schools, which are Hindi medium and which currently serve poorer families who cannot pay sufficient fees to keep these schools from disappearing. Teachers among Indian Friends typically teach in English medium schools, not the Friends schools.

GENERAL CONFERENCE OF FRIENDS IN INDIA MEETS ANNUALLY
     The five or six members of India's (GCFI) share a common commitment to silent unprogrammed worship.  Archana, Baskar, Dilawar, Hari and one or two others meet together once a year in the early Fall for shared worship at FRC Rasulia Centre. Baskar, at 84, spoke with clarity at last week's Young Friends Study Cum Work Camp about the Light and Holy Spirit being at the heart of Quakerism.

FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS SHAPE MONTHLY MEETING PATTERNS
     Just as rural monthly meetings in the states often have several leading families over the generations, so too do programmed meetings here in central India. The Samuels - children and grandchildren of 92 year old Samuel Ramla - provide one example in Hoshangabad where they meet for evening "cottage" meetings in their homes probably more often than going to First Day meetings for worship in their 19th century meetinghouse on the other side of town. The Jonathan, Robert, and Lal families in Itarsi, and the Titus families in Bhopal match the Samuel and Daniel families' roles in Hoshangabad MM.

FRIENDS SCHOOLS SEEK AFFILIATION 
     It might be membership in a Friends Council on Education style umbrella organization, or it could be an endowment-creating funder - either way, there is an almost desperate desire for Indian Friends schools to continue as they are without having made the educational improvements that long-term strategic planning would normally dictate. Hints of changes surface in opposite directions - Itarsi Friends Girls School builds a second floor facility to meet the needs of 304 students whose fees are paid by a Calcutta-based charity, while Sohagpur Girls School (with a boarding component for ten percent of their students) eyes its neighboring Pearson Company affiliated school.

All Is Well

All is well in Itarsi on this early Sunday afternoon. We worshiped this morning with Itarsi Monthly Meeting in George Fox Hall here on the campus of Friends Girl School. There are many similarities in worship with programmed Friends in the States. One innovation is having an extended time during the two-hour worship for anyone to share a song, scripture, or a message. While one elder used this as an opportunity for a very lengthy sermon, a number of Friends of all ages used the time to sing a song, including Devdas who has a beautiful singing voice. I'll write more later about the contrasts.

Samantha took the train yesterday to Delhi; she arrived at the ashram safely, and we've just confirmed that everything is fine. In fact, Dilawar Chetsingh called to explain that Samantha had called him and they have made good arrangements for late tonight in the event that her flight does not leave Delhi because of the massive storm in New Jersey. Probably, they will divert the plane to another city if it can't land in Newark. However, Dilawar and his wife will host Samantha overnight if the plane does not depart from Delhi. Jack leaves to go back to Delhi on Tuesday during the day. He will stay for a couple days at the ashram and then return on the direct flight to Newark NJ on Friday. Surely, the storm will have passed by then!

We move to Friends Rural Centre, Rasulia where there may be less access to Internet connections. When it's possible I'll post more.

6th All India Friends Gathering Begins

Mid India Yearly Meeting Friends welcomed us in Itarsi MM's George Fox Hall yesterday afternoon as drummers passed by in the street for a major Hindu holiday that seemed to bring all of the world into Itarsi. Our delegation of PYM Friends - Jack, Sammantha and Scott - arrived by car together at the same time as four young Friends from Nepal who had traveled three days and two nights by train from the valley of Katmandu.

Archana, who had kindly helped both the Americans and Nepalese groups of visitors find our way here, then gave the opening address at nine o'clock this morning on the theme of this gathering - "Loving Your Neighbor as Yourself." Quoting from Matthew, John, and Luke, Archana gracefully and effectively reminded us that love is greater than faith and hope; love is patient; love is kind; love does not envy; love is not rude; love is not self-seeking.

We met afterward in small "home" groups of five or six, often with members from different yearly meetings. I shared my experiences as a member of London Grove MM after hearing about three different Indian Monthly meetings and the Nepalese meeting. We are now about to hear the report of YM's and the Asia West Pacific Section of FWCC.  Devdas has asked that I share a bit of news about Philadelphia Yearly Meeting to complement the brief reports from each of the other yearly meetings represented here at the Gathering.

Trying to explain a spiritual leading

I left for India this past week in the middle of my first semester of graduate school in an intensive program at the University of Pennsylvania.  I brought with me on the plane a backpack full of books, with the intention of finding the time here to stay on top of all my readings and assignments.  I'm thrilled to be here now, but I want to back track a bit to explain the process of deciding to join this 4th delegation to India. 

In the summer an email invitation from Scott Rhodewalt came my way forwarded three times from Scott to a member of Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting and from the CPMM mailing list to the West Philadelphia Worship Group listserv.  If I remember correctly, I ran straight outside, and told my mom I think in the fall I am going to India! Confused, she asked politely, "What for?"  And I replied, "Simply because I was invited." 

India was never a country on my long list of must-visit places.  I study East Africa and have been focused most recently on trying to spend more time in that region.  If I said I was going to Tanzania, no one would have been surprised.  But India was suddenly on my radar and the more I read about the trip, searched in myself for answers to the questions Scott asked of potential delegates, and read about the influence of Gandhi in the Kenyan Independence Movement, I felt that the spirit was leading me there. 

Quakers easily accepted this answer, but others questioned me relentlessly.  "Why India?"  "Why are you skipping school?"  "What do you mean you are going to meet other Quakers?  How many Quakers can there possibly be in India?" ( Luckily,. it was easy to justify my trip to my professors.  My program is an MSEd in International Educational Development, and when I get back I'll be giving three powerpoint presentations (which will hopefully end up posted here!)).  Unwilling to give in to questioning of God's will, I continued to tell naysayers and skeptics that I was going because I felt led to go, and that was all I really needed to know. 

Here now, I feel very confident that I ended up where I needed to be.  I've put a lot of trust in God thru Scott, Archana, Dilewar, Devdas, and others, my only real responsibility before getting to India being to book my plane ticket.  It's a huge departure from the way I usually travel, but I am so grateful for their hard work and planning.  It's been a great lesson in letting go, and letting God.  We haven't even gotten to the Gathering yet, and I'm already feeling quite spiritually fulfilled!