I’ll Be Coming Down the Mountain ♪♪♪
As I have written about in the past, I got the privilege to do some international traveling to various countries with a group of guys from church serving on a Business as Missions team. The team would educate potential entrepreneurs and fund their micro businesses and then also provide follow up and advice as they started their businesses. Today’s story will be about a trip I made to Darjeeling, India and will also provide further proof that you might want to do international travel with someone else!
I was originally scheduled to go back to India in March of 2007 but was unable to go due to a big snowstorm that hit the eastern U.S. and grounded flights. Undaunted, we rescheduled our trip and took off in late May. After traveling over 40 hours and nearly 8,000 miles including stops in New York, Brussels, Delhi and Guwahati, India we landed in Bagdogra, India where we switched to a car for the remaining part of the trip.
During the hot summer months Darjeeling is a resort area where people vacation to escape the oppressive heat of India. It also is home to the Toy Train which is a functioning smaller scale train that goes through the mountains. The view is really amazing as you can see Everest and K2 on a clear day as we are not too far away from Nepal. As compared to some of the other places we had stayed on previous trips to India, our hotel was quite nice and there was a lot to see and do when we were not conducting our classes and counseling.
I was on a two-man team from Fellowship Bible Church and our mission was to work with seven Bhutanese Christians who had successfully completed two prior phases of the program and were receiving additional education and business tools prior to receiving small business loans (primarily the net proceeds of money donated from supporters). The loans are paid back to the local program which enables them to become self-sufficient and fund future projects. These potential businesses enable their owners to expand God’s kingdom through outreach and local church growth while supporting their families.
We were to meet up with the local team at the airport and were instructed to not leave the airport until they arrived to pick us up. This was before cell phones, and we really didn’t know the local guys that well yet. Me and my cohort Tom clearly looked out of place, and we were getting some interesting glances. When we didn’t clear the airport, we attracted the attention of the local police who came over with a drug sniffing dog and gave our bags the once over. That will tighten your stomach pretty quickly! I knew we didn’t have anything to be worried about, but crazy things happen all the time. They moved on and we exhaled. We finally noticed the rest of our team, so we left the airport and loaded up into the unimpressive chariot to take us on a three-hour drive 8,000 feet into the Himalaya Mountains up to Darjeeling. This is where it starts to get exciting. Our journey starts and it felt like we were going straight up. The driver was apparently trying to set a new world record and we were flying. I had been previously warned about this and was smart enough to load up on Dramamine. Thank God.
I’m driving my fingernails into the arm rest as we twist and turn up the mountain. There are no guard rails, nets, or anything else to keep us from launching off the side of the mountain. I realized quickly that I had put my life in the hands of a total stranger. We listen to the conversation he is having with someone over a walkie talkie and then we stop. The chariot has overheated. We unpile and he opens the hood and steam charges out. He puts some water in the radiator and tries to assure us that everything is fine. I’m not easily convinced. After about an hour we reload and rocket the rest of the way up. It’s a good thing I brought extra skibbies, I’m going to need them!
After our week of serving our new friends and business partners we were able to fund all seven businesses! Six were funding by us and the seventh was funded locally. This was real progress since those that we funded in the past are now in a position to start reproducing the funding on their own and also able to offer advice and consulting. The businesses included a cybercafé, dairy, goat farm, ice cream shop, and piggeries.
One neat memory is that I was having a conversation with a few guys during a break and right in the middle of it a cloud goes right by us. I stop talking with a puzzled look on my face and the other guys who were used to being high enough to be in the clouds told me “Yes, that was a cloud that just passed.” Not bad for a tire builder’s kid from Akron.
A potential stumbling block on missions’ trips is that there is a real challenge to focus on the task at hand (in this case, helping with business development) and get ahead of God and what HE has planned. It is easy to charge ahead in our own abilities and desires without catching a glimpse of the relationships and heart change that is of real value.
Today’s blog will be about how I was humbled by our Lord and then a wild ride back down the mountain.
But First…A Joke:
Like a lot of dads, a friend of mine loved spending time with the kids when they were little and tried to take some of the burden off of his wife from time to time but being grossly unprepared, he would turn to her for advice on just about everything. One time when she was in the shower, he poked his head in the bathroom and asked, “What should I feed Emily for lunch?”
She replies, “that’s up to you.” “There’s all kinds of food. Why don’t you pretend I’m not at home?”
So, he went back downstairs and placed a call to her cell phone. She answers right away, and hears, “Yeah, hi, honey. Uh…. what should I feed Emily for lunch?”
A Verse to Contemplate:
“One who is gracious to a poor person lends to the Lord, And He will repay him for his good deed” - Proverbs 19:17
Have I Told You This One?
We had a small team of folks that helped us on this trip that included interpreters, local missionaries, local people that kept us from getting into too much trouble and friends of the mission. We like to thank them with an evening together before we all head back to our day-to-day lives. On our last night in Darjeeling, we all agreed to gather and see the new Indiana Jones movie at a local theater. I had to check my emails at a local internet cafe and told the guys I would meet them at the theater so they left without me.
After I completed my correspondences, I headed down the street to the theater. To make up some time, I used a cut through which was a small uneven stone walkway down a pretty good grade. To make sure I didn’t wipe out I had to pay close attention to my steps on my way down. As I reached the bottom, I lifted my head and connected eyes with a man that I will never forget even if I live to be a thousand years old.
In school I had learned about the caste system that existed in India, but I never thought it was a real thing until this day. This poor soul had to be what is the lowest of the caste system, an untouchable. He was alone sitting next to a door that led to nowhere. No one would have anything to do with him. When our eyes met, he got up and came running over to me. He could hardly communicate and basically grunted and shouted at me. I was running late for the movie so I didn’t stop to talk with him. I had this feeling that I had really messed up that I couldn’t shake. I thought to myself, I’ve come halfway around the world to be a “missionary” and the time I get to actually be one I don’t because I’m late for a movie?! Matthew 25:40 states “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” I was disappointed in myself for choosing the good over the great.
During the movie, one of the missionaries was told by our local advisor that a traffic strike was going to happen the next day and that if we did not leave immediately, we would be stuck there for several days or perhaps a week. Our flight home was scheduled for the next day, so we ran out of the theater, packed our bags and went looking for a driver to take us down the mountain. We were fortunate enough to find a hotel for the night through our local advisor at the bottom of the mountain.
We start down as dusk slips into darkness. His driving was so intense that I was positive that I was going to vomit from car sickness at any minute. I was sitting in the front death seat and this guy had two positions on the pedals, all the way down on the accelerator and barely touching the brake. I was experiencing total sphincter damage, and my nails were two inches deep into the dashboard. I’m not sure I took a breath all the way down! No guard rails, lights, etc. We saw one car overturned and people hurt, and we had to let trucks pass coming up that put us way too close to the edge several times. Tom was sitting behind me and could tell I was not having a good time and he reached up and squeezed my shoulders and started to say something smoothing. I turned around and threatened his life if he didn’t remove his hands from me!!
Mario Andretti got us down to our room for the night. He asked us if we were going to need a ride the next day to the airport. We said yes and he slept in his car in the parking lot all night just to get our fare the next day. We got up in the morning and sure enough he was still there. We noticed that the traffic strike had indeed happened, and we did not know if we were going to make it to the airport. Mario told us to hop in and not to worry about it.
As soon as the tire hit the road a very angry military guy came over and started arguing with Mario. They would yell at each other and then look at Tom and me and eventually they let us go. At this point, I’m sure we are not going to make the four-mile trip to the airport. Thankfully we did make it to the airport, and we had four or five hours now to kill before the flight.
Once it was time to go through security, I put my bag on the conveyor and no issues. Then Tom tried and they stopped the belt and ran it again, then again, then again. I’m no help as I start making jokes and now Tom doesn’t want to be messed with. They keep looking for something and it starts to become entertainment for the entire airport. They totally empty Tom’s bag until they find this small lotion for cuts in a first aid kit that was wrapped in aluminum and was shaped somewhat like a bullet. He repacks in seconds, and we scramble for the plane and buckle up for the long trip home. Heavy exhale.
We broke up the flight home with an overnight stop in Brussels which was very cool. Once we got our hotel we jumped on a train and went to Bruges. Europe has the best train system I have ever seen. As I was a clueless American, I paid for general admission and got on the first-class section which the conductor immediately shooed me back where I was supposed to be. Can’t blame a guy for trying! We did some sightseeing and decided to get lunch on the town square which was awesome. Then back to Brussels and then back to home via New York.
I got to serve which I enjoy but this trip taught me to keep my focus on Him and to pay attention to what is going on around me. Hopefully, I never forget that lesson.
A Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I admit that I often take on too much. Prompt me to bring all my burdens and anxieties to You. Teach me how to rest in You.
Book Recommendation:
Timeless - 10 Enduring Practices of Apex Leaders by Brian K. Dodd (2018)
Music Recommendation:
A Baker’s Dozen of Great Live Albums:
The Allman Brothers at Fillmore East - Allman Brothers (1971)
Live From The Royal Albert Hall - Joe Bonamassa (2010)
At Budokan - Cheap Trick (1979)
Made In Japan - Deep Purple (1973)
Once in a Livetime - Dream Theater (1998)
Live - Foghat (1977)
Frampton Comes Alive - Peter Frampton (1976)
Songs In the Attic - Billy Joel (1981)
Rock n Roll Aninimal - Lou Reed (1974)
Live! You Get What You Play For - REO Speedwagon (1977)
Live at the Agora Ballroom, Cleveland, Ohio 1978 - Bruce Springsteen & the E-Street Band (1978)
Back Stage Pass - Michael Stanley Band (1977)
Strangers in the Night - UFO (1979)