Participants: Jon Wood
Series Code: IFF
Program Code: IFF000005
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00:18 Trying to get in shape for my trip to India.
00:20 Christ said to go into all the world and preach the gospel 00:25 to every creature 00:26 The problem is we have no idea who they are. 00:32 How are we supposed to effectively communicate the 00:34 gospel to a people we know nothing about; how they think, 00:38 what kind of pressures they have in their daily lives. 00:41 Come with me and let's meet India Face to Face. 01:18 It's 4:30 in the morning and I'm here at one of the slums 01:22 in Madras, India. 01:24 I've gotten permission through Pastor Samuel to follow a trash 01:27 collector named Oscar on his morning route. 01:33 Although we live in the age of information, we know very little 01:36 about poverty and what it looks like. 01:38 And yet there are over 300 million people in India 01:42 alone that face poverty every day. 01:45 300 million people! 01:48 That's the population of the entire United States! 01:50 Total! 01:54 It's much easier for me if I just ignore these people 01:56 and the way they live. 01:57 It seems like everyone else does. 01:58 Seeing them makes me feel overwhelmed, helpless, 02:01 sad, and discouraged, but God promises blessings if we do 02:06 something about it. 02:09 But how can we help unless we understand? 02:13 And how can we understand unless we take a good look? 02:18 And how can we look unless we care? 02:22 And how can we care unless we recognize these people for who 02:26 they really are: our own flesh. 03:35 Does this happen every year? 03:46 So, do they have their cooking supplies? 03:53 They don't have anything to cook with. 03:55 Well, they all look so dressed up. 03:58 Yeah. 04:29 It's a disease. 04:32 Do many people get it? 04:34 Yeah, very many people. 04:51 So how long will they think that they have to stay here? 05:26 Are there schools they can go to? 07:31 For fifteen years he's been doing this. 07:34 The one thing the video camera is not capturing is the smell. 08:02 Then why did he leave that? 08:41 Has he ever run into big rats? 08:43 Ha ha, Yes, he has. 08:45 Rats and bandicoots. 08:47 They eat their food from here. 08:49 What's a bandicoot? 08:50 It's a bigger type of rat. 08:52 Oh. 09:06 See, there's another man coming like him on the other side. 09:10 He has no tricycles, but he picks up in a gunny bag. 09:14 Oh, he carries it. 09:16 He carries them. 09:23 So he says that maybe today I'm lucky, I got a little more 09:28 extra papers here. 09:30 Does that mean that he'll get a little bit more money 09:33 today to eat with? 09:34 Yes, I think so. 09:47 More than 3,000 years ago the indigenous peoples of India were 09:50 invaded by light skinned Arian tribes who brought their 09:53 religion from Babylon, modifying it to suit their needs. 09:56 The caste system, though now outlawed, is an integral 10:00 component of the Hindu view of the cycle of life. 10:03 It ties in very closely with reincarnation which says if 10:07 you are good and suffer quietly in this life, you may ascend to 10:11 a higher caste in the next life, which also implies that if 10:15 you are a low caste person then you must have been really bad 10:18 in your last life, which means that you're merely paying 10:20 the penalty for all the bad things you did in the last life. 10:25 In this system, the lower castes are not recognized as being 10:28 really human, and are often treated worse than many of the 10:31 animals which they worship. 10:32 They're not allowed to go into any temple, and aren't allowed 10:36 many jobs except these menial degrading jobs like picking 10:38 through the trash, or cleaning the sewer. 10:40 The upper caste benefit greatly by controlling this large cheap 10:44 labor force. 10:45 In fact I have been told that there are more millionaires in 10:48 India than in the United States. 10:50 Go figure! 11:46 Yeah, the water came up to this level; his house's level. 11:49 Really? 11:50 Yes. 11:51 About twenty-five huts, which were near to the bank of this 11:55 river washed away by the waters of the flood. 12:07 Up to this level; the water came up to that level, you see, 12:11 where he was standing there. 12:27 It looked like the water was up to there. 12:35 How many people live in this place? 12:41 There are ten people living in this place. 12:46 And is he the only one that works? 12:51 Yeah, he's the only one that works for the entire family. 12:55 So what he did this morning will feed the entire family. 12:59 Yes, what he did this morning. 13:06 It's about a hundred rupees; about $2.00. 13:10 Really? 13:11 Yeah, he will sell it for $2.00. 13:15 With that he will run the day. 13:19 Yes, one day at a time. 13:21 If he doesn't go in the morning then there's no food at home. 13:28 Without Jesus, and Christians like Pastor Samuel, Oscar's 13:32 children will have no hope but to follow their father in this 13:36 endless struggle against hunger. 13:38 But if we can teach the children the gospel, and how to read and 13:41 write, then they will have the tools for freedom. |
Revised 2014-12-17