Kairos time

1.18.2005
Velankani, India

Two brilliantly white basilicas--one impressive and the larger one beyond impressive--bookend a long mall (think Washington DC). The basilicas honor two apparitions, one when Mary appeared to an Indian "sheep boy" (I'm assuming shepherd) and the other when Mary appeared to Portuguese sailors in trouble, and saved them by calming a troubled sea.

This is a place for pilgrim and tourist, usually teaming with both. After the last mass on Christmas Day (11:00 p.m.) thousands of both spent the night outside, next to the church. And then, the wave came--just before 9:00 a.m. the next morning.

The water took the path of least resistance, avoiding the Basilica on higher ground and rushing around it, gathering force and sweeping everything out to sea. Over 600 bodies were recovered, but it is estimated that thousands perished.

How very sad to see the pictures of the unidentified dead up on bulletin boards near the smaller basilica. Remember, many here that fateful morning are devout pilgrims from far away.

Pilgrims like S.C. Dsouza, from Bombay. He's here again, three weeks later "to give thanks to God for saving me and my family." He, his wife, and two children were on the beach that morning. "At 8:30 a.m. I took a picture. Then it came." All survived.

It is eerie to see such a place with so few people. The offerings center (one queue for silver offerings, others for other types) is closed. The kiosks nearest the beach are covered with blue and yellow tarps, but amazingly there are many stalls between the basilica and the sea open again for business (although no one seemed to be buying).

There was one group, all in orange and red. Think congregational youth gathering tee-shirts. There were a few, gathered by the shore, just looking. Grita, a lovely young woman, said she "came to pray and to see this place."

A couple of people searched under a tree to see if they could find something that remains. A woman showed me a shell decoration that she found.

There were two young women with shaved heads. Fred Rajan explained, "They prayed for something to happen...a job, a marriage, a baby...and promised to shave their heads in gratitude if their prayer is answered."

Mostly there is nothing left. "See those three palms? There was a huge restaurant there. This whole place was full of shops."

Everyone in the south of India (and perhaps all of India) knows this place and knows that here was the site of massive loss of life. Some point to this place with derision: "Mary couldn't save you." Others find their faith strengthened here, in tsunami's aftermath.

It was noted as we flew to India that we were flying east, and would fly east around the globe. It occurred to me that it was very appropriate to head east in Epiphany. Perhaps this tragedy and its aftermath compresses all the times of the church year into Kairos--God's time. It was Christmas when it happened. In Epiphany we seek the light of understanding. It is most certainly Lent...a journey of sorrow. This is a Lent that can't be rushed through. God is risen indeed, and Easter alleluias will ring out, and when they do it will be with the great joy experienced after great sorrow. And, finally but not least, it is a time of Pentecost. How we see the spirit of God move through God's churches and God's people.

God's spirit moved Kamueavalli Peter, a professor of Tamil studies at the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church college, to volunteer to administer the church orphanage's response, serving girls age 5--15 orphaned by the tsunami. "It's important to keep the girls safe," she said, keeping them from sexual exploitation. Peter had finished opening files for 90-some girls. Each one has a picture of the girl stapled to what's left of her home. If nothing is left, there is a picture of the ground where it stood.

God's spirit moved six women to volunteer to sew school uniforms at the tsunami response center across from New Jerusalem Church. Three women worked at peddle sewing machines and three doing the hand work. They had some tsunami damage themselves and wanted to help others.

God's spirit moved church women to organize feeding centers the next morning. God's spirit moves church people to organize the distribution of relief materials. Without exception, everyone is so very proud of the church's immediate, organized, and effective response.

Tsunami waves compressed the church year into a kairos time. God's spirit empowers and encourages God's people to do what is humanly impossible, to see Easter amid the wreckage of Lent.

Justice in Disaster

January 19, 2005 Our last day in India

Hello from an internet cafe in Chennai. We arrived here about 1:30 a.m. This is a mail-only cafe, so once again no pictures.

And, my, there are pictures. I took 240-plus images yesterday. To set the scene, Leslie and Belletech went elsewhere to visit food distribution and other relief sites supported by the ELCA through CASA (Churches Auxiliary for Social Action, the Church World Service of India). So, it was just me and the guys.

On our way out of Karaikal we passed the big fishing vessel tossed on shore--I scrambled to take a shot. I did not know that this was just a foretaste of what was ahead.

We stopped at what used to be a busy fish market. There are vessels (50' to 60' long holding 25 people) thrown about every where. The 20' high waves tossed them over two-story buildings. The fish market was open on the 26th, and busy. Children were playing as their parents tended to business. Five hundred people died here, more than half were children.

[Interestingly, from a previous day we talked to fisherfolk who were out on the sea fishing during the tsunami. They did not know anything was wrong until they came in to shore.]

We talked to Sarela, a Roman Catholic nursery school teacher. Nine of the children in her school were killed and most were affected in some way: "Their mother, father, sister, died."

I took a picture of a man praying, crouched low on a bridge so he was near the sea, but could avoid looking at it.

I don't want to forget to say how beautiful it all is here--the beach front is heartbreakingly beautiful, and now so empty. I'm mostly recalling previous days in the rural areas. We are worried, then, that the government insistence that all most move 500 kilometers away from the shore might make way for land developers to claim this oceanfront for tourists and restrict access to it for the fisherfolk, especially the Dalits who are not fisherfolk, but depend on the fish business. We've heard talk of "Dignity in Disaster," and I also hear real concern for "Justice in Disaster." It's all very complex, especially in relationship to the caste system in India.

Many of the fisherfolk affected, especially those who own the big vessels and the fiberglass, motorized boats, are upper class. I think about the Towers. The wealthiest perished along side with those who served them coffee and the civil servants who raced up the steps to save them. At the relief stage--food, water, clothes, medicine--rich and poor are most alike. At the restitution stage, it is a more complex matter. There are no simple ways to achieve justice in disaster. It is important to note that the UELCI churches, NGOs, and others are keeping the lights up on the issues of justice.

We will be there

It was an adventure making the journey south to Tamilnadu on roads filled to overflowing with competing traffic of every sort. We arrived late, to meet the Bishop of the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Rt. Rev. Dr. T. Aruldoss -- along with his wife, Mrs. Hepziah Regina, and a young history professor at a church college (TBML College, Porayar), in a hotel room. We were all weary, but it was a profound conversation.

The waves came in 1.5 meters, over 1.5 meters of coastline. As of January 7 the count of actual bodies recovered was 6,035; forty of these were children. In the waning light of dusk we were stunned to see large fishing vessels tossed up on shore like bath toys. This will be the hardest hit of the areas we visit.

The Bishop welcomed us: "Thank you for this model of support. When the people see you, they will be encouraged."

The Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church (TELC) began their feeding efforts the day after the disaster. They operated four centers for eight days. Between the church and other agencies, "no one went hungry," said the bishop.

The handsome young history professor, D. Julius Vijayakumar, led the youth of the church in an effort to recover bodies from the sea. "We would reach for an arm; it might come off." Bodies were found in trees. Two more bodies were found yesterday, 1/16.

The second phase of the effort, after the feeding centers, is distributing relief kits. The third phase focuses on children, through the church's orphanages and schools. The fourth stage, a dream, is to build a clinic or hospital.

"The sea is the source of life for these people," said the bishop, "but now they can't even see the sea." Tsunami proved that anything can happen--life is unpredictable.

The New Year's Eve service is a big event in the church. Usually 4,000 faithful attend. This year four came. The bishop reflected: "I am supposed to say something encouraging at the start of the New Year. This year, what can I say to my people?"

The experience has deepened prayer life. "Now are prayers are offered with much concern. We pray for others very much...especially the victims," said Bishop Aruldoss.

Might anything good come of this? we asked. The professor said, "we say 'natural calamity for development.' We don't refer to Tsunami anymore."

"No fish came in from the sea. No animals were killed; they moved away three hours before. God, I think, sounded the warning, but we are too far away from nature. Shoes come between us and the ground." Humans missed the message.

The bishop asked, "help us get a warning system, this should have never happened."

Tomorrow we will visit the oldest Christian church, founded by Lutheran missionary Ziegenbalg in 1706; it suffered some damage. "Before tsunami we talked of many plans for the celebration next year," said the bishop. "Now, nothing. Can we celebrate, here?" he wondered.

"You are kindly welcomed to come, it would be good for you to come," he invited.

DGM staff are careful not to make promises when they are out on visitations. "In this case, though," said Rafael Malpica-Padilla, "I will promise. We [the ELCA] will be there."

We want our livelihood back

Tonight we had our briefing with United Evangelical Lutheran Church in Asia staff: The Rev. Dr. Chandran Paul Martin, Executive Secretary (UELCI); Ms. Vidhya Rani, Secretary, Women's Desk; Dr. K.M. Shyam Prasad, Director National Lutheran Health and Medical Board and Chancellor, Lutheran University; Dr. William Stanley, Director Integrated Rural Development; and others. Joe Chu and I videotaped interviews with Chandran and Vidhya.

Rafael read letters from Bishop Mark Hanson, acknowleging the long journey to recovery ahead and promising that the ELCA "will walk with you."

Chandran Paul Martin gave a powerful presentation (we have the powerpoint on disk). "Dignity after Disaster" is key. For example, the churches responded immediately and appropriately with cooked food. "After about a week the cooked food wasn't appreciated. They wanted to cook their own. So, the church provided dry rations (rice, Dhal, oil) and cooking utensils. We saw bags of pots ready to go this morning. The families do not want the cast off clothes of others or the inedible rice of the government subsidy. They want their livelihood back."

Speaking of livelihood, everyone David and I talked to this morning talked about the three month government ban on fishing. There is no such thing. "Eat fish!" we were told at the briefing. It does no good for boats and nets to be restored if there is no market for fish. People are afraid to eat fish from an ocean that swallowed up so many bodies.

Dream: to restore five complete coastal villages -- with livelihood.

The disaster only exacerbated the tensions between fisherfolk (upper caste) and Dalit (lower caste). Eighty percent of Lutherans are Dalit. Dalits need food and employment security. Fisherfolk need boats, nets, and psychosocial counseling. A HUGE problem for everyone: access to safe drinking water. "Summer is just two months away." Salt has destroyed many existing wells.

They refer to the disaster as "26/12," acknowledging the power of the name "9/11." (In India the day is referred to before the month.)

It's hoped that the Lutheran churches of the UELCI, in cooperation with ACT, LWR, and CASA, will respond to 3500 families.

The UELCI is "a Communion of [11] Churches in the Midst of Struggles." The struggles: poverty, injustice, gender inequity, and Dalit oppression.

Our hotel in Chennai is the resting stop for many people here to help. I waited for a man with the YMCA to complete his turn at the computer. He returned from Pondicherry, one of the places we will visit in the next three days in the field. "It's unbelievable," he said. "Utter devastation." Now, a man from a Dutch NGO connected to Oxfam waits for me.

Good night. We leave at 7 a.m. tomorrow. Will return back to this hotel in three days. Sue

This blog

Six ELCA staff members left Chicago today to join 4 others in a pastoral visit to India and Thailand. ELCA staff members include: Joseph Chu (Director for Mission Interpretation and Support-Asia Pacific, Division for Global Mission), Belletech Deressa (Dir. for International Development and Disaster Response, Division for Global Mission), Sue Edison-Swift (Assoc. Director for Interpretation, Department for Communication), The Rev. Rafael Malpica-Padilla (Executive Dir., Division for Global Mission), The Rev. David Miller (Executive Dir., The Lutheran magazine), The Rev. Frederick Rajan (Executive Dir., Commission for Multicultural Ministries).



Other members of the delegation include:
Leslie Weed-Fonner, Asia regional representative for DGM
Daniel Chelliah, Lutheran World Relief
Lowell Gretebeck, mission personnel with the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church (JELC)
Pr. Tokuhiro, representing JELC