A Burial in India

As many of you know one of our good friends had a to watch 

his father suffer from sickness recently. 

This would not have been such a serious problem if the family was not 

dependent on the income of every family member to keep afloat.

He actually headed up the pressing business that kept the family going.

One day I went out to visit him because he told me that it was getting serious.

I entered the small outdoor shack to see that they had set him outside the house 

so that everyone could see him. There were about 20 women sitting in front of his body, not eating or drinking, waiting for him to die. At this point they had struggled so much with his sickness that many had gone over a week without eating. After laying hands on him and praying over him in

front of everyone, I felt that I needed to leave.

The next day I got the news...

Sadly after a long fight with sickness our good friend lost his father.

We went to the house and witnessed over 100 women weeping over the body in a dimly lit area.

Some women were wailing and flailing while others that were further away seemed less real.

Kristen started to cry when we saw him and I prayed asking God for a miracle... but nothing happened.

As we left the area and came back to the scooter, our friend wished us well and hugged Elijah, a tear streaming down the face of his younger son. I felt so bad for these people, if only they knew 

the fullness of hope that we had in Jesus. I had tried to share many times before, but on this day

it seemed it had not been spoken enough.

When I left I told Kristen that I felt a small glimpse of what it feels to be in hell. The Bible talks

of "weeping and gnashing of teeth" which everyone around us seemed to be doing there. I thought 

about how the scriptures tell us not to weep like the world, "without hope". 

What sadness they must have felt.

Later that day I returned to be a part of the burial.

There were actually well over 600 men gathered quickly in one day to remember him.

All of this happened on a very rainy day: friends and family all gathered within hours.

All of the men gathered for prayer before carrying the body.

By the end of the prayer the numbers had increased even more.

Almost half were family.

The numbers would have been even more if it were not raining.

Entering into a very busy street during the busiest time of the day.

Trudging through the busy street, traffic piled up as we walked the puddle ridden road.

When the rain picked up they put a tarp over the case. 

I actually helped carry the body for a short time.

After burying the body in the graveyard, we returned to the home where 

they cooked enough food to feed everyone!

All of the people taking orders for food.

If it was not enough to lose your father, now you have to produce enough food 

to feed 600 + people!

All of the kids were in one area, close to the women's eating area.

There still was room for a little cheer amongst all of the sadness.

This is my friend's daughter holding a child.

These kids are so precious.

This is actually where my friend lives, back in the alleyway behind this old historical home.

We have actually had more conversations about life and death ever since the event.

Os has come to our house 2,3x a day every week since the incident.

This is actually the meal we ate 30 days later to remember Os' father (the 2nd of 4!).

The meals actually were a great financial burden to the family so we helped 

pay for some of the food.

Elijah enjoyed playing with the kids each time we came.

We love Os and are praying for God to continue to move through these circumstances

and use this for His purposes.