It seemed strange to be going out yesterday morning into a city thousands of miles away (in many respects) from Alresford, to meet-up with Rosie. What was equally good, we were also going to visit her daughter Liz "in situ"'. Liz lives with Pete her husband, and her lovely family in a part of Delhi not far from where we are staying, and the arrangement was to meet at Dilli Haat, a Delhi Tourist Board initiative designed to dupe tourists into believing that this is what a rural market is like in the Indian countryside that those visiting the "Golden Triangle" are unlikely to witness. It is definitely geared to the tourist, but it is great fun if you happen to enjoy retail, and get a buzz from bargaining with the stall-holders. We had an excellent teacher in Liz, who, with her good command of Hindi and her firm approach encouraged us in the art to good effect.
The highlight of our time with Liz yesterday was to visit Dwaar, a Church Centre that has been established in a not-very-fashionable part of Delhi. We were led down a very narrow passage full of people and we noticed we were deeply into "the effluent society", the bouquet of which has become so much a part of our lives during our stay. Suddenly, above a shop called "Reliance Fresh", we came to some steps, and we followed our ears to the place from whence came energetic sounds of a youth programme in progress. Young people between the ages of 9 and 13 were enjoying craft, others were playing games, or generally running about having a great time. These were children from a poor background, living in the most part with their parents and siblings in one room. Some of the youngsters had problems, others just needed a little encouragement to help them overcome obstacles that would once have seemed unbeatable. these were mainly children of no faith, who were pleased to be welcomed into this enormous space - enormous for those who live at home in cramped, too-close-for-comfort conditions.
"Bollywood Statues" was the ideal game devised by the helpers to last the maximum amount of time, effectively tiring-out even the liveliest of youngsters. It certainly did that for me! These young people made us feel so welcome, and seemed to enjoy having us around. We brought some chocolate bars for each of them. On handing them out, one boy came up to me to return a bar, I had given him two, and everyone else had received only one, so rather than keep quiet about it, he returned the bar!
The approach being taken by Dwaar (which I think in Hindi means "Godly", "Divine") is to create space for people to be themselves, and to discover God's potential for each individual. I was impressed that they were not going for the "hard sell" which many foreign mission agencies are doing at the moment in India. Dwaar seems to be doing things "Christ's way" was my impression, meeting people where they are, meeting the needs of the people, and letting the actions speak of Christ. Their's didn't seem to be the usual story of mass- conversions, notching up numbers as a guide to success; rather it was the difference made in coming into contact with Dwaar that shone through.
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