A missionary trek toward China

Fr. Varghese traveled and shared stories about mission life, 
visiting the Bongaigaon Diocese and far north to China.

Floods and Telengana statehood tensions marked July in Andhra Pradesh, but in August, Fr. Varghese and fellow missionary Fr. Sivvam Bhaskar answered a bishop's call to visit his northeast diocese in Assam. It was hard to arrange the trip, with roads closed and bus transportation to rail stations down due to the "bandh" (strikes) in the region. Two days before the trip, an elderly priest at Fr. Bhaskar's mission in the remote jungle fell and fractured both his wrists. Fr. Bhaskar nearly stayed behind, but once the elder priest was established in the hospital and care arranged, the younger priest continued on his journey, making final arrangements just hours before departure. Fr. Varghese's reflections about their trip are adapted from his post in the blog Faithful Earth and from personal letters:

Photo by Smeet Chowdhury, Creative Commons license/Wikipedia

The missionaries rode the Bangalore-Guwahati
Express northeast to Assam in India. 

We had a very tough journey. Indian railways are the most hopeless in the world. No cleanliness. Our seats were near the lavaratory, and the smell disturbed us. Some three days' journey, no break, heavy rush made us hard on our way. In spite of all our struggle, we reached our destination and walked around 30 kilometers of interior forest mission and gave the love of Christ.

Fruit offered by faithful during the Presentation of the Gifts at
Mass line the altar. Such offerings provide for missionaries
and the needy.

The bishop of northeastern diocese called Bongaigaon, Bishop Thomas Pullopillil, invited me to give witness and narrate my mission experience and how I am bringing up children into Christianity. He had visited one day my parish, and had called me to this event. 

A mural at the Catholic Cathedral of Christ Light
of the World in Bongaigaon Diocese reflects dress and 
customs of local tribal people.

Bongaigaon Diocese was established during the
Jubilee Year 2000.

Bishop Pullopullil's diocese is in the state called Assam, along the border of Bhutan, China and Nepal. I went through villages to learn their culture for my mission work. Each village has different tribes. As we see in America, with blacks and whites, people here divide on the basis of their dress code, food code, language, region, etc. Most of them are illiterate. Generally, they are good people -- very loving, although they can also be very fierce. Most carry knives. Some, in a militant group carry guns. The mission area is called Bodoland. Along with the Bishop we traveled to Bojo and Tin-su-kia. There is a lack of priests all over the world, especially in missions. So I gave orientation talks to boys and girls all over the missions.

Hope for the future. Boys study at Assam Minor Seminary.

At the seminary, a colorful portrayal of salvation history.

All the priests serving across this region are from Kerala. Now they have Assam Minor Seminary and many local boys are learning to become priests.

In Assam State, sometimes floods occur because of heavy rain. So people build houses on pillars and cover with tin sheets.

Statehood protests can make travel tense and difficult.

Along the border of Bhutan, people don't celebrate India's Independence Day because they want to become a separate state. People along the Bhutan border are silent, afraid of groups of violence-makers. After 6 PM, no villagers will come out from the houses. No shops, no buses and other transportation. In Bhutan, the official religion is Buddhism. We are not allowed for public worship, so they worship in rented houses, and priests dress [so as not to be noticed] and go to celebrate Mass. Priests are rare, so when people saw us, they were pleading "Please give one of these priests to us."

Frs. Varghese and Bhaskar needed escorts into 

remote villages to avoid being sacrificed to local deities.

Border crossing into Bhutan.

After Mass in Bhutan we went back to Arunachal Pradesh, along the border of China. The boarding school children here are very poor. Every day they eat rice and a lime piece, and put in salt. They are very hardworking and loving, but there is no local vocation. It [the Faith there] is just fresh. Some places, tribals kill the non-locals and pour the blood for the tribal deity. So we were not allowed to go alone in the villages.

Boarding school children survive largely on 
white rice.

Our journey towards China was very dangerous. We did not enter China due to security reasons. There was tension between Indian and Chinese armies. In spite of that, considering that we are priests, they allowed us to see some places along the India-Chinese border. China has got a very rich culture, tradition and religiosity. We had an opportunity to interact with Chinese children and they were happy to hear from the Indian missions. The famous border of Shin Hui we entered and our Catholic hostel and church was blessed with 68 faithful.

Where the trip began, with Bishop Pullopillil
in Bongaigaon Diocese.

Dancing a special welcome.

At Bongaigaon Diocese cathedral school. Fr. Varghese is 
back row, center right, Fr. Bhaskar is to his left.

In a letter after his return to Holy Family Mission, Fr. Varghese wrote that the Bishop had been kind and attentive, meeting with him personally to discuss ideas to uplift Fr. Varghese's needy. The missionary returned home feeling energized and inspired, and even more courageous to "live and die for Christ."

Thank God for our faithful missionaries and all who encourage them!

Andhra Pradesh divides and strikes

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

This map shows Telengana/Andhra Pradesh split.
Telengana lies northwest, including Hyderabad, the proposed 
capitol of both states until a new capitol
is created for Andhra Pradesh.

Just days after climbing into military lifeboats to help soldiers rescue villagers from floods surrounding his mission at Yerravaram, Fr. Varghese reported that "AP is divided." In his state of Andrah Pradesh, there is "no power, no proper communication...everything is in chaos."

On Tuesday, the ruling Congress party in India proposed creation of the new state of Telengana, carved from Andhra Pradesh. In protest, the non-Telengana region went on strike, with "no buses, no hospitals, no educational instutions, etc," wrote Fr. Varghese. "No shops, no government offices are opened. I went to the post office yesterday. Another seven days it will be like this, they say."

The India Times, BBC News and other outlets reported protests throughout Andhra Pradesh and across India, as statehood requests intensified in other regions. For decades, statehood issues have led to hunger strikes, students immolating themselves on college campuses, and clashes between locals and police.

But a missionary's life is to bless, and as tensions flared, Fr. Varghese continued his ministry.

On Wednesday, he said he "went out for a house blessing. While coming back, a few parishioners on the way invited me to their homes for a simple visit. So I covered 10 houses." Villagers were "happy that I prayed and blessed them. Some gave me milk to drink."

The next day, Fr. Varghese presided over a wedding.

Image of Godavari River from NASA.
Photo under public domain.
The Godavari River
slices through Andhra Pradesh
and the proposed new state of
 Telengana. Struggles over river
rights cause tension in a region
that lacks irrigation systems
for crops. 

The bishop back in Fr. Varghese's home diocese in Kerala has invited him for a visit, and Father's parents there have not seen him in more than two years. The missionary hoped to visit soon, but needed to use funds a well-wisher sent him for train tickets to help supply safe water to flood victims.

Father and volunteers from his Holy Family Mission spearheaded efforts to unite other locals in bringing tankers of fresh water to Yerravaram twice daily for several days, until the government could step in and take over.  These and other rescue efforts carried on by volunteers from his mission reached thousands and helped save many lives, said Fr. Varghese.

In the local paper, however, credit was also given to Hanuman the monkey-god, whose statue in Yerravaram is the largest in all India. Floodwaters lapped Hanuman's toes but rose no further, prompting the paper to publish thanks to Hanuman for stopping the floods.

In the meanwhile, Fr. Varghese and his volunteers brought needed food and clothing to the suffering, and cared for 12 families who sought refuge in the mission church in Yerravaram.

Now the flood situation is under control, reports Father, but prayers are needed for peace, as all India wrangles.

Before Telengana State becomes official, the resolution must pass in the Indian parliament and the state assembly. Please pray that justice and peace may reign across all India, and that monsoon season unfolds uneventfully.

Flood victims shelter in Yerravaram church

Fr. Varghese sent this press clipping from 
the local paper "Eenadu" to show flood 
conditions in Yerravaram.

Emergency flood conditions continue in Yerravaram, one of five scattered villages served by Fr. Varghese. 

"Chaos, robbery and two rape cases" unfolded as flood waters rose, says the missionary. Read yesterday's post about how nearly a week of incessant rains caused the Godavari River to surge, causing drowning deaths of six people in this village, known for having the largest statue of Hindu god Hanuman in all India. People have lost crops to the floodwaters, and those who lost their lives had gone out searching for missing livestock. 

The biggest concerns now are evacuating people 
from low-lying canal areas and providing them 
with sanitary water. Shown here is the bore 
well at Holy Family Mission. Wells in 
Yerravaram are flooded and 
contaminated.

"The lost ones have no fear, "explains Fr. Varghese. "They simply go in search of their cow and sheep," and then drown in the floodwaters. Twelve flood-displaced Catholic families have left damaged and destroyed thatch-roofed homes in lowlands along the Godavari Canal to take refuge in their mission church. Since the church lacks indoor plumbing, toilet and other facilities, people are going into the forest to see to basic needs.

Fr. Varghese is shown here Holy Week of 2013, in
the mission church in Yerravaram. Now, 12
Catholic families who were flooded out of their 
thatch-roofed huts are living in the church.

Fr. Varghese says he and his volunteers are going door-to-door along the Godavari Canal, to convince "Catholics as well as others to move from the huts." He sees people of faith being willing to evacuate. But some others are not leaving. "They are ready to die in that house, cursing God and fate."

Government choppers drop food several times in such emergencies, and government workers are setting up a camp for some relocated residents, but people still lack sanitary water, and are developing fevers. Others are injured and risk developing infections. Medical workers are striving to reach residents with needed vaccines and care. 

Fr. and his volunteers started a community outreach to get safe water to the suffering. Twice a day they are renting a tanker and drawing water from the public well in their colony, to transport it to Yerravaram. People of all faiths are helping to distribute the water to villagers "in an orderly way," says Fr. Varghese. They have already made four trips with water. Each trip costs $30 in tanker rental.

Please pray God's blessings on this situation, so people might be reached with aid they need, keep faith and strength to move forward, and rebuild their lives. 

From this day until this crisis is resolved, funds donated through the "donate" button on this site will go directly to emergency relief efforts. Thank you and God bless you! 

The Godavari looks peaceful, but turns deadly in 
monsoon season, which just began in east 
central India.

Interesting note: Fr. Varghese's camera was lost out of his back pocket as he was rescuing a girl in flood relief efforts last year. Ironically, the day floods hit his region this week, a friend had dropped a simple, used camera in the mail, and it's now working its slow way across the globe to the missionary. In the meanwhile, Fr. has been borrowing cameras whenever possible to catalogue life at his mission, and he sent the press clipping above to show current conditions. 

Days of "incessant rains" hit Andhra Pradesh

Fr. Varghese sent this photo of the Godavari in flood
last September, when the worst floods in 20 years
hit his area.

Fr. Varghese raced to his village of Yerravaram two nights ago, when he learned a boy went missing in flood waters. Father reported the lost child to police and rescuers in lifeboats located the boy, clinging for dear life to a tree. Returning home at 2 AM, Fr. Varghese returned next day, and then today, to assess the situation in the village, as the Times of India reported that the government was preparing to evacuate residents along the Godavari River.

The Gulf News site reported that flood gates were being opened across the region after "five days of incessant rains," and that a "large number" of villages "were cut off due to the floods."

"Please tell all our friends to pray for our mission," Fr. wrote, when a spotty internet connection was restored late last night. "Because of heavy rain," he reported, "phone and internet is out of service."

He is praying flood damage will be limited, unlike last year, when Holy Family Mission fed and sheltered 150 villagers for many weeks, when floods destroyed their homes. 

A reader on the Times of India site wrote about the relief first felt when deadly temperatures up to 117-degrees F. were broken by rainy weather: "All of us were quite happy on the onset of monsoon. Now the calamity of floods threatening us. How to combat with the Nature's fury. Only God should help us. There are many villages, towns, cities on the banks of River Godavari and poor section live in hutments on the banks of the river. God help them."

Up to 150 displaced flood victims sought refuge at Holy
Family Mission last year, sleeping on the floor of the church
for many weeks. Providing meals and relief aid put severe
financial strain on an already struggling mission, where Sunday 
collections average just $100 a week.

Holy Family women step forward, serve and pray

Women in the Mariadalem Sodality at Holy Family Mission helped swing sledgehammers and carry concrete to bring down the old crumbling slab and build a beautiful new stage (see posts below) for their mission -- the stage will be a center for feast days and other special events for years to come. The women visited door-to-door to help raise funds for their June 2nd Confirmation ceremony, in which 212 parishioners were confirmed and 2,000 villagers attended. They were everywhere on that day, guiding visitors and helping the Confirmation ceremony go smoothly.

He sees the Dalit or "untouchable" women in the villages uplifted as the are "encouraged to step forward," says Fr. Varghese. The Mariadalem women continue volunteering countless hours to upkeep the mission and its grounds, and participate in the Mass by singing in the choir and stepping up to the podium to do the Scripture readings...but most importantly, they faithfully live out their calling in life day to day and they gather to pray.

This past year, they donned blue sarees to show their devotion to the Blessed Mother and their dedication to help keep the Faith strong in their church. They are mothers, wives, and sisters who are strong role models in their church and neighborhoods. A community thrives when its people are willing to step forward and serve. God bless these faithful women and all they do! Holy Family couldn't get along without them.

Text by M. Bartholomew
Photos by Fr. Varghese

June 2nd Confirmations draw 2,000

This picture says it all -- gratitude. Fr. Varghese
(hand on chest) and Archbishop Prakash
Mallavarapu exchange glances at the event. 

Days of deadly temperatures reaching up to 116-degrees F. and a stage construction project that encountered weeks of tough challenges, did not stop the historic June 2nd Confirmations in Yelleswaram. The Holy Spirit descended upon 212 Confirmandis at Holy Family Mission at the first Confirmations held there in 10 years, thanks to a rainstorm that dropped temperatures to what Fr. Varghese described as "pleasant," heroic labors of volunteers, and funds that arrived anonymously in the nick of time. Parishioners painted, cleaned and arranged up until the last moment, finishing just half an hour before adoration began on June 2. Results were miraculous.

Incense rises toward heaven like prayers
as the entrance procession forms.

Blessing the faithful with holy water.
 Fr. Varghese is left of the Archbishop.

The Archbishop cuts the ceremonial ribbon and blesses the new 
stage before the Mass and Confirmation ceremony.

The stage, just one day before Confirmations...

...and completed, shown with
Our Lady of Good Health, gift of a donor.

Archbishop Prakash Mallavarapu of the Archdiocese of Visakhapatnam praised the discipline and hard work of the faithful, who fulfilled a 12-year-old dream by completing their new stage. The Archbishop also commended the people's young, energetic pastor, urging people to appreciate Fr. Varghese and his guidance.

Eucharistic adoration provided a prayerful start to the evening.

The successful event inspired him in his own efforts serving five scattered missions along the Bay of Bengal, said Father Sridhar, who had traveled in from his new mission assignment to concelebrate the Confirmation Mass. 

"I am proud to be a classmate and friend of Fr. Varghese," he said, referring to his and Fr. Varghese's years together in the seminary. Fr. Sridhar marveled at how impoverished people had worked together with their pastor to improve the mission and host a beautiful event.

As many as 2,000 people attended, traveling in
from scattered villages. In the background is Fr. Varghese's
newly-whitewashed little presbytery (rectory).

The Confirmation ceremony took place within the Holy Mass.

In his homily, Archbishop Prakash Mallavarapu
praised the faithful for their zeal and energy
in living their faith. He spoke of people's need of the
Holy Spirit, and encouraged Confirmandis
to embrace their new life.

Confirmandis attended classes for weeks, preparing themselves
to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The devotion of the Confirmandis showed clearly
in their reverence.

The Archbishop was "excited to see the piety of the people in a remote village" and he praised the "discipline" of the crowd, said Fr. Varghese. After his homily, the Archbishop read out names of Confirmation candidates. After the Confirmation ceremony, he announced names of donors who had made the event possible, praying for them in a special way.

Altar boys shared the honor of caring for the
Archbishop's crosier.

A rented sound system helped the vast crowd hear the Mass.

Girls from the mission performed a welcoming
dance for the Archbishop, and then presented him with a gift.

The Archbishop thanked those of all ages who volunteered 
many hours toward constructing the new stage 
and beautifying their mission.

Elders honored Archbishop Mallavarapu by presenting
him with special shawls and flowers.

After the Mass and ceremony, the mission served nearly 1,200 attendees cool drinks, tea and a meal of rice, sambar (vegetable stew) and appadam (flat bread). Fr. Varghese later thanked his tireless volunteers by serving them a special lunch. (Shown below.)

Finishing the Archbishop's visit on June 2nd, Fr. Varghese led him and visiting clergy up newly-constructed stairs to the freshly-whitewashed roof of his little house, to share a meal. The Archbishop enjoyed the setting, encouraging Fr. Varghese to hold catechism classes on the terrace. Then the Archbishop took his leave, heading for a distant church for feast day celebrations the following day.

Because people had traveled in from scattered villages, around 700 "stayed back in the church and left early in the morning," said Fr. Varghese. In the morning, "we gave them bread and tea."

The mission serves people in times of need,
like when Godavari floods displaced locals
last year. More than 150 found food and 
housing at Holy Family Mission for weeks.
Faithful are grateful to their church and
eager to serve God, says Fr. Varghese.

Some days ago, the missionary described all the marvelous activity unfolding at his mission as a "wonder" and "like a dream." 

After the Confirmations, he said people were "thrilled, excited. In their life it was the first time they attended such a beautiful function." As for their faith, they seemed more "active and enthusiastic." He believes this event will truly change their lives.

"I and my parishioners thank all who helped us to success. By knowing our poverty, you came forward to help us. We all love you and we all thank you. Please continue to help us and pray for us."

 

Worn out but touched by what Fr. Varghese called
the  "overcrowd," Archbishop Mallavarapu
encouraged Fr. Varghese and his people to
continue in their zeal. His visit will long be 
remembered by the people of Yelleswaram.