Fevers and heavy rains hit Andhra Pradesh

This clip from Telegu-language newspaper Eenadu shows
devastating floods in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

Until fevers and heavy rains slowed his crew, Fr. Varghese and a total of 70 volunteers from Holy Family Mission were rebuilding homes partially or entirely swept away by Cyclone Phailin. Hitting nearly two weeks ago, Phailin was the strongest cyclone ever recorded over the Indian Ocean.

Fr.'s camera was swept away in floods
last Fall, so he can only share clippings
from local papers. These show several
houses of Catholic families destroyed
by Phailin.

Villagers were so traumatized by the storm, many hugged the missionary's legs and cried as he visited from one household to the next. After assessing damage, Fr. met with the elders of his church, and volunteer construction crews were organized to fan out and erect shelters for the people.

"Because of strikes and bandh (throwing people out of work due to Telengana statehood tensions) people had no money, as I expected," wrote Fr. Varghese, "so they agreed to come for voluntary work."

A number were masons and carpenters with invaluable experience for the job.

The lack of funds and resources meant they had to do "very creative constructions," said Father, who labored with the work crews by day, then spent evenings in the villages to help restore normality. People scavenged bits and pieces of building materials, and built new walls with scraps the best they could. Only time will tell if the materials are sturdy enough to withstand monsoon rains.

Seven families were moved temporarily into the mission church at Dibbelepalem, said Fr. Varghese.

A number of homes now have reinforced walls but no ceilings, since a promised donation to buy tin sheets for roofing didn't arrive until late in the week.

By then, many people were in sickbeds with fevers, and Fr. Varghese found himself with a reduced crew.

Several days ago, he wrote that rains were especially heavy in the South, which was interrupting power supplies and networks. His village of Dibbelepalem was without power altogether. But now four days of renewed rains have brought canals and rivers across the state to "spate" -- overflowing and sweeping away any normality.

This Times of India video reports on the severe state of emergency across the region.

October 24, 2013 headlines in the Deccan Chronicle out of nearby Rahjamundry, read:

"Rains cause havoc in Godavari districts"

"Paddy fields inundated by rains, cotton crop likely to be affected in 2,700 hectares..."

"Heavy rains throw life out of gear: railway tracks, highways submerged leaving vehicles stranded, rescue measures deployed."

"Rains batter state, wash away 6 people"

As many as 50,000 people are displaced from homes. More than 500 villages are cut off and inaccessible because highways and secondary roads are flooded. Whole villages are without or have only limited power.

He knows of seven other parishes across the Diocese of Visakhapatnam that were struggling after Cyclone Phailin, says Fr. Varghese -- and that was before these latest rains swept over the region.

A number of Fr.'s friends daily pray Psalm 91 for this missionary and his people. Please consider praying this powerful Psalm for protection and uplift of this entire flood-ravaged region.

If you would like to help provide needed emergency relief funds for food and rebuilding supplies, please use the donate buttons at right for Paypal or credit card.

Clippings from Eenadu show flood
misery across the area.

Post-cyclone storms still pound villages

Image courtesy of NOAA
Cyclone Phailin, gathering strength over the
Indian Ocean, October 11, 2013.

In a brief online chat yesterday, Fr. Varghese told how he got calls from parishioners who "lost their houses and so on...sad it is."

The situation's worsening today as heavy storms spawned by Cyclone Phailin sweep away villager's homes and crops. Concrete buildings in larger towns are faring better, says the priest, but thatch-roofed homes in villages are no match for these punishing rains. See this Times of India video of Cyclone Phailin and these photos  of the storm and its impact.

On October 11, Cyclone Phailin was named the largest Cyclone ever recorded over the Indian Ocean, measuring half the size of India. Thousands fled and were evacuated from the nation's East Coast, preventing widespread loss of life. So far, 23 deaths are reported.

Photo by Daniel Bartholomew
Co-blogger Marianna B. received birthday greetings
via Skype from Fr. Varghese, his mission children and
Gypsy the dog, just the night before Cyclone Phailin hit.

The evening before the cyclone made landfall, Fr. Varghese and his children sent birthday greetings via video chat to his Dalitjournal co-blogger. Next day, he joined missionary Fathers Bhaskar and Sridhar in traveling north to the yearly diocesan retreat for priests in the Diocese of Visakhapatnam.

In a region already reeling from strikes, power outages and food shortages from Telengana statehood tensions, people are ill-equipped to handle yet another disaster.

The scale and frequency of natural disaster and political strife in India accounts for the diocesan retreat not being cancelled due to the crisis. This is a precious and crucial time for diocesan priests to reconnect and gather in prayer, rejuvenating their faith in a region just 2% Christian. Special talks by Bishop Antony Pappusamy of the Diocese of Dindigul in Tamil Nadu and hours spent in Eucharistic Adoration, are focusing the priests on local and global intentions.

In past floods, Fr. Varghese carried people to safety, fed and housed them for up to ten weeks at Holy Family Mission and helped in reconstructing homes. Now, he's fasting for his people and will face major clean-up when he returns home.

"Ask all our friends to pray for us," he wrote.

If you would like to donate to Flood Relief at Holy Family Mission, please use the donate buttons for Paypal or credit cards on this site, at right. Thank you and God bless you.

Strikes, miracles, and St. Francis in Andhra Pradesh

Photo by Marianna Bartholomew
Fr. Varghese has a special 
devotion to St. Francis.
 May the peace of St. Francis 
permeate Andhra Pradesh.

On this First Friday Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Fr. Varghese Kalapurakudy and his people hand-drew a large map of their state, Andhra Pradesh, with a split down its middle and these words, written in the graceful swoops and swirls of the Telegu language: "Lord, heal our wounds." Faithful hung this large image from the altar, and during Eucharistic adoration, processed, singing adoremus. In Holy Family Church, jammed to capacity that night, people cried as each placed a flower and lit a candle before the Blessed Sacrament, pleading for peace for their troubled state.

The region erupted in violence, and "today and tomorrow a totally violent bandh (strikes and protest) is going on,” reported Fr. Varghese last night, after India’s cabinet announced it would back its ruling Congress party’s July resolution to carve a new state of Telengana from the state of Andhra Pradesh, giving the richly-resourced city of Hyderabad to the new state. Fr. Varghese's Holy Family Mission and its rural outposts lie in the large strip of Andhra Pradesh that will be peeled from Hyderabad, the region’s primary hub of technology and urban development.

Fr. Varghese and his missionary friend Fr. Bhaskar 
snapped this photo on a mission trip some days ago. 
It's a typical sight across India as Telengana 
and other statehood issues erupt. The 
Telengana cause has created a domino effect,
and now other regions are urging claims 
for statehood.

For two months, life in Andhra Pradesh has meant “fights, dhamas…bandhs, picketing, walkouts, power cuts,” wrote Fr. Varghese. (Dhamas are fasts for a cause, a non-violent form of protest.) “People are really struggling because of Telengana issues.” Division cuts deeply, explained Father, because the people have a deep patriotism and love for their nation.

It's a situation more volatile and difficult than the flooding that submerged whole sections of his region and his mission village of Yerravarram, just a week before statehood issues erupted in mid-July, said the missionary.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
In 1956, Andhra Pradesh State was formed
from a merging of Hyderabad and Andhra States.
The new Telengana State peels away from the 
original Andhra, placing the primary hub of urban and 
technological development in the new Telengana.

While most protests to this point have been non-violent, the government’s new announcements on Thursday drew an explosive reaction, with people burning buses and public offices, reported Father. College students “poured petrol on themselves and set themselves ablaze. Three of them died and four are in the hospitals. It is a kind of rejection of the people for the decision from the government.”

Weeks ago, Fr. Varghese answered his Archbishop’s call to go to his see of Visakhapatnam to help organize a rosary rally and march in response to statehood tensions. Schoolchildren, religious and laity took to the streets with their Archbishop Prakash Mallavarapu, praying and pleading for a just resolution to statehood issues. Days later, Fr. Varghese and his faithful marched and prayed the Rosary in Rajamundry, the third-largest city in Andhra Pradesh.

With roads and shops closed, and people unemployed, “really, it is a hell for us,” wrote Fr. Varghese about a week ago. Seeking perspective and Holy Spirit guidance amidst chaos, he walked up the “holy hill” where faithful hope to build a shrine some day, and prayed mysteries of the holy rosary. Later, at his mission compound, he cheered children sent home from closed schools, by joining them in playing chess, cricket and the traditional board game of the East, "carroms."

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
The mission is a gathering point for
children sent home due to school
closings. Shown here is one favorite 
game, "Carroms." 

Food supplies have dwindled, especially for remote villagers, and the missionary has sacrificed his own provisions. His Sunday collection averages just $100 weekly, and he runs five mission outposts with three chapels on these funds. He gave one of his last Sunday collections away, after a local boy was bit by a rabid dog and needed funds to be transported into Kakinada for rabies shots and treatment.

When he lacked rupees to pay water and electrical bills this week, a concerned friend stepped forward to cover the costs.

In a prior miracle two weeks ago, a friend's Facebook friend sent a gift that allowed the missionary and volunteers to distribute to hungry villagers more than 100 pounds of rice and 22 pounds of lentils. But now even people in the larger town of Yeleswaram are going hungry, said Fr. Varghese, who lives 3 kilometers outside of this town. 

Photo by Daniel Bartholomew
With shops closed, transportation down, and
 employment disrupted, people across Andhra
Pradesh are struggling to find basic provisions. 

Please pray for a quick resolution of the Telengana tensions, urges the priest, who also prays that concerned friends will continue to help feed his people. 

(You can send Holy Family Mission donations through the Paypal or credit card buttons at right. It's quick and secure.)

Many weeks ago, when Telengana issues first intensified, Fr. Varghese spoke of his vocation as an "instrument of peace." Let's join with him as he prays in the spirit of St. Francis:

Frs. Varghese and Bhaskar captured this idyllic
image of village life hung in the cathedral in the 
Diocese of Bongaigaon, on a recent mission trip.
May peace prevail across India.

"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
Grant that I may seek
Not so much to be consoled,
As to console;
To be understood,
As to understand;
To be loved,
As to love;
For it is in giving
That we receive;
It is in pardoning
That we are pardoned;
It is in dying
That we are born to eternal life."

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.