Inter-city Visits. Week 8.

We’ve just got back from visiting two amazing Indian cities, Mysore then Bangalore; it was a relaxing, refreshing and interesting trip. Mysore was so beautiful, lush greenery everywhere, the Maharaja’s Palace and a perfect air temperature (22 degrees). Bangalore, a city slicker’s dream has high-class bars, clubs and restaurants, providing for the younger generation as they earn their big bucks in the IT industry, which dominates the Bengaluru economy. Travelling by Indian train was a fantastic experience (although leaving Chennai at 6am wasn’t great!), for a 3rd Class A/C (no need for 1st or 2nd Class) one-way ticket to Mysore from Chennai (a seven hour journey) costs around Rs. 550 (£7.50) and you get breakfast, snacks, mineral water all as part of your ticket price. So travelling through the farmlands, mountains, jungle was inspirational, I hadn’t really grasped how beautiful India was because we’d been city dwellers for the past 2 months, consequently I spent most of the journey reading my bible and looking out the window, marvelling at how incredible God’s creation is. We spent our time in Mysore visiting the Maharaja’s Palace, Chamundi Hills (stunning views over Mysore) and we spent some time browsing the silk, sandalwood and textiles that Mysore is famous for. Bangalore was obviously much more like being back in Chennai, mostly due to size; however its clean streets, pleasant climate, metered auto rickshaws and green parks make Bengaluru (it’s original Indian name) a much more attractive place to live, consequently it has become the hub of India’s IT Industry. Our accommodation here was basic, but as we were mostly spending our time at the Oasis Office, it was sufficient for our needs. During our visit to Bangalore we met the Oasis team, visited the work they are doing, including Jacob’s Well fair-trade offices and talked to the staff about the projects they are involved in. There is an anti-trafficking branch based at Oasis Bangalore, and it was clear to see that it is really making a difference to so many women’s lives; they have a large team dedicated to hunting the traffickers down and bringing justice to the city, giving these women a chance to make something of their lives. We left with a real sense that God is working in big ways in Bangalore and everyone in their office is passionate about bringing change & chance to the marginalised of their city.


So would you say that in your life you take for granted the situation God has blessed you with? Can you even imagine what it’s like to be trafficked, given no hope or lose all your rights? Do you just live your life for yourself, occasionally letting God in once a week or even once a year? I can certainly say for myself that after my visit to Bangalore, God has really challenged me about all the blessings he has provided me with, asking me whether I’m grateful for these or whether I think I deserve them because I’m lucky with the situation I was born into. The point to ponder, is that while we may not live in physical poverty (money, possessions, accommodation), are we living in spiritual poverty? Are we driving the car ourselves, not letting Jesus touch the wheel or even be a back seat driver? For me, I believe the Western world relies so much on money being the answer to everything, that consequently reliance on God has been lost or at least God has been packed away in the boot, coming out only when it suits. This is not what the bible says! In John 12:26 (NIV), Jesus says, “Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant will also be. My Father will honour the one who serves me.” In Hebrews 13:15 (NIV) it says, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer God a sacrifice of praise - the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.” The message sums up what I’m trying to say in Psalms 116:17, “I’m ready to offer the thanksgiving sacrifice and pray in the name of God.” So essentially putting God first in our lives will only increase the blessings in our lives, it will bring about joy to not only God, but also to us as we thank God for what he has done.

So my challenge for us all, because it’s something I’m working on and praying about, is to live our lives totally for God, being thankful for everything because no matter what it is, God has provided it for you. We are so blessed to live in a comfortable part of the world, that it’s not always easy to be truly thankful for what God has provided us with, I know that before coming here, God had been at work in so many areas of my life, but I hadn’t been thankful for these. However since arriving in India, specifically after coming back to Chennai from Bangalore I can see that people are so thankful for even the smallest things God has provided them with and that is the real challenge to us all. How thankful are we for the blessings, hidden or obvious, in our lives and subsequently where in the car (our life) is Jesus sitting?


I hope you can understand what has challenged me over the past couple of weeks and I really pray that God may teach you through reading this, maybe discovering something new that you hadn’t thought about before.


Thanks and God Bless,


Tom