They told a remarkable story of the acquisitiionof the land in 1998 when Sathidas Powell was branch president. The parcel had been inherited by an old man, and then had been in litigation for 22 years, by which time the heir was in his 80's. He immediately put it under contract with a large real estate development company who would put shops and apartments on it. They tore down the structures and cleared the land, then fell on some hard times and had to sell some assets to meet their cash flow needs. This is when the church was looking, and they grabbed it. It is located on a major street, easy to find, with a bus stop in front. Next door is a Catholic church built on a hill where the Apostle Thomas allegedly lived for several years after converting the local king (and before being killed by an irate brahmin on a hill about 3 km away). Across the street is the largest Assembly of God church in this city of seven million. With the development in the last decade you don't find parcels this large anymore, unless the price is astronomical.

Then there was the long process of approvals from zoning, building, city, police, fire, etc. officials, all looking for a little grease money which the church refused to give. One of the holdouts was the police chief, who happened to rent an apartment which he owned to a missionary couple who became his friends. He gained an appreciation for what the church is about, and approval was forthcoming.

Now construction is ready to begin, the lot is empty with no squatters on it (which is rare here, and unpleasant to deal with), and even the vendors who lined the sidewalk a couple years ago have gone elsewhere.

David Chelladurai was part of the team that translated the Book of Mormon into Tamil in the late 1990's. He told me that his father-in-law was having a hard time with the King James English of the Book of Mormon. After the work of translation was finished, it took the church five years to publish it. When he received his first copy (autographed by the Quorum of the Twelve) he thought of his father-in-law who had died waiting for it.

Even today, the Book of Mormon is available in only three of the 20+ Indian languages: Hindi, the official "national" language spoken in the north, Telegu (there are four branches of the church in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh), and Tamil ( 6 of the present 28 branches in India are in Tamil Nadu).

Dr. ADSN Prasad, founder of Pathway, joined the church in 1992. Our main assignment is to help him raise 200 of his kids to be community and church leaders in a few years.

Rosalin Berrymore has for years taken the bus on Saturdays over two hours each way from Chennai to Pathway ostensibly to teach music to the kids. She really teaches scripture stories wrapped in Primary songs and hymns. Without the church providing a Primary, she has single-handedly (with the help of recruits among the older children) laid the base for all we are doing in Seminary and Mutual.

Paul Vijayakumar joined in 1986 and served a mission in India. He accompanies us as translator on our forays into Tamil territory. In 1999 he and his wife started the Seventh Star Home for Destitute Children. We would sure like to find some combination of American donors who could reliably provide him about $1000 a month to take care of the 34 children they have taken into their home in addition to their own two.

There was much rejoicing and many participated with the cermonial shovel. There was some concern that we might get the cloudburst that we had seen each of the last five evenings, but it was courteous enough to wait until an hour after we had finished and most everyone had time to get home.

We had been assigned to get refreshments for 75 for after the ceremonies. When they ratcheted up the estimate to 100, we bought for 120. The ceremony was scheduled to start at 5pm, but "This is India". When it started at 5:30, all 75 chairs were full, and here halfway through I counted about 50 standing. By the time for food, someone had counted 200.

Early in 2010 ther will be this large, beautiful building, with parking on ground level, chapel on the "first" (i.e. above ground) floor, and classrooms on the "second" floor.

I watched the stream of onlookers on the sidewalk who stopped and asked the security gaurd what was happening here.

What a tool this building and location will be for the Restored Church of Jesus Christ in south India!

I think St. Thomas would be pleased.

Graduation Day

On Sunday 26 April 2009 the Seminary classes from Pathway and the two Chennai Branches gathered at the First Branch meetinghouse for graduation ceremonies. The Country Directors for the Church Education System came from Bangalore (our good friends, Elder & Sister Asplund, retired schoolteachers from Utah, on the right of the picture) and also Patrick Cheuk (center), Asia Director stationed in Hong Kong, and Brad Howell (left), Asia administrator from church headquarters in Salt Lake City were in town.

Of the 28 baptized church members at Pathway, 34 regularly attended early morning Seminary last year. The other 6 are faithful but have chosen to respect the opinions of whatever family they have and await their blessings upon their baptism, showing how the teachings of the gospel have been a positive influence in their lives. Some have done so and brought many of their relatives into the church with them.

Why do relatives oppose? One was born a brahmin, and though the family is in destitute poverty, they are still in a revered caste. Most Christian converts come from the lower castes, so it would be a social step downward. Another's mother is a Pentacostal Christian who tells her daughter, "Your church doesn't have a band. They don't serve you dinner after church. Why do you want to go there?" Most Indians are superstitious idolaters who fear what mischief may befall them if they do not appease the traditional gods.

(Since I am late telling this story, the school year has rolled over and we now have 50 enrolled in Seminary, with average attendance about 46. In India, standardized exams at the end of 10th grade separate students into college or vocational tracks, and at present Pathway has classes only through 10th grade. Though Seminary worldwide is for 9-12 grade, we have permission to teach 7-10 so they can have the full 4 year program before they leave here.)

The next morning Brothers Howell and Cheuk visited the Pathway Garden of Eden, toured the campus with the founder/director, Dr. Prasad (who modestly assures us that when he was younger he looked like Elvis Presley), and heard the amazing story of how Pathway came to be (which I promise to blog one day).

They spoke to our Seminary group and experienced the open warmth and love of the kids. As they were leaving I heard one say something about feeling like he was standing on holy ground, and the other that he needed to go back to his hotel room and bawl for about an hour.

It gets pretty intense sometimes.

Have you ever heard of Gingee?

On the coastal plains in random locations rise granite hills. On a group of such hills about 30 miles inland from the French colonial port of Pondicherry is the Gingee fortress. Krishnagiri, about 400 feet high, was allegedly first fortified in about 800 A.D.

Eventually, three fortified hills were connected by walls enclosing an area up to three miles wide.

This view from the top of Krishnagiri better shows the 20’ wide wall and its 80’ moat (left of the wall, now with grass instead of water).

With the transformation from fortress to tourist site over a century ago, easy(?) access has been provided by a stone stairway.

Atop the hill are fortifications, palaces, and storage facilities for grain, oil, and water to supply the complex for years.

Some show the early Indian cut granite pillar-and-lintel construction overlaid with later brick and mortar with Arabic style cues.

Most impressive is the 800’ monolith of Rajagiri with its extensive refuge citadel on top. Inasmuch as the temperature 105 F, we saved that climb for a cooler day. More on that later, maybe.