The Reverends D.C. and Deborah Premraj are co-Pastors of the Church of South India Redeemer Church in Kilpauk, a residential area of Chennai. This is a huge church with a large and diverse congregation. Our own Pastor Tim was invited to participate in the Sunday morning Tamil service and had brought his own ecclesiastic garb. Our group was seated up front, directly across from the chorus, all the better to enjoy their enthusiasm as they sang hymns familiar and new. It also meant we had to be on our best church behavior during the entire service which included a very long sermon in Tamil. Most moving was a laying on of hand segment for prayer requests. Pastor Tim was able to participate as Pastor D. C. heard requests and translated them into English. Tim prayed for the person, with D.C. providing a translation for the person. The requests were certainly similar to those expressed every Sunday at home, but the individual touch and clear statement of the need along with prayer was very powerful.
We had some time to meet with the Pastors and other key staff after the service to learn about their work which impacts the surrounding community. Of course there was tea, but also the most delicious cake one can imagine. (My piece was chocolate with a chocolate ganache and whipped mocha filling. I remember this cake as vividly as anything which probably says more about me than the cake itself.) Members are lawyers, doctors, teachers and professionals and folks who live in nearby slums in dire poverty. Conscious efforts are made to integrate all members into the church family. Communion is served each week with juice made by slum dwellers. In this way they are a vital part of the communion service. Physicians rotate weekly to provide a free health clinic after the last Sunday service. Free medications are provided as needed, but most importantly there is someone is listen to the health concerns of congregants. For many this is the first time in their lives they have really been listened to with care and concern.
We were introduced to their vocational training programs through the beautiful and well made gifts we received. Many of the bags we ladies received were put into use immediately and will be used for a long time to come. My own bag is very fancy and made of black satiny material covered with tasteful design in black beads and sequins. It definitely required many hours of painstaking work. I was thrilled to learn about the training program and thankful that we could make a contribution towards the purchase of supplies.
A third area of outreach we witnessed firsthand was a house council meeting. The congregation is divided up into groups of families of all backgrounds who meet regularly (Can't remember for sure, maybe weekly) to talk about their challenges and joys. The life wisdom shared by members is not dependent upon wealth or education and gives everyone a chance to help and be helped.
We paid a visit to St. Thomas Mount where relics of the Saint credited with bringing Christianity to India are housed within a Catholic church. The area affords beautiful views of the surrounding area in a serene and contempletive setting and does justice to the saint and the miraculous work he performed.
In speaking with Reverend D.C. Pramraj, I learned that Christianity is accepted and Christians more numerous than in the north. Because of St. Thomas and early adoption of Christianity it has become an accepted religion as opposed to the struggles and dangers faced by missionaries in the north. Christians in the north continue to experience persecution in many forms. And Dalit Christians, who make up 90% of all Christians, are discriminated against through the very constitution which is supposed to uphold human rights.
For me, the most moving church experience occurred Saturday night after a very long day of sightseeing, sitting in traffic and shopping til we dropped. On our way back to the hotel Daya had the bus stop outside a gate with a CSI (Church of South India) sign. We all groaned, some inwardly, some outwardly. As it turned the church was open for a group of youth who were rehearsing hymns for the service the next day. This was a small, humble church, much like the McGaw Memorial Church in Etah. Electricity went out during practice, we got a chanced to talk with the kids and Daya had a blast singing with them. I think they had a blast too. Somehow, the Pastor was called, the Elders showed up and tea was served out on the front stoop/veranda. Tears flowed. And still do.
