-
//6 ^
Ji
NEWS OF RALPH "BUD" HARTERBible Bhavan, 3/83, Vishnupuri, Kanpur
208-002, India
(or Box 3, P.O. Nawabgani, Kanpur 208-002, IndiaJANUARY 1979
BEST BIRTHDAY YET
Some birthdays stand out more memorable than ethers. I remember
19U0when my Aunt Mary gave me a greenquilt. I remember 19U7 when
Williamand Jean R#land arranged for the de-ilivery of my portable
organ on the |happy day. I remember the Eugene'Barbees celebrating
one of my birth-!days in Wichitaj Kansas. I remember'a very quiet
birthday in Madras in'1973 when no one suspected, and my^Oth
birthday in 197U aJid the sur-'prise visit of Frank and Marie
Rem-'pie from West Africa. ;
My $Uth birthday will be remem-'bered because two of my wards,
DinaNath and Arvind Solomon, were baptized and born into the
Kingdom ofGod. Dina Nath is the blind boywhose admission into the
hostel wasreported in the last newsletter.Arvind is the boy who
helped me onfour occasions to present a dialogue on baptism at four
differentchurches.
The seven boys at present in thehouse began the day by
singing"Happy Birthday," and presenting mewith a box of candy
bearing thenote, "Dearest Daddy, Many Happy Re
turns of the Day from your affectionate children.
Harinam is now well launched intothe pig bristles business by
whichhe hopes to make himself a rich man.First he gave his company
a Hinduname to which I objected. He thenchanged it to "Ralph
Bristles Company." The name was no doubt veryappropriate but it
gave me fits. Ithink that I have finally convincedhim that Ralph
Pig Bristles would donothing for my reputation, and thatI really
did not care for the honor.
Harinam and his bristles are dueto vacate the back room from
12-31.
The Bible Book Store sold moremerchandise during November
thandiiring any other month since it wasestablished 21; years ago.
Dec^-mberis not expected to be so high..
Frcn ITovcr.ibor 2l;th to 26th, two ofus made a 3^0 mile tour in
the threewheeled Chariot selling our merchandise in three towns.
From December 8to 11 we made another tour of morethan 200 miles and
covered 3 moretowns.We were therefore beginning to]run short of
stock well before 12-2^.On the first trip, we had three flat
-
tires and reached our - furthermost!destination twenty hours
behind:schedule. On the second trip we got!stuck in the sand while
crossing the!Jumna River, Through it all we lean-!
^ned that you can have troubles with-!I^cnxt being troiibled.
I
The fuel shortage in Kanpur was;more difficult to laugh at as
it=affected our stomachs. Propane and!kerosene were not available
and rayjcook was having difficulty cooking!
lindian food on an electric hot plate-and that for seven people.
Reluctan-!tly he began to cook with coal but:coal is also getting
scarce. Power!house employees have also gone onstrike and our state
is likely to beplunged into darkness (and all hot,!plates chilled)
at any moment, ;
During my visit to Ragaul, I was!happy to find some improvement
both;in the church and in the living con-:ditions of the Christians
there. In!Hamipur, the church seems to be at ivery low ebb but the
school is doing >well and there is some hope for thefuture,
j
None of the Kanpur churches have 1made any significant progress
in *78 'but something is there. As I write :this, the house is
resounding withthe noise of children as they practice their
Christmas play. At least !"ttie Christmas program in Vishnupuriis
going to be better than last
;years,; After a break due to an attack of :jMalaria, Mangal
Singh is now verybusy in his new press (formerly our 'press.) He
has started the printing
\ "Lessons from the !School of Faith," During the delay,
:though, I have added four chapters,'
7
to the volume.The sale of the second edition
of "What Kind of a Person Should IBe," and its companion,
"SomeThings that are Definitely Bad"has been held up for several
monthsBdue to a bottleneck on Ihe printing of the covers(but thid
problemh3 also now been jovercome!.
As reported in the last issue, mytem as secretary of tiie
DnitedChristies Commitiiee of, Kanpur ry-pired and, happily, I was
not elgi- Ible for a third term. As it turned /out, however, I only
exchanged the /secretaryship for the presidents Iship. On all
previous occasions, I ^insisted that Indian nationals bethe
presidents but this time I justup and accepted it.
Mir, H.L, Khoji, whom I baptisedsix years ago,asked me to come
overto his house on December 5th forsome unspecified purpose.When I
gotthere I found that I was to inaugurate a new congregation of the
churches of Christ-an idea I had put inhis mind when I baptized
him. Notonly was I to cut the ribbon at thedoor but I was to lead
the inauguralservice making up the program as Iwent along.On
previous occasions, Ihad already solemnised the openingof a shop
and a dispensary for Mr.Khoji,neither of which survived formore
than a year, j After the Government made us give Sup publishing
ourHindi magazine, itr, Khoji has beenputting it out in a more | or
lesshaphazard manner. 'But thank God forbrethren like Mr, Khoji who
are atleast doing something. Next to thelittle chapel he has
opened, he hasthe beginnings of a printing press.
-
CONTRIBUTIONSOCTOBER Jm NOVEMBER, 1978
Home Church and Area;Clinton Church $200.00The Walter Handwerks
300.00The Walter Swigarts 4^.00Orrville Loyal Bereans ^0.00Mrs.
Robert Meade !L0.00Perry Christian Church lU.OOMrs. Madgelene Bowen
30.00Other Ohio Donors;Doris Black 10.00Sebring Church
.00Bladensburg Loyal Daughters 60.00Linden Church 1^0.00Old Stone
Missionary 1^0.00Branch Hill Church 60.00Linden Women*s Guild
^0.00Linden Hcmebuilders 100.00Mr. & Mrs. C. Stephens 2^.00Mr.
& Mrs. Lewis Holdren 75*00Bordering States;Burlington,Ind.,
Miss*y Soc.200.00Mr. Prank Reas 30.00Stanley Vincent 20.00New Ross
Church 110.00Dr. Thomas Omer, 2^.00Katherine G. Hardin 25.00Mr.
& Mrs. Lewis Dcmke,Mc. 200.00Oak Grove Church, Pa. 25.00Louise
R. Rambo 20.00Sylvia Rosser, W.Va. 20.00Other Eastern States;Flora
Church, 111. 50.00ribreeville Church. Tenn. 90.00Capital City
Church, N.C. 36.00West of the Mississippi: !Loretta Huntington,
Iowa ^*00Dr. W.J. Schulte & Family bO.OONeeper Church, Mo.
p9.0ULiberty Sunday School iiO.25Lqyal Women, Wymore, Neb.
20.00Wapato Church, Wash. 50.00
Minnehaha Church, Wash. $20.00Dr. Donald P. Peel.Texas
25.00TOTiU. CONTRIBUTED $23iUi.29
Besides these there were severalother very generous gj^ts given
for
'personal use and these are notjbeing listed here.
EKPENDITURESfrom 10-20-78 to 12-19-78
iSalary, two months $300.00^Audited expenses of Kanpur, Mission
Committee 510.00Kirkbride Bible Co. 9051iMedical expenses for a
boy
named Satish 25.10Other extra medical expenses 25 .U3Extra
Educational help 33*00Extra for Work Projects 56.UUOther
Benevolence 7*75TOTAL EXPENDED $10^8,26
SUMMARYDeficit on 10-19-78 $ 5U9.83Add Amount Expended
loii8.26Total Debits 1598.09Figure in Contributions 23Uli.29Balance
on 12-19-78 $7i|.6.20
We of the Clinton Church are missing two of our saints, Mrs.
EllaHayes and Mrs. Helen Lieb who recently went to be with the
Lord. Theyloved and were loved. Helen hadnot recovered from the
shock oflosing her husband Tony a fewjmonths earlier.
i t Our forwarding agent for fundscontinues to be.
Miss Florence Douglasnil N. Main St.Joplin, Mo. 6U801
-
Cv
\A
ato
CO
I(DO o ro ^Hj H vn M'HjH* 3 vn 01
d"CD o
13I 1
o
CO CD o QCo CO 3ro N) CDI I C- cl-OUI ir- _ Oro -v3 ro to HjO ro
H p-C"\o On o
iy4H'01c+-
0
1o
V
o
M
aCO
a
s
tJ3_ ^CO H
BSQ
BELIEVE IR OR NOTIt all started when a student of
the Kanpur Medical College took offfor Delhi wearing his
friend's watchwithout telling his friend. The owner of the watch
together with othermedical students jumped to the conclusion that
the watch had been stolen by one of the servants. For afull day
they kept beating the servant trying to get him to tell wherehe had
hidden the watch, finallyleaving his dead body at the adjoining
hospital. Three of the studentsEre in jail while two are still
inhiding, or running.
Our faithful houseboy Salim had abrother-in-law who came to
Kanpurfor hospital treatment. "When allhope of his recovery was
gone, Salimforcibly removed him from the hospital in an attempt to
get him back tohis home before he died. Unfortunately the poor
fellow breathed hislast enroute.
One of the hostel boys, Peter,went to donate a pint of blood
tothe above patient but the doctor refused to take it when Peter
couldnot tell the patient's name. Thedoctor suspected that Peter
wasselling his blood. One of the churchboys standing there began to
arguewith the doctor and the doctor endedup taking his blood
instead,
I am not sure exactly what happened but my guess is that the
busahead of me was carrying a pane ofglass on its roof. As it
turned acorner, the pane came loose, sailedgracefully through the
air andsmashed into a million pieces at thecurb. It was as though
the devil hadaimed it at me but my guQx.di''^ '^ -angelsaved
me.
-
//6a.
HAETER THROBSNEWS OF RALPH "BUD" HARTER
Bible Bhavan, 3/83, Vishnupurl, Kanpur 208-002, India(or Box 3,
P.O. NawabganI, Kanpur 208-002, India
MARCH 1979TIMES OF CONTRAST
The first days of the new yearj There was enjoyment In the
visitwere a time of sadness as we learned!to the border city of
Amrltsar andof the death of Frank Rempel In Can-!the Golden Temple
of the Sikhs. Iada and of a cousin In Clinton both;also visited the
park where theof whom died of the same thing onlBrltlsh massacred
some hundreds ofthe same day. I Indians In 1919. However, I
came
There was a time of laughter when away from there with the
distinctthe police delivered a notice that l|Impression that there
Is very littlewas being charged with carrying 131 holiness In the
"holy city" ofpassengers In my Chariot and tijat 11 Amrltsar.was
not wearing a driver's unif|orm.i Happily the times of progress
andI would be willing to pay the fine encouragement outshone the
times ofIf the police would demonstrate howidiscouragement and
distress,to pile 13 passengers Into the thing! After Its
reorganization, our pub-and still get it to move. The jmls-i1ishing
work (now called Bible Bha-understandIng has since been cleared!van
Publications) Is going fullup with the authorities. 'speed ahead.
The spark for this Is
It Is a time of continued distress!the extra money Lawrence
Lazarus re-at the steady backsliding of Harinamjcelves when he
works hard,who has chosen to run after i thej The Vishnupurl Church
Is showingthings of this present world, mere|signs of revival. On
their own In It-are many wild tales making 1thej latlve they have
begun Sunday even-rounds and I think that only j Godj Ing services
In a new nfelghborhood.knows what the whole truth Is. j | As the
new mission effort was be-
There was an hour of pleasure as liing Inaugurated, I could not
helpwatched the annual military pajrade!,but think as to what my
InfluenceIn the cap Ito 1 New Delhi on Jan.j 26. "'had been In the
matter. My conduit was well worth the discomforti of slon was that
It was probably not sohaving to squar three hours on! the much what
I did as what I didn't do.sidewalk. ! i was content to take a back
seat
-
and let others do things. Others weregiven the opportunity to
developtheir gifts, Wliat they did was oftenobjectionable but they
gradually improved, I also refrar'jied from talcingsides in their
quarre?LS, and I avoidedprejudices like the plague.
But don't get the impression that Ihave not been preaclmigj it
is justthat I preach at other places morethan I preach to the
congregation thatmeets in my house.
The preachers for tlie Sunday services at my house are chosen by
alottery system, Bver2''one attendingthe prayer meeting iTid-tes
down threenames on tliree separate slips ofpaper, Tliey may write
differentnames or the same name three times.These s3.ips are
folded^ thoroughlymixed, prayed over and twirled in anopen vessel.
As the slips fall outof the vessel they are numbered 1 to10 and
these ten persons became thesermonizers for the next ten Sundays,At
the last drawijig, I only got oneof the ten places. Tlie undrawn
ballots are imiiiediately burned and itmakes no difference if the
smoke iswhite or black.
During the season referred to asLent which this year runs frcm
Feb,28th to April l^th, I wiU be preaching almost every evening in
different areas of the ci"i^\r.
Once again this year, I will beparticipating in the Sat Tal
Ashramwhich will be held in the mountainsftom May 20th to June
10th. After 'that I majr stay another ten days inthe area and
enjojr the cool air.
Once again we were ve^_fortunate toreceive a gone^us/^antj from
theTate Memorial TiCTor Smithvillc,
Indiananew
stora^^^publishing.
My booklet, "Lessons from theSchool of Faith," is printed
andwaiting for its cover, I did notproceed with the printing of
theadditional four chapters since thisis an era when books have to
besmall enough to read in one sitting.Later I will print another
bookleton "Mo3?e Lessons,,.,",
Second editions are on the pressof the Hindi translations of
C,J,Sharp's "Bible for Youth," and LeeCarter Maynard's "Helping
Hand,"
We two miliion residents of Kan-pur have beeii having difficulty
inmailing our letters due to the un- availability pf ppstage
stampsT^There is" a .long line of 'peSpldwaiting to use the single
frankingmachine available at the head post-office downtown.
National, politics have quieteddown for the time being but
statepolitics are in turmoil. The schoolsare operating
-
CONTRIBDTIOKSDECEIVER 1978 and JAMJARY I979
Home Church and 'Areas
Marcella McKinney, Ho. 1,00Lord^s Treasury, Neb. 100.00Virginia
Templeton, Texas 10.00Miss Nellie Copley, Wash. 20.00VJapato Church
33.00TOTAL CONTRIHJTED $337?ill(Besides Cliris'fe'iias gifts)
EXIENDITURESfrom 12-20-78 to 2-IU-79
Salarjr, two months $300.00'Audited expenses of Kanpur
Mission Committee 3700.00National Miss*Y. Convention 26.50Mr,
V.Walter for year^cs heD-xo
as Kan'our treasurer 165.00TOTAL EZFEi^ED
ClintonnCFirst ChurchThe Walter Sid-gartsMrs. Madgalene
BowenRittman Missionary GuildMrs. Robert MeadeThe Walter
HandworksMrs. Leona B. BlytheMary E. BarnettOrrville Loyal
BereansBarry Christian ChurchOther Ohio DonorssCertain CousinsOld
Stone MissionaryMiss Dorotly SchmaleDoris BlackLinden
HcmiebuildersLinden ChurchSebring ChurchBladensburg Loyal Daughters
20.00Branch Hill Church j 6O.OONeighboring States; j
& Mrs. Rambo, Pa.The Lewis NicholsonsOalc Grove
ChurchFollansbee W,M.S,G,,W,Va,The Cleo Blalces, Ind.Stanley
VincentFranlc ReasKenneth Bade
$il0000liO.OO60.0015.0010.00
2i;0.0050.0025.0020.0010.00
25.00Uo.ooil.0,0010.0075.00
300.0010.00
100.00! 50.00i 25.00
U2.00 50.00! 20.00
30.00IliiO.OO
Portland Singles & Doubles |200.00Tate Memorial FundOther
Eastern StatessFlora Church, 111.Capitol City, N.C.Embreeville
Church,Tenn.West of the ItlssissippisMrs. Leland E.
RaynorjCal,Loretta Huntington, IowaThe Melvin Hanlcs, Kan.Neeper
Church Mo.Liberty Sunday H^ool
{600.00jl26.00i 76.001U3.00
!25.00! Uo.oo' 25.00
J0.21
SUMMARYBalance on 12-19-78Total ContributedTotal ReceiptsLoss
TfependedDeficit on 2-1U-79
$7U6.203375.21U12I.UIUI9I.50
70.09
Tlieso extra funds have been a tremendous he 113 in financing
our enlarged program of piblishing. Tlie costof housing is also
going up due to
-..:Sgi^iss^_t^es.Despite the ups and downs of the
American dollar, it has not varied-toe much as far as India is
concerned but has stayed near to eight rupees ix)r dollar.
^Previously it ha,dgone UX3 to as much as nine and asfar doxra as
seven. Up in New Delhi,tourists are offered 12 to 1 forcash by the
illegal traders.
Forth&^^th year. our forwardingagent continues to be.
Miss Florence Douglasmi N. Main St., Joplin, Mo. 6UD0I
-
Lto
*c
o2^ y:V
O "^.1^ -4
ri
r* r-w
o
4:'cr.
o
s
PI-e
o
o
O d-
s
ro
o
o
c>**O
-J
COo '.--S, W 3 ^ ^ y
o
sa
f
fitoH,H-:
so TO
THIS IS TCMiIt has been four years since Tornmy
left our hostel but he still considers himself to be a member of
ourfamily. His membersiiip is of doubtful value because even as he
agestowardJOj he is a naughty boy
'~Tomr/^'s lilce the boy vrho called'*V7olf, wolf" when there
was no wolf.
Several months ago when I stoppedin Jhansi for a couple of hours
tovisit TomjTiy, I was surprised to findthat the people with whom
he sta;57edwere all dressed in their Sundaybest, had their house
all fancied upand had cooked a special meal. Laterit came out that
Tomy had told themthat I was bringing a girl with mewho was
interested xn marr^nlng theirson.
During a recent visit to Xanpur hotold a lady that she would
soon haveto vacate her house' because thechurch was bu;7lng it to
provide aplace for me to live. She rushed tomy house all hot and
bothered onlyto find that it was one of Tommy'slittle jokes.
On another occasion, due to a fibTominy told, a man and his
daughterrushed UOO miles to sec the son ofthe famj.ly who was said
to be seriously !!., At such thiies one doesnot laiow whether to
-be hajppy orajigiy. ijeriirny is tho knnd :of chop whomevor^ody
loves but whoifi nobody'" contrust. It is too bad that ho feels
/fhe hs.s to do this sort of tiling in! {;; order to get
impression.And. ultiiiio-toly it will kill him
betauso when the wolf actually does
attention and make an
ccMG, no one will believe him.
-
//fc>
HARTER THROBSNEWS OF RALPH "BUD" HARTER
BIBLE BHAVAN, 3/83, VISHNUPURI, KANPUR 208-002. INDIA(or Box 3,
P.O. NawabganI, Kanpur 208-002,India
MAY 1979
SPRING TRIPSAs 1 have mentioned several times
before, hundreds of house meetingsare held in the city of Kanpur
during the six weeks before Easter. Although they are held in the
name of"Lent," a name unfamiliar to peoplewho are in the habit of
calling Bible things by Bible names, still itis obvious that the
preaching of somuch Bible in the city has not failed to bring forth
fruit. It hasbeen a joy to see people growingspiritually during
these weeks. Manyhave preached for the first time,others have leo
meetings for thefirst time, and still others haveprayed in public
for the first time.Many Bibles nave been sold andchurch attendance
has soared. Theword "Lent" is from an Anglo-Saxonword meaning
springtime, and what anappropriate time tnat is for renewing one's
faithi
During the 42 days, I was happyfor 39 opportunities to teach
God'sword, mostly from the first twochapters of Epheslans. It has
beenmy aim to teacn Ephesians so thatchildren could understand it.
Thereis a challenge for you!
Preparations for the city's annualEaster Dawn Service also
occupied agreat deal of my time. Not only were,there the worries of
the president-,ship but I also got saddled withjplanning the
program and arranging'for busses. About 4000 persons are*expected
to attend at 4 a.m. on"Easter Sunday morning. The pepplejthen go
home, collapse into bed anddo not stir again until
afternoon.^Except for the dawn service, other:,Easter Sunday
services are not wieir,attended. One beautiful feature ofthe
service is the array of candle-ylight processions of singing
saints.[
As usual I will be out of town on.Easter. The annual invitation
came^from Kulpahar but not before, I had^accepted one from
Allahabad. A thirdinvitation came from the state ofGujarat, a
section of India which Ihave never yet visited.
Through the years we have given agreat deal of help to the
Christiansof Ragaul, the town where Mrs. ZoenaRothermel worked for
fifty years;. Wehave educated and trained many oftheir young people
and some of themhave lived in our hostel. This year
-
we are helping the Christians thereby donating $250 for the
reconstruction of their wel1.
Our old printing shop which wasmade autonomous eight months ago
isdoing very well.Manga 1 Singh didn'tget along very well with
Mahesh Pandey when both were employed by usbut they have since
found out thatthey are useful to each other. Bothare once, again
working side by sidewith Mangal as employer and Maheshas employee.
Mangal has also employed the nephew of our cook.
Encouraged by this we have taken asmall and cautious step toward
giving autonomony to our book store. Anadvisory committee of seven
of ourchurch members has been chosen tolay the groundwork for this.
If theadvisory committee does as well as Ithink they will, they
could soonfind themselves the owners of one ofthe finest Christian
bookshops innorth India. They would however continue to need
financial assistancefrom the mission for an indefiniteperiod.
With more than normal difficulty,Harinam finally found himself
another place to live and process hispig bristles. The severance
was agreat shock to him and he has notyet recovered from it. I was
therefore very surprised when one of theyoung Christian men of our
neighborhood arrived at my door sellingpackets of "Ralph
Detergent." Thisis at least an Improvement overRalph Pig Bristles.
The instructionssay that you should put a cup ofRalph in a
half-bucket of water and
stir vigorously. Also, if you useRalph, you do not have to heat
yourwater or add bluing, nor will youhave to dry your clothes in
the sun.The manufacturer (Harinam) promisesthat Ralph will save
your money andyour hands and that your clotheswill get whiter with
less work. Letus hope that all of the ladies willlike Ralph and
that once-prettyhands will not want to wring Ralph'sneck.
Sometime during the sunmier many ofyou will receive copies of my
latestbook, "lessons from the School ofFaith,"which have been sent
to youby seamail. Seamail is taking longerand longer these
days.
The traffic police of Kanpur haverecently succeeded in
transformingour city into a place with readablelicense plates, and
that takes alittle bit of explaining. The situation is that in
India we are responsible for making our own licenseplates or
otherwise painting thenumbers on our vehicles. Numbers forprivately
used vehicles must bewhite on black. In recent years thenumbers in
Kanpur have become moreand more artistic and less and lessreadable
until the police finallyhad their full of it. Almost everyone in
town had to have their numbers repainted, including myself.
The Lord willing, I will be in thehills for a month beginning
May 18.As previously announced, three weeksof that time will be
spent teachingand preaching at the Sat Tal Ashram.Letters often go
astray when I amaway from Kanpur.
-
CONTRIBUTIONSFEBRUARY and MARCH-1979
Home Church and Area:Clinton First Church $400.00M/M Bill
Williams 5.00Orrville Loyal Bereans 20.00M/M P.M. Hawkins v
20.00Southwest Women's Miss. 20.00M/M Walter Handwerk 124.00M/M
Walter Swigart 50.00Mrs. Madgalene Bowen 60.00M/M H.L. Drollinger
200.00Mrs. Robt. Meade 10.00Other Ohio Donors:Doris Black 10.00Miss
Dorothy Schmale 60.00Old Stone Missionary 40.00Bladensburg Loyal
Daughters50.00Linden Womens Guild 50.00Sebring Church 5.00Lewis
Holdren 75.00Eugene Close 50.00Bordering States;Oak Grove Church,
Pa. 75.00Stanley Vincent, Ind. 20.00West Walnut
St.,Church,Ind.45.00M/M Ralph Clary, J^. 50.00Kellie Story, j^.
25.00Other Eastern States:Flora First Christian,ILL. 40.00Leroy 3rd
Graders and
Hearthtenders, 111. 30.00Capital City,N.C. 56.87Jennifer L.
McMurray,Va. 30.00West of the Mississippi;Neeper Church,Loretta
Huntington, IowaWymore Loyal Women,Neb.Miss Nellie
Copley,Wash.Wapato Christian Church.Wash.
30.00TOTAL CONTRIBUTED $1768.77
37.9050.0010.0020.00
EXPENDITURESfrom 2-15-79 to 4-19-79
Salary, two months $300.00Audited expenses of Kanpur
Mission Committee 1550.00Restoration Review
(The following expenses arefor four months)
Extra for Education 121.68Extra for sick persons 66.28Committee
expenses 17.50TOTAL EXPENDED $2062.46
SUMMARYDeficit on 2-14-79 70.09Amount Expended 2062.46Total
Debits 2132.55Less Contributed 1768.77Deficit on 4-19-79 363.78
LATEST NEWSDuring my Easter weekend in Alla
habad, it was my privilege to baptize the 69 year old sister of
Mrs.John Zamen. Some years ago, Mr. andMrs. Zamen supervised the
Kanpurwork during one of my furloughs. Mr.Zamen is now 79, Mrs.
Zamen 80. Thesister was taught and prepared bythem but Mr. Zamen is
too weak nowto do any baptizing himself.
As for the Easter Dawn Service,the newspapers reported the
attendance at 13,000 but I suspect thatthe figure is highly
exaggerated. Inany case, it does seem that itwas the largest number
of Christiansto ever assemble In Kanpur, and thatat four in the
morning.
Please send your contributions toMiss Florence Douglas, 1111
N.Main St.Joplin, Mo. 64801. Thanks!
We also received a generous personal gift from the Osgood
(Ind.)Circle
-
?< COm o
3; r.!0.! e
o
c:;: f>e>
GO
-3No
a
m
r o to -nX I- ui > 4r-507? Z VJ1 C/>
m o 30 z o
-
mi IHARTER THROBS^ NEWS OF RALPH "BUD" HARTERBIBLE BHAVAN. 3/83,
VISHNUPURI. KANPUR 208-002, INDIA
(or Box 3, P.O. Nawabgani, Kanpur 208-002,India
JUL. ^ ^8"*^
JULY 1979MID-SUMMER SUMMARY
At the time of writing this I am still in the hills. It will
still be very hot whenI reach Kanpur on June 21st but the rainy
season will start soon after.
During this "vacation," I preached five times, taught two
classes, and served asecond term as "Pharoah" of the ashrom. The
"Pharoah" supervises the daily work period (d to 9 a.m.) It remains
to be seen how much writing I will be able to do beforeleaving
here.
June-5th was full of surprises. At 9:^5 I was called away from
hearing a lectureWith the news that I had been chosen to be a
member of the Sat Tal Ashram Committee.Before lunch I was chosen to
be the editor of the Golden Jubilee Brochure, and afterlunch I
became a member of the Executive Committee.
An unexpected invitation has also come from the principal of
Hudson Memorial Girl'sSchool in Kanpur. Having heard of the Bible
study I hold on Wednesday evenings atthe Methodist High School, the
staff at Hudson wants a similar Bible class for themselves. My
charge for this service is a free supper, which of course also adds
tothe fellowship.
Schools Will be reopening in July. We will mostly be supporting
the same twelvestudents as we did last year but one or two cases
are undecided.
Deenanath, the blind boy will most likely continue on in our
hostel although hismarks from last year are not yet known.
Arvind however failed in one subject and has expressed a desire
to learn motormechanics. The possibility of his admission to a
training school was beinq investigated. ^
We may also be supporting a student in the Central India Bible
College at Bllaspurand another boy in male nursing training, *
Last issue when I reported that we were repairing the well at
Ragaul, I did not knowthat Mrs. Rothermel (who worked at Ragaul)
had already died on April 7th in Cincinnati.of hlT Plaque at the
well saying that the well was repaired in memory
Harinam's product "Ralph Detergent" is not proving to be an
honest product, so I amafraid that the chap is headed In a very
wrong direction.
In fact I have had enough failures recently to be thoroughly
discouraged.Before^ leaving Kanpur; I sent Sunil Desiloa to
Shadahanpur to investigate the
possibilities of training there. He returned from half-way
saying that he had'beenrobbed while he dozed and that he had lost
all of his documents. In the meantime Ihave seen indications that
he has not corrected the fault in his character for which Iexpelled
him from the hostel in April, 1978. It could well be that God is
punishinqhim. ^
The Swarupnagar Church has had some unwanted excitement.
Originally the man whosold us the land for our church building sold
us 500 sq. ft. and gifted us 350 sq. ft.Later he reduced the gift
to 150 sq. ft. and then later he decided not to gift us anyat all.
In the meantime, with his permission, a temporary building was
built, a corner of which extended over onto the portion he had
gifted to us. On May 21st thisfellow demolished that corner of our
building. The loss suffered by us is not toomuch and 500 sq. ft.
will be sufficient for our needs. Demolishing church
buildings,however, is not the sort of activity I would recommend to
persons past the age of 70who are soon to meet their maker.
The Sat Tal Ashram is available (more or less free) for youth
camps. In the Indiancontext, though, it is necessary to pay all of
the travelling and feeding expenses ofthose attending. For persons
attending from Kanpur, that would mean about $15 perperson for as
many people as you wanted to attend the camp. An attendance of 50
wouldcost $750, or Rs. 6000/-. The question has alsays been, do we
want a camp that badly?The program which I attend here every summer
is not very suitable for young people,nor for those who do not know
English.
If you are hungry for a letter to read, try re-reading the
letters you write.The reprinting of the Hindi edition of C.J.
Sharp's, "Bible for Youth" is now
finished. The reprinting of the Hindi edition of Lee Carter
Maynard's "Helping Hand,"has now been taken up.
The advisory committee for the book store is wanting us to
replace Mr. Reuben inthe book store. Mr. Reuben has been an honest
employee and has done his work fairlywell. At 70 years of age,
however, he is lacking the vim and vigor needed to expandthe book
store's ministry. Serious thought is being given to a successor to
Mr.Reuben, and also how to reduce the hardship to Mr. Reuben. Mr.
Reuben married lateand he still has two children to support. He has
been our employee about ten years.
-
Earthquakes are fairly common In the Himalayas but I was never
so badly shaken asI was at ^:30 a.m. on May 21st. Because we had
been swapping tiger stories the nightbefore, many of the ashramites
thought that a tiger was either under their bed ortrying to break
into their room. As for me, I was saying "Jesus, Jesus," and
tryingto find the front door in the dark and without my glasses.
Before I could get thedoor open the quaking stopped. I went back to
bed and slept soundly for another twohours as though nothing had
happened.
There had been rumors of a harmless tiger in the area but he
probably fled to aquieter place when the summer rush of tourists
began. For several nights we heardthe barking of "Barking Deer,"
and there are some monkeys around. Otherwise the areais known for
its beautiful birds and butterflies, and the lakes are full of
fish.
During the last four days of my stay in the hills, I wi 11 visit
the small town ofMukteshwar which is at a higher altitude. Because
this is my first visit to Muktesh-war, I don t know what kind of a
place it is but it must be one of the corners of theworld.^ The
road going into Mukteshwar stops there so the only way to get out
of theplace is to go back down the road on which you came up.
One of Kanpur's Rotary clubs very generously decided to build a
pedestrian bridgeover one of Kanpur's busiest intersections. The
work was begun by burying twoeighteen foot steel girders. Sometime
during the night following, someone went and"stole the bridge
away." The site was within sight of the city's main police
station.
At last report, three thousand persons in Kanpur were sick with
Jaundice. Pollutedthe cause of this.
my stay at Sat Tal from three to four weeks. It looks ashave to
extend it to six weeks. Dr. E.Stanley Jones used to
here.rambling newsletter. Due to bad communications,
there is no financial report this month. There isn't much news
from Kanpur either because during the month I have only received
two letters from Kanpur. This newsletterlacks organization because
1 don't have a typewriter up here so for these and othersins, I ask
your forbearness.
Don't forget the address of our forwarding agent. Miss Florence
Douglas, 1111 N.Main St., Joplin, Mo. 6A801.
drinking water is oftenThis year f extended
though next year I willspend three months of every summer
This has been a more than usual
TIME AND ETERNITYMay 1st was one of the saddest days of my life
when we buried lA year old Anita
Azod who had died in a traffic accident.It set me to thinking
that age doesn't mean as much
think that lA is very young and Sk (Mrs. Rothermel) isal L
Jtha-t- much- d-U-fer^snce tc-God.
Since a "thousand years is as one day to the Lord," then one
hundred years is onlytwo hours and twenty-four minutes. So when I
get to heaven and meet my maternalgrandfather who died in 1901, he
is likely to say, "oh, I have only been here acouple of hours
myself."
If Anita's mother lives another fifty years, she will only be
one hour and twelveminutes behind her daughter.
Or look at it this way. When God says "Wait a minute," He means
something likeeight months and ten days.
It is also fantastic to think that Adam was created only six
days ago, and it hasbeen only two days since Christ died and rose
again. Since God rested on the seventhday and since Christ rose
early in the morning on the third day, some believe thatthis is
another indication that our era will end about the year 2000.
When we place some of our problems onto the dimension of
eternity, they sink andfade into insignificance and disappear.
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST25A5 W. COMET RD.CLINTON, Ohio AA216
"HARTER THROBS"
Return address requested
to God as i tvery old but
does to usit doesn't
Wemake
Non-Prof it Org.U.S. Postage
PAIDCLINTON, OHIO
^rmit 7
W.E. McGSLVREVBOX 177Km a
-
THROBSBIBLE BHAVAN, 3/83, VISHNUPURI, KANPUR 208-002, INDIA
(or Box 3, P.O. Nawabgani, Kanpur 208-002, India)
// 6
2
NOVEMBER 1979OUR MOTLEY CREW
It must be said for our house that it is usually an interesting
place full of interest-ting people.
There is Deenanath the blind boy now studying in the 12th grade.
He manages to comeand go around here all by himself and with a
pretty quick step. The house resounds withhis tape recorder and
talking book and we have had to request him not to play them before
6 a.m. He is visited by many of his sightless friends. Deenanath
travels for ithfare and easi1y_finds hIs way to places 1ike
Lucknow, Aligarh, Delhi and-Bombay
We recently had a second blind person staying with us when we
were visited by ourfriend Samuel Mohan Singh who is an expert
musican singer and composer of hymns. Healso canes chairs and tunes
pianos and preaches good sermons.
For the past two years our house has been filled with the music
of David Morar whoowns an accordian. He receives invitations to
play for meetings all over Kanpur and heIs often rushed to get back
here before we lock the gate at 9:30 p.m. David is tall,rugged and
bearded, and a college student.
The Lord introduced a whole new element to our house when He
sent us sweet 12 year oldUsevius, also known as Kuku. We have not
often kept children in our dormitory and it requires a change in
the style of living. It of course has its rewards as we benefit
fromthe freshness of a child's mind. "What are you going to do
tonight?" I asked him once."I'm going with you" he answered, when
hehad no idea where i was going. Some times hemust regret having
gone with me such as the night he had to endure a two hour meeting
ofthe Cemetery Board. Kuku's father died two years ago and he had
not been in schoolsince then. As a result he had to be put back
into the Second Grade when he should havebeen in the Fifth.
Then there is a new convert named Ranjlt. Ranjit had been in
training to become anelectrician but his father stopped It because
he was reading the Bible too much, andlater his father made him
leave home. Ranjit is a quiet, meditative type. We are notyet sure
what we are going to do in his case. His father is in Kanpur but
his motherand sisters are in Calcutta.
The latest arrival is that of lhayat Mis iTi who sort of
collapsed in on us. Born inl^npur, Inayat was raised in Kulpahar
and trained to be a tailor. Recently he wanderedback to Kanpur
where he lived In one of our dirtiest neighborhoods and soon became
sick.We are fattening him up and sending him to his brother's home
in Bokoro.
If these characters are not enough for you, there is Salim, the
wily Musalman who ishere every day except Friday. Sixty-year-old
Salim is both houseboy and property manager. Unable to read or
write, his advice on worldly matters is mostly reliable. He isan
avid supporter of Indira Gandhi. He works as hard as his precarious
health permits,keeping the house clean and the garden full .of
blooms. He is not as near to beingbaptized as he was.
Harl, in the kitchen, is interesting chiefly at mealtimes.In the
bookstore, aging Mr. E.S. Reuben and young Joel are also not what
you would
cal colorful characters but you would appreciate their devout
and evangelistic way offulfilling their ministry.
Sitting in the middle of the house you will find Lawrence
Lazarus who is in charge ofpublications. Sometimes you will find
him typing out a translation on the Hindi typewriter, and at other
times you will find him visiting with his friends. In the middleof
the day, if you find him at all, he is likely to be stretched out
on a row of foldingchairs.
At the end of September, I made my first visit to Kulpahar since
Christmas. The foodand fellowship there are so enjoyable that it is
almost as good as a visit to the U.S.I was very happy to see the
big strides forward being taken by all of the
missionariesthere.
The traveling to and from Kulpahar was not all that enjoyable.
At the beginning wewere delayed H hours because our train was
looted by robbers just before we got on.We came back to Kanpur on a
bus so crowded that I had to hold Kuku on my lap for threehours.
That was the day before his 12th birthday and his last ride by half
fare. As weentered Kanpur, some smart kid celebrated his special
year by throwing a brick at theentered Kanpur, some smart kidbus
smashing a window.
There was an almost completehere was an almost complete failure
of our rainy season this year. This has resulted in a very serious
drought which the government is tackling on a v/ar footing.
Ourelectricity is cut off from Ato 6 hours a day and we must close
our bookshop an hourearly. Prices are rising and deisel oil is hard
to get for trucks and busses. It willbe illegal this winter to use
electric heaters.
should help Indira Gandhi get back in power in the national
election whichIS due to be held early in January, It has often
seemed that the weather helps Mrs.Gandhi.
-
CONTRIBUTIONSAugust and September.1979Home Church and
Area:Clinton ChurchEast Sparta ChurchM/M Eugene CloseOrrville Loyal
BereansRuth HandwerkM/M Walter SwigartMrs. Robert MeadeOrrvi1le
ChurchSebring ChurchMadge line BowenOther Ohio Donors:Doris
BlackBladensburg Loyal DaughtersM/M Lewis HoldrenPat MackDorothy
SchmaleNeighboring States:Stanley Vincent,Ind.Jerry & Patricia
YoungOak Grove Church, Pa.Sylvia Rosser, W.VaTHooverson Heights
ChurchMissionary GroupOther Eastern States:Capital City, N.T^Flora
Church, 111.West of Mississippi:Wymore Women, Neb.Minnehaha Church,
Wash.Wapato ChurchNeeper Church, Mo.
$400.00100.0050.0020.0090.0071 .0010.0060.0020.0030.00
10.0040.0075.0065.0080.00
20.0075.0082.5050.0063.8538.00
160.0640.00
10.0040.0040.0019.75
$1760.16
Thrs^year fc+re Bi b1eS"oc fetyH