Lockdown.

Its been 24 days at home. The busiest streets, crowded markets, beaches, stores are all empty.  Being covid quarantined, the entire country and many nations are at home.

Staying home has feel fun, but quite challenging. With no school, occupying the kids at home 24/7 has been overwhelming.. Most of the time, is spent refereeing them.

I've been the household barber.. Cut my husband's hair. and all my 3 kids hair too.. One or the other is always there.. Either cooking or cleaning.. or refereeing, or feeding..

One after the other I have something to do.. I am tired and exhausted.. The kids are hyper, they don't take nap anytime during the day. Yet they are active till midnight. Either they play cordially, or the fight fiercely. Lilybel is getting used to the noise while sleeping. Poor baby. I hardly have time for myself. Thankful to Asirvatham group for the 24 hr chain prayer they started since the beginning of lockdown. We do it everyday from 6-7 AM. So we get up early by 5.30 or 5.45.. So its a blessing amidst the chaos.

Hoping I make use of this beautiful opportunity to be home with family to the max.

Vilungi

That was dad's name when he was a little boy. He had two whorls at the back of his head and 1 big whorl at the front of his head which gained him his name.

Vilungi meant he swallowed. He swallowed his parents. When dad was 2 , his parents died. They were murdered.

Growing up, the whorl got him another name, kuruvi koodu.  When he was a teacher, his hair was so thick and twisted right in front of his forehead, it looked like a snake ready to attack.   Dad had never seen anyone with that whorl in front, except for a little boy in a Home. He was in front row of dad's program and he called him aside to ask about his family. The little boy also was an orphan.

Dad continued, his Palm reads that he'll die by the age of 30. And only because of Christ , he's still alive.  He became our curse , so we could live.

The Map stories

Amy was arranging the India map puzzle. Dad had one look at the colorful puzzle and he was puzzled! He said, you get things like this? I said yes.. He asked for the cost. Dad was shocked.  

He said, there was a time, when they had to take so much pain, to get a map.  Dad had made each state- the size of a door. They went to the Survey department, to get the total number of people, christians etc. Percentage of christians was 0.001 percent.. 1 in 1000 was a christian.  Dad collected these data dilgently.  This was, while preparing for the 10 year plan during the Emil Jebasingh Era. This data was used to find out where the need was, and send the missionary accordingly. 

Dad made 12 big size albums, for 12 leaders in FMPB. These albums had each districts, villages, and the number of churches in each villages. This data was collected by going to every district, streets, and data derived.  He said, those were the days, when we had such burden to painstakingly collect so much of data, to send people to the unreached villages. 

He then remembered an incident close to his heart. Dad was in one such district - Ramnad, collecting the number of church details. He had travelled to some interior village for collecting data and would be back in the Ramnad town after 5 days. He was invited by the CSI Church of Ramnad pastor to preach in the service in the following Sunday. This was in the 70s. Prabhu was 1 year old.  Mom has sent a telegram stating that the child is seriously ill.She had sent it to the CSI Church, Ramnad.  The pastor could not reach dad. Those were the days, when we had no cell phones.  Dad arrives 5 days later to the CSI Church Ramnad on Sunday morning service to preach. The moment he steps in, the pastor hands over the telegram from home. Dad reads it. Puts it in God's hand, and puts the telegram in the pocket. After the service, at 11 AM, he rushes back to catch the bus to Nazareth. He reaches around 11 PM that night. The whole village was sleeping. Dad looks inside the window, to find Prabhu sleeping in the thotil.  God takes care of his children.

Sunder Raj

We were talking about fasting, and I suddenly remembered one of Dad's friend, who passed on to heaven, while fasting. I was very little, when I met him. He had a long beard. He wore vaeti. Two things, that's not easy to forget.  

He worked as a RTO officer, and later got a Tahsildar promotion. He had also been to an Island in Atlantic Ocean for 3 years. Dad usually accompanies him for the fast. But this time, he wanted to go alone. He told his only son Jacob, not to bother checking on him every week.  Being in RTO office, he had access to many places. He went to a hill near Vellore. He had been on a 21 day fast.  This time, he refused to have even water . 

His son, a school manager, went to check on him on the 12th day. He found him in bed, peacefully rested. He found blood marks on both his armpits. He had entered heaven on the 10th day. What a glorious way to go to heaven. 

He had 3 daughters. Once when he visited us, my brother, had kept asking my dad something. Uncle interrupted and asked my brother, what he wanted. My brother had said, I want a cycle. He told him, to go to the corner, kneel down, and pray to Jesus for a cycle. Immediately my brother had run to the corner to pray aloud. Shortly, uncle left and returned back after some time with a brand new cycle!

He also had talked to my mother  and asked, how long was her service. Mom had 18 years. He had then told her that there is a policy, by which, you are eligible for pension, if you have 20 years of service. So he said, I will get everything ready, you work just for 2 more years. Dad had not known then, but my mom later had insisted and the application was filled, and mom got a teaching job in Bentinck Hr Sec School. The rest is history as they say! 

  

The virus that spreads

With the virus scare around, and looking at how it's spreading is thought provoking!...

Unknown to the eyes, it spreads and then just invades. The countries, which had not given much notice to the Covid19, when it started 2 months back, have now come to a stand still. Lock down. Quarantine, has been a household terms now. 

There's one more thing, that's unknown to the eyes, which spreads and invades, and kills. It's in everyone of us.. wondering what? Our old pal, the sin. It can without our knowledge, control our thoughts and all of us. It separates us from God, and quickly desensitises us from things that matter, spreads. hardens us. Ofcourse, broad is the way , and its easy to just follow the crowd.  

May we put our self to the cross everyday, and let the Holy Spirit revive us to life. May we be aware, that the King of Glory, the Almighty, the creator dwells within us, and we ought to be Holy as He is. Fear Him and not the virus. 

Pouring out

Dad was talking about the incident when Elisha, told the widow to fill the jars with the little oil she had.
In obedience, her kids borrowed vessels.  In faith, she poured her oil into the empty jars. And she kept pouring...Imagine being in her shoes.. You have just one jar of oil and keep pouring in one, and then the other.... She poured in faith.

And that's what we are called to do. To pour in faith, over the people in India. Those in chains, those followers of K**, Tr*, Ha*, Mu*, Sh*. Those in darkness. who are blinded. who live in ignorance.
2 Corinth 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

 Dad prays for such people not once, but round the clock. He wakes up twice at night and I can see him praying throughout the day as well. Amidst our chaotic home, with the girls, he finds a quiet spot, to be still. and to pour.

Panicky?

Lilybel had fallen off the bed and we were worried. Dad prayed  and was talking about faith and trust when he suddenly mentioned, how he was told by a doctor that my brother was very sick.

He must have been just in his early twenties... He had accompanied dad for a  program in tenkasi. It's a known fact at home, that he and I have sensitive stomach.
During that trip, my brother's stomach acted up so bad, he had to be taken to a hospital. It was a big hospital. Dad left Solomon Anna with him and continued for the night program. They finished and returned the next morning to the hospital to see him. He was on drips as he had lost lot of fluids. A nurse had just then have some injection, and the scene altered in a matter of seconds. His pulse dropped and he wasn't breathing... The screams of the nurse got utmost attention and the surgeons who had come for the surgery in the adjacent operation theater rushed here. Dad was pushed outside the room. He could glance and see the doctor on the bed pressing his heart. CPR? They gave an injection to revive him. Praise God,he was saved ! It looks like the nurse administered a wrong injection to him.

Dad said in situations like this you should never panic. Your eyes must be on the Lord.

2 Chron 20: 12

Dad told this months ago and I got time to pen it down only now! I couldn't remember other details he said...and now when I asked he's not in story telling mode! Anyway can only check with my brother to find out more!