Hello friends. David’s overland trip to India was full of adventure and uncertainty, especially when the team entered into Iran. In 1977, Ayatollah Khomeini led the Islamic Revolution in Iran and foreigners were viewed with suspicion. Everyone expected troubles in the remaining journey yet God remained in control and He oversaw each and every OM team member. Deuteronomy 31:8 says “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” In that situation, their faith brought them a long way.

As a vehicle smashed their truck at the Iranian border, the OM team had to spend a few days in Tehran in order to have the truck repaired. It was at that time that David needed some warm clothing badly. However, he did not have the money to buy some. But, God answered his prayer request with an American traveller who offered him some warm clothing. Oh, God’s provision and timing is always so perfect.

The overland trip was indeed a long journey of faith. Once, the truck broke down on the highway with a punctured tire. All of them were fearful of meeting robbers on the Khyber Pass. In the Islamic countries - from Turkey to Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan - they had to watch their behaviour in order to not attract unwanted attention or arouse any suspicion from the locals. Moreover, their behaviour could affect the missionary teams working in those countries.

David especially saw God’s hand upon everyone when he was on night duty one night to navigate the truck. David misguided the truck in the wrong direction but thankfully, he was alert to see the moon and realised that they were moving towards Russia! Surely, God was with them – watching every step they took.

Before reaching India, they had to cross Afghanistan and Pakistan. They passed through the Afghan immigration without any problems. They stayed in Kabul, the capital, for a few days and met the country leader for OM and resumed their journey towards Pakistan.

Although Afghanistan is a middle eastern country, three-quarters of its land area is taken up by highlands. The main lowlands are a series of river valleys in the north and various desert regions in the south and southwest. Climatic conditions there exhibit greater daily and seasonal variations mainly because of the extreme elevation that characterise the country. Midwinter temperature can go as low as -10ᵒC. The coldest conditions made me miserable. Coming from Singapore, I had only experienced three seasons: hot, hotter and hottest!

One morning, the team stopped by a mountain road for breakfast. I had not washed my hair for a few days and my scalp was itching. I saw a stream nearby. Without testing the temperature, I applied some shampoo and a little water to lather my hair. After shampooing my hair, with the foam dribbling down my face, I scooped the water with a mug and poured it over my hair. That was a huge mistake! The extreme cold gave me brain freeze – the worst headache I have ever had in my whole life. The icy coldness made me feel like I was dying at that moment. But no matter the situation, the journey had to go on.

Travelling from Afghanistan to Pakistan, they had to drive through rugged mountain terrains. Afghanistan had about 21,000km of roads which were mostly unpaved. Access to Pakistan is by roads that traverse the Khyber Pass. Road maintenance was poor due to violent spring floods. But what worsened the problem then were the ongoing hostilities among many militant Afghan factions. All in all, travelling through Afghanistan was dangerous. Besides rocky landscape, the challenge also included bandits. By the way, the Khyber Pass is one of the most famous and spectacular mountain passes in the world. It is also the most important passage connecting the northern frontier of Pakistan to Afghanistan.

So what was God’s intention for David?

As we drove along, I saw a few tribesmen leading their camels towards a distant hill. As they moved further and further away, the men and camels were gradually reduced to specks dotting the distant hillside.

I could not envision any missionary being willing to go to such a remote place, to live with the tribes and share the gospel with them. Seeing them tormented my soul. Like in Malaysia before, I wondered how the tribal people were going to hear the gospel and how they could be reached.

Did God want to open David’s eyes to the tribes there?

About halfway up the mountain, our truck stopped again for a toilet break. I spotted a lone shepherd boy, barely fifteen years old, wearing a white tunic covered with a black vest, and a white turban on his head. He was squatting on the ground, looking sad and deep in thought. He let his herd of goats graze the patches of grass on the mountain slopes. Strangely, he completely ignored us. Most native boys would approach foreigners like us, because they saw us as a novelty. But we seemed transparent to him.

There were no houses. No trees. No people. So where this shepherd boy came from really baffled me. God was using the sight of the shepherd boy and the tribal men to stir my heart to reach out to them. But I had absolutely no idea how to share the good news with them.

We resumed our journey to Pakistan, and then India, where I would be working with OM indefinitely. There, God had another surprise waiting for me.

Throughout the overland journey, the truck often parked along the roadside. Once, they even stopped in a graveyard in Turkey to cook their meals – instant mashed potatoes, canned sausages, cheese and bread that they bought from roadside stalls. That saved them money by not eating at restaurants and prepared them for the rugged life in India.

After a month of road travelling, the team finally arrived in Punjab of India. It was during the festival of Deepavali that the truck entered the city of Amritsar where the Golden Temple of Sikhism is located. The Golden Temple is the principal shrine of the Sikh religion.

Since the team did not have freshly-cooked meals during the long journey, they ate chapatti and dhal curry at a local food stall. David felt so at home, since he had been eating Indian food ever since he was a small boy. The food to the Singaporeans and Malaysians was a delightful change, but to the Caucasians, it was a culture shock particularly because they had to eat food without cutlery.

The team slept in the truck outside Amritsar because it was unsafe to travel at night in India. The next day, they drove on to Delhi for a directive to their posting in India. The former director of Gospel Recordings (GR) in India hosted them. Together with him was Tony Surgent, a visiting preacher from London who shared a touching message at the morning devotion. Tony treated the team to a multimedia presentation at the Red Fort, a popular tourist attraction in Delhi. David said that was a marvellous break after a tiring journey.

The Graveyard of Indian Missions

The overland team broke up and went separate ways at last. Each individual was assigned to a different state. David went to Bihar, the most ‘barren’ mission field in India. Some 2,500 years ago, the Buddha is said to have achieved enlightenment there. David got to see the tree where Buddha was supposedly enlightened.

Bihar is also called the ‘graveyard of Indian missions’ because the achieved result contrasted with the missionary effort that was put in.

David’s first team was led to Patna where the annual fair known as the Sonepur Mela was held. It was there David literally saw millions of people gathered in one place. Sonepur Mela is well-known for its cattle fair which is the largest in the world. The cattle fair, held for 21 days in the month of November, draws traders from India and other countries in Asia. Numerous stalls are usually set up on the ground. A wide array of goods ranging from garments to weapons and furniture, toys, home utensils and agricultural implements, jewellery and handicrafts are available there. Sellers shout their offers above the din to attract the fair-goers.

The fair provided unlimited opportunities for OM to present the gospel to millions of Hindu devotees from various states in India. It is one of the best platforms OM India has explored. We distributed thousands and thousands of tracts, gospel packages and books. Today, after 36 years, God is blessing North India for the seed that we helped to sow.

We stayed in a rented house near Mela. Every day, we went out two by two to distribute tracts and sell gospel packages. Once we managed to find a good spot in the grounds of the Sonepur Cattle Fair, where we preached in the open air. It was not difficult to draw a curious crowd. The very moment a team member strummed his guitar and the others began to sing a song, we had an instant audience.

We began our day with personal prayer and Bible study. A team member fixed breakfast for us – usually a few slices of plain bread, no butter or kaya, and washed it down with a glass of local chai tea. OM advocates simple living; our team rarely ate at the stalls.

The team travelled to a location for that day’s evangelistic work. Some went by truck. Others cycled. I enjoyed cycling because we could enter small villages which were inaccessible by four-wheeled vehicles as the footpaths in the villages were bumpy and steep. Once I led a team cycling nearly 60km, to and fro, to preach and distribute literature at different villages. Though the cycling and going house-to-house to share the gospel was physically challenging, seeing the villagers listening to our preaching and then buying our booklets was gratifying.

Roads in the outskirts were potholed. Though there was a two-way traffic, they were only wide enough for one vehicle. Therefore, when two vehicles came head on, one driver would have stop by the side on the road to let the other driver pass and avoid an accident. This was a normal part of life there, so no one showed irritation or ‘gave the finger’ to other drivers!

We stopped cycling from time to time to avoid the big trucks, often driven by road bullies, who refused to give way to us. In spite of such unpleasant encounters, our cycling team always rejoiced over the opportunities to share the gospel with those living in the quiet and isolated villages up in the hills.

When the Sonepur Mela ended, David returned to Ranchi, where the Bihar headquarters was located, for a new assignment. While waiting for his next posting, David continued his daily evangelistic outreach in the market.

In ministry, it is not where we like or choose to go, but rather, it is the place where God puts us. It is definitely a place God can work in us and through circumstances and people, make us effective servants.

Let us continue David’s story next week where his idea of cassette tape ministry came at an open-air preaching session in Ranchi market.

Stay tuned!