In this series, those involved with CLC foreign missions profile one aspect of our overseas endeavors.
This is an excerpt from Pastor Koenig’s report upon their arrival in India.
In 1983 Pastor David Koenig, Pastor David Schierenbeck, and layman John Rohrbach went to India for the CLC Board of Missions to meet with Rohrbach’s contact, Pastor V.S. Benjamin, and his people.
Pastor David Schierenbeck (left) and Ipswich, South Dakota member John Rohrbach (second from right)
Thursday, January 13, 1983.
We landed in Chennai, India at 12:45 A.M. After haggling with a cab driver, we took the bus to the railroad depot. After going to the wrong depot, we finally got to the right one by rickshaw (a three wheeled bike with double seat in back and powered by pedaling—not ours). Here we truly came into a different world.
Chennai main train station at night
IN CHENNAI. Here we began to see a poverty that is hard to fully describe. As we walked along the sidewalk, we walked with everybody from cripples to cows. There are many beggars, most of whom really do look like they need help. All along the route from the airport to the railway depot the road was illuminated by fires made by people living along the road. Some of them lived right along the road in a hut no bigger than a small closet. In the railway depot, scattered across the floor, were huddled humps of humanity. Completely wrapped in their blankets, people were sleeping there, either waiting for the train or simply because they had no other place to sleep. We finally ate breakfast in the depot cafe terrace. It was rundown, as was so much in the India we saw. We ate eggs, toast and tea. Below us cars, buses, and rickshaws jammed the streets, their horns honking. The sights and sounds of mass humanity were spread out before us. And alighting above us were some carrion crows. These crows are larger than those in our country.
In the train we rode in second class for something like 220 miles. It took eight hours. We were crowded into passenger cars in the same way that cattle are herded into cattle cars in our country. During any portion of the trip, fully one-third of the passengers in our car had no seats. Even when we would yield our seat to ladies, they were hesitant at times to take it—different customs. Every time we stopped at a station, which was close to twenty times, the vendors would come to the windows to sell their bananas, coffee, pastries, soda, and such. Also, beggars would travel through the car. There was a blind couple who would sing. One man dragged himself with his hands because his feet were all twisted and withered. A disheveled and filthy mother passed by with her child, among many others.
One of the multitude of trains constantly moving through Chennai
While on the train, we had chances to witness. David and John talked at length with a Salvation Army major. They discussed differences in Bible teaching with him. I had a long talk with a very well-educated Hindu. He had a Bible, but considered Jesus to be just one of many world religious leaders, no more. It was sad that he was so intelligent but would not believe. As I left him, I prayed that he would read his Bible again, and that the Spirit would yet work in his heart. Even though we couldn’t talk with most of the people in our train car, our heart went out to them.
A bicycle rickshaw
IN NIDUBROLU. We arrived in Nidubrolu about 5:00 P.M. There is no question that God was with us all the way, and that He would direct our work here for the two and a half weeks that remained to us. One illustration of the Lord’s guidance: We sent a letter announcing when we would arrive in India, but Pastor V.S. Benjamin received it too late to get to Chennai to meet us. So, on Thursday evening, out of concern for us, he was praying. As he finished his prayer, his son Nireekshana rushed in to tell him that we had arrived and were at the depot there in Nidubrolu. May the Lord be praised! The same night we arrived we witnessed their first service. We were to stay at Benjamin’s house, and it was here this evening that they gathered. A microphone and loudspeakers were set up. The mats were laid out. The singing began with a drum and a small hand-pumped organ. Forty people gathered and welcomed us with messages. We also spoke the Word of God to them.
Pastors David Schierenbeck and David Koenig (back row l to r) along with CLCI President V.S. Benjamin (seated) at a conference of CLCI pastors
Friday, January 14.
This afternoon we went to the first of the many meetings. M. Sayarao is pastor here. Our presentation was in three parts, a procedure we would follow throughout our stay. John Rohrbach would begin with a statement about his returning and his joy in the Gospel to see them. Then Dave and I would trade off with a Gospel message and explanation of the CLC. We would also sing with them one of our hymns. To this service, which lasted two hours and twenty minutes, fifty-seven people came. Afterwards there were prayers for a boy with polio, a man who had recovered from near death, and others. These people are a praying people and it is wonderful to see!
has served as a foreign missionary in Africa, India, and elsewhere. Though officially retired, he continues to be active in the synod’s mission endeavors.