Sidebar: They Convert Kids, Don't They?

pictured: Jesus (JEE-zuss)


Before we get too far into this orphanage stuff, I just want to throw a few comments out there on the subject of Bethania as a Christian mission, and all that entails. Because that’s what Bethania is: It’s a mission, and the people working to support it are called missionaries.

Many of you reading I know are comfortable with the terminology, as it’s widely used in churches and private schools. But others – myself included – may hold reservations over the word mission in its old-world context.

Studying abroad in Australia, I remember recoiling with disgust, learning of the mission schools to which Aboriginal children were stolen from their parents, dunked in a lake as a baptism, and made to behave like good little Christians overnight. Meanwhile, families were torn and culture was irretrievably supplanted. This type of ‘mission work’, performed for the supposed ‘Glory of God’, has occurred elsewhere in the world, North America hardly excluded.

Please rest assured that Bethania is not a mission in this destructive sense.

It is true, Bethania kids are raised with Christian teachings. But great care is taken to ensure that each child’s first steps into the faith are of their own choosing. (Neighboring Hindu authorities, justifiably, wouldn’t have it otherwise.) And indoctrinating orphans is hardly a priority when weighed against far more urgent needs, like a full belly and a second chance on life.

Once these fundamental needs are met, and they are presented with lessons of God’s forgiving love in spite of a troubled past, you’d be surprised at how eagerly Bethania kids dig into the whole Jesus idea.

And hell, Indians take to religion like a fish to water anyway. This coming from the guy who’s spent the last six weeks visiting every last mosque, church, temple, and holy river of every last religion that exists on the planet. (Save Scientology; perhaps there’s some type of spacecraft I could drop by on my way home.)

There’s a good amount of freestanding Christianity here, actually, dating back further than you might think. It hasn’t been uncommon for me to see a picture of Jesus on a wall decorated with garlands and incense, just as a Hindu would a shrine to Shiva.

Alright, so that’s all about that. Except to add that I HATE close-mindedness toward religion, and although my upbringing has been über-Lutheran, I believe that ALL the world's religions are getting at the same eternal truths. Enjoy the photos. Yowza.

L.