God's Smuggler behind the Iron Curtain

 

God’s Smuggler Behind the Iron Curtain

God’s smuggler? What an oxymoron! How could anyone be God’s smuggler, as if God condones such an activity? The God who has prescribed Ten Commandments and other moral codes, would he involve a person in smuggling? Still, that is what Brother Andrew writes in his quintessential book “God’s Smuggler.” What was he smuggling on behalf of God? He was smuggling Bibles, lots of them, through the iron curtain, which separated the communist countries from the rest of the world. Wasn’t it a risky business? Of course, yes, he could have lost his life many times over in this business. How did he develop this passion? How did he manage to do it? Let’s see more about that.

Brother Andrew started as many European children do, as a church-going and Sunday Class attending child. He was born in Holland in 1928, one of six children of his parents, and lived in a village called Witte, along the land reclaimed from the sea and the dyke. As his family attended the church dutifully every Sunday, he would find himself a seat close to the church door and slip away to roam around and return just in time when the congregation started to go out after the service. There he stood near the pastor, at the door, as he wished every one good bye, and no one knew that he had been away during the service. Of course, his simple-hearted and trusting family, never suspected it.

In 1940 Germans landed in Holland and started occupation of their area. Rotterdam was bombed and the next day Holland surrendered. Andrew in his wandering over his small village, made friends with all sorts of people. One was an old couple, Mrs. and Mr. Whetstra. He would get a cookie or two from their kitchen. He managed to get a cherry bomb and succeeded in exploding it and run away as fast as he could. Government has called for a general mobilization for the army. Squads of soldiers were entering houses to search for able-bodied men to be conscripted. Young boys of his age and older men raced for the swaps to hide from this forced military service. There was no electricity for the Dutch for it was reserved for the Germans. They used oil lamps making oil form cotton seeds themselves. They lived on rations for two and dug up tulip bulbs to eat to survive. One of his brothers died earlier to that and his mother was on sick bed. In the spring of 1945 occupation ended and the Germans left, and Canadians arrived. People stood in the streets weeping for joy, for the war was over.

When he turned eighteen, Andrew joined the Dutch army in search for adventure, and was sent to East Indies. In Gorkum where he was undergoing training, every Sunday he went to the local church, because families invited soldiers home for lunch, for they were toiling to serve their country, far away from homes at the young age of eighteen and nineteen. Before he left for Indonesia, in his invitation-hunting mission, he had seventy names, who had promised to write to him, while he was overseas. Quite an enterprising chap! When he finally left home, his mother gave him her Bible and asked him to read it, and not being able to say no to his mother he took it and off he went to Indonesia.

During his hand combat training in Indonesia, he realized that he was being trained to kill human beings. On the battle ground he soon became hardened. They had killed not just soldiers, but ordinary working men and women and children. He says, they fought like madmen and then they drank and drank till their reason left them. He was in touch with some of the families in Gorkum, especially to girl Thile, to whom he poured out his heart. His sense of guilt grew like a chain around him, but he could not understand how anyone can forgive him, as Thile suggested. He acquired a monkey as a pet and together they ran for ten to fifteen miles every day. His mother died in the meanwhile. Then in action in 1949, he was hit in his ankle, and was crippled for life. He could never run as he once used to. He was just twenty years old. As he was recuperating in the military hospital, he started to read the Bible which his mother had given him. He was also impressed by the loving Franciscan sisters, who attending to the injured solders and others without a complaint.

Starting with Genesis Andrew read his Bible feverishly. Noting down the questions he had, he wrote them to Thile, who labored to consult, research and reply to him. Still, he was angry, angry at God, for him leaving in this crippled condition. One of the Franciscan nurses advised him to let go the grudge that was keeping him from freedom and happiness. He returned home soon after. He was twenty-one. Two of his siblings had got married; he visited his mother’s grave; and started to use the bicycle, training himself to use his damaged leg. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do with his life. He met his old friends.

Kees, a friend was absorbed in studying theology, for he was eager to go into ministry. On the invitation of a girl at the rehabilitation hospital, he attended a tent meeting. There were prayers for souls. It was all very funny for Andrew and his friends. They laughed it foo. But suddenly he started to read his Bible again. A week later he started to go to church in his village. Sunday mornings, then every week day evenings and nights he kept going, pedaling his cycle with difficulty. Then he started to attend churches in the neighboring towns. He took careful notes of what the preacher said, and spent the day, searching for these passages in the Bible. His family wondered what had happened to him; he also didn’t know. He spent his time with his friend Kees, his old friends Whetstras, his old schoolteacher, and Thile. One night while a storm was raging outside, he let go of his ego, and turned himself over to God, “lock, stock, and adventure.” He just said, “Lord, if You will show me the way, I will follow you, Amen.” He felt free and happy.

Along with his friend Kees, he attended a meeting of a Dutch evangelist, who enlisted both of them for an adventurous first assignment of arranging an open-air meeting in their own town Witte and start preaching the gospel. When they convened the meeting, everyone in Witte turned out, may be just out of curiosity. While narrating his religious decision, Andrew announced that he would become a missionary. His girl, Thile, was not happy, and stopped being friends with him. He went to the work in a chocolate factory, and met a girl, a sweet and religious one, who had invited him and his friends from the rehab hospital to a meeting in a tent. After knocking at many doors for evangelic training, Kees and Andrew landed in Worldwide Evangelization Crusade (WEC), in their training school in Glasgow, Scotland. They train them for two years and then send them out into the world.

With this started a life of faith, depending for the next meal, or the next penny on the Lord fully. He didn’t want to be missionaries who hinted their wants and, not really depended on the Lord. As he prayed about it for days on end, he was still holding on to his lame leg as an excuse to join as a missionary. But he suddenly remembered the ten lepers who came to Jesus and were healed as they went. He jumped up and said “Yes” to the Lord, lame or not, and that day he was healed and was able to walk without a support. He just had thirty pounds in his pockets, after selling his new cycle, his books and tit-bits, the admission fee for the first semester. He joined the school in 1953, after some initial hiccups, and soon was to learn how hard it was to live on faith.

The school grounded the students in faith from the very start. They had to trust God to do what He said He would do. He witnessed how God met the practical needs of the students, organizers and families connected with WEC. In his own life he started to experience it. He lived frugally and did every mean and manual work himself. The students had to cook, clean and do everything themselves. They also learned some practical skill and Andrew learnt at the Ford factory in London, how to take a car apart and put it back together. Then came training trips in evangelism, an exercise in trust. They were not allowed to beg or throw a hint or borrow any money to conduct these meetings. They had to depend on the Lord to provide. It was His mission anyway. Money came in as they prayed, from parents, from long forgotten friends, and some even said, “God wouldn’t let me sleep until I put this money in an envelope for you.” They learnt that God did supply even if it was bit by bit, and never too much, but just enough for their wants. The students were taught to pay tithes of whatever money the Lord thus provided. 

He had to look to God to supply the next thirty pounds to pay for the second semester. He had no other job, no income and no money. He had to know for sure that God will provide him his practical needs. So, he prayed. In time a cheque came from Whetsras for exactly the right amount. Such gifts came as and when necessary and he was able to pay all the semester fees. He experienced God’s faithfulness continually. He also learnt the difference between a Want and a Need, want being basic necessities, and need being luxuries. God provided for necessities, but not for luxuries. So much for the prosperity gospel preachers!

After completing his two years training at WEC, Andrew went to attend a three weeks youth festival in Warsaw in 1955, and on the side, he visited a few churches there, and discovered that the real biblical churches had no Bibles! They were behind the Iron Curtain of Russian Communist rule. Bible smuggling was a highly remunerative business in these countries, especially in Russia, for people bought them for high prices, as Bibles were rare commodities. Suddenly a decision was formed in Andrew’s mind that he must smuggle Bibles into these communist countries and give them to the churches free of cost. He also realized that his life work was behind the Iron Curtain to strengthen the remnant church that was struggling to survive, to keep the flame burding. That was his calling.

Then started the saga of carrying in his car, presented to him by an old friend, Bibles in the local languages of the East European countries, Poland, Rumania, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, East Germany, Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria, Albania, and Russia, smuggling these into these countries. How at each border security-check, God would listen to his prayers and make the guards go blind and not see the stoved away Bibles, and the way these Bibles were then distributed to the pastors and worshippers behind the iron curtain, and how in tears they received the precious Bibles and how happy they were to know that they were not alone in their struggle, but some foreigner cared enough for them to risk his life and come to them bringing the Bibles, and how grateful they were, that these Bibles were donated by the countries in the West like Holland and even the Bible Society in England, all these will fill much more pages. There were severe persecutions too. I am not even attempting to do that. My main purpose of writing this account is to show how Br. Andrew came to accept Christ, a very unlikely candidate, the training at WEC and how he developed the faith that could move mountains with his prayers. A lesson to many of us, who struggle to have such a solid faith.

Brother Andrew worked in this field for many years, risking his life every year, and slowly others, another twelve, joined him and the mission field also widened to include Red China and Arab and Egyptian Islamic countries. With all these, Br. Andrew married Corry, the girl who invited the soldiers recuperating in the military hospital for a tent meeting and later worked in the Chocolate factory, as indicated by the Spirit. They had five children and eleven grandchildren. Corry had died in 2018. Br Andrew died in 2022, at the ripe old age of 94. Praise God for his life and ministry.

Today Russia is open, after the fall of Soviet Republic of Russia in 1991. Still there are other countries where Bible is prohibited, evangelism is a punished and Christians are persecuted. Let’s pray that God of Br. Andrew will raise many others for such an adventurous life in His Service. Amen.

St. Thomas Christians

 

Stone Cross of the Palayur church

Palayur church

St. Thomas Christians

St. Thomas Christians of the Malabar area in Kerala is an enigma. Their proud tradition has it that they are the direct descendants of those converted to Christ by St. Thomas, one of the Twelve direct disciples of Jesus Christ. St. Thomas, according to the tradition, landed in Kodungallur (Cranganore or Muziris), in the West coast of South India, today’s Kerala, in 52 AD, and established along the coast seven churches; he then went on to the eastern coast of India, now Tamil Nadu. In Mylapore, in today’s Chennai, he was speared by irate Brahmins of the place in 72 AD and was thus martyred. There is a small shrine built by Portuguese in 1551 AD, in Chinnamalai (Little Mount) near today’s Chennai, in the place where he stayed in a cave near Adayar river in Saidapet, and preached the gospel of Christ. A little away from it is the St. Thomas Mount (Parangimalai) near Guindy, where he was martyred, and there is a church there in honor of him, built by Portuguese in 1523 AD. In the Santhome beach near Mylapore is the Santhome Cathedral Basilica, constructed over the tomb of St. Thomas, built by Portuguese in 1523 AD and later rebuilt by the British in 1896 AD .    

It is wonderful that a direct disciple of Jesus should have travelled all the way and come to Southern India and preached the gospel of Christ and converted some people and established churches in these places, martyred and was buried there itself. But what are the evidences? Nothing at all for the first two or three centuries, excepting the strong tradition. We will see in detail the evidences that are available for the claim of these Syrian Christians of Malabar region in Kerala.

The first question of doubt is, in the first century AD, was it possible at all for a disciple to travel from Jerusalem and come all the way to India, especially to the South Indian coast? This question is not hard to answer, for Indian pepper and spices and textiles were hot items that were being imported by the Roman Empire and the West much before Christ. Traders came through the land route and also through the sea route to come to the western and eastern coasts of India to buy pepper, spices, pearls and textiles. Chinese silk was imported by the Indian traders and re-sold to the Western traders for a profit. Strabo, the Greco-Roman historian writes that 120 ships sailed for India every year from Myos Hormos, a major ancient Egyptian port on the Red Sea, famous since 3^rd century BC. Greek vessels were sailing in huge numbers from the West. Settlements of Greek, Armenians and later even Arabs were located in the western and eastern coasts of the peninsular India. Gold and silver coins of the Roman Emperors Nero (AD 37-68) and Tiberius Caesar (AD 14-37-he was the Roman Emperor when Jesus was crucified in 33 AD), unearthed in Kerala around Palayur, Kodungallur, Parur belt, as also in Tamil Nadu coastal area, bear ample testimony to this brisk trade between India and the West. Pliny, the Elder (923-79 AD), mentions voyages from the Roman Empire to India and the pepper trade that flourished. He even resents the Roman exchequer being emptied to buy this pepper from India, which according to him, has nothing in it except a certain pungency! So, St. Thomas could have easily made that trip to India in the first century AD.

Now, let’s try and see what evidences are there for Thomas’s presence in India in 52 AD as claimed by Malabar Christian tradition. As we dig along, we find an apocryphal book, The Acts of Thomas, originally written in Syriac and later translated into Greek, written between 180-230 AD. Because it is an apocryphal book, showing certain Gnostic tendencies, like forbidding Christians to marry and those who are married to become single, a teaching which is not found in the four gospels of Christ, biblical Christians do not give credence to this book. But we can glean a few historical evidences and facts from this book. According to his book, the twelve disciples divided the world into different regions and by lot selected who is to go where to preach the gospel. India fell to Thomas’s lot, who was reluctance to go to so far a place. But urged by Christ in a dream, he leaves, with a merchant named Abban, who had come from India, sent by King Gundaphorus of India to get him a carpenter. He takes Thomas with him and presents him to the king as a carpenter.

Until 19^th century scholars thought this Gundaphorus was a non-existing king in India. In 1834 numerous coins have been found in Punjab and Afghanistan bearing his name in Greek on one side and in Pali on the other side, dated to belong to the first half of the first century AD. So, we can now be sure that Gundaphorus is not a fictitious king, but a real one who ruled in the north western India, present day Afghanistan and Pakistan, which were all historically ruled by Parthian princes, of whom Gundaphorus was the last. It is learnt from history that this kingdom was overcome by Kushans in 52 AD and the rule of Kanishka starts thereafter. Gundaphorus ruled till his death in 51 AD, and it is possible that Thomas who had come to his kingdom, after his death and the invasion in 52 AD left north-west India and came down to south India by sea and landed at Kodangallur in the Kerala coast. There he converted a few families of Nambudiris and ordained some of them as priests, from the families of Sankarapuri and Pakalomattam, Kaliyankavu, etc. Many archdeacons till 1653 were from these families.

However, there is no direct evidence for the presence of St. Thomas in South India before the third or fourth century AD. It is historically true that Kodangallur, known in ancient times to the Western traders and writers as Muziris, was situated at the bank of the river Periyar, which opened to the Arabian sea, slightly away from the town. Goods were brought to the city by barges from the ships anchored in the sea. Nevertheless, enough and more evidences are available for the tomb of St. Thomas in Mylapore. This tomb is the only one that is claimed as the tomb of St. Thomas world over. St. Ephrem (300-373 AD) writes that St. Thomas was buried in Mylapore, from where some merchants stole the body from his tomb and carried it to Edessa, now in Turkey. This is well testified by many ancient writers, like Jerome, Gregory of Tours and so on. Many pilgrims from various parts of the world travelled to Mylapore as miracles occurred even if they touched the tomb of the saint or the earth around it. This is mentioned by Ambrose of Milan (337-397 AD). This continued even after the body had been removed to Edessa, where also it is venerated. Marco Polo (1293), the traveler who spurred the youth of the West to dream about travelling to exotic places like India and China, writes that he had visited St. Thomas’ tomb at Mylapore. So also, Nicolo di Conti (1430). This is the greatest proof that St. Thomas worked in south India and died a martyr there in Mylapore.

How did the Thomas Christians get the name Syrian Christians? Let’s explore this a bit. Historically there were five Patriarchs (the senior most Bishop) in the Christian world; one in Rome, the seat of Western Roman Empire, who later became the Pope; second in Alexandria, Egypt; third in Jerusalem; fourth in Antioch, Syria, and the fifth in Constantinople, the capitol of Eastern Roman Empire, all established by the fourth century AD. We are interested in the Patriarchy of Antioch, which included the regions of Syria and Mesopotamia. Later Mesopotamia See became separate from Antioch, as Syriac speaking churches, and by 498 AD it had its own Patriarch, termed as Patriarch of Babylon or generally the Patriarch of East Syria. By the end of the fifth century, a Bishop belonging to one of the persecuted sect Nestorians, who had fled to Syria to escape persecution by Rome, became the Patriarch of the East. His jurisdiction extended up to India, as India was a part of earlier Persian Empire and the later Pathian empire of that time.

Now, there were two waves of immigrations from the countries of East Syria, Mesopotamia and Persia. First one occurred in 345 AD. It is said that St. Thomas appeared in a dream to one Thomas of Cana, and asked him to help India, where Christians baptized by him had been left without a shepherd. On being reported to the king of Edessa, who was also the king of Syrians, this mass exodus was permitted. Some four hundred families, men, women and children, including clergy under the leadership of Thomas pf Cana, came to Cranganore (Kodungallur) and settled in Malabar Christian area, after obtaining permission and certain privileges from the local king, Shriamon Pirumal. From this time on the church grew and the Thomas Christians had the support of clergy, liturgical in Syrian and the traditions of the Syrian church of the East. This is well documented.

Another immigration took place in 823 AD, when another Syrian Christian from Persia, with two bishops and some people came to Quilon in Travancore and settled there, after obtaining from the local king Shakirbirti (Chakravarthi, possibly) grants of land and various other privileges. Some seventy-two privileges were granted to them, inscribed in five copper plates, three of which are still in Kottayam seminary of Jacobites and two with the Mar Thoma Church at Tiruvalla. They were written in Tamil-Malayalam, and Pahlavi and Arabic. It is pertinent to note that in all these places there were already Jewish settlements. It was to these Jews the Apostle must have preached first.

Till the coming of the clergy along with people from Syria, the Thomas Christians had archdeacons from one or two families ordained by St. Thomas himself, such families continuing well into Syriac time. From the 4^th century onwards until the Portuguese came to India in the sixteenth century, and messed up things for these St. Thomas Christians, they were getting their bishops ordained by the Syrian Patriarch to minister to them. Locally, Archdeacons were managing who were to be ordained by the Bishop. Due to delay in the voyages between so far-flung areas, there were times when the Syrian Christians in Malabar area went without a Bishop for 2, 3 years. Thus, Thomas Christians of Malabar area of Kerala, became intimately associated with Syria and their liturgies were in Syriac language and the Bishop over them was a Syriac clergy ordained and appointed by the Syriac Patriarch. It is worth noting that the pepper trade was in the hands of the Syrian Christians and they were quite rich and well respected by the local people, and the foreign traders. They also supplied able bodied and well-trained men with arms as soldiers to the local rulers, for their military adventures and thus the kings also relied upon these Malabar Christians.

Let’s now see the seven churches said to be built by St. Thomas. These are in Kodangallur, Palayur, Kottakkavu (Parur), Kokkamangalam, Niranam, Kollem and Nilakkal. First week of March 2026, I went on a whirlwind tour to all these seven churches and tried to get maximum information as possible.

First church to visit was in Palayur, the northern most of the seven churches, which is in Guruvayur, the temple city of Hindus; there is also a famous mosque, Juma Masjid of Muslims; This shows the spirit of religious harmony of the people of Kerala. St. Thomas Major Archiepiscopal Shrine, a church constructed and renovated in 1601, is said to have been built at the same place where the original church stood. It contains the stone cross with eight stone lamps, at the place where St. Thomas first erected the cross. A tall bell tower stands outside. Near by the Church we have the Anakkotta Elephant Camp, where 50-60 temple elephants are fed and trained to get them ready for festivities.   

The next church visited was in Kodungallur, Kottappuram, known as St. Thomas Shrine. It is locally called Maddamapalli, in honor of an Italian or French lady (Madame) who donated the sum to build the church. There was also a small CSI church next door. Kodangallur or Cranganore or Muziris (from 9^th century AD onwards the name Kodangallur was used eclipsing the name Muziris), itself has been silted by the sediments carried by the river Periyar by 14^th century itself and is no longer visible. The harbor has been shifted to Cochin, which is 45 kms to the south. However, we have a lovely church near the coastal place Azhicode, known as Mar Thoma Pontifical Shrine. In recognition of the intimate connection between the Apostle St. Thomas and the Malabar Christians, a bone of the right arm of the Apostle was sent as a relic to Kodangallur, from Ortona, in Italy where the remains of the Apostle were taken from Edessa and finally interned in 1258 AD. This has been placed in this church at Azhicode, especially built to accommodate the relic.

The third church on the list is St. Thomas Kottakkavu Church, in Paravur or Parur. In ancient times it was called Kottakkavu. We can see the remains of the compound wall of the old church, baptismal pond and a granite stone cross. The church was reconstructed two or three times, once in 1308, and then in 1790, after it was destroyed by the attack of Tippu Sultan in 1789, and finally in 1938 when the present church was constructed. The old granite cross made by St. Thomas is also preserved for public view and veneration.

These above two churches, especially Paravur are near Cochin and I had the opportunity to see the famous Chinese fishing net installed by the Chinese Admiral Zheng He, who visited Malabar coast around 1350 and 1450 AD. These are huge cantilevered fishing nets, based on the original pattern and we can see them near the Fort of Cochin. A Jewish synagogue is still there in Cochin, and I met some of the Jewish people who had come for Friday prayers to the synagogue. The street leading to it is called ‘Jew Town’ and one can walk around window shopping, which I did!

The next church lay near Alleppey (Allepuzha in Malayalam), St. Thomas Church, Kokkamangalam. St. Thomas is supposed to have converted many families of Brahmins here; due to the hostility of others, Christians couldn’t flourish here. The church has a beautiful building built newly in 1900, and there is a stone cross and on the sides of its base are carved the models of all the seven churches of St. Thomas. The path way from this cross, ends in beautiful back waters, which spreads almost like a sea. I also got to stay on the bank of a backwaters and enjoy the serene beauty of the place, looking at the house boats floating gently down the waters and the glorious sunset on the western coast.

The fifth church is St. Thomas Mar Thoma Church at Niranam. It was also a port city and an international trading center, as the Roman coins of Augustus Caesar discovered here will bear witness. Today we see the St. Mary’s Syrian Orthodox Church built in 1912, near by the old church. This serves as the Marthoman Pilgrim center of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Since 1259 through 1912, four churches have been built on this spot. The granite cross in front of the church was erected in 1259 AD.

The sixth church is in Nilackal, which is even mentioned in Chilappathikaram of Sangam Tamil literature. It was on the border to Pandya kingdom with a road leading to Madurai, their capitol. The district Pathanamthitta within which Nilackal lies, is famous for hand made silk. The Nilackal church was destroyed in 1311-1315 due to local persecutions, continuous wars between Chera and Pandya kingdoms, etc., and the Christian community shifted to other places. Nilackal itself became a part of Pandyan kingdom. In 1957 the remains of Nilackal church were found in the Sahari forest of today, including an old cross. Following this in 1984 a church was built in the mountainous region of Nilackal called St. Thomas Ecumenical Church. Retreats and seminars are conducted here. I met a lone priest living in the premises of this center, who had encountered wild sloth bears, elephants and tigers here. Some 25 kms away is the famous Sabarimalai temple of the Hindus.

The seventh and the last church of St. Thomas is found in Kollam, (Quilon), an ancient sea port. Fort Kollam was built by the Portuguese and later was destroyed in a local war. Till ninth century St. Thomas Church stood here which was destroyed by a flood. The present church known as “Our lady of Purification  Roman Catholic Church was built much later in 1986-1993.

With this we have come to a close of the Seven St. Thomas Churches in Kerala. There is one more church built in Thiruvithamkodu, capital of early Chera kingdom, which is now in Tamil Nadu, after the Reorganization of the States. This is called Arapally. The literal translation is ‘half-church.’ But on visiting the church I learnt that the local king (Raja or Arasan) had donated the place on which the Church is built, hence it is called Arasara-pally, which became in due course “Arapally!” This was built in 63 AD by St. Thomas, and this is the only church that has retained some of its old granite stone columns and walls, without being overpowered by a newly constructed church. A stone cross said to be carved by St, Thomas is also there. It is now known as St. Mary’s Orthodox Syrian Church, which must have been a later construction over the old church.

Well, it has become a long blog even by my standards. But there is so much to write about! Once the Portuguese came to India and got established in Goa and the other coastal areas, they interfered with the St. Thomas Christians to being them in tune with Latin Christianity and under the jurisdiction of the Roman Pope. This was resisted by the community, but Portuguese used their muscle power and brought them under the Pope in 1599 by the Synod of Diamper. I am not going into these details except to mention that since 1599, the majority of Malabar Christians are Catholics; a splinter group exists since 1655, the Orthodox Jacobites; and many smaller Protestant and reformed churches, especially after the Dutch and British conquests of the area.

I am amazed at the Apostle of Jesus Christ coming all the way to Indian in 52 AD and establishing a Christian community and built seven plus one churches in Kerala coast. Not humanly possible, except by the presence of the Lord Jesus with him and the indwelling Holy Spirit, who graced his work with miracles and signs and wonders, that people were convinced and came to Christ in these places. The command and the promises of the risen Christ were: “Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit… and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20). The response of the disciples being, “And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs (and miracles). Amen.” (Mark 16:20). This has been an interesting study. All glory and praise be to the Lord Jesus Christ alone.

                                               Chinese fishing net in Cochin

Jew Town, Cochin

St. Thomas Shrine, Kodangallur

Azhicode Shrine

Relic of the arm-bone of St. Thomas in Azhicode Shrine

Paravur church

                                                   Kokkamangalam church

                                         Stone cross of Kokkamangalam church

Niranam Church

Nilakkal Ecumenical centre

Kollum Church

Thiruvithamcode Arapally Church

House boat in Alleppy

                                                        Sun set on Alleppy backwaters

                                                  Elephant being trained in the camp near Guruvayur

India that came to be

 

India that came to be

India had captured the imagination of the world, especially the West, since Roman times, when the senators like Pliny the Elder in the 1^st century AD, cried that all their gold is flowing in the direction of India to pay for the spices, especially pepper from the Kerala coast that they were importing from this country. But India as a country as we know today was not there that time. It was the Chera dynasty, one of the three small kingdoms of southern India, that they interacted with. The 14^th century, traveler from Venice, Italy, Marco Polo, on his way back from China of Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan, the then Mongolian ruler of China, visited India – the Coromandel coast, today’s Tamil Nadu and also the Kerala coast, during the reign of Pandya kings, flushed with pearls, spices and international trade. Even then there was no single country named India. There were many rulers each carving out his own kingdoms, with mutual fighting for supremacy between them happening almost all the time.

Spurred by his travel accounts describing the wealth that was over-flowing in these parts, especially the Indian spices and Chinese silk, a favorite with the rich in the yester year Rome and the European countries, Europeans searched for a sea route to come to India to trade with her in the 15^th century, especially as the land route got costly, with the Ottoman Turks capturing Constantinople in 1456 AD and enjoying a near monopoly over spices. They stumbled over America and called them the Indians, when Christopher Columbus sailing from Spain, landed in Bahamas in 1492. In 1498 Columbus in his third voyage, landed near today’s Venezuela, and they called the Americas or the South American people as Indians. Only in 1507, Amerigo Vespucci discovered that America was a new continent and not Asia, much less India that they were seeking. Still the name Indians stuck, now they are called Amerindians. It was Vasco de Gama, a Portuguese explorer, who first discovered a sea route to India and arrived at Calicut, Now Kozhikode in Kerala in 1498. Thus started the scramble for the real India.   

When the East India company was formed in London on the eve of 1601 AD, their sights were still set on trade. But the affairs which they saw in India gave them territorial ambitions. As long as the Mughal Empire was strong, as a central authority in India, all of these traders, Portuguese, Dutch, English and French, behaved, putting on their best behavior. Once the Mughal empire started to crumble, the traders turned territorial conquerors. India was ruled by multifarious kings and princes and nawabs, who were constantly fighting with each other, even inviting the French or the English to fight each other. Still India was very much a place ruled by many, under the umbrella of one mighty power, the Mughal Empire. The infightings culminated in Britain capturing power in India, first in Calcutta and then slowly but surely, they consolidated their power in the other coastal areas like Madras, now Chennai, and Bombay, now Mumbai.

India was never a country as we see it today, not even during British Raj. Only twice before any semblance of a single rule with an Emperor ruling the entire India prevailed. Once, under the Emperor Ashoka, a Mauryan King, (268-232 BC), who had conquered most of northern India, extending up to Kabul and Afghanistan. His rule extended even to the south, but the tip of Indian peninsula of Chera, Chola, Pandya kingdoms were not included. After Ashoka the empire fell into pieces. Ashoka, a Hindu, converted to become a Buddhist, spent his life propagating Buddhism throughout his kingdom and outside to Sri Lanka, Tibet and beyond.

The second King who almost brought the entire India under his control was Aurangzeb (1658-1707), the last powerful Emperor of Mughal dynasty. Though at his time there were rulers of Marathas, Sikhs and Rajput, he held them at bay by his might and power. But he also sowed seeds of discard among the local rulers of India, by strictly imposing Islamic law. His boundaries extended up to the south, but he also couldn’t control the very tip of Southern India, which was under the rulers Maharaja of Travancore, and Nayakas of Mysore. But the empire started to collapse immediately after his death, and the Marathas, Sikhs, Persians, Afghans, and Europeans fought with each other for the spoils of the kingdom.

Now let’s skip the intervening years and centuries and come to the 1947 when India won its freedom from the British rule. British rule took a foothold in India with their success in the Battle of Plassey in 1747. They left after 200 years of rule in 1947, during which time, they had sucked India dry of her financial and trade hegemony. Her wealth was looted to build London and the British Empire, her people enslaved, bereft of their pride in their culture and trade. From being the land where gold that flowed to buy her products, she became a Third world country, impoverished in her resources and finances. More adverse than that, the country was partitioned into two, Pakistan and India, both looking like moth-eaten. Well, that was some 79 years ago. Now we are looking up again, breaking the cycle of poverty, superstition and illiteracy. But we are jumping ahead. My main point is this moth-eaten country left by the Britishers became today’s India, encompassing the entire sub-continent that goes by the name India, by the tireless efforts some committed leaders of the then India.  

When the British left India in 1947, India was not a single political entity, though geographically she had always been one. There was British India, directly annexed and ruled by the British from Delhi. This was divided into many provinces, the prominent ones being Bombay, Bengal, Madras, Sind, etc., covering roughly half of the subcontinent. Then we had the Princely India, ruled indirectly by the British through the hereditary princes, which was governed by various treaties, annexation agreements and so on. There were some 600 such princely states, small and big, with the rulers provided with security and some privileges in return for acknowledging the supreme or paramountcy of the British. While transferring the power, the British made it clear that the paramountcy privileges and protections ended and giving the princes the option to join either Pakistan or India or to go it alone. In India the power was transferred to the Indian National Congress with Jawahar Lal Nehru as the chosen leader, and in Pakistan the baton was passed onto Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the leader of the Muslim League Party. 

This created problems. There were 565 princely states in the undivided India, and integrating these into the newly independent country was a great problem. If left to themselves as independent entities, it would be much more moth-eaten, with many such independent states within the Indian State. National security, foreign relationships, etc., would become an ever-present headache. Leaders like Nehru were against monarchies operating within democratic India. There was a talk among the rulers of the princely states of even forming a ‘Princestan,’ comprising all the princely states! The princely states occupied 45% of the undivided India and had 24 % of the total population of the pre-partition India.

A States Department was quickly formed to deal with the problem, under the leadership of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the then Deputy Prime Minister and V.P. Menon, as the Secretary of the department, to integrate the princely states and create a unified India. They had to convince the rulers of the princely states to join the union of India. And they had less than two months to accomplish this task, and make them sign the Instrument of Accession to Government of India, before the date fixed for independence, 15^th August 1947. It was a race against time. But they did a marvelous work and made the country India to what it is today, geographically and politically, an integrated country, which for the first time in her long history, covered the whole area of the sub-continent (except Pakistan, which again spilt into Pakistan and Bangladesh).

“565: The dramatic story of unifying India,” has been ably narrated by Mallika Ravikumar in his book of 2024. It makes an interesting read. He picks out the most difficult and bigger princely states, Travancore, Bhopal, Gwalior, Indore, Bikaner, Jodhpur, Rampur, Baroda, Navanagar, Patiala, Tripura, Junagadh, Jammu and Kashmir and Hyderabad and explains how these were integrated with India. Most of us are more familiar with the integration of Junagadh, Jammu and Kashmir and Hyderabad and the problems associated with their integration. In Hyderabad there was police action; so also in Junagadh; Jammu and Kashmir problem unfortunately was referred to the United Nations, at the prompting of Mountbatten, the First Governor-General of Independent India and the problem is still simmering. I will not go into the details of any of these, for neither time not space will permit that, but to remind ourselves that the India that is today would not have been possible, but for the untiring efforts of Sardar Patel, who was firm with not only with the princes, but also with the Prime Minister Nehru and the Governor-General Mountbatten, when they wavered. He was ably assisted by V.P. Menon, a quiet bureaucrat, functioning as the Secretary of the States Department. Sardar Patel, the Iron-man of India, with lot of foresight, integrated peacefully the Tawang area of Tibet into Indian territory, as a district of Arunachal Pradesh State. His statue stands as a testimony to this even today in that place.

Now that we have got the country back and in an integrated form, what are we to do as we face the 77^th year of Republic Day on 26^th January, 2026? As Indians we are not only proud of India’s achievements, but also, we need to pray that she carries everyone with her in her development and advancement inside the country and on the international stage. It needs to be an inclusive country with a secular outlook, where everyone, with no distinction of caste, creed or sex can be involved in her advancement and feel proud to be an Indian.

Bible teaches us to pray for our country and our leaders. Apostle Paul writes in 1 Timothy 2:1-2, “I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings, and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.” We may even pray for those who spitefully treat us, for Lord Jesus Christ has said in Matthew 5:44, 48, “I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, … Therefore, you shall be perfect just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Let us abide by these exhortations and wish our country well. May God bless our country and its people.      

The Nagaland I visited!

 

The Nagaland I visited!

In the whirlwind tour of the North-East States which I undertook in the month of April 2025, visiting from one corner of the Seven Sisters to the other, nothing touched my heart like that of Nagaland. I went to the Bangladesh border from Megalaya State and to the Chinese border beyond Bomla pass at 15,200 feet elevation in Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh State. I remember the cold and the shivering at the pass, but Naga country blew me over, not for what it is now, but for what it was a few decades back or even a few centuries back. I will narrate a few facts of its history which I learnt during my trip.

Nagas, people of the State of Nagaland are of many different tribes, as many as 50 tribes, living in Naga hills. They are of Mongoloid stock, close to north Western Myanmar and has river Brahmaputra at its western border. The important tribes being, Angami, Ao, Chang, etc. Some had republican system and others autocratic rule. Angamis practiced a pure form of democracy. The bravery of the Naga chiefs was legendary. “Naga” seems to be a Tibeto-Chinese word, a name for a place, and the people living there became the “Naga people.”

‘Head-hunting’ was the practice of Naga tribes, taking heads of enemies as trophies, which symbolized bravery and ritualistic entrance into manhood and enhanced social status. The greater number of heads hanging at the entrance of his house, the higher was his prestige. Unfortunately, their enemies were their own Naga people, belonging to another Naga tribe. Nagas were feared for their head-hunting practices and their raids into the neighboring states or people. As Christianity spread among them in the 19^th century, the head-hunting practice disappeared slowly but surely. The first church to be established was a Baptist church in 1872. Even today I could see many Baptist churches, and also Pentecostal churches in Nagaland. In Christian seminaries like SABC (South Asian Bible College), Bangalore, and SAIACS (South Asian Institute of Advanced Christian Studies – from where I did my year-long Pre-PhD programme in 2000!), Bangalore, I used to see more students from Nagaland than from anywhere else in India. 90% of the Nagas follow Christianity and they are more fluent with English, having benefitted from the education introduced by the missionaries.

Nagas had problems with the Burmese and have fought a few wars with them. Also, the British who wanted to incorporate them into their Raj had to wage many a war to finally bring them in. The village we visited, Khonoma, of Angami tribe, has a famous fort built in 1825, and from where they fought their wars against the British East India Company, the first one called the first Anglo-Khonoma battle of 1850, where the Nagas defeated the British. In a retaliatory battle of 1851, the British and some of the allied Naga tribes massacred the Nagas including civilians, in Kikruma village, but the British learnt to let the Nagas live their own lives, adopting a policy of non-interference in Naga affairs. In Khonoma itself the fort was demolished three times, and rebuilt, the last one in 1919.

Another site of historical importance was in Kohima itself, the capital of Nagaland, the Commonwealth Kohima War Cemetery, established in 1946 for the fallen in the World War II. In April 1944, around the Tennis court of the Deputy Commissioner, Nagas fought bravely along with their British and British Indian counterparts in the Battle of Kohima, where they effectively halted the invasion of British India by the forces of Japan, with the loss of some 2500 soldiers and officers, who lie buried in this field. The war lasted till June 1944. In this cemetery, I saw tombstones of soldiers from Punjab Regiment; of Royal Indian Army Service Corps; Dorsetshire Regiment; some as young as 19 years old. The allied forces lost some 4000 men, but the Japanese lost some 7000 men and had to retreat and give up their effort to enter into India.  

The independent spirit of Nagas was not extinguished even after India got her independence in August 1947. They continued to fight for preserving their independent existence, safeguarding their traditional ways of life. Though in the beginning they wanted to be a part of Assam as one of its districts, with their own administration and traditional manner of rule, it was not acceptable to the newly formed country India. India could not have afforded an independent enclave within her boundaries, as it was repeatedly denied during the Integration of India, to the Princely States which wanted to have such arrangements.

Then started the so-called “Naga problem.” In 1947 NNC (Naga National Council) submitted a memorandum to the British, that they should be granted independence and not be placed under Indian rule, in view of the help rendered by them in WW II and also because in the 1935 Constitution of India, Nagas were left as an “Excluded Area.” They wanted the British power, on the eve of their departure, to assure them of their independence and be their “Guardian power.” British could not give any such guarantees. Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India tried to make the Nagas join the Indian Union of their own freewill. But this was not agreeable to the Nagas. They wanted internal autonomy. When talks failed open conflict began in 1956. In trying to suppress this tendency and to integrate Nagas into India, Indian Government used force, through the Assam police and Indian army, and it led to many atrocities, a reign of terror with rape, arrests, disappearances, and even executions happening. In 1956 when a leader of Nagas, Sakhrie was killed, the movement went underground. In 1990, A. Z. Phizo, acknowledged as the Father of Naga Nationalism passed away, who was living in self-exile in London since 1957.

Their leader Khrisanisa Seyie, from Khonoma village, member of Naga National Council (NNC), and the first President of Federal Government of Nagaland, in 1959 had this to say: “Nagas are not Indians; their territory is not a part pf the Indian Union. We shall uphold and defend this unique truth at all costs and always.” Nagas sought to create an independent Naga State. With untiring zeal, Seyie tried to unite all the warring Naga tribes under one umbrella. Their mantra was “Nagas will never allow themselves to be called Indians.” The union of India could not afford to give such an independent status within India to Nagas, a privilege which was denied to 565 Princely States.

In 1997, a ceasefire agreement was executed between Government of India and the national Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM). In 2001 another ceasefire agreement between Government of India and NSCN (Khaplang) came into being. After many false starts, and loss of life, the peace agreement held on and it is only in the last two decades or so there seems to be peace and development in Nagaland.

What a pity! Such a beautiful State, with hills and valleys and river-lets and water-falls, place still unspoiled by modern advances, with virgin forests, and beautiful people had become a battle ground and the people were caught in the fire between Indian government and the Naga freedom fighters. A similar thing is now being repeated in Manipur, where in spite of the guarantees given to them by the Government of India, an attempt is being made to replace the hill tribes Kukis, with Maiteis from Imphal valley. Manipur is still burning, one reason why I could not visit Manipur during my trip this time. I hope and pray that one day very soon peace and justice will prevail there and people would be able to visit without fear and enjoy the beauty of Manipur.

Till then “kei lawm e!” (Good Bye in creole language spoken in Nagaland).

Please see the pictures below.

                                                Fort in Khonoma village

                                               Terrace cultivation in Nagaland

A Baptist church in Nagaland

Hotel where I stayed with the signature design of Angami tribe

                                                                                          

                                     Rows of tombs of the fallen in the Cemetery

                                                         Memorial for the leader Seyie
                                                   

                                                Commonwealth War Cemetery in Kohima

My Mussoorie Days!

 

My Mussoorie Days!

Mussoorie was a turning point, an important mile stone, not only in my career, but also in my life. When I joined the Academy in 1974, my life changed irrevocably. Suddenly the horizon expanded. Madras, now Chennai, where I completed my M.Sc in Zoology, though a metropolitan city was not comparable in lifestyle to Bombay, now Mumbai or New Delhi. The world view was quite different. In Mussoorie, opportunities just exploded. Under Dr. Rajeshwar Prasad, the Director, LBSNAA, extra-curricular activities galore, and one can pick and choose what one wanted to do. Having embroiled in studies to complete M.Sc, then to write the UPSA examination, it was a welcome change. I think I just went mad!

Early mornings went to the riding classes. One had to climb down to the riding ground. I was fairly good at riding and I loved it. My horse was Josaphine, the fine lady! Many a weekend, we went on treks on horseback in and around Mussoorie. It was a good exercise for the body and exhilarating experience with wind blowing on your face and the horse steady on trot or galloping wildly, especially when you lose control! Our riding instructor Nawal Singh, would shout saying, if you cannot control a horse, how would you control a district? Even Indira Gandhi, ex-PM of, seemed to have held such a view. During the British time, Collectors had to use horses to reach the remote interior regions of his district. A colonial relic, may be, but it is an exhilarating experience, giving one confidence and boldness to face any situation in the district or elsewhere.

I was able to continue this favorite outdoor exercise of mine, even after a break of 15 years, when I was posted to Mysore as Divisional Commissioner, Mysore. The Police had their own training school there, Karnatak Police Academy, at the foothills of Chamundi Hills, with a Horse-riding school. I went most mornings for horse riding, many a times accompanied by my son, who was just ten years old that time, and he never missed an opportunity to ride with me. I had the privilege of leading the Dasara procession in the years 1990 and 1991, in the front along with the Mayor of Mysore and the Commissioner of Police on horseback.

Then came Judo, the Japanese martial art, where you throw your opponent by focusing on grappling and throwing techniques, basically a close quarters combat. Many lady probationers took up this course in the Academy, including me. Again, it helps one with physical fitness, self-confidence, and teaches you self-defense. This passion for physical and outdoor activities, blossomed into Jane Fonda aerobic exercises, resistance training with weights and swimming for the next thirty years. It really gives you confidence to face challenging situations in the field.

The other outdoor activity in the Academy was the two weeks annual break, when one went to either a trek in Himalayan Mountain range or attended a specific training programme like rock climbing. Our Deputy Director Sri. Yugandhar was the spirit behind these activities. I went to Uttar Pradesh, now Uttarakhand, to train in Rock climbing and enjoyed learning techniques of foot holds and hand holds and rappelling. Last few days we trekked up to Gangotri glacier to see the beginnings of Ganges River, a bit difficult and tiring trek.

Next year I went for high altitude trek, passing Rohtang Pass and crossing into Lahaul-Spiti valley in Himachal Pradesh, which is around 3980 meters high. The stretch was covered with snow even in summer when we went. The pass connects Kullu valley with Lahaul and Spiti valleys. Once we crossed the pass, we descended into Lahaul Valley, with picturesque villages perched around. The trek offered a spectacular view of the snow-capped mountains, fresh and snow-laden breeze, lush valleys and alpine meadows. It was physically very demanding, but worth the trouble. I refused to wear dark glasses while crossing the pass, and when we reached the valley, I was totally snow-blind! On return to the Academy, when everyone was going about normally, I was going around with sunglasses – a freak?!  

Once in Bangalore I joined the club Nature Admire and went on many treks around Bangalore up to Tippu’s fort near Ramanagaram, walking through the fertile paddy fields and sleeping on the parapet wall of the fort. In and around Ramanagaram there are many boulders and we did rock climbing too. I rounded it all off by attending a month-long Basic Mountaineering Course in Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi, now Uttarakand, and passed out with flying colors, obtaining an A! After acclimatizing, in the last week, we trekked up to the Basic Camp in Gangotri region. We did a lot of rock-climbing including rappelling which I thoroughly enjoyed. For the first time I ravenously ate the cold cooked potatoes and full boiled eggs and raisins rationed out to us individually at the start of every day trek. One was hungry to say the least!

These outdoor experiences gave me a love for touring the districts and villages either as an Assistant Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner or Head of the Department of the various departments where one worked during the Service. It gave strength and stamina, courage and a positive outlook, and confidence to meet any challenge in the work.

Of course, one had to be free of mundane works like cooking and cleaning, if one had to go all out on such activities and combine it with work. Fortunately, in the Academy you eat at the mess and they feed you quite well, and an attendant on call to boot for mundane matters. I remember fondly Bahadur, who attended to the Ladies block and was a favorite with all the lady probationers.  

There were many other things going on in the Academy, classes, library, cultural programmes, shramdhan, games like badminton and tennis, yoga and Transcendental meditation, celebrating festivals including Holi, long walks to Library point, visits to Hari’s café, exploring the neighborhood and so on. But what stood out for me was the outdoor activities, which livened my life, not only during the first 2 years at the Academy, but throughout the career and thereafter. I thank my God, the Creator for these wonderful places and the grace given me to enjoy them.

Wonderful and unforgettable Mussoorie days!

(This article was written by me for the Magazine, "Reminiscences and Reflections" of Civil Service Batch of 1974, the Fiftieth Anniversary of which was held at Mussoorie from 2 -4 April, 2025)

 

Silenced by Torture

 

Silenced by Torture

This is an extraordinary life-story of a few missionaries who followed the path led by St. Francis Xavior to evangelize Japan.[1] Christianity first arrived on the shores of Japan via Xavior in 1549 AD. The Society of Jesus or Jesuits, of which St. Zavior was a foundational member, was quite active thereafter and from Portugal missionaries were sent and some three hundred thousand Christians came to be in Japan. In the hierarchical society of the then Japan, the landlord sat on the top of the pyramid, under whom worked the Samurai (the warrior classes), and then came at the bottom the poor peasants. The peasants readily accepted Christ and the message of his love and redemption, for they were under heavy burden of taxation and were considered as filthy insects crawling on the ground, who could be crushed any time by those on the top. During the glory days of evangelism in Japan, even Samurai and the landlords accepted Christ and took baptism.

After the outburst of the Shimbara rebellion in 1637-1638, in which the peasants rebelled against the heavy taxation, led actively by Christian village leaders, and some Christian Samurai, things changed. A terrible persecution of Christianity was launched and kept raging for a long time. In Nagasaki some 26 priests of the Jesuit order were punished and priests all over Japan were evicted, tortured and put to death. Expulsion of all the missionaries from Japan was ordered 1614, because of their alleged role in stirring rebellion among the peasants. Some 70 priests were exiled to Macao, then a popular port in China. For the next 250 years Christianity was banned in Japan and its priests were outlawed.  

The church went underground and some 37 priests secretly remained in Japan, including Father Ferreira, sent from the Society of Jesus in Portugal. He had worked for 33 years in Japan; but he was betrayed, arrested, put to torture of ‘the pit’ at Nagasaki and he apostatized. He had to take a Japanese name, marry a Japanese woman, dress like a Japanese and stayed in Nagasaki under the magistrate’s supervision. His letters to the Society stopped after 1632. Uneme became the magistrate in Nagasaki in 1629 and ever since torture and killing of secret Christians became worse.

In 1635, three priests from Portugal, who were the students of Ferriera, took permission of the authorities in Rome and Portugal, to undertake a secret mission, to go to Japan and investigate whether Ferreira really denied his Master Christ, and what had happened to him. These priests were Rodrigues, Juan Marra and Garrpe, all friends, studied in the seminary of Campolide in Lisbon, where Ferreira had been their teacher once. They departed in the Indian fleet that left the shores of Lisbon in 1638, sailed around Africa, circumventing the Cape of Good Hope, and reached Goa, their destination, after seven months, braving violent storms and turbulent sea on the way.

The next year they proceeded to Macao a base for trade between China and Japan. Portuguese had been forbidden to enter Japan. The Jesuit leader in Macao refused to permit to send these three Jesuits to Japan, on their secret mission, as it was very dangerous, with Dutch and English warships enroute, who were opposed to the Jesuits. In Macao they met a Japanese, named Kichijiro, who promised to put them in touch with the secret Christians in Japan, and after mustering a vessel, captain and sailors, they left for Japan. As Santa Marta was very sick, they left him at Macao and only Rodrigues and Garuppe journeyed further. After a terrible storm, they reached the shores of Japan, somewhere near Nagasaki. Kichijiro led them to a village, Tomogi, where the two missionaries received favorable welcome but in secrecy, and were lodged in a dilapidated hit in the nearby mountain in hiding.

The magistrate of Nagasaki was not aware of the existence of the secret Christians and the villagers feared that they will all be killed if the authorities came to know that the villagers were hiding Portuguese priests. The priests had to hide in that ramshackle hut for the day and in the nights, they could not light a fire. Rainy season started in June and it poured buckets of water. Confined to the hut, it was a miserable existence, dangerous not only to the peasants, but also to the priests. They had some dry rice for food and may be a potato or so brought up by the villagers. Still the priests conducted prayers, heard confessions and instructed them in catechism, for the Christians there were like sheep without a shepherd. The rewards for their heads fixed by the Japanese government were highly attractive: anyone informing on a priest will get 300 pieces of silver; if a Jesuit brother was informed on, one will get 200 pieces of silver and for a Christian, one will get 100 pieces of silver. It was quite an attractive sum for the starving peasants.

Very soon troubles erupted. In spite of all precautions, someone had informed the authorities and the officials descended on the village, searched their houses and in their second visit took the villagers in a procession, made them stamp with their feet on a metal frame with Christ’s face embossed on it. As a true Christian they cannot bear to put their foot on the face of their Savior. I remember the incidence of St. Polycarp, the Bishop of Symrna, before being burnt on stake, was asked just to say, “Caesar is the Lord.” But he refused saying, “for 86 years I have served Him, and He has done me no wrong, and how can I call another person as my Lord?” And as a reward, he was burnt on the stake. That was in 155 AD. The poor peasants of this village, clenching their tooth, stepped on Jesus’ face, but the authorities identified two villagers who cringed while stamping on the picture. Then they brought out the picture of Mother Mary and the infant Jesus in her lap and asked these two to trample on it. As Catholics they had a special regard for Mother Mary and it was too much for them to do and both refused to stamp on it.

These two unfortunate Christians were taken to the beach and bound on wooden beams, which were planted in the sand and left to stand on the shore. At low tide the sea water came up to their ankles, but during the high tide water came up to their neck. Within three days they both died in great agony. Warned of the officials third swoop, which would be to search the mountain where they were staying, the priests decided to separate and run from their mountain hut. Again some one seemed to have informed on them to the authorities. Rodrigue continues the narrative. He ran amidst bushes and brambles and tore the peasant dress he was wearing and his body. With no food to eat, he plucked the grass growing on the sides and ate it. He met Kichijiro on the way and he took him to another Christian village. The priest had his doubts that Kichijiro could be the informer. Still, he went to the village and walked straight in to the ambush of the authorities, was caught and taken to Nagasaki, where he was imprisoned separately. A group of Christian villagers had also been taken prisoners.   

The magistrate Uneme came with a band of Samurai and tried to convince the priest to deny Jesus and recant. He refused to trample on the face of Christ in the picture. They treat him gently and let him conduct prayers for the villagers in captivity. Then one day, they took him to Nagasaki to meet the priest Ferreira, the priest whom they had come to sees. But he tried to convince the young priest to recant. He himself had denied Christ realizing the innocent peasants were being killed one by one, until he recanted. Also, he was suspended in a pit upside down with legs tied up, and a small insertion made behind the ears from which blood oozed out slowly but persistently, which will lead to a slow, but painful death after a few days. Not able to stand these he recanted. The intension of the magistrate was to remove the leaders, the priests, for once that was done, the people, even if they were secret Christians, the authorities did not bother, for there was no one to lead them.

Rodrigues was brought back to his cell. In the night he heard someone constantly snoring. He raised his voice not able to bear this sound. Ferreira came to him and explained that was not the sound of snoring, but the rasping of two men who had been suspended in the pit and dying. As long as he refused to deny Christ, such torture of the innocents will continue. He cannot kill himself as it was against his religion. Finally, Rodriques relented and trampled on the face of Christ. It seemed to him that Jesus from that picture, with compassion, called him to trample on him. The torture stopped, but the priest was held captive, made to wear Japanese dress, given the name of a dead Japanese, made to live in a house under house arrest. He refused to marry the widow of the dead man, whom they offered. His food was supplied twice a day. He was a captive, never could he dream of returning to Portugal. Many times, during those agonizing days, Rodrigues questioned the Lord, “why are you silent?” He got his answer one day, “I was not silent, I suffered beside you.” In this isolation and agony, he lived for another 30 years and died in Japan at the age of sixty-four. His mortal remains were cremated and the little money he had covered this expense.

In the sixty years that followed St. Zavior’s visit, Christianity flourished in Japan. But things changed after 1605. From 1614 to 1640 some six thousand Christians were killed. First the offenders were burnt, but when they died a martyr’s death, glorified by the others, they resorted to torture by dipping them in hot water or made to stand tied to the pole in the sea or suspended upside down in a pit with a small insertion behind the ear. In 1632 Ferraira apostatized. A few years later, Rodrigues also apostatized. The other priest died. It was not until another 250 (1603-1868) years that doors will be opened for Christianity in Japan. But even today as of 2023, there are only 8,98,921 Christians in Japan, a meagre 0.73% of the population.

 

I remember countries like Turkey, which was for 1000 years a Christian nation under Byzantine Roman Empire, today is totally Islamic, with the change taking place after the capture of Istanbul by Ottoman Turks in 1453 AD. Christianity was wiped out from northern Africa, where most famous Christian teacher, writer and philosopher, St. Augustine was born and lived in the fourth century AD.  Today, in the whole of Muslim Arab world there are hardly any Christians. In India, the RSS, and its political wing BJP, that is governing the country today, would love to wipe off the two and a half percent Christians from the face of country.

Why is this hatred towards Christ and his followers? What makes them want to exterminate an enlightened community that is in the forefront of education, health and social services in the country they reside? It dawned on me suddenly that they are scared and worried about the power that is behind the Christian people – power to transform the society, bring education, teach ethics and help the poor and the needy with their services. It is not the Christians doing it, for they are as fallible as any other but, it is the power of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God through His Son Christ, that changes a person and transforms a people, if only given the willingness. Yes, in that power and glory the Lord Jesus Christ will come again to claim what is lawfully His, the Kingdom of heaven on earth. Till then, persecutions will continue, and may the grace of God strengthen them who go through it, and let the hope of eternal life with Christ, the Beloved, bring them peace. Praise God.   

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[1] Shusaku Endo, “Silence,” 1966 in Japanese; translated version in English, 1969.