Vijayababu and family

Vijayababu shown here with his wife Elizabeth and their two sons, Akash and Ajith.




Vijayababu's story is an interesting one. He was formerly an atheist and full-time worker for the Communist Party. Chandrapal taught him about God and in1993 baptized him. He studied at the Institute and is now, as he says, "a full-time worker in God's work." He is minister for a church in Chanubanda, a congregation of 60 members, and also teaches at a church of about 50 at Tiruvuyu. He also teaches a Timothy Bible School for rural youth. His son, Akashi is a great example of the teaching he has received, as he has a great knowledge of the Bible for his young age.

Vijayababu serves as a teacher at the Jack Nelle Institute and is a member of it's Board of Trustees.


- Laurel Sewell

Location:Vijayawada, India

Top ten

Just for fun....
The top 10 signs that we are not in Kansas anymore (or Tennessee)...

#10 Every lunch and dinner includes curried rice and chicken.

#9 Breakfast may include, along with an egg, a serving of cooked cauliflower, red cabbage and carrots, hot spicy peanut butter, with guava or beetroot juice to drink, and hot tea with milk from the water buffalo.

#8 The locals here in southern India drink by pouring the liquids into their wide open mouths without touching their lips to the glass, cup, or bottle. They eat their rice with the right hand--no utensils needed.

#7 There are geckos on the walls of the dining room and bathroom. (The only thing more disconcerting than finding one on the bathroom wall at night is going back in there and not finding it.)

#6 The non-verbal head shake meaning "yes" is a quick wiggle of the head from side to side, as moving the ears slightly toward the shoulders back and forth very quickly.
(I can see some of you trying this!)

#5 Women do laundry by washing it out on a large flat rock.

#4 Camel races on TV.

#3 The bowl of fried fish at dinner includes the head.

#2 The city newspaper has six pages of classified ads where parents advertise requesting a wife for their son or a husband for their daughter. Dowries are listed.

And the number one reason you know you are not in Tennessee anymore...
#1 Your host orders lamb for the special graduation luncheon the following day and the herd arrives on the hoof and is grazing outside. At least we know it will be fresh!

- Laurel Sewell

Village churches

We visited some of the village churches established by the Jack Nelle Institute's graduate preachers. The first, Mylevaram, was quite some distance from the school. We rode for hours on a two-lane highway until traffic came to a complete stop because of a fight that broke out between the drivers of two trucks. This caused us to be delayed even further. We walked down a dark lane, pausing to admire the Happy New Year welcome that had been written in colored powders on the ground. This is a common practice, decorating the hard-packed dirt with these multicolored powders. We commented that we would remember how we celebrated the New Year of 2011.



When we arrived at the little building that served as the home of the preacher as well as the church, there were several men, women and children waiting for us. Each of our men took turns bringing a brief word of encouragement and Bible lesson for them.





During the service, the lights went out, making the starry sky above seem more spectacular. After the service, we walked back to the bus, pausing for a photo op with a young water buffalo.

















On Saturday we visited Jakkula Nekkalem, a "church without walls." Donations are made for a foundation and roof where the church can meet and fill in the walls as they can afford to. The two elderly men pictured here are 73 and 80 years old.














One of the ladies, Malleswari, told us that she formerly worshipped idols.


Her husband beat her and she appealed to her idols with no result. She decided to take her life by throwing herself into a well. The minister, Elisha, rescued her and began teaching her about the one true God. She and her husband were both baptized and now she says he is a very good man!


We walked through the village seeing how life is lived. Here we see how they make their cooking fuel by mixing cow dung with rice straw, then pressing these disks to a wall to bake dry in the hot sun.

















Later in the day we drove to another place where a group was having a meeting.
Though a people of very meager means, they welcomed us with leis made of marigolds.




The women were all seated on the ground listening intently. Incidentally, as I spoke to the women about the parable of the lost sheep, a woman passed by on the street, leading a lamb by a rope.


Lunch of rice with curry sauce was served.













































- Laurel Sewell

The Women's conference

We are involved in a gospel meeting of sorts. We ladies, especially Janet, teach the children's classes similar to a VBS minus the luxury of visual aids. The men have classes where a lesson is taught and questions are discussed.





The women have a separate gathering where Hilde and I spoke.










On Tuesday we had three college girls who asked to be baptized. On Wednesday, there were two more young women.








Later in the week, two elderly women and one young man were baptized.

I was most impressed with how familiar the women were with the scriptures. Almost all of them had their Telugu language Bibles with them. As soon as a verse of scripture was mentioned, they had found it and were ready to read it aloud. They sat for about two hours without a break while the two of us spoke. At one point, a group of young boys came through carrying a tray of small plastic cups of hot tea and served everyone doting the lesson.

Attendance was good and increased every day, from 56 the first night to around 140 on the last day.



- Laurel Sewell

Location:Jack Nelle Institute, Vijayawada, India

The orphanage dormitory

The children are fascinated with my shoes. They want to touch them. They wear flip-flops, fling them in a pile before entering a classroom and are somehow able to find their own later.
They love also to touch our hands, reaching out. Their frequent smiles tell us they are happy and well cared for. The school president's daughter-in-law is a medical doctor and oversees their health and hygiene.
Though these orphans have so little in the way of possessions, (I have only seen one "toy" in the entire orphanage - a volleyball and net,) they are so much better off than they were before they entered the orphanage. Only the very youngest preschoolers seem sad.

The institute has a capacity of 75 children, according to the funding they receive from the sponsoring churches, but there are 78 children here now. They explain that it is just too hard to turn down a child. Preachers who have graduated from the institute often find a homeless child in the villages where they preach and bring them in.


We were given a tour of the dormitory rooms. We saw rows of triple bunk beds. These are like metal shelves, with no mattress, only a mat about the thickness of a beach towel on top of the flat metal. And they have only had these beds for the last 4 years, sleeping on the concrete floor prior to this. Even this is better than sleeping outside on the ground where they were found.




As I was counting the beds, I multiplied them by three to see how many children shared this one room. I was corrected and told that each bed held six children, two on each level! The girls happily demonstrated for us.




We ladies inquired about the possibility of providing a thick mat for each bed. They took us shopping in the wholesale district where we found we could have some made. After some bargaining we agree on a price. We hope to see these on the beds before we leave.




- Laurel Sewell

Location:Vijayawada, India

Appreciate your modern conveniences!

When preparing for our trip we were told that we could pack lightly for the trip since our clothes would be washed every day at the institute. I was told "they will beat them out on a rock," which I took to be just an expression. On exploring the grounds, I discovered the laundromat behind the house, and found that the expression was quite accurate.

Our clothes were hung on a line to dry and then carefully ironed with a charcoal-burning steam iron.

Our dishes were also washed outside.

They grow many of their own vegetables with the help of drip irrigation. Healing Hands International from Nashville, Tn taught them to use buckets with perforated hoses that extend down the rows to keep a constant flow of water during the dry season. Buckets are filled by hand twice each day.

Contrasts abound here. Although some things are done quite primitively, they are equipped with wireless Internet.

- Laurel Sewell

Location:Vijayawada, India at the Jack Nelle Institute

Our group and our mission; Sunday activities

Our group includes Arliss Gray of Leoma,Tn, Jay and Hilde Dryden of the Huntsville, Al area, and Lynnwood and Janet Cockerham, both teachers at Madison Academy in Ala. The Jack Nelle Institute is overseen by the elders of the Leoma Church of Christ. Jay Dryden, a financial planner, is on the board of trustees for the school and Arliss is chairman of the board.


The purpose of the trip is to oversee the work of the Institute. Milton was asked to come as a consultant.

Also plans are being made to purchase property to expand the program and include a two-year college.The women in the group are teaching Bible classes to the children in the daytime and conducting a Ladies' Bible Seminar at night.


The men are also engaged in teaching classes in the preacher training school and holding gospel meetings in small outlying congregations. Milton spoke at the local congregation Sunday. There were two people baptized by brother Chandrapaul, the president of the institute and local evangelist.


Following the service the congregation held a "dinner on the ground" for more than 250 attendees. They were served in three or four shifts. The food was cooked outside the auditorium and served on foil-lined paper trays.



As is customary, no utensils are used. Rice is simply pushed around in the plate and mixed with the chicken curry and sauce and eaten by hand. When people drink their beverages, they tip their heads back, pouring the liquid into their mouths without their lips ever touching the glass or bottle.




- Laurel Sewell