NEWS OF RALPH "BUD" HARTER. MISSIONARYBIBLE BOOK STORE

3/83, VISHNUPURI KANPUR 208002, INDIA

INDIA TRIP A SUCCESS

Our Lord provided a safe, if nottotally comfortable, visit to India.The three that went, Norman Maynard,Howard Otto and Ken Downs, wish tothank each of you for your prayerson our behalf. We could see thatthe Lord was answering all the prayers of those in the States and inIndia. We were able to do mosteverything that was on the itineraryand were kept safe and healthy forthe most part. We hope you are allinterested in hearing about it sincethat is the subject of this entirenewsletter.

The trip began as scheduled fromCleveland airport on USAir bound forFrankfurt, Germany stopping tochange planes in Pittsburgh. FromFrankfurt we took Luftanza direct toDelhi. The flights were uneventfulbut tiring as it is difficult tosleep on the plane and we were looking forward to our arrival.

In Delhi, we got through the entry red tape in time to find Budwaiting for us outside the airport(due to security, no one is allowedin without a ticket), Ralph wasalmost ready to give up on us againas he did in January. Our firstview of India was in the middle ofthe night, but there were hundredsof people outside the airport, manysleeping on the sidewalks as istheir lot. This was just the firsttaste we were to have of the immensepopulation many of whom are homeless.

After a day and a half in Delhiat the YMCA hotel (where we met Ber-nal & Joan Getter from Sitapur)sightseeing, we left by fast trainto Agra to see the great Taj Mahal.The pictures we took could never dojustice to such a grand structure.But we also had to think of the expense and labor that went intobuilding a tomb when so many need somuch. We were also reminded atthese "tourist" places by Ralph andour taxi drivers of the danger frommuggers and pickpockets. I supposethe danger is greater in the U.S. atsuch places, but in a foreign coun

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try we were very careful.

From Agra we took a fastertrain to Jantsi then India's slowesttrain on a spur track to Kulpahar,to visit the Kulpahar Kids Home.Ralph is on their board of directorsand is a frequent visitor but thekids had to get used to us. Many ofyou are already familiar with thiswork, but much of it was new to me.Leah Mosure was our gracious hostessas Dolly Chitwood was on furlough inthe States. We stayed in the guesthouse from Friday 'til Wednesday butit wasn't until after Sunday's worship service that the kids startedwarming up to us (I think theyrealized that we were there to seethem not just the adults) . LindaStanton & Velma Held were also therewhen we arrived, but left before we.The book For the Sake of a Childtells the story of Kulpahar betterthan I so if you can get a copy,please read it.

From Kulpahar we had intended togo to Damoh to visit the Mid-IndiaChristian Mission , because we hadbrought with us much heavy luggagefrom Vivek Lall (at K.C.C.) for hisfamily. We were prevented by myheat-sickness which also affectedHoward. Since we left Delhi, thetemperature was over 100 every day.So we stayed in the mission's careuntil we could travel to Kanpur (Budhad gone on ahead by bus to makesure of our accommodations.

In Kanpur we finally got to meetthe Christians that Ralph had mentioned so often in his letters. Thefirst was Amarjeet Singh. Amar is2 6 and as yet unmarried. Ralph hasbeen working with him to oversee thebookstore and other aspects of theClinton mission. Ralph has recommended Amar to the Clinton Elders asour "field agent" as the Indian government will not allow any new American missionaries into the country.The Elders have accepted Amarjeet somuch of my correspondence will nowgo through him. As long as Ralph isable, he will continue in the samecapacity that he has but we feel theLord leading us to be prepared forwhatever He has in store.

CONTRIBUTIONSOA J.S.NickersonIL 1st Christian, Flora

Glen ValbertRobert Walker

IN 1st Church, GarrettChurch 50.00H,Shellenberger 35.00L.Balliett 45.00S.Vincent 140.00

150.00270.00100.00

50.00270.00

Frank Reas 100.00Osgood Church 120.00Burlington Church 230.00Smithville Church 300.00Singles/Doubles Class 110.00Kenneth Eade 200.00George Trueblood 20.00Lena Morrical 40.00

KY East Union Ch. School 151.62MI Lewis Domke 250.00MO Liberty Sunday Schoo?. 216.00

Florence Douglas 25.00NC Capital City Church 2534.40NY Margaret Dunne 20.00

Mrs. Henry Guay 15.00OH Clinton Church 2625.00

Linden Church 900.00Loyal Daughters C?.ass 140.00Homebuilders Clasfj 300.00Ruth Handwerk 857.00Stephen Handwerk 3135.00Warren Steiner 350.00Branch Hill Church 500.00Mrs. W. Lile 60.00A. B. Slough 1.00.00Kathleen Close 50.00Paul Winland 130.00Leona Blythe 100.00Edward Chamber1in IC'O.OO

Sebring Church 2 0. 00Old Stone Church 8"). 00Milford Church 21' .42

PA Oak Grove Church 17.00Mrs. LaVerne Romesburg 14C.00Mrs, Ethel Beardsiley 20.00L. A. Nicholson 60 .00

TN Embreeville Church 225 .00TX Dr. D. F. Peel 350 .00WA Wapato Church 360.00WV Hooverson Hts. Church i 00.00

EXPENSESBuilding Funds 105C0.0OSalaries 1215.00Kalishiya Sahayak Sanstha 1000.00Misc. Bookstore etc. 2571.84Scholarships 710.00Airfare '.421.60Books 552.73Postage & Bank Fees 177.96

HARTB^ THROBSINDIA MISSIONArY NEWSRALPH "bid" HARTERFIRST CHU !CH OF CHRIST2545 W. CDMIT RD.CLINTON, :H 44216

FINANCIAL REPORT OCT 90 thru APR 91

Beginning Balance 10-1-90 $ 2036.75Total Contributions 14733.44Voided Checks 2560.00Total Expenses -18149.13

Ending Balance 4-30-91 $ 1181.06

Continued from page 1

While in Kanpur, we were able tovisit with the leaders of the various churches that have grown out ofthe Swarupnagar Church. We alsovisited the building sites of two ofthose Churches; Barra Church with I.Das and Shalom Church with H. L.Khoji. The Swarupnagar Church wasthe main focus of our attention however since that is still Ralph'sChurch and will be his new home oncethe parsonage is finished. Thiswill be an apartment being builtabove the Church & bookstore building. At the Sunday service, we werehonored as if we were kings. A humbling experience we were not expecting. Wa were to dedicate the newapartment which took place after theservice, but at the close of theworship, we were given flowered garlands and other gifts. We hadbrought monetary gifts for thebuilding funds and small gifts forthe children but were in awe of thelove thay showed for us.

Non'?. of the members of any ofthe chu:*ches owns their own house orcar, -but what they -have is gi-venfreely to the Lord and His people a lesson we could all learn better.We were confronted first-hand withthe pagan customs of that land, especially when we visited theirshrines and temples. Such a wasteof money for such an empty cause.We are to be thankful our God doesnot live in temples made with hands!

We will never forget the sights,sounds and smells of India, but mostof all we will not forget our brothers and sisters in Christ there. Bein constant prayer for them as theywork for the Lord especially now asthe government is in such turmoil.We pray that the new leaders willopen th^ door for more missionaries,perhaps one will be you!! K.D.

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Horizons MagazineP.O. Box 2427Knoxville, TN 37901

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NEWS OF RALPH "BUD" HARTER, MISSIONARY ,BIBLE BOOK STORE

7/130 D SWARUPNA6AR KANPUR 208002, INDIA

MOVE TO SWARUPNAGAR COMPLETE

During the first week of Sept. orthe last of Aug. the last of Ralph'sfunishings were moved to the newPastorium above the Church in Swar-upnagar. Ralph reports that many"finishing touches" remain unfinished but the rooms are very nice indeed. As we recall, the rooms arebrick (common material) that areplastered over. Even in the heatduring our visit, they seemed relatively cool.

This ends a long period of anticipation for Ralph and the otherChristians there who were involvedin this project. The next rooms tobe completed will be for Amarjeet.Then the plans are uncertain. Thereare thoughts of moving the Sanctuaryup to the 2nd (or is it 1st) floorwith the Pastorium. Or moving theBookstore up, or making a studycenter up there instead. There aremany things to consider, so only theLord knows for sure how the buildingwill progress.

WEDDING BELLS FOR AMARJEET

As we expected, after AmarjeetSingh was confirmed as an agent ofthe Clinton Church he asked that arrangements be made for his engagement. His intended is named NeeruMassay, but she is called "Priya"(Preeya) by Amar. This means beloved.

Priya attends a school whereAmar teaches Bible classes on Sundayevenings. They spoke when possible,but mostly corresponded as they grewto know and love each other.

Priya's mother is a matron atthe school and kept a close watchover her daughter. The culture doesnot allow dating or even conversation between the sexes unless forbusiness purposes, so the couplecould not develope their relationship as we might. This seemed veryfrustrating for Amar as he explainedit to me during our visit. Thiscustom has forced Amar to rely onGod's direction in this very important step in his life. Since hecould not know as much about her ashe would like, he must trust theLord that she is the one.

Priya is a lovely Christian girlwho likes to ask questions. On ourSunday evening in Kanpur, HowardOtto and I accompanied Amar toPriya's School for the Bible class.After Howard gave the lesson, Amarasked if there were any questions.One special 19 year old kept askingquestion after question about America. Amar made no particular effortto see her afterward, so I thoughtlittle about her other than she wasinquisitive. I asked Amar later ifthat girl was going to be a teachersince she asked so many questions.Then he explained who she was andthat she asked all the questions toprolong the class. I asked why hedidn't speak to her or introduce usto her. He said that her mother waspresent at the class and then wenton to explain about their customs.

Amar had not told us that shewould be there or I would have madean effort to speak to her along withthe other girls. (Visitors have alittle more lee-way with some customs) I only knew that his "girlfriend" went to a nearby girl'sschool.

The ^arrangements that were madeconcerning the wedding involvedRalph acting as Amar's father goingto Priya's parents to ask for herhand. This is the evolution of the"arranged marriage" that is stillpracticed today. Priya's father isin the Army and it was originallythought that the wedding would takeplace in 1992 since his leave hadbeen used for another wedding earlier this year. Apparently this hasbeen cleared up and the wedding isscheduled for Oct. 17, 1991.

The ceremony is to be held inAmritsar in Punjab province. Thisis Priya's family home (also Amar'shome province). The honeymoon maybe at Agra or nearby.

We are looking forward to meeting her if the Lord wills. Plansare being made for the couple tovisit the U.S. in the early summerof 1992 after Amar completes hisBachelor of Theology degree. Nothing definite can be reported, butthere may be some difficulty in obtaining a visa for both since theU.S. is leery about a newlywedcouple coming here to "disappear".

FINANCIAL REPORT MAYAUG 1991

Beginning Balance 5-1-91 $1181.06

Contributions:CO Mrs. Hollis Conner 100.00IL 1st Church, Flora 120.00

Neon Bible Class 75.00IN 1st Church, Garrett 70.00

H. Shellenberger 20,00S. Vincent 80.00

Osgood Church 40.00Singles/Doubles Class 92.00

KY East Union Bible School 173.43Dr. Thomas Omer 25.00

MO Liberty Sunday School 76.50NC Capital City Church 870.64OH 1st Church, Clinton 1600.00

Sebring Church 40.00Loyal Daughters Class 80.00Mrs. Ruth Handwerk 425.00M/M Stephen Handwerk 715.00M/M Warren Steiner 200.00Linden Church 300.00Branch Hill Church 100.00Homebuilder's Class 100.00Old Stone Church 80.00

PA Oak Grove Church 100.00Mrs. LaVerne Romesburg 80.00L.A. Nicholson 30.00

TN Embreeville Church 75.00TX Grayson H. Ensign 15.00

Dr/Mrs.D.F.Peel 200.00WA Wapato Church 240.00WI Richard A. Huntington 100.00WV Hooverson Hts. Church 400.00Total Contributions: 6622.57

Expenses:INDIA:Salaries - 615.42

Scholarships 977.65Travel 110.00Books 226.03Building Maint. 65,00

.Kalisiya Sahayak San. 1000.00Clinton Study Centre 1200.00Building Funds 2000.00

U.S.: Office Sup.& Postage 41.70Total Expenses: 6235.80

Ending Balance 8-31-91 1567.83

HARTER THROBSINDIA MISSIONARY NEWSRALPH "bud" HARTERFIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST2545 W. COMET RD.CLINTON, OH 44216

RALPH KEEPS VERY BUSY

Ralph's schedule for the forsee-able future is quite full. He hasbeen in Sat-tal teaching for most ofthe summer and by now has returnedto Kanpur only to leave for Kulpaharto speak at the Kid's Home. Thenit's off to Madras about October 1then on to Banares to speak at theconvention with the Getters.

After the wedding, it's off tocentral India to Sarguja for fourevenings of speaking. Then the preparations for the Holidays will fastbe approaching.

FROM RALPH'S LETTER 8-5-91

For the past several days wehave been enjoying (more or less)some rain. Just goes to prove againthat God sends rain upon the justand upon the unjust. Yesterdaychurch attendance was down, and thenumber of customers in the bookstoreis also down. I am told that theattendance in the cinemas is aboutthe same.

There was a head-on collisionbetween two trains between here andLucknow yesterday morning, one ofwhich was standing in a small midway station, otherwise the deathtollwould have been higher. Even then11 died. The negligence involvedboth before and after the accidentwas shameful.

Otherwise the news is that therela xio news. We called a man to comecook for us but I conclude that heis not interested. We will now letthe matter ride until the middle ofNovember because I will be gone fromhere much of the time in between.

There is one piece of good news:that I passed the exam in Isaiah andProphets on the second try. Thethree other results may or may notcome later. Dr. Varma passed a paper on Romans, and another studentwe have helped has also passed.Amarjeet's. fiancee also passed herexams with high marks.

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