Irula - a Colony going from Darkness to Light

One of the most common questions I am asked when I tell people that I recently traveled to India, is "Where exactly in India were you?"

The short answer is a rural village near the southern tip. The long answer is the Irula Colony near the town of Kalavai three hours inland from the coastal city of Chennai in the state of Tamilnadu, India.


As you can imagine, I usually just give the short answer.


It has been over a month since I  returned the states and I find that the people of this Irula colony is on my mind more than ever. My prayers are focused on specific requests for the people there and I am also praying for an opportunity to return.

I was reading an old blog post written by Jack Magruder, the director of Life Mission International at Granger Community Church, I was drawn in by a post about Kasi's baptism (there is more about Kasi in this previous post).


This particular quote from Kasi  blew me away:

 "You know... the word 'Irula' actually means 'People of Darkness'. And for many hundreds of years, we have been People of Darkness. We have had no Hope. But now, that is no longer the case. Rather, since Pastor Sam (the indigenous church planter with whom we work), the teams from Life Mission, and GCC have begun to come and to help us... well... NOW, we are the People of Light! The Darkness is fading away, and the Light is coming!"

The Light is coming to the people of the Irula colony and to the people of India. The harvest is ripe and God is transforming the people of India in amazing ways. I was honored to be a part of that transformation for a short time.

P.S. - many people have wanted to know exactly what we did while we were there and I promise to post on that soon!

People of India - Babu

On my Blue team, we had an abundance of young boys. The most out-going of them was boy named Babu. With an infectious smile and a contagious enthusiasm for everything, his name was one of the first that I learned.

Babu took a self portrait on my camera.

He was one of my zoo buddies and we RAN through the zoo at the pace of an energetic 10 year old boy.

Babu and K-man, my two zoo buddies.

By the end of the week, Babu was a constant companion of mine.

At the end of the week, Babu received the boldness award. He is a natural leader and my prayer is that he grows up to be a man who uses that enthusiasm and energy to lead people to Christ.