Modern Day Lascars - Abandoned and Rejected

I’m a Christian. It may be something that you have noticed about this blog. I believe God can speak in dreams, words and visions. It doesn’t happen often, but I do get the odd dream and vision I believe is from God. This is the story of one of them.

Some months back, I had a vivid dream. In it, I saw an abandoned ancient city. It was in ruins. But there were still people living there.

As I approached, these people came out of the ruins. They were in rags. They looked at me and said ‘We are the Lascars’.

With that, the dream ended.

I didn’t recall ever hearing the word ‘Lascar’ before, so I looked it up. It turns out that Lascars were early sailors, primarily from India, as far back as the 1800s. They signed on to ships in the European navies and served around the world. Many served on British ships and this brought them to the UK. They settled in London and other ports. Many became lonely and destitute. They had been abandoned by their own country but not accepted by their new country.

I spent a while praying about this. What was the dream meant to signify? How was I supposed to respond to it? It struck me that for the last 17 years, I have been working into India each year, taking teams and offering support to poor communities. So I guessed it was no coincidence that God had taken me in a dream, to the Lascar people.

As far as I can tell, most if not all of the Lascars are no more. They died out - as did the term ‘Lascar’- in the 1950s.

But Lascars still exist. Every person who has stepped away from their childhood faith as a Hindu or Muslim and embraced Christianity is a modern day Lascar. Many who have simply moved away from the structured society of their parents into an adopted one of the nation they now live in is a modern day Lascar.

For the most part, they have been abandoned by their mother country and their original society, but have not been adopted by their new culture either. Abandoned and rejected, they live on the outside of both their original culture and their adopted one. Abandoned by one and rejected by another.

In my adopted city of Leicester, there are many modern day Lascars. Of Indian or Middle East origin, often brought up as a Hindu or Muslim. But now, having left their roots, they find they are rootless. Unable to assimilate into British culture, more by way of rejection than through an active decision.

The modern day Lascars. The rejected of today’s societies and cultures.

If the dream was real, then I have a part to play in reaching out and welcoming such people. My prayer is that, just as in the dream, I will meet them, and by God’s grace, introduce them to the most wonderful welcoming, inclusive and generous society of all.

If you get to read this and feel either to join me in this task, or that you are a modern day Lascar and need help, contact me.

Leaning into Relationships

A 75 year study (yes, 75 years!) by Harvard University shows that long life and happiness is reflected by strong relationships.

This remarkable study is still going after all these years. Over 700 men started out being interviewed. Over 60 are still alive and in their nineties, and still being studied.

It’s not money or fame that gets you a long and satisfying life, its good relationships. Loneliness is a killer. Family feuds take a terrible toll on the person that holds the grudges. A happy marriage adds years to your life.

This is not rocket science- but it is social science. A real study over 75 years is hard to argue against.

It’s not the first time I have heard this either. Dr JohnTrickell did a study of various societies around the world that lived the longest. His conclusion as to what brought long life? Fun, friends, family and faith.

To have good friends throughout life is a blessing. To have a faith that brings about a friendship with Christ is even more precious.

So, lean in to relationships that give you satisfaction, friendship and fulfilment. You’ll be happier for it, and live longer.

Want to find out more about the study? This is a 12 minute history:

Remember to put the glass down

A psychologist walked around a room while teaching stress management to an audience. As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they'd be asked the "half empty or half full" question.

Instead, with a smile on her face, she inquired: "How heavy is this glass of water?"

Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz.

She replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I...'ll have an ache in my arm. If I hold it for a day, my arm will feel numb and paralysed. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn't change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

She continued, "The stresses and worries in life are like that glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them all day long, you will feel paralyzed – incapable of doing anything."

Remember to put the glass down.

With thanks to Anthony Harwood in Lusaka for this story

Six Things I Hate About Facebook

Well, hate’s a bit strong really. Maybe ‘dislike’ is better.

1. Games. Please- don’t ask! No, I’m not going to build an imaginary farm, join pretty shapes in a row or shoot anybody. I don’t like guns. And I’ve got games thanks. Risk. Trivial Pursuit. Ever played Mexican Train Dominoes? Come on over.

2. Emotional threats. It reads like a caring Facebook post. And then it changes. You get to the bit that says ‘I bet nobody really cares’. Or ‘I will know who really cares if you reply to this’ or ‘I bet I can guess what few friends reply to this’. Or ‘if you post a message you are one of the few who care’. And so on. I don’t respond to emotional threats. Neither should you.

3. Avoiding commas and apostrophes. What have they done to offend people? They’re needed. Especially with “You’re” and “Your”. It annoys me. As someone recently posted, commas are essential and can save lives:

- Let’s eat Grandma ...or perhaps...

- Let’s eat, Grandma

4. Facebook posts that can go on too long. Oops.

5. Cats. Why? I mean, why?! So many of them. Facebook is being taken over by cats! I love stories about you. The funny things. The family things. The holidays. The beautiful photos. The not so beautiful photos. I love celebrating with you. And it’s a privilege to pray for you in the hard times. But cats?! Please- no more!

6. Public unfriending. Why announce it? Just do it. I’m grateful I’m your friend. I don’t need to know you’ve unfriended everyone else. And if you were to ever unfriend me, I might just have to come over and shoot your cat.

Taken from my Facebook page.

Times Paces

When I was a babe and wept and slept,
Time crept;

When I was a boy and laughed and talked,
Time walked.

Then when the years saw me a man,
Time ran.

But as I older grew,
Time flew.

Soon, as I journey on,
I'll find time gone.

May Christ have saved my soul, by then,
Amen.

'Times Paces' by Henry Twells, adapted by Guy Pentreath

Labels

When you meet someone for the first time, what do you ask them? Probably pretty early on it’s ‘what do you do?’ Or, ‘do you have a family?’ Maybe ‘where do you live?’

They are reasonable questions. They help us find out about the newcomer. But often, without realizing it, we are forming a judgement of them based on what we learn of their job, their family background, the kind of house they live in; possibly by the clothes they are wearing.

There was an interesting experiment recently. Six photographers were asked to photograph the same man, wearing the same clothes- so there was no outer differentiator. One was told he was a life-saver, another that he was a fisherman. One was told he was a millionaire, another that he was a recovering alcoholic. One that he was a psychic, another that he was a former prisoner.

The six resulting photographs of the same man in the same clothes are entirely different:

The labels we give people do not actually determine who they are, only how we perceive them to be. Every one of us is different. No two people are the same. We all have a precious God-given life, character, passion and a future beyond where we came from, what we do and how we look.

Let’s look beyond the obvious to what ‘can be’. Some friends of mine are doing this right now. I’m taking a team out to India in February to see how they are getting on. Children are being rescued, food and medical help is being provided. What others threw away as worthless lives, we are taking hold of, giving children a hope and a future. The Bible says God takes all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms— and they get properly fixed and fitted together in vibrant harmonies (Colossians 1: 19, the Message version of the Bible). So good that God didn’t asses us on what we can and can’t do!

The labels others have given don’t determine who we are.

Gerald Coates - Pioneer: The Story of a Book

‘Should I? I mean, really, should I?’

It’s early in 2011 and I’m considering a radical step. Leaving my job as Pensions Director for the Mars Group- and starting a Masters in Theology at Mattersey Bible College.

Roh, my wife, looks on as I pontificate. She knows she doesn’t need to say anything. I’ve made my mind up. I’m just trying to rationalise it!

It was a bold step, but out of it came much more than a Masters. My final dissertation was on the house church movement. It was 57 years since Arthur Wallis wrote his ground-breaking In the Day of Thy Power. My dissertation title seemed quite clever at the time: 57 Years of Restorationism in the UK: Ongoing Legacy or 57 Varieties?

The dissertation gave me access to a number of the house church pioneers- Peter Lyne, Terry Virgo, David Matthew…. And Gerald Coates.

I was grateful for the day spent with Gerald. I left him a copy of my last biography, Cheating Death, Living Life – Linda’s Story, a story of God’s miracles in what could have so easily been a tragic life. And I said that if ever he wanted a biography done, to let me know.

I heard nothing.

We corresponded on something else via Facebook. I suggested the book again. Nope.

Then Anona, Gerald’s wife, steps in. The book should be written.

And so it was.

Starting with reams of wallpaper to plan out the timeline, two further days spent with Gerald and Anona, a lot of recording, a glass or two of wine, a contract with Malcolm Down Publishing, rewrites, rewrites and rewrites… and finally a book.

Gerald’s is an important story. It tells of God’s goodness and the work of the Holy Spirit in our generation. I’m grateful to have had the privilege of writing it.