Dispatch From Coimbatore - Copyrights

So are you ready for another answer to prayer story? No? Too Late! You’re reading it… ;-)

Even before I came to Coimbatore to help build the digital library here at the MJC, folks have been asking me about the Copyright issue. This is a BIG issue. How can we digitize (scan) and provide books in our digital library that are still under copyright? Isn’t there a legal issue with doing such a thing? Doesn’t that violate the copyright laws – to copy a book or other work and then provide it to others?

Well the answer is yes and no. The library falls under the ‘fair use’ laws that allow for such a thing as sharing (loaning out a book) with members of the library or for research or other library functions. Now that does not mean we can setup copy machines, make duplicates of a book and then hand them or even worse – sell them for a profit to any and all. So how does this work in the new digital world where once a book is scanned and in digital format it can be easily pirated. That’s the nagging issue that I brought over with me and I was asked the same thing by lots of people working here at the Colleges. What about the copyrights….

So we prayed. Lord please give us the answer. If this is your library (AND IT IS) we’re sure you want us to do the right thing. What’s the answer to the copyright issue?

What to know how He answered me? ;-) Yesterday I was unexpectedly invited to a conference on Intellectual Property Rights that was put on by the local Chamber of Commerce. The First Secretary from the US Embassy in New Delhi flew down and spoke on the issues of copyright violations, software piracy and patent infringement. These are all big issues here in India and the rest of Asia. Many countries in this hemisphere are considered by software producers as ‘One-Copy-Countries.’ This means software piracy is so rampant that they expect to sell only ONE copy in that country and then it will be pirated and distributed to everyone else in the country with no profit to them. ;-) It is not as bad here in India but with the costs of most software (Microsoft Office is a prime example) so high in comparison to income, Indians can’t even consider the possibility of buying these things legally.

While at the conference they provided a nice lunch for us and while looking for a good table, two gentlemen graciously allowed me to join them. After introductions I found I was sitting with the man who is responsible for ALL copyrights in the entire country of India. He is the man in charge of the copyright office for India. The MAN. Who better to ask the question? I of course took the opportunity the Lord presented and was assured by Mr G.R. Raghevendra, Registrar of Copyrights for India, that we can setup the digital library, fair use applies to us and we can do what we want. This is straight from the man who should know. The one individual responsible for ensureing the copyright protections for all artists, producers and programmers in India, gave us the green light to move forward!

Wow does He answer prayer or what!

Disptach From Coimbatore - Run!

So for those of you who really know me, I mean really know me, you’ll appreciate just how much a miracle what I’m going to say is… Today, I ran 400 meters with the kids. I RAN 400 meters. THEN I walked 2.8K (2800 meters) THEN I did exercise for 30 minutes. And who said miracles don’t happen in today’s world ;-) I’m tired and out of breath BUT it’s been under the direction of the College PE director who has forgotten more from his Master level Phys Ed degrees then I’ll ever know ;-) They are taking very good care of me here.. This place makes me better.

Dispatch From Coimbatore - Rustling Leaves

Rustling Leaves

He's got to love the sound
With Fall air coolness
Rustling leaves
Whispering leaves
Flipping Flopping turning leaves
Sliding together, sliding apart.

The Pastor says turn to...
And I with eyes closed Listen
As the rustling leaves whisper
Turning to the truth.
God must love that sound.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Can you tell me what kind of leaves these are?

One of my fav birthday gifts

A little birthday gift for me.

Dispatch From Coimbatore - Pray NOW

One of the things I’m getting tired of hearing is the, “We should pray about this or that.” Or the “Remember to pray for this person or that one.” Not that there is anything wrong with intercessory prayer during your private devotions. But what we should also do is pray immediately upon the thought coming to mind. Don’t say, “Let’s remember to pray about this,” say, “Let’s pray NOW about this.” We need more prayer action and less prayer planning. In so many prayer meetings going on, there’s more meeting then praying. We need to pray NOW, and after that, continuously!

"Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this. When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I'll be there." Jesus
Matthew 18:18-20 (The Message)

Dispatch from Coimbatore - Mom's Warning

Spoke with my Mom yesterday. She read the Game with Minutes instructions at the bottom of this website and had a warning for me. In the instructions (written in the early 1930’s by Frank Lauback) he mentions keeping pictures of Jesus and Crosses around and using them to TOG (think of God) whenever you see them. Although thinking of God is the goal in our game, my Mom warns about the tendency to start worshiping the object (the picture or cross) rather than the Creator they represent. Doing that is IDOL Worship. She said, “Worship God, not the symbol or picture.”

THANKS MOM! Good advice and I thought it best to pass it along to everyone.

DISPATCH FROM COIMBATORE – JOIN OUR CLUB?

A certain few Ladies of the MJC (Michael Job Center) have started a new Club. It’s called the Club Game with Minutes (CGWM) and I thought you’d like to hear about it. However before I tell you more, please be forewarned, it is a very dangerous game. People who have played the game have told us it’s the most difficult, the most challenging contest they have ever played. The ultimate eXtremeGame, the effort can be so demanding, friends and colleagues have reported seeing dramatic personality changes in the participants.

OK so now I’ve warned you. Don’t blame me if you start to play this game and ultimately lose total control over your life. Scroll down towards the bottom of this blog to read more about the Club Game with Minutes.

After reading about the Game, the Ladies of MJC are offering you membership in their club if you’d like to take part. Email me if you’d like to join them in the effort. There’s no cost for joining except the very real potential for losing your life to it. tom@cropper.info

Dispatch From Coimbatore - 05:52 Chapel

Click here for YouTube Video
Acceptable bandwidth promised tomorrow but I wanted to share at least this short video with you today. This is my arrival at Chapel this morning. Pls excuse the amateur camera jitters. It’s totally raw and unedited. I hope with this clip you can get at least a small amount of the Spirit of this place.

All My Love!

Tom

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReE2NTC9gUQ

Dispatch From Coimbatore - The Joy Tears

DISPATCH FROM COIMBATORE
The Joy Tears
Saturday Morning, Sept 6th 2008
The day starts early here at the Michael Job Center for Orphan Girls. The wakeup alarm sounds at 05:00 every morning. Now for those of you who know me, that’s not an issue – I’m usually up before 5 but for others – WOW that’s early. These girls are up, dressed and have run to be at the Chapel for morning services by 5:45.

Then the singing starts and oh what singing it is. From the youngest to the oldest I hear hymns of true praise to our Lord. Worship starts early here at MJC. Yesterday morning I witnessed something truly amazing. Let me share it with you.

It was just before 6 in the morning, the girls were probably in their 3rd or 4th song. There were lights on in the Chapel (it was still very dark outside). They use a good sound system as amplification for the musical instruments and the leader’s microphones. They project the lyrics on the wall so they know what to sing. They were just starting the 3rd verse of “How Great Thou Art” and it was awe inspiring. Then suddenly the electricity went off. The keyboards went silent. The percussion equipment was mute. All the microphones died as the projector went dark.

A cavernous darkness enveloped us all as the Church went totally pitch black. I couldn’t see my hand in front of me. Then I heard them. I heard them singing “That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing, He bled and died, to take away my sin” And they were twice as loud; their sound was twice as beautiful, they were twice as wonderful as when I could see those angles just moments before. I listened, amazed and spellbound in the darkness as they sang. What singing it was! Then I realized, as they sang the words by heart, the projector was for me, not them. They knew every word.

Can you image being 3 years old, your father and mother killed for their being Christ-followers, living in a strange land with a language you don’t know, standing in a choir at 6 in the morning and suddenly you’re in total darkness. What would you have done – cowered back in fear?
They sang! They sang “And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!”

When I first started as Chaplain for the American Legion I asked Tina to buy me some plain men’s handkerchiefs. I knew I’d be going to funerals. She asked why I needed them. I told her, “For the crying times ahead.” I was right. I should have brought some with me for these joy tears.

As the most blessed man I know.

Signing off from Coimbatore

Tom

The Doubting Thomas Reports

Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.” Those are the words of my namesake, recorded forever in John 20:24-25.

I have to confess that I live up to my name by doubting just about everything. When I first heard about the Michael Job Center for Orphan Girls (MJC) I set it aside as just another “children’s sponsorship” program. You know the kind… where you pay $25 a month (feel good about yourself money), receive a picture of your child and a short bio; half the money goes in the pockets of some promoter and after all expenses maybe $1.50 goes towards digging a well in some village. I’ve always had my doubts about these kinds of charities.

Then I read about the Michael Job Center from Billy Graham’s organization, Samaritans Purse. They had checked it out and endorsed it. Then I read about the MJC from the Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) organization. VOM is responsible for supporting and reporting on the Persecuted Church today. When you think of martyred Christians you normally think of Roman times, Christians thrown to the lions in the coliseum type of stuff. Today more Christians are being murdered for their faith than any other time in history. In India alone, over 8,000 have been killed in the past 10 years. As I type this, thousands of Christians are hiding in the jungles of the Orissa Province of India as radical Hindus burn their homes, burn their churches and if they can catch them, kill them too. Christians are dying RIGHT NOW because they profess to be followers of Christ.

The children at the MJC are the daughters of these Martyrs. There are currently 357 and I’m very sad to say, more are coming every day.

After doing the research and determining that this might be a good charity, I contacted the local US organization that provides a conduit for support to MJC and spoke at length with Ginny Cleary. She and her husband run the Jordan Foundation. When you give money to their foundation for the MJC – it goes directly (without any expenses taken out) to the MJC to support the orphans. She told me a lot about the Center, the kids there and Dr. P.P. Job, the founder of the orphanage. It certainly seemed more real to me but I still had lots of doubts. I started thinking about going over to India and checking this place out for myself – the original doubting Thomas view of, gotta see it and touch it in order to believe it…

Then I heard that the founder, Dr. Job was coming to the US, that he would be in Maine (a nice drive from Maryland) and had a free morning. So, I drove to Maine, met with Dr. Job and learned more. By talking with him, the mission of the Michael Job Center became a little more real to me. Dr. Job spoke with sincerity and purpose about supporting the girls living at the MJC in Coimbatore. It became a little more real to me but I still wasn’t convinced.

After returning to Maryland I found out that Dr. Job was going to be speaking at a small church in Kensington, MD. My wife, Tina, kids, Thomas and Shannon, and I went there to meet and hear him. I wanted my wife to let me know what she thought about it. To use her ability of discernment to see if she thought this was real. She did.

But that still wasn’t enough for me. So, I applied for an India visa, got lots of shots for all kinds of nasty bugs, bought the plane tickets and flew to Coimbatore.

This is the end of my second day at the orphanage. It’s 7:17pm now as I am typing this from the communications center at the top of the auditorium at the Michael Job Center for Orphan Girls. The children have finished their supper and gone for study time in their rooms. The electricity is off for the moment so there are generators humming in the distance. It is VERY dark here at the Comm Center but I have a good battery on this laptop so I’m typing from the light of the screen.
And now this doubting Thomas can honestly report to you, it’s real. I have seen them. I have touched them and they have touched me to the very core of my soul as I have been hugged and loved by these precious girls.

Blood comes from a circumcised body
Tears from a circumcised heart.

It’s hard for this silly old man to type right now through my tears. But I’ll wipe my eyes and try. There are 357 ORPHANS here right now and they are given the very best that God can provide. Dr Job doesn’t ask for money, it just comes. Proof enough to me that it’s a God thing he’s doing here.

I have so much more to tell you about the Michael Job Center but now is not the time. I just wanted to get this much of the message to you as soon as I could.

PLEASE PRAY for us here. I believe it’s the most important thing you can do.

Reporting from Coimbatore, India. . .

No-longer-doubting Thomas S. Cropper, Jr.

Departure to Coimbatore

Like a little child on their first day back at school, I’m dressed and packing and repacking my book bag in anxious anticipation, long before the rest of the house is up. :-) I’m excited about this. My conversation with the Boss is more urgent, more restless. But he’s patient with me like any parent would be at a time like this. I think he’s smiling as we begin this new adventure together.

I’ll tell you a new thing today. I haven’t told many. A couple years ago, on a whim and out of simple curiosity, I asked my mom what my first spoken word was. I was thinking of kidding her about it if she said, “Oh, it as DaDa,” or something like that – meaning my first word was my baby word for my dad. Or making her feel good about it if she said, “Your first word was Momma.” She looked at me with an interesting expression and said, “Tom, the first word you ever said was, pretty.”

When we were looking for a child to sponsor at the Michael Job Center (MJC) we had a lot to choose from – well over 300 orphan girls. Here’s who we picked:

PREETI comes from Tibet where Christians are persecuted by Buddhists as well as communists. Her father became a TB patient and hence was bed ridden. Father lost his job.

I’m looking forward to meeting her soon. Can I give her a hug for you too?