AFTER YEARS of dreaming
and months of planning, a team of experienced and
dedicated Urantia Book evangelists exhibited The
Urantia Book at the World Book Fair in Delhi, India,
February 2-10, 2008. I was blessed and honored to be
a part of that team ably led by Buck Weimer and
including Arlene Weimer, Charlene Morrow, Agustin
Arellano and Mario Trevino. When I left for home on
Friday, February 8, an Indian reader, Mr. Garfield
Jansen, arrived several hundred miles by train to
fill my place. It was a fantastic team and the joy,
camaraderie and love at our booth attracted other
exhibitors and attendees to us. Many came back and
visited with us daily for the ten days we were
there. We made many friends among the Muslims,
Hindus and Christians who were there.
Months of preparation
culminated and, at least for me, the adventure began
at about 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday January 30, when
Buck and Arlene arrived at my house. Our first
mission was to fit 48 hardback Urantia Books,
hundreds of brochures, thousands of spiritual
vitamins, dozens of Urdu Sampler and Jesus books, UB
Audio DVDs and numerous other booth outreach
materials into our luggage along with our clothes.
We were allowed to check only two bags, each
weighing 50 pounds or less, and entitled to one
carry-on bag which (as Buck reminded me) had a size
limit but not a weight limit. For a little over an
hour we worked in my garage wrapping each Urantia
Book in bubble wrap and meticulously fitting them
all into our bags. Buck is a maestro at this so
Arlene and I wrapped and he loaded and re-loaded. We
used an old bathroom scale to determine if we were
in the ballpark but we knew we would have to do some
shuffling of materials at the airport to maximize
each bag’s weight and avoid additional weight
charges. Each Urantia Book weighs nearly 4 pounds so
let’s just say we got very creative. Buck reminded
us all to leave out any non-essential personal
objects and over the course of our time there me and
my room buddy Charlene had occasion to miss and
laugh about the “non-essentials” several times.
Our next step can only be
called the long, long schlep. We met Charlene at
Denver International Airport and spent some time
weighing and shuffling the content of bags. When the
shuffling was done, 7 of our eight checked bags were
stuffed to the hilt with books and effects and maxed
out at 50 lbs. There was only one bag that contained
15 books and since the other bags were maxed out and
there was nowhere else to put even one more book, we
paid the $50.00 charge and counted our blessings.
After all, we got 64 Urantia Books (256 lbs.) and
numerous other books and literature to India for
just $50.00. Having shipped these books around the
world for two decades now, I can assure you, even I
was amazed.
Buck personally carried on
a bag that contained 11 books and weighed over 40
pounds. We all had at least three books in our
carry-on bags. We had a good laugh at the airport
when we saw people giving Buck a wide berth and
realized that his bag, which was found in my garage
and used, displayed the words, “Black Belt Karate
School,” prominently on the side. The Angels were
indeed with us.
After the long schlep of
8,843 miles, with one stop in Frankfurt, we arrived
at the New Delhi International Airport, India at
2:30 AM on Friday the 1st of February. Buck had
previously secured for us decent and reasonable
accommodations at The La Sagrita Tourist Home, which
he found in the book Lonely Planet – India.
Their driver was waiting at the airport to take us
there.
We were exhausted but
grateful to be in India in one piece with all of our
various pieces in tact. We unpacked and got a few
hours of sleep and then headed to the Pragati Maidan
(a huge exhibition complex in Delhi) to set up our
booth. We were not there long before all kinds of
people swooped in wanting to sell us everything from
personal guide service to poster hanging service to
booth sweeping service to bottled water for the
booth service and even Domino’s Pizza came by. Buck
joked that word must have spread that, “There’s
fresh meat at booth 11.” We passed on the pizza but
Arlene did negotiate for a guide for us which proved
invaluably helpful. Lotus and Bhawna Verma, a
married couple, drove us everywhere we wanted or
needed to go during the entire time we were there
and took fantastic care of us for just 500 Rupees a
day, which is less than $20.00.
* * *
It took the better part of
the day to set up the booth, but we got it done and
were ready to roll the next morning. Buck was our
fearless leader, and we soon became Buck and the
Buckaroos. Well, Arlene actually took on the
affectionate Indian designation of “Mrs. Buck” but
the rest of us gladly became the Buckaroos.
Saturday the 2nd of
February was the first full day of the fair.
Charlene and I decided it took us less than a day to
fall totally in love with the Indian people. Their
big sparkling dark eyes and beautiful smiles were
only eclipsed by their sincere interest in us and
our book. In a word, they melted our hearts. They
have a unique head gesture, in which they swivel
their heads from side to side. It’s graceful and
beautiful, but it looks a lot like someone shaking
their head in the negative. Since they would read
the Spiritual Vitamins and then do this gesture, we
weren't sure if they liked us or thought we were
crazy. Agustin, being the student of world cultures
that he is, learned for us that it is actually an
affirmation, a sort of Indian thumbs up. So, for the
rest of our time there we basked in the sweetness of
their positive and lovely energy.
As sweet as the people
are, the environment is deplorable and desperately
polluted. The air is heavy with smog, smoke and a
dust that daily coats everything. Coming from
Colorado and the crisp mountain air, the air
conditions there were shocking. Being a mom, and
seeing barefoot 4-year-old children in the middle of
crowded busy intersections begging, even at night,
with no parent in sight really had an impact on me.
Riding in a car in Delhi is a life altering
experience. Even so, all things considered, it’s
nothing short of miraculous that India’s one billion
people work and live together as well and happily as
they do. Delhi, India is certainly a tribute to the
indelible human spirit as well as the human ability
to adapt, survive and even thrive.
Over the course of the
next 10 days in Delhi, we made lifelong friends.
There are so many, but a few stand out for me.
Yuyutsu Sharma, a poet and bookseller from Nepal,
had a booth right across from us. I can only
describe him as a beautiful Asian Red Man. He came
over on the first day and greeted us with warmth and
friendship, glad to be our neighbor; in the course
of a week we got to know him well. We learned of his
family at home in Nepal and that his 12-year-old
daughter is strongly drawn to Jesus.
Yuyutsu encourages her to
follow her heart and learn all she can about Jesus
but he explained with a gleam in his eye that his
wife thinks he’s crazy to tell her that. Of course,
we traded our magnificent story of Jesus for one of
his books of poems and he sent it to his child the
next day, via express mail. Imagine being
12-years-old, inexplicably drawn to Jesus and being
able to read Part IV of The Urantia Book! Well,
let's just say, it delights my imagination.
Yuyutsu is a very
successful poet and he’s coming to Boulder soon to
read his poetry and promote his book. Of course, I
offered him a place to stay. He hopes we Urantians
will come to Nepal and be his guests. At dinner one
night, he said, “I will take you all over the
mountain trails, to all of the villages, and you can
hand out your spiritual vitamins -- translated into
Nepalese, of course.” We all smiled and replied, “Of
course!”
I had an encounter with
two young Muslim brothers, Fraz and Kashif Hasan
Khan. Fraz was the older of the two and clearly the
boss, doing most of the talking. They came in and
took issue with us as they were clearly
fundamentalists. However, they were much more polite
than some other fundamentalists I've encountered. We
had a wonderful and lively exchange and after at
least an hour of intense conversation on subjects
like Hell (which they did believe in) and Jesus
being born of a virgin (which they do not believe
in) we came to a place of mutual respect. I learned
that Fraz is majoring in comparative religions at
the university there and he very much wanted a copy
of the UB. So I promised him that if he will read
the entire UB I would read the entire Koran. He
assured me that both he and his brother will read
it. They took my email so that they might ask me
questions and share insights and I have theirs. Such
encounters are like the pinnacle of outreach for me.
Incidentally, the Muslims
we talked to there all reiterated to us that they
accept and recognize Jesus as a true prophet and
believe that he is the one prophet that is coming
back. As I spoke to these two young men, I would
often preface my words with, “Well, as I said, Jesus
is my prophet, and he teaches that….” I found it to
be an effective way to engage them but it is
important to note that, just as with Christians, the
New Testament is their only source for his
teachings.
I had an encounter with a
pharmacist, Noor Ul Hussain, from Kashmir. Noor
(which Agustin said means “river”) told me he was
drawn to our booth and very much interested in
Jesus, although raised a Muslim. Noor said he felt
that he was led to us there and that God was guiding
him and answering his prayers. He of course has the
book now. He took off of work to come back to our
booth and came back every day. After a few days, he
was working with us and it was great to have him
there to explain things to people who speak mainly
Hindi. He works in Delhi and commutes home
periodically to visit his family in Kashmir. He was
headed there for an eight day visit at the end of
the week. Noor spoke very good English, and said
many times over the course of the week in his
wonderful Indian accent, “Yes, def-in-nately, it is
a revelation, I am conveenced.”
While we were there,
people who have had the book since 2000 (the last
time the book was exhibited there by Urantia
Foundation representatives) came into our booth.
Some expressed difficulty in understanding the
manner in which it is written and its concepts and
we assured them that this is difficult for everyone
even those for which English is their first
language. Several of the publishers we spoke to said
they felt it would do better in Indian markets as a
trilogy of books. They felt that the size and cost
could make it prohibitive for most Indians.
We originally decided to
sell the book there for 300 Rupees, which is less
than $12.00. But we soon learned that this amount is
equivalent to an average day’s wage. Charlene’s
comment was, “That’s like paying $80.00 for it by US
standards.” So we asked several people what they
felt would be a fair price for such a book. The
comment that stood out for me is, “Lower the price
to 150 Rupees and you start to see the books move
out.” This we did and the books began to move.
When I called Buck on
Saturday to tell him that I made it home safely, he
said they had nine books left and were all but out
of everything including Spiritual Vitamins (which
people absolutely loved) and brochures (having had
to print 1000 there for 1500 total) and the busiest
day, the last day, was still ahead.
Buck, Arlene and Charlene
were headed to Jabalpur on Monday to visit with Dr.
Chauhan, who has read the book in India for more
than 25 years. He may be the first real Indian
Urantia Book reader. He translated 2,000 quotes into
Hindi (the Hindi Sampler) and we got it just in time
to take there with us. We had just one printed copy,
which Buck bound in a notebook as a booth copy. This
was picked up and read so many times we couldn’t
begin to count. One fellow exhibitor came back every
day to read it a little more. Each time he read it,
his eyes would tear up. Agustin quickly started
keeping a list of people who want a copy with a
promise to each that one will be sent as soon as
it’s available.
In conclusion, I feel
deeply satisfied that 64 more whole seeds of
revelation have been planted in India, along with
hundreds of lesser seeds in numerous other forms,
including audio DVDs, Urdu Samplers, Jesus books,
Life After Death Magazines, Inhabited Worlds
brochures, select excerpt brochures and introductory
brochures and soon the Hindi Samplers will be sent.
In a word, we conducted splendid and effective
outreach there. This is our work, the work of the
revelation and the work of the Fellowship. I hope
our efforts will only grow in this way and that such
will be supported gladly and I pray that we not let
another eight years go by before we go back to India
and Asia in general.
I give my personal
heartfelt thanks to Buck Weimer, who worked
tirelessly to arrange this trip. Thanks Buck for
your stalwart dedication! I also thank all of you
who have supported the Fellowship and our work over
the years. Without your support, efforts like these
would not be possible.
Paula Thompson is
Director of The Urantia Book Fellowship
email
Paula
