Revd J. Daniel Yovan’s Pastoral Letter – December 2023
Dear sisters and brothers,
What a joy when we think about celebrating Christmas (God coming to us). People around the world are looking and seeking for God by going on pilgrimages from place to place. But God came to be with us in Jesus. This good news calls for celebration and joy. Where there is God there is peace and joy; His holy presence brings light to the dark situations, clarity in confusion, and peace in the midst of a storm. At the moment the place where Christ was born as a human being is not at peace. There is a lot of pain and sorrow because of the violent and bloodshed in that region. Not only in the Middle East but also several other regions of the world there is no peace. Even among people who call themselves the people of God, there is disunity and resentment. That is why it is important that we meet with God regularly to receive the peace and the joy that passes all understanding. I always wanted to visit the Holy land, but did not get a chance. You may have a special place where you met with God.
The place where God reveals himself to his people becomes a holy place. Which is your holy place? Do you consider church as a holy place, where you received a revelation of God? or do you see the church just as a building for people to socialise? The space wherever we meet God, becomes a holy place.
When we went to India this time I was able to go into the church building I grew up with. I left our Christian community in 1992 to work at abroad. Since then I had visited our church a few times. But after 2002 I did not get a chance to step into the church building, due to various reasons, until December 2022. So it is 20 years since I have worshiped in that place. This church building and the people of that community played a vital role in my discipleship until I was 30 years old. Please find the picture of my hometown church on the next page.
When we visited our hometown, Kotticode, this time, I only had few hours to spent in our village, visiting some of our families and friends. We as the family visited the church, and the church was open for a harvest festival. There was a lot of commotion with people bringing their produce from their farms, and some food stalls had been opened and running in the church yard, and there was announcement about the development of the harvest festival through the loudspeakers which were mounted on the church tower. It was noisy and chaotic, and people were in a mood of celebration. All this celebration was happening in the church yard and it was a Saturday night. When I walked into the church, I did not expect to see anyone because I wanted to be alone. My only focus was to get to the altar and pray in silence. But to my surprise, one of my childhood friends who is now a steward walked out of the vestry towards the altar and met me with joy. We spent a few minutes talking and I said to him that I came to pray. He then left me alone. I knelt at the communion rail and thanked God for taking me to the ‘heights’ from that ‘humble’ place. I had never imagined, 30 years ago, that I will be in Britain ministering to God’s people today. The experience of kneeling at the communion rail may not be significant to others in my family. But for several years I was longing to be by this altar at least for few minutes. Making the journey to that place felt like climbing an impossible mountain with a lot of preparation and planning for months before hand. There were a lot of hurdles I faced, every time when I visited our village in the past, to get to that ‘holy place’. I will cherish this moment for all my life. It was so special that I did not want to share with anyone in my family. They may not understand it. It was a ‘holy place’ for so many in the past, and nearly two centuries since 1832 the year Gospel had arrived in our village, many have experienced the light of God. Most people in our place see that space as a place to encounter God and have experienced the life changing presence of God. Many souls have been touched many more received the revelation of God in that place, and many became the ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ because of this holy presence in that place. People’s devotion and prayerful commitments in the past and now made that place a ‘holy place’.
Friends, do you have a holy place? I would strongly encourage you to find your ‘holy place’ and spend time with God. Sometimes it will be a difficult ‘journey’ to get to the ‘holy place’. You may spent most of your time in your bedroom. That is okay. However, I would strongly urge you to make time and space to meet with God, who came to be with us, daily. Please pray with me.
Lord Jesus, thank you for coming to us to live our lives, bore our griefs and die our death upon the cross. Help us to focus our eyes on you through the storms of life. Help us to share the Good news of ‘God coming to us’ to those who do not have the hope of eternal life.
Amen.
Rev J Daniel Yovan, Tel: 01727 851834, Email: minister@hatfieldroadmethodist.org.
December 2023/January 2024.
