| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
A letter from Kathy Hoffmann in India |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Mussoorie, India
June 2004
Moving on
Dear Friends and Family,
The monsoon arrived last night. Summer had come early. On the
plains of north India the temperature passed 40 C (104 F). In
Mussoorie we were overly warm at 26 C, and the town was full of
tourists escaping the heat of the plains, and we had hillside
fires. At Woodstock in the last month of school, IGCSE and AP
exams were in progress. The emotional temperature rose as students
took exams and prepared to leave the hillside, with all the joy,
excitement, and sorrow of saying goodbye and moving on. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
A view of the Woodstock School in Mussoorie, Uttaranchal, a former
"hill station" in colonial India. |
|
“Moving on” also describes the choice
of the Indian electorate. Have you been following the news of India’s
elections? The Congress party, led by Sonia Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi’s
widow, gained the most seats in Parliament, defying the predictions
of everyone, including the Congress party. The people of India have
overwhelmingly signaled their opposition to the sectarianism that
was coming from the BJP, a Hindu fundamentalist party. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
The election, with over 300 million
people voting, reaffirms the constitutional commitment to a secular
government and the constitutional rights of everyone in this religiously,
linguistically, and ethnically diverse country. Pray for new government,
which is by necessity a coalition government, with a promise of
attention to the rural poor and their need for water, food, roads
and other infrastructure. This has always been the platform of the
Congress party, which has been renewed and refreshed with the Gandhi
family’s involvement. We hope that this will make a difference
to the tenor of government and politics in India. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
In the next school year beginning in July, I
will be moving on, too, to a new role here in the school, academic
dean. Though I will still be doing some teaching, I will be working
on staff development and support as well as curriculum development
and integration. This is new for me and is a new position in the
school. I look forward to helping teachers develop their vocations
and skills and their adaptation to Woodstock education curriculum
and methodology. |
|
The gate to the Woodstock School in snow. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Woodstock has moved on into the
21st century, this year being its 150th anniversary! Woodstock
has been here on this hillside since the days of the East India
Company. Most of that time, Woodstock existed primarily to educate
the children of missionaries. Since the 1870s the Presbyterian
Church (U.S.A.) has supported Woodstock. Here are a few tidbits
from the history of the school and the Presbyterian involvement.
- In 1852, two Presbyterian missionaries in Dehra Dun, J.S.
Woodside and David Herron, were in on the formation of the company
that would establish Woodstock two years later. They were joined
by three British Army officers and the Landour chaplain.
- Woodside was chiefly responsible for talking the Presbyterian
Board of Foreign Mission into buying Woodstock. It was the “Presbyterians”
(women’s organizations parallel to presbyteries) in Philadelphia
and Chicago who raised the money. On June 30, 1872, a momentous
cable arrived, “Buy Woodstock.”
- When Woodstock reopened on March 1, 1874, it did so under
the patronage of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian
Church (U.S.A.). The English period at Woodstock had come to
an end, and the school moved gradually into its role of educating
the children of U.S. missionaries.
- A board of directors appointed by the Punjab Mission of the
Presbyterian Church assumed control in 1893.
- In the early 1920s, Woodstock became an interdenominational,
coeducational, boarding school, with a U.S. curriculum.
- Woodstock educated the children of Presbyterians who founded
and ran the Allahabad Agricultural Institute for a hundred years.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
The Woodstock graduating class wearing clothes typical of their
country of origin. |
|
In the last 30 years, the Indian government has
been less welcoming of missionaries and that, along with changes
in how people plan their mission careers, has meant that the need
for a mission school has changed. In the 1970s, Woodstock became
a Christian school serving the Christian, Indian, and international
community in this part of Asia. Our student body comes from many
countries, cultures, and religions. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
We live and learn in a Christian
community built on Christian teaching, values, and ethics. It
is an exciting ministry to share the Christian worldview, understanding,
and values with future leaders and nation-builders in Asia. Celebrate
with us by praying that the ministry of Woodstock would be an
instrument of growth and change in the lives of all of us here
and in the world our students go into. I am particularly conscious
that in being supported by PC(USA) I am part of a long history
of the Presbyterian Church’s commitment to Woodstock as
a ministry in God’s world and in India. In my last prayer
letter, I described taking a group of our students to the Allahabad
Agricultural Institute for an activity week of learning about
rural development. This is a trip we intend to make every year
during activity week. For me, it’s a way of maintaining
the historical link and being a part of the church’s larger
work in India. There’s more information about Woodstock
on its Web site at http://www.woodstock.ac.in.
Maybe in these politically exciting days we have moved on from
the negative rhetoric about mission and Christians. At the Indian
government’s unveiling of the commemorative Woodstock stamp,
the governor of Uttaranchal expressed gratitude to the missionaries
who came to India and served in education and in medical work.
Three weeks later, the graduation speaker, Nayantara Sahgal, was
also appreciative of the Christian education she and her sisters
received in the 1930s when her parents were in jail during the
Quit India Movement. I receive this appreciation on behalf of
all those who moved on before us, Presbyterians and many other
denominations, in the name of Christ to share their lives and
skills in this land, including at Woodstock.
Rejoice that you participate,
Kathy
The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
197
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
