2009 Festival Report

Twenty brethren from India, U.S.A. and Canada observed the second Feast of Tabernacles in Hyderabad India under the UCG banner.

India is a very big country with a population of over 1.1 billion , but has few brethren.  There is a saying, “one in a million.”  Well with the 12 Indian brethren that would make them 1 in 97 million.  Feast time is the only time brethren see other brethren.  It took us 25 hour to travel from Canada to India.   Amazingly it took one person that long to travel to the Feast site who lived in India.  (Another couple who live in India traveled over 35 hours )

All events were held at the Golkonda Resort and Spa, and all inclusive resort so we saw each other for breakfast, services, Bible Study, noon and evening meals.  What a great “fellowship” feast.  Most afternoons we visited local sites or relaxed in the resort swimming pool.

One afternoon excursion was a visit to the Qutub Shahi Tombs.  These tombs of the legendary Qutub Shahi kings lie to the north of Golkonda, about a kilometer away from the Golkonda Fort.  Planned and built by the Qutub Shahi themselves, these tombs are said to be the oldest historical monuments in Hyderabad.  They form a large group and stand on a raised platform.  The tombs are built in Persian, Parthan and Hindu architectural styles using grey granite, with stucco ornamentations, the only one of its kind in the world where an entire dynasty has been buried at one place.

The tomb area showed what rulers thought of their death, and yet we were there picturing a time ( especially the Last Great Day ) when they will rise from their tombs.  God’s great plan for after death is so much more important than an impressive building that lasts few years compared to eternity.

It was an emotional time to say good-bye as some of us knew we would never see each other again, and the India brethren knew it would be a year before they would meet other brethren again.  We truly meant the first line of the last song we sang before we departed our separate ways, “God be with you till we meet again.”  

--Lloyd Teetaert