Previous | Next 

Shamshabad, India
The cost of spreading the gospel in India


When Pastor K. Devadass began his first preaching assignment in an Indian village, no one would have blamed him if he had left and never returned.

As a child, Devadass worshipped more Hindu gods than he could count. Then one day, while reading the first chapter of John, he felt God revealing Himself in a great light.

“In that moment, my life changed,” shares Devadass. “With my new-found faith, I eagerly set out to visit Elijah, a Christian belonging to my same caste. After he saw my transformed life, he helped me to enrol in biblical studies.”

Soon after graduation in 1991, Devadass became an evangelist with the Mennonite Brethren Church’s Church Extension Worker (CEW) program ministering among unreached peoples. In the village assigned to him, he began sharing his story.

“Most of the people mocked me,” recalls Devadass. “Some threatened me, trying to get me to leave the village. By the grace of God, and through the prayers of many, I was able to withstand the opposition. God blessed my ministry with a small group of people seeking the truth, and we started meeting together.”

Together they built a thatched roof hut so they could gather for worship. However, soon some people in the village burned down the hut.

“In the heap of our hut’s ashes, we continued to pray and witness about the risen Lord,” says Devadass. “Now there are 36 people who have accepted Christ. Out of this number, four have committed their lives to full-time ministry.”

N. Jesudass, R. Jacob and H. Nandinne expound on the gospel with new Christians.

This is one of many life-changing stories of the Indian MB Church – stories that teach what it means to proclaim the gospel with boldness in the face of opposition and difficulty.

Since its birth a hundred years ago, the Indian MB Church has been committed to mission. By 1970, 114 MB congregations had been planted by Indian and North American missionaries, with over 43,000 members. Today, there are over 800 MB congregations in India, with over 80,000 baptized members. Many of the new congregations began through the ministry of evangelists under the CEW program that reached out to Hindus and Muslims in villages throughout the region.

When the majority of MBMS International workers left India in the early 1970s, the MB conferences of India, Canada and the US wrestled with what it means to work together in mission. In response to MBMSI’s vision to focus ministry among unreached peoples, the Indian MB Conference proposed that MBMSI supplement Indian evangelists who would go as church planters in surrounding Indian villages where there were no existing multiplying church movements.

Russell Schmidt, MBMSI program director for Asia, says, “Indian evangelists are much better equipped to do this than we are as Westerners.”

With 35 evangelists in place by 1990, confusion arose about who should take ownership of the ministry and oversee the workers. While the transition was not always smooth, the Indian MB Conference appointed John Sankara Rao, professor of world religion at the Indian MB Bible Centenary College in Shamshabad, to direct the program in 1998.

“We are currently reaching 395 unreached villages through the ministry of 80 CEWs,” comments Sankara Rao. “We have identified an additional 382 villages without Christian witness in the districts surrounding the MB Church. Over 3500 people have become Christians through this effort, and we see that new doors continue to open, even in northern India.”

Schmidt visited India in 1999 and witnessed the evangelism work firsthand. “The highlight of my visit to India was hearing the testimonies of CEWs,” he reports. “There were repeated testimonies of healing, conversions followed by baptism, and persecution that later resulted in conversions.”

Evangelists

N. Shalem Raju preaches the Word of God

Raju grew up in a family where his mother used Hindu arts to heal the sick and cast out demons. However, there was no peace at home, and his parents were always fighting.

“I was married at the age of 18,” says Raju. “Being extremely restless, I began to read the Hindu scriptures to find peace and meaning in life. But no peace came to my heart.”

While Raju was in this unsettled state, a preacher came to his village and distributed evangelistic tracts. “Jesus’ words, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life’, caught my attention,” recalls Raju. “I understood then who Christ was, and joy filled my heart.”

Despite his parents’ opposition, he was baptized and became an evangelist.

According to Sankara Rao, Raju is currently facing opposition from a fanatic Hindu group. Last fall, a group of youth pulled him out of his house at night and threatened to burn it down. He was beaten, but he did not abandon the work of evangelism. Next morning, members of the group apologized to him. In another village, youth threatened to burn Raju and his partner to death. The village chief found out and rescued them. But he was warned never to enter the village again with the gospel.

Sreenu had worshiped idols since boyhood and wore a magic thread that was given to him by the Brahmin priests for protection from evil. But Sreenu says he could not find peace and was restless.

Sreenu had been in the habit of buying liquor for himself and his friends. When he decided to follow Christ, his friends and relatives threatened to expel him from the community because he no longer brought them liquor. “ I told my friends and my parents that since Jesus has saved and transformed me, I will never be the same again. I became a new creation. Praise the Lord.”

CEWs often become evangelists at great personal costs, according to Werner Kroeker, a former MBMSI worker in India. Saji (not his real name) was no exception.

“After a week of fasting and prayer, Saji felt called to join the CEW program,” says Kroeker. “In response to this decision, he carefully placed his mattress and pillow in storage.” Saji knew that conditions would be difficult as a village evangelist so he began preparing himself by sleeping on the concrete floor, filled with anticipation of how the Spirit would move.

What does it mean for MBMSI to share with Indian MB churches in evangelism? According to Tim Bergdahl, program director for MBMSI, the issue of funding the CEW program is complex. Currently, India MB churches and MBMSI work out how much each will contribute to support the evangelists. In addition to partial funds given through MBMSI, a small number of evangelists receive additional assistance from local MB churches.

Bergdahl suggests the day should come when the global MB family addresses how gifts and needs are shared in church planting. “Today the North American and Indian Conferences relate to each other mainly through MBMS International. However, our hope is that all MB conferences will sit as full partners at a common table.”

In fact, this is already happening through the International Committee of Mennonite Brethren (ICOMB). ICOMB was formed in 1990 to give leaders from MB conferences a space to work with one another. According to Bergdahl, ICOMB has experienced considerable growth, but it also has a long way to go to be an effective instrument for sharing the gifts of the global MB community in an equitable way.

When Kroeker lived on the campus of the MB Centenary Bible College, he had many opportunities to connect with evangelists who visited the campus. He recalls hearing the story of an evangelist who had just returned from ministry in a local village. The elders of the village had banned the evangelist from returning, telling him, “If you ever come back to this village to preach, we’ll beat you and drag you out of our town in a burlap bag.”

Kroeker asked the evangelist what he would do.

“I’ll return, of course,” was the reply.

 – Jeanine Yoder, for MBMS International

Previous | Next 

Last modified March 30, 2001.

© 2001 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
Masthead and usage information.