India Conference reps visit North America

Two representatives of the India MB Conference are currently visiting North America, sharing their testimonies and inviting partnership in the evangelistic, church-planting and training ministries of their 800-congregation Conference.

John and Mary Sankara live in Shamshabad, just outside the large city of Hyderabad. He is a professor and she the assistant librarian at the MB Centenary Bible College. He directs India’s Disciple Making International, a program of MB Mission and Service International, as well as the work of church extension.

John grew up in a staunch Hindu family, worshipping gods and goddesses. The sudden death of two friends and the question of where he would go if he died made him restless. Although he – a high caste person – had the impression that Christ was the God of the low caste, he was attracted to Jesus for a number of reasons. God revealed Himself to John through a vision, which led him to read the Bible. In that first reading, he understood very little besides 2 Samuel 18:33, where David laments his son’s death by saying “would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son.” He realized Christ had died for his sins, and was converted and baptized.

Mary’s parents were first-generation converts from a Hindu family. Her father was the pastor of an MB church but, she says, she did not know about Christ. At age 13 she heard a pastor preaching on Romans 3:11 and 23 and realized she was a sinner in need of a Saviour.

Both John and Mary studied at Bible college after they were married, preparing to serve the Lord in whatever He would ask of them. When she tells her story, Mary also shares insights into the lives of women in India. They are “second class citizens,” she says, “though some Christians are different.” Besides her work at the College, Mary is the secretary of the MB Women’s Conference. Approximately 300 churches of the 800 in the India Conference have women’s fellowships. The goal, she says, is to have the fellowships in all the churches. Last October some 4,000 women and girls gathered for the Women’s Conference annual four-day meeting to learn and be inspired together.

One of the strengths of the India Conference, says John, is its large number of youth. One of the challenges is to keep these youth in the churches. The government, which faces strong pressure from fanatical Hindus who link nationalism to the agenda of a single religion, lures them away from Christianity with the promise of financial help for students.

The India MB Conference demonstrates faith and commitment in spite of poverty, John says. It also faces many needs, both within its congregations and in witnessing to the millions of unreached people in India. John and Mary hope their visit will stimulate ongoing prayer and partnerships between the MB family in India and North America.

—Dora Dueck