Would you like to know more about our mission in India? Following are quotes clipped from recent reports submitted by Rev. G. J. Ananda Raju and Rev. Solomon Mamidi to the Asia Committee of our Board for Foreign Missions. These short snatches* of news about pastors and the congregations they serve reveal what life is like in the Indian Church. Please note that English is not the writer’s natural language. These reports may put into perspective the challenges we face in our own congregations.

Churches may not look like ours—

. . . congregation meets beside the bank of a river canal with palm leaf thatched roof . . .

. . . situated in a town where there is a big statue of a monkey god . . .

. . . gathering for worship service on the veranda of a church member’s home . . .

Congregations may not be comprised of people like us—

. . . preaching among Hindu converts of a higher caste called “Chowdaries” . . .

. . . serving among the butcher families who clean animal skin and sell . . .

. . . near the rice paddy fields where the believers are from farmer families . . .

. . . situated on the slope of hill where the believers are from pottery families . . .

. . . thatched roof congregation among cobbler families worshipping God . . .

Ministry duties may differ from ours in the United States—

. . . in addition to serving the congregation, provides medicine for leprosy . . .

. . . plays musical instruments, sings melodiously, conducts worship on a veranda

. . . .good reciter of Small Catechism and helping the congregation to learn it . . .

. . . from an idol worshiping royal family, witnessing Jesus as Savior among them . . .

Ministry challenges may differ from the ones we face here—

. . . house was burnt due to short circuit. His son’s daughter died due to burn wounds . . .

. . . praying regarding his paralysis stroke to his right hand as it is not working properly . . .

. . . the Gospel Worker Brother Peter Babu. conducted the service. At the end he raised his hands to pronounce the blessing to the congregation. In the prayer-shed the rats ate the electricity wires. The congregation or the Gospel Worker had not noticed it. The hands touched the electrical wires and he was electrocuted. His hands and foot were burned and he fell down in the church. All the members thought he was dead. Among the congregation some young people gave some first-aid and took him to the hospital . . . (Peter Babu survived! However, his hand is disfigured.)

Despite the differences, God provides blessings to the ministry—

. . . bold in proclaiming about the Savior of the world . . .

. . . a police Constable belonging to a family of Hindu idol worshipers who now serves Jesus as Savior . . .

. . . a Muslim family found that our Jesus Christ is the only Savior and Lord of the world . . .

. . . the Pastor along with two church elders visited 11 Hindu families and preached the Gospel. One of the companion elders was from a Hindu family, he testified the blessings of Christ after he left the Hinduism and also he shared about the Eternal Salvation in Christ. One family came forward believing in Jesus and are now coming to the Church. They are under instruction for the Baptism. The Holy Bible was given to the family by the Church . . .

At a Christmas service on December 18, 2006: . . . in Huzurnagur town, the gathering was between 2500 and 3000 people. They invited the local heads and Political Leaders for the occasion. Among the invitees one Communist Leader who heard the first time about the Savior of the World and he recognized that and said, ‘I am also a sinner, surely He will forgive me’ . . .

Yes, there are some differences between American and Indian congregations. But the similarities are more significant: “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:4-6).

Steven P. Petersen is the ELS Missions Counselor and lives in Mankato, Minnesota.