----------------------------------------------------------------------- Missions Insider Report by Christian Aid November 13, 2002 Vol. 3 No. 45 Visit our website at http://www.christianaid.org ----------------------------------------------------------------------- John Lindner, Editor ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Feature Story: 1. Preaching the Gospel Hindu Style News Bites: 2. Vietnam: 354 Churches Closed! 3. India: Last-Ditch Effort Made to Halt Conversion Law 4. Peru: Ministry Brings New Life to Kanaris Tribespeople 5. What's It Like to Be a Christian in China? 6. Photo of the Week: Child Amputees Note: It is the policy of Missions Insider to refrain from mentioning names that could make the subjects targets of anti-Christian activity. Names are mentioned of ministries in more secure areas or conducting work commended by authorities. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Preaching the Gospel Hindu Style by John Lindner When a young man named John left his home state of Kerala to obtain a Bible school education, he felt the Lord was telling him, "Don't go back there." At that time, the population of Kerala, the state where the apostle Thomas first began preaching the gospel in A.D. 52, was about 20% Christian. In contrast, Karnataka, the neighboring state where he had gone to Bible school, was only 2% Christian. But how preach the gospel in an overwhelmingly Hindu society? After earning his M.Th. from Wheaton College and a Ph.D. at Fuller Theological Seminary, Dr. John Thannickal returned to India and decided to conduct Christian "ashrams." The ashram is indigenous to Hindu culture, but John fills it with Christian content. In an ashram, the students sit with the teacher and ask questions. The students learn as the teacher answers. The end result is a fraternal bond between students and teacher, similar to that between Jesus and His disciples, not just head knowledge. John went to a rural village and began holding ashram style meetings. He taught from the Gospel of John, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God..." (John 1:1-2). Hindus freely came to hear this Christian teacher because the venue was non-threatening. After a week, John moved on to another village. Sometimes he spent two weeks in a village, depending on the response. The response was extraordinary. In one place 22 new believers requested baptism. In another place 100 people trusted in Christ and wanted baptism. In a third place, 120 people embraced Christ and asked to be baptized. John told them, "I will baptize you, but the important thing is a transformed heart." The gospel seed had been sown on fertile soil, and these new groups of believers wanted to meet as a congregation to learn more about Jesus. They also needed places to meet. No problem; John helped them find resources to put together small meeting places similar to the huts they called houses. But the people themselves were dirt poor and what they could give wouldn't support a pastor. Then John said to himself, "I need to start a church in a city, where people have the means to provide support." So he sent one of his disciples, an educated man of color and culture similar to the high-caste Hindus, who spoke the local Kannada language like a native. He began holding ashram sessions, and the high-caste Hindus looked upon him as an equal. One of the Brahmin men who came told him about his two-year-old son who had a severe breathing difficulty. "We've had him to many doctors and several Hindu priests have prayed over him," he said, "but he gets no better. I understand you Christians pray for the sick. Come and heal him." "I am not that kind of a person," the preacher said, "but I can pray to the Lord Jesus and He will heal him." The minister went and prayed for the child and for the first time in his life, the boy slept soundly through the night. The whole family was amazed and trusted in Christ. The man's staunchly Hindu parents heard about it and invited the minister to their house. After a week of teachings in their home, they, too, became Christians. Through their witness and more answers to prayer other high-caste Hindus learned of Christ and decided to follow Him. Today that church of 100 believers is still growing and supports not only its own pastor but contributes to mission work as well. In 1986 John began a training program known as Nava Jeeva Ashram (New Life Discipling Center). At first evening classes were held in the local Kannada language. Soon believers in outlying places heard about it and wanted to take the training. "As long as we have to get room and board," they asked, "why don't you have classes all day?" So day classes were started. Then students started coming from Orissa and Nagaland. Some even showed up from Myanmar (then called Burma). To communicate with this multi-ethnic group, the decision was made to conduct classes in English, a language common to them all. To offer a recognized degree, New Life Ashram had to meet certain requirements. A syllabus had to be developed and a library established. Today New Life College has 160 students enrolled from several nations. High school graduates can enroll in its three-year B.Th. program. College and B.Th. graduates may take the M.Div. course. In recent years the ashram approach has also gained them favor with authorities. When the government took a sizeable portion of ashram land for a highway project, John told officials, "I don't want compensation in money. I want land for land." The request was passed on to authorities. "This is an ashram," they said; "Give them the land." Today a new two-story building accommodates about 120 men students. The women still stay at another facility. John plans to add two more stories to the building as soon as he can find the funds. Then it will be able to provide facilities for all aspects of the training program. Though accommodations have been made to meet modern teaching standards, Nava Jeeva Ashram disciples still go out and conduct ashram style meetings. They don't speak of "converts," a term that rubs raw nerves in today's tense times; instead, they focus on seeing lives transformed by the indwelling Christ. For them, the ashram method is a particularly fruitful means of communicating the gospel among the Hindus. Support for Nava Jeeva Ashram can be given at http://www.christianaid.org. For more information, write and put MI-345 630-NJA on the subject line. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Native missionaries brave "dangerous places" to bring the gospel to "unreached" people in mountains, cities, jungles and "closed" lands. You can support your own missionary by sending $50 per month and receive the name, photo and biographical sketch of the one you support, plus a description of the indigenous mission with which he/she serves. Call (434)977-5650 or contact today. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Vietnam: 354 Churches Closed! A special bulletin from Compass Direct today announced that 354 of the 412 churches in Dak Lak Province have been forcefully closed by Vietnam's Communist officials. It is expected that the remaining 58 churches will soon suffer a similar fate. All of these churches are among the Montagnard or "mountain people" of Vietnam's Central Highlands. The churches were historically part of the Evangelical Church of Viet Nam (South), but were prohibited by authorities from continuing that relationship when the ECVN(S) was officially recognized last year. Heavy-handed crackdowns began in 2001 after several thousand Montagnard Christians publicly demonstrated against their lack of religious freedom and illegal loss of their lands to ethnic Vietnamese. Many Christians fled to the forest or to neighboring Cambodia. "This latest move against the churches in Dak Lak is the most severe persecution since 1975, when churches were closed and church leaders put in re-education camps for years," Compass Direct said. Earlier complaints to local authorities by the legally recognized ECVN(S) committee resulted in intensified persecution. Compass Direct's report continued: "Authorities seized church leaders at will and took them to unknown destinations. They confiscated church furniture, Christian books, Bibles and musical instruments, and then sealed off or took over the simple chapels where Christians met. Officials have entered chapels while Christians were worshipping and harangued Christians to give up their faith." "All the Christians I met greeted me with tears, asked me to pray with them and then hurried me on my way lest something untoward happen to me," said a recent visitor to the area. "Even some sympathetic government officials received me with tears, recognizing the overwhelming sadness of what is happening." "Please pass this sad news to the churches overseas," the visitor said, "so that they may participate in earnest prayer, beseeching the Lord to deliver us from this distress." Financial support for persecuted Vietnamese churches and believers can be given at Christian Aid's website, http://www.christianaid.org. For more information, write and put MI-345 740-PERS on the subject line. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. India: Last-Ditch Effort Made to Halt Conversion Law A delegation representing Christians, Muslims and Dalits has asked the governor of Tamil Nadu not to pass the anti-conversion bill on to India's president for assent. The delegation, consisting of two archbishops representing various Christian denominations, the president of a Tamil Nadu Muslim organization and a Dalit organization leader highlighted the problems that might be faced by minorities if the bill were passed into law. Meanwhile, a conference called by the Dharma Rakshana Samiti and attended by leaders of several Hindu organizations urged pushing the bill into law. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Peru: Ministry Brings New Life to Kanaris Tribespeople A mission in Peru has been able to plant new churches and aid Kanaris tribespeople with support sent by Christian Aid. Marino Huatangare told Christian Aid that New Life Evangelistic Ministry, which he began and directs, has been able to plant 72 new worshipping groups of believers among the Kanaris people. In the last six months the mission conducted five major evangelistic crusades where the gospel was preached to 5500 people. NLEM missionaries witnessed 1400 professions of faith and discipled and baptized 88 new believers. The Kanaris people are very poor, and gifts to Christian Aid enabled 150 of them to receive shoes and clothing. Also, 30 Bibles and 50 New Testaments were distributed among the brethren, and other assistance was given to the elderly. For more information write and put MI-345 245-NLEM on the subject line. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. What's It Like to Be a Christian in China? A new book by C. Hope Flinchbaugh, Daughter of China (Bethany House) depicts the life of Mei Lin, a 19-year-old girl in China whose family belongs to a house church. The book shows what happens when the meeting is raided by the police, how Mei Lin's Christian faith affects her schooling and future, what happens to Christians in prison, and what hope Christians in western countries bring through their prayers, the sending of Bibles, and other means of support. You will laugh, weep, and pray as the drama unfolds before you. Every chapter brings a new development. This is no dull recitation of facts, but it is very real. Each incident in this novel is based on documented events and testimonies of Chinese Christians. The book is recommended to learn what it's really like being a house-church Christian in China today. For more information on the author or the book, go to http://www.seehope.com/. Christian Aid helps train thousands of evangelical church leaders at more than 82 Bible institutes in China. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Photo of the Week: Child Amputees http://www.christianaid.org/pow/pow-3-45.asp Between 1991-2001 rebels in Sierra Leone sought to strike fear and compliance into the hearts of local residents by randomly chopping off their hands or feet. Thousands of adults and children lost one or more arms and feet, as did these two children being held by their mothers in this October, 2002 photo. Note the prostheses on the floor. The men are missionaries with an indigenous mission that Christian Aid is helping to bring assistance to 250 families of amputees. The mission also is making a special effort to reach Sierra Leone's youth before they grow up as homeless and hardened criminals. For more information write and put MI-345 530-TGM on the subject line. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Mission Statement: Missions Insider is a free weekly email report from Christian Aid Mission, your link to the world of indigenous missions. We seek to establish a witness for our Lord in every tribe and nation (Matthew 24:14) by supporting highly effective native missionary ministries based in poorer countries overseas, or where believers are persecuted. Christian Aid has contact with more than 6000 indigenous ministries that have a total of 300,000 missionaries on the field or ready to go when support is available. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Permission to Republish The content of Missions Insider is Copyright 2002. You have permission to share this newsletter with any evangelical Christian whom you think would be interested in reading it. Permission is granted to reproduce articles in whole or in part on websites, e-mail networks or print media as long as the stories are faithfully replicated and credit is given to Missions Insider at http://www.christianaid.org. Please send notices of publication to . Thank you. ------------------------------ Contact Us ----------------------------- Check us out on the web at: http://www.christianaid.org/. Christian Aid can be reached by phone at 434-977-5650, or by writing Christian Aid at P.O. Box 9037, Charlottesville, VA 22906. In Canada, visit http:/http://www.christianaid.ca or write to .
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