Institute for Excellence in India: Update 3

Dear friends and colleagues,

In my previous update I described some of what makes North East India unique in comparison with the rest of the country.  Whereas the “mainland” of India is dominated by Hinduism and Hindu culture, for 150 years the tribal people of North East India have shown remarkable receptivity to the Gospel.  Large Baptist church buildings, usually located on the highest plot of each mountain village, dominate the skyline.

In God’s workings, the churches of NE India are strongly missional in outlook.  In the 1950’s the Indian government believed that Western missionaries were supporting the independence movements in this region, and expelled all Westerners.  The NE churches understood that the leadership of the church was now in their hands, as was the responsibility  of the unfinished task to carry the Gospel to parts yet unreached.  The result was a strong missionary movement, entirely resourced by the Indian Baptist congregations.

Local congregations are generous in their missions giving.  It’s not unusual for a congregation to devote half of their budget to cross-cultural missions.  These are not wealthy churches by Western standards, and so their generous commitment is all the more remarkable and exemplary.

Laiu Facchai, the Indian missionary I mentioned in my last update, now directs SIM’s sending office here in NE India.  Over the past two years they have been the vehicle for sending out 18 new missionaries.  The Baptist associations in this region are responsible for many, many more.

While it is difficult to obtain long-term visas for missionaries from the West who wish to work in India, missionaries coming from NE India obviously have no such problems.  And, so the churches in this part of India have a unique opportunity to share the gospel with their Hindu neighbors in the mainland.

Seminaries here play a strategic role in promoting missions among their student bodies.  Students go on short-term mission trips.  God’s redemptive purpose for all nations is taught in Bible and theology courses, as well as courses focused particularly on the practice of missions.  It seems that a sizeable proportion of students have cross-cultural ministry as a calling for ministry after graduation.

This missions movement is not of the old paradigm, “from the West to the rest” (if that ever was the old paradigm).  Rather, it exemplifies what is happening in many parts of the world where Christ is worshipped as the Lord of all nations.  The new paradigm is “from every where to every where.”

In a few hours Dr Ashish and I will be returning to Bangalore, in South India.  The Institute for Excellence, which begins tomorrow will be hosted by SAIACS, the South Asia Institute for Advanced Christian Studies.  Three dozen leaders of seminaries from India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal will be learning to think about what it means to have a financially sustainable seminary, and how to move increasingly in that direction.  Following the example of total indigenous support for missions in North East India, Christian leadership development should also be “owned” by the churches themselves.  Pray for the Lord’s hand to move among us this week.

Warmly in Christ,

Scott