Quick Takes From India

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Submitted by jmanley on Tue, 06/08/2010 - 08:19

We set out to accomplish four things. But as an added blessing, we find God's people enjoy the fellowship of one Spirit whether from megapolis slum or sun-blasted wilderness. Our four tasks:

  • Mumbai (Bombay): Determine if we can help the pastor of a 25,000+ member house church network with leadership training
  • Jaipur: Participate in an SIU (Scriptures In Use) church planter story workshop
  • Bengaluru (Bangalore): Conduct an STS Bible story-telling workshop
  • Mysore: Evaluate progress of a three-year relationship with the leader of a rural house church group

At just over a third of the way through our trip, I had to share these sample sightings... (more pictures)


Mumbai encompasses 17,500 distinct slum areas. Their 7 million inhabitants swell by thousands daily as rural villagers seek employment - clearly a challenge and an opportunity for the Church.


While I interviewed the pastor, Regina conducted two impromptu story-telling refresher workshops. The first one took place in the heart of Mumbai's infamous slums.


The next day, we traveled 30 minutes north by train for the second refresher. Guess the identity of the mysterious lady in the dark glasses.


Nearly 60 people (not counting kids and helpers) crowded in to participate in Regina's accelerated workshop.


Lunch time for the crowd revealed creative seating solutions.


Saturday evening we boarded the train for a 17 hour trip from Mumbai to Jaipur. Early Sunday sunlight revealed a lone passenger waiting at a station on the route.


More people gathered at another station further down the track and later in the day.


Field workers live where they can. The country for hundreds of miles around Jaipur resembles North America's southwestern deserts.


At the Bridges workshop in Jaipur, church planters gathered to practice SIU's style of story-telling. Here the group sings before beginning a session.


"We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God." 2 Cor 5:20

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