A four-member team from North Spartan Baptist Association, led by director of missions Ken Kirkley, participated in a “vision trip” to the West Bengal region of India, May 26-June 9, to explore ways of sharing Jesus Christ with the heavily Muslim population.
The men of the team were invited by the men of the village to walk to the river to see their boat. During the walk, Dennis Hall and Ed Brown were surrounded by children who were taught to sing “Alleluia” by Brown. “This was a two-fold trip,” said Kirkley. “First, it was a vision trip to examine the needs of the missionary in that area and to determine how we could fit in with those needs. Second, we were there to visit in the villages and to do evangelism work.”
The Southern Baptist worker in India encouraged the association to promote the “1,000 for 1,000” prayer initiative among South Carolina Baptists, which seeks 1,000 churches or fellowships – Sunday school classes, RA chapters, GAs and Acteens groups, Woman’s Missionary Unions, or Baptist Men organizations – to fervently pray for a specific village, asking that “God would move in a mighty way.”
“The only way to reach the 8 million Muslims in northern West Bengal is through a church-planting movement,” according to the association’s vision team. “Our initial goal is to see one house church started in each of those villages,” Kirkley explained.
Other ways that South Carolina Baptists can be involved in the Bengali effort include church vision trips to discover missions opportunities and to develop relationships; adopting a village in which to do missions work; and serving overseas through the International Mission Board.
“Prayer is the foundation for all the work being done in South Asia,” said Debbie McDowell, director of missions mobilization, South Carolina Baptist Convention. “This prayer partnership is one way for SCBC churches to be involved in Southeast Asia,” she said, noting that prayer partnerships will be a main focus of a mobilization event Oct. 12-13 at Southside Baptist Church, Spartanburg (see www.scbaptist.org).
Kirkley is currently organizing a return trip to West Bengal in April or May of 2007 to assist in the discipleship of new believers, train house church leaders and do evangelistic outreach. Volunteers may contact the associational office at (864) 599-0843 or email kenkirkley@northspartan.org.
Dennis and Elaine Hall of Fairview Baptist Church, Ken Kirkley, director of missions, North Spartan Baptist Association, and Ed Brown of Cooley Springs Baptist Church served on the vision team.
Two-wheeled carts are used to transport heavy loads of materials.
Elaine Hall, left, stands with a Muslim woman in the courtyard of a mosque. Because they were females, they were not allowed to enter and had to cover their heads and remove their shoes just to be in the courtyard.
Elaine Hall, left, was greeted by the village women. She shared Bible stories and songs with them, and they offered refreshments of cucumbers, mangos and hot tea. Whole mountainsides are covered in tea bushes, which are harvested for the producton of tea, an important part of the economy in this part of India. 
Village huts are made of bamboo framing and laced with jute.
Pictured above is the daughter of a shopkeeper from a nearby town who, along with millions in the area, need a Christian witness.
A Muslim leader of a village, along with some of the men and boys of the village, were open to a visit by the North Spartan Baptist Association vision team.