Editor’s note: Some of the names in this story have been changed for security purposes.
A short-term volunteer team from the Upstate went to Delhi, India, recently as part of an ongoing South Carolina Baptist Convention partnership with that city.
With an estimated 30 million people living in the capital city alone, India is considered a “last frontier” region, with the greatest number of people groups that have yet to hear the gospel. Many languages are spoken, millions of gods are worshiped there, and the physical and spiritual needs are great.
The partnership team included two Greenville area couples — Indian church planters Chinna and Papa Babu, and Josh and Emily Vickers, members of Edwards Road Church. They worked with International Mission Board personnel and helped train local pastors and believers in church planting and discipleship.
On the team’s second day in Delhi, they prayerwalked a Hindu temple and crematorium and stopped by the city’s largest Sikh temple. They were greeted by the chief religious officer, who prepares visitors to enter the temple and educates them on the Sikh religion. “He took us to a lounge, and we listened for about 40 minutes as he shared about his faith. I politely asked if he was willing to listen to what we believed, and he said yes. Afterward, we were praising God for the opportunity to share,” Chinna said.
Another afternoon Chinna stopped to speak to a leper begging on the street outside of their hotel. “I spoke to him in my language, and he responded. As I shared the gospel, I learned he was already served by a Christian organization to lepers. I told him he should rely on Christ alone, and he accepted the Lord. He and his wife wanted to be baptized, so we gave his information to the church there in the city,” he said.
One of the local pastors shared his testimony with Josh Vickers, which included an arranged marriage that brought his family to faith. Vickers was able to tie in that testimony while sharing the gospel with a young Sikh taxi driver on his last day in India. “He was anxious about arranged marriages, and I made the connection with the native pastor, who the driver also happened to occasionally work with,” Vickers said. “There is no reason why we shouldn’t have those same attitudes and take those types of opportunities here as well. I’ve been challenged to apply the principles back home that we learned and experienced.”
God has been fostering the Vickers’ love for India for several years, notably after the couple watched a popular movie about the country that left them both in tears. “As the credits rolled, we sat, cried and prayed, and wondered what it would be like to live and serve in India,” he said. Since then the couple pursued IMB service, and through their growing interest in the Indian community they met the Babu family.
Missions played an important role in Chinna’s family long before he was born. His father’s great-grandfather was a Hindu priest who became a Christian through the testimony of believers in India, and his maternal grandmother was an idol worshipper who came to know the Lord because someone shared the gospel with her. Chinna became a Christian at 15 years of age while at a camp to play the sitar, a traditional Indian stringed instrument he still uses to meet other Indians in order to share the gospel with them.
The Babus now live in an Upstate apartment complex in order to reach the estimated 100 Indian families living there. They have started a house church and use simple evangelism strategies to build relationships. “I play tennis regularly with an Indian doctor who has since accepted the Lord. We look for opportunities to share the gospel, and God is graciously working in our lives,” Chinna said.
“We are excited about how God has put us together with Chinna and his family for a reason. We have an opportunity to reach Indians in our backyard for Christ. Now, having been to India can give us a bridge to meet those who live here,” Vickers said.
SCBC missions mobilization director Tim Rice said the India partnership offers missions opportunities for everyone — men and women, pastors and lay people. “It is a great starting point for reaching the South Asian community, and you don’t even have to leave South Carolina,” Rice said.
The next Embrace training 10-day missions experience is slated for Sept. 2-13. SCBC churches and individuals can also be involved in the partnership through prayer, support of ongoing ministry efforts there, and by taking a virtual prayer walk of the area (www.go2southasia.org).
For more information, contact the missions mobilization group at 803-765-0030, ext. 4800, or e-mail Tim Rice at timrice@scbaptist.org.