FOCUS January 2023

Cover Photo: Design by Lal Varghese, Esq., Dallas

Contents

1. Editorial: Global Kerala Christians: On Mission with God Dr. Sam George (Guest Editor) Page 4

2. Shifting meaning in public, religious and Most Revd Dr. Theodosius domestic spaces Mar Thoma Metropolitan Page 6

3. Kerala Diaspora keeping heritage and faith in foreign c ountries Dr. P. V. Cherian Page 11

4. The challenge that is laid before us Mr. David Brand Page 15

5. Atonement – Reconciliation Fr. Thomas Punnapadam, SDB Page 16

6. The biblical experiences of the uprooted people Revd Dr. M. J. Joseph Page 18

7. My experience of growing up outside Kerala Mr. Jacob Chacko Page 20

8. Branch and leaves from the sequoia tree Mr. Shaun Joykutty Page 23

9. Kerala Christian Diaspora: An overview of the history oft he migration Kerala Christians Dr. Ninan Daniel Page 26

10. Reflections on Kerala Christian Diaspora Mr. Thomas Varghese Page 28

11. History of St. Thomas Christians Lal Varghese, Esq. Page 30

12. Our story through the Diaspora prism Prof. Kanayathu C. Koshy Page 33

13. The story of a journeying people Dr. Zac Varghese Page 35

14. Book Review: Journey of Candle, Geena Ajay Dr. Cherian Samuel Page 38

15. Kerala Christian Diaspora in Malaysia Prof. Philip Koshi Page 39

16. Navigating intergenerational tensions Revd Dr. T. V. Thomas Page 41

17. Situating Kerala Christians in the Indian context Dr. T. K. Oommen Page 43

18. My Diasporic exploits and experiences George Thomas Page 46 19. Glimpses of book: ‘Desi Diaspora ’ Dr. Sam George Page 48

20. Kerala Christian Diaspora: An African perspective Revd Dr. Pookkattu P. Paul Page 50

EDITORIAL - Global Kerala Christians: On Mission with God

It is humorously alleged that if you land on the Moon, you will find a Malayali Chai Kada ! When the first astronauts landed on the lunar surface in 1969, however, they found no Kerala teashop there. Yet when it comes to our planet Earth, it is hard to find a nation without a person of Kerala origin.

In January 2013, I had the distinct honor of being part of the delegation of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) held in Kochi, Kerala for the first time. PDB started in 2003 as an annual gathering (now only a biennial) of Overseas Indians hosted by the Governme nt of India in different Indian cities around January 9 to commemorate Mahatma Gandhi’s return from South Africa to India in 1915.1

I was invited to be part of this high -level who’s who of the global Indians, policymakers, business leaders, and government officials on account of a newly published book Malayali Diaspora 2 that I co -edited and was released by the Indian Union Minister of the Overseas Indians Affairs Shri Vayalar Ravi, and Kerala Chief Minister Shri Oommen Chandy

That book is an eclectic volume of the migratory life of Global Malayalis that includes historical narratives, sociological analysis, migratory journeys of various professionals, family and religious life of Malayalis in foreign countries by authors as widespread as Malaysia, Kenya, Persian Gulf, Canada, Botswana, Switzerland, UK, Australia, and several chapters from the US.

Personal Wanderings: Lifelong

Soon after India’s independence in 1947, my father left Kerala for lack of employment prospects, and landed in Madras (now Chennai) and eventually moved to the Andamans Islands, where I was born in late 1960s. Having moved around many times during my childhood and after college studies in engineering and management in India, I was hired by an American firm that brought me to California in the early 1990s.

After a decade-long successful corporate career, I switched fields to theology and studied at two American seminaries and ended up doing doctoral research in the United Kingdom focusing on immigrant households, churches, and missiology under the tutelage of one of the leading Christian scholars. I had the good fortune to live in five countries for study and work in the past and now regularly travel to a dozen or so nations each year

1 See www.pbdindia.gov.in

2 Sam George and T.V. Thomas, Malayali Diaspora: From Kerala to the Ends of the World, New Delhi: Serials Publications, 2013. Available as an e-book

for ministry. I am undoubtedly a product of lifelong diasporic wanderings, have been profoundly shaped by displacements, and see God’s work in the world through the lens of migration.

Often, I am pleasantly surprised to run into Malayalis, even in some very unlikely places. No matter where you go these days, you are likely to see these global citizens in some very noticeable as well as mundane places–from the political arena, corporate leaders, and professionals, to store clerks, labor camps, and university campuses. Truly, the Sun never sets on the Kerala diaspora!

The twin migratory impulses of being a Keralite and a Christian are truly exceptional. It is said that if you are a Christian, you will travel and if you travel, you will become a Christian. Many from various religious bac kgrounds have become followers of Jesus overseas and Kerala Christians have become more devout and vibrant in foreign lands. Hindu worldview requires people to live and die in a place close to where they were born as the civilizational values are opposed to migration over any vast expanses of water and the younger generations are bound to their ancestors and birthplace.

Kerala Christian Migrants have carried their inherited faith to lands far and wide by transplanting many heritage churches in many nations. Malayalam songs, prayers, and liturgies can be heard every Sunday across many time zones, and donations in different currencies flow back to th eir headquarters in Kerala. Denominational leaders maintain close links with their scattered flocks beyond state/national borders, while preachers and musicians minister to dispersed brethren. Christian TV programs and websites have knit this global community together in remarkable ways.

All migrants have found religion and culture to be inimitable resources in their peripatetic wanderings since both have a symbiotic relationship with each other. The financial gains and professional success of earlier migrants will continue to fuel more Keralites to explore green pastures elsewhere for they adopt any foreign land as their homeland yet possess a deep yearning for their ancestral homelands.

Diaspora: A Megatheme of the Bible

Diaspora is a biblical Greek term meaning dispersed or scattered. It is an agrarian term used to describe a farmer sowing seeds and conventionally referred to the dispersion of Jews during the Babylonian Exile. Now the term diaspora is widely used to describe all people who live in a place other than where they were born. Another associated Greek word is Ecclesia, meaning gathering which is often translated as the church. God scatters

people and scattered ones are gathered while the gathered ones are scattered for God’s mission in the world.

The notion of diaspora is a metanarrative of the Bible. The Bible is all about migrations of all sorts under divergent conditions in different places. The biblical narratives were all written by migrants, they were translated in dislocated contexts, and migrants everywhere are particula rly drawn to its characters and message. The Bible opens with the Expulsion of the first couple from the Garden of Eden and contains stories of Noah’s nautical escape from the flood, the calling of Abram to leave his country and people, and the many wanderings of the Patriarchs – all in the first book of the Bible.

An underlying theme of the biblical accounts of the Exodus, making and the history of the nation of Israel, the Exile and Return, the birth of the church, the Acts of Apostles, and much of the New Testament are framed in the diverse settings of displacements. Finally, Bible ends with Revelations from the island of Patmos where its author was exiled. The entire Bible needs to be grasped in the context of mobility and displacements.

The Christian doctrines of God, Trinity, Creation, Fall, Salvation, Incarnation, Church, Mission, and End Times must be perceived in motile terms.3 God of the Bible is a moving Being, for any static and stoic conceptions make God a n idol – territorial and oppressive that makes its devotees chained to locale making them both motionless and lifeless. Jesus is a universal savior, not a territorial deity and the Spirit of God is at work everywhere, making all things anew. The mission of God is to the Ends of Earth, crossing cultures, geographies, and peoples all over the world.

According to a United Nations report, Indians make up the largest diaspora in the world. It may not be technically accurate since the cumulative numbers of Chinese over many waves of migration may slightly exceed us, besides Chinese have a longer history of migration. However, the outmigration from India and its spread is truly outstanding and may overtake the Chinese soon.

Although the number of migrants has dropped slightly in the last two years on account of the COVID pandemic, it is certain to swell in the coming years. India continues to receive the largest share of international remittances in the world. 4 Among all states of India, Kerala has the

highest per capita rate of migration and remittances. Students pursue education abroad, professional men and women find lucrative employment in far- flung co rners of the globe, parents seek foreign marriage alliances for their children, and some have even sought illegal ways to enter and stay in foreign lands.

FOCUS January 2023 Issue: Overview

Over the last few years, I have enjoyed perusing every issue of FOCUS magazine, having personally known its leaders and editors for many years. FOCUS is indubitably a diasporic undertaking and has become a blessing to so many people globally. I feel honored to be invited to be a guest editor for this special issue dedicated to the theme of the Kerala Christian Diaspora.

This issue of FOCUS features an assorted list of essays and reflections from a wide spectrum including the historical perspective of Kerala Christian migrants, biblical and ecclesial insights, personal narratives, generational analysis, and other issues facing Kerala emigrants around the world. They are sure to inform and delight you while also widening your horizons of understanding God’s work in the world.

This issue of FOCUS includes articles from the Metropolitan of the Mar Thoma Church, clergy from different denominations, scholars, and laity from m any nations. What makes this issue of the magazine fascinating is the array of themes from diverse backgrounds and locales. It covers a wide range of topics while offering several distinctive perspectives therein from the vantage point of the authors. This issue brings out Kerala Christian dispersion narratives from places as widespread as Kerala, Malaysia, Borneo, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Tanzania, and South Africa, and they are written by faith leaders, economists, educators, physicians, engineers, businessmen etc.

We hope these articles on the life and faith of Kerala Christians will inform, inspire and challenge you to grasp the global scope and nature of the mission of God by, through, and among migrants everywhere. Please write back to us and share highlights of the issue and themes that you found most helpful. Also, share with us what topics and issues need to be included about Kerala Christian Diaspora in the future issues of FOCUS. We appreciate your feedback. We pray for God’s richest blessings on your life journeys and wanderings in this New Year.

3 See my recent book chapter, “God on the Move (Motus Dei)” in Reflections of Asian Diaspora: Mapping Theologies and Ministries, Volume 3 of Asian Diaspora Christianity, Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2022.

4 A recent list of nations where Indians live are tabulated in the appendix of Sam George, Desi Diaspora: Ministry to the Scattered Global Indians, Bangalore, India: SAIACS Press, 2019. Also, Sam George, Diaspora Christiani-

Dr. Sam George Guest Editor

Chicago, U. S. A.

ties, Global Scattering and Gathering of South Asian Christians, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2018.

Shifting Meanings in Public, Religious and Domestic Spaces: Theological,

Ministerial and Missional

[*This paper is a transcript of a talk given at the National Seminar on Migration and Trans-nationalism at the Mar Thoma Theological Seminary Kottayam, on Feb, 18 th , 2015. At that time, Theodosius Metropolitan Thirumeni was serving as the Diocesan Bishop of the North America and Europe Diocese of the Mar Thoma Church. We are grateful to Revd Dr. M. J. Joseph for making it available to us from his archives. We are ind ebted to Dr. Theodosius Metropolitan Thirumeni for allowing us to publish it.]

Challenges

community in society. Caste defined human identity on the basis of race (birth), occupation and colour. Caste practices got a hard blow by the coming of the western missionaries. Missionaries introduced English education, which transformed the agricultural space into the educational spaces.

Modernity with its scientific rationality altered the discourses and practices of the traditional society. Opening new schools and colleges in different parts of the state prompted the common people to send their children to the discipline of schooling. Educational practices instilled new insights into the minds of the people, which enabled them to look beyond the borders of state and country in search of job and livelihood. Living and working in a foreign land elevated their social status, position and privilege in the family, church and society. Transition of the cultural settings from one national border into the other raised their social, economic and cultural capital. Migration has become a positive advancement in the history of the Kerala society.

Mar Thoma Theological Seminary, Kottayam is adding a feather to her cap in her historical and meaningful growth in responding to the Theological, Ministerial and Missional Challenges that the seminary confronts today. I apprec iate the Seminary in conducting this National Seminar on Diaspora/Migration studies on the specific theme, "Interrogating Borders: Migration and Transnationalism." This paper focuses on the migration of Mar Thoma Community to the West, particularly to North America.1

Migration: An Exodus from Tradition to Modernity

Migration happened in Kerala society as a result of a phenomenal transition from the traditional world to the modern world. Traditional world with its stories, myths, and folklores was a space of agricultural labour and living. Society was hierarchically stratified according to the caste practices and its aesthetics outlook. Caste system determined the status and privilege of a person or a

The migration from India, especially Kerala that we see through history is not a forced exodus. It is true that the world wars brought in economic depravity and the Malayalee community started to move in search of better living conditions to the northern parts of India and to the neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka, Singapore -Malaysia, and places nearby. Particularly, migration in the early 20 ce ntury to North America was a search for academic exce llence in the theological and secular fields by clergy, teachers, and medical professionals. In the early days, becoming citizens was not possible in North America and therefore, the whole thinking was returning to the homeland after the number of years required to advance their field of study. Those who stayed longer after getting a job found later the opportunity to settle down. This naturally brought shift of meaning in public, religious and domestic spaces of their living.

Mar Thoma Migration: An Ecclesial Ordering

Mar Thoma Church was not interested in establishing parishes in the newly found space for her members or to form a Diocese as we see it today. While the Church e ncouraged family altar and attending local mainline churches for worship, the leaders of the Church discouraged any attempt to form a local parish of the Mar Thoma Church or to send one of the clergies to attend to the pastoral needs of the people. However, the members of the Church who were scattered in distant places of North America, contacted each other, and availed all opportun ities to gather at the expense of (happily spending) their time and money, and ignoring all the inconveniences

Most Revd Dr. Theodosius Mar Thoma Metropolitan

caused by it. They had difficulty in those days to gather together when transportation was difficult, the weather conditions were not congenial and it was time- consuming to go and come back. It is also to be noted that some people who migrated to Malaysia, Singapore, Caribbean Islands and the like embarked on a second migration to North America and Europe.

Early settlers decided to bring their kith and kin to esta blish themselves in the new place of their settling. People in the nearby places started coming together to have prayer fellowships, mostly in the homes, wherever they could find space for the same. This was catering not only to their religious, but also to their cultural aspirations. When the medium of communication in such meet ings was mostly Malayalam, these gatherings gave occasion for cultural forums to be formed as well. The members of the Church who gathered together for prayer meetings missed their liturgical orientation and therefore longed to rent out spaces for public worship and later on to buy and own places of worship in one's neighbourhood. One can find a shift in the meanings when the community also shifted from Malayalee community to Ecumenical community and then to Mar Thoma community in due courses of time. The liturgically oriented community longed to have ordained clergy to administer the sacraments and to lead them spiritually. In the beginning, only those clergy who came on student visa for further studies were available. Liturgy in Malayalam and English were used according to the needs of the people.

Today, people migrate to different parts of the world for multiple reasons. The concept of diaspora is vast and multi- layered. It is understood that is every twenty-five seconds one immigrant is added to the USA. The new generation Marthomites, born and brought up in North America has reached the fourth and fifth generations with different ethnic mixtures. Today, it seems that these communities have arrived at multidimensionality in forms as well as in social rela tions. As Arjun Appadurai2 has noted, different dimensions of the cultural flow in the global scape as "ethnoscapes, mediascapes, tec hnoscapes, financescapes and ideoscapes," global cultural flows of capital, labour, information, images and the like made the textures of these communities more complex and diverse. Consequently, the frontiers of human possibility before them extend tremendously.

Diaspora Identity - Multiplicity of Spaces, Languages and Belongings

Traditionally the diaspora communities have been understood as homogeneous and singular ethno-national entities. But in reality, it is not so. The modern 'mediascapes' and 'technoscapes' have given multi-dimensionality and multi- vocality to all the religious communities including members of the Mar Thoma Church. As a result, a single person can have attachment and connection to a range of places and institutions at the same time, enabling one to have multiple belongings simultaneously. This diversity of

inhabited modern diaspora space with its complex mult idimensional network of relationships makes the diaspora living one that transcends our conceptual level of narrow boundaries of ethnicity. It hits the public, religious and domestic spaces and shifts the meanings of its construction, practices and witness.

The immense growth of communication network and technologies and the speed attained in the transnational movements resulted in having multiple belongings which is a living reality of the present generation. This creates multiple spatial and territorial attachments paving way to multiple identities. It is true that, as Steven Vertovec3 commented, this sense of multiple belongings creates an imaginary coherence (Stuart Hall) through shared imag ination (Robin Cohen) with the formation of 'new subjectivities'. This takes the traditional homogenizing construction of diaspora to heterogeneous character. Professor Cleophus J La Rue, Chair of Practical Theology Department at Princeton theological Seminary, New Jersey, USA, classifies the shift in contemporar y culture into three primary themes: globalization, post -modernism and radicalized modernity. He says that, while the impact of globalization is pluralism (more than one way of doing things), the impact of post -modernity is the celebration of the local and particular at the expense of the universally valid norms. Radicalized modernity gives multiple choices and focuses on the 'newness of life'. Hence there is glorification of Americanism and the notions of new and now. Certainly, this affects the Christian faith and the life of the Church.

Diasporic Otherness

This creates the 'other' and ‘otherness' in social and religious relationships. The migrants generally experienced a spirit of welcome from the host community and at the same time there was a sense of strangeness in a foreign land. In most cases the construction of identity was done by creating boundaries and 'otherness'. According to Emmanuel Levinas4, the other is someone who is completely other and unique. Yet he/she is still brother/sister and neighbor. This conditions one's very identity as it emerges and constructed in relationships. The failure to appreciate the difference of the other results in distancing from the person as if he/she is an enemy to defend oneself. Levinas promotes the ethical urgency to recognize the other and to shoulder the responsibility of the suffering other, for it is in that relationship that one's identity is conditioned. Bible-centered religious living of the diaspora brought in the question of hospitality and the attitude of welcoming strangers with an open mindset to embrace particularly the last, the least and the lost in society

Diasporic Hybridity/Imaginary

At present, the Mar Thoma Diaspora Community - all over the world - appears to be a full-grown community with great diversity and multiple socio-cultural mixtures. The community negotiates and engages with different types

of diasporic spaces like domestic, social, economic, cu ltural, religious and the like. Most of the older generation expresses a deep longing for being 'at home' in their native homeland. They speak of their unfulfilled dreams of their host- land imaginations. Migration to the West star ted mostly in the modern period. Modernity organized the world, its systems, meaning and spaces, primarily through the definitions given by the modern humans. Hence the traditional identity of the early settlers was marginalized and ignored. When new members are born in the diaspora communities, who are distanced from the homeland and from the ethos of the original migrants what we see as a 'hybrid generation' who have different attitudes and definitions of one's own identity. This differs from the defining parameters of their parents. Hence the new meaning systems in their interpersonal relationship are to be studied afresh. According to Homi K. Bhaba, this opens the possibility of a cultural hybridity that entertains difference without an assumed or imposed hierarchy5 For Frantz Fanon, the cultural hybrid identity has the possibility to initiate the productive instability of revolutionary cultural and political change 6 .

Beyond cultural hybridity, the diasporic identity can be conceptualized as diasporic imaginary. Clifford Geertz7 defines diasporic imaginary as an ethnic enclave in nation- state that lives in displacement." Slavoj Zizek8 defines imaginary as the state "identification with the image in which we appear likeable to ourselves, with the image of representing what we would like to be. To define the identity in a diaspora is not an easy task. Locating the identity in cultural and national settings is the only viable approach towards it. Multiplicity of identity explains diaspora in a hybrid-imaginary discourses.

Diaspora Spirituality: Ritual World vs. Virtual World

What is questionable here is the relevance and applicability of such elements of their roots and routes, which are entirely different from that of their parents. The local cu lture, religious beliefs and practices have an influence on the 'new generation'. Radicalized modernity (Cleophus J. La Rue) gives choice to the moderns (Millennials). They can choose what kind of Jesus they want, what kind of church they want to go and what kind of faith commitment they want to hold. For many in this category of people, there is no sense of history; the present is the only realty that exists. Because of these cultural shifts, there are more and more church shoppers' and 'church hoppers' in our time. Much of the time, by the present -day youth, is spent in virtual reality, immersed in electronic forms of communication and the use of images. Hence, no longer one has to be physically present in a church. For them virtual church with 3D images is a possibility.

The transnational studies prove that religion has a dec isive role in the social organization of the Diasporas. Hence the Church must enter into a serious study on the Diaspora Mar Thoma Community, which is affected by the global processes, transnational communications, so-

cial connections and different relations9 Here the Church can enter into understanding the members with their differences. They have multiplicity of 'e- imaginings' of the Church, State and Nation. It creates certain borders of inclusion and exclusion on the levels of subjectivity and objectivity. It necessitates a re-visit to the whole question of identity by enlarging our interpretive focus to consider the multiplicity of social space 10 .

Transnational lives are bounded in two aspects: one is taking seriously the ‘grounded realities and meanings' and the second one is 'contextual conditioning factors' determinative of the respective cultures that help co nstruction of identities. How do we define the Church, as the people of God, in a time of fast shifting cultural patterns and values and where we are confronted by multiple choices in a post-modern or radicalized modernity? Generally, we do not find in people loyalty to any particular church denomination or to a definite faith-commitment. Further, if the members of a worshipping community are given a chance to speak of what is at the heart of the faith, they will have differing opinions. The migration has taken the people to a place and time where inherite d traditions play less and less decisive roles in matters of daily life, which affect the church life and practices. Traditional liturgical patterns, traditional hymns and traditional a uthority or organized patterns are some of them. These are reshaped or discarded by the new experiences and u nderstanding of the people. In the midst of all these, the question of the relevance of the Church is to be explored.

The lack of the adequate search for the fundamentals and non-essentials in religion would lead one to religious fu ndamentalism and rigid spirituality. Religious disciplines that help us to cultivate Christian values are not to be compromised in a changing context. This would include having family altars, disciplined attendance in the church worship, use of sacraments and participation in the mission and ministry of the church. The ‘New Generation Youth’ are influenced and fashioned by the popular cu lture of the transnational social fields. Hence, home, local parish, campus and work place need the attention of the Church, for they have considerable significance in the formation of faith in each individual.

Home: It is the cultural place of lived experience where one feels to have a sense of belonging and identity. More than a physical space, it is a symbolic space of a person's formation with moral strength and spiritual nourishment. Home is the sphere for inculcating proper Christian values through family altar, a space for interactions and involvement in social realities.

Campus: Youth in the diaspora setting struggle both in the campus and in the work place to place themselves in the conflict between larger group cultures of transnational diasporas and the parent-culture. There is a genuine need for the Church to take concrete ste ps to resolve the te nsions of our youth. What are the symbolic elements that the Church can provide our young ones both in their aca-

demic space and in their working space that will mediate between peer pressure and the earnest expectations of the older generations? This is an area that require more studies.

Local parish: While we consider the macro structures of transnationalism that shape to construct one's identity, we cannot ignore the microstructures of local religious space that can transform one's identity. Local parish is one such formative space.

Mar Thoma 'Ecclesioscape' Beyond Diaspora

As it was stated in the beginning of this paper, modernity has played a key role in framing the churches in the Diaspora context. Church migrated to the American context and few parts of Europe used linguistic structures and cultures of diaspora to express themselves and to tran slate the faith practices into the situations of migration. Church in the West is often seen as an institution organised under the norms and practices of modernity. Globalization, homogenization, digitalization, and uncontrolled marginalization have become the new phenomenon of modernity in which the church tries to situate herself. Hence, a postmodern reading of the diaspora church is needed which challenges the church for revisiting its life and practices. The following are some areas that need relooking:

Scriptural and Liturgical Texturing

Jesus was born and raised up in a textually (Scripture) oriented family and liturgically oriented social setting (synagogue worship), which equipped Jesus to grow in the local religious group and to engage constantly with the text (for e.g., talking with the Scribes at Jerusalem temple while he was 12 years) by producing new mea nings with counter- imaginations in his listeners (Mathew 57). Rev. Dr. K G. Pothen, the present Principal of the Mar Thoma Theological Seminary, Kottayam writes, "the church as the community of God's reign needs to become aware of the emerging nature of the identities of persons and communities and create spaces for the emergence of subjectivities. It is in the community of the church/parish that different identities are affirmed, and at the same time directed towards new emergence in relation to the reign of God" (Mar Thoma Seminary Journal of Theology, Vol. 1 No.1, June 2012, p.22).

Religious gathering for worship, prayer and fellowship are attempts to reconstitute one's identity. Text and rituals help one to re- imagine the social order. This process is important because of the change of identities, where there is a struggle to situate one in the changing social and cultural scenario.

Ministerial Praxis

The significance of the sacraments and sacramental practices in forming a sacra mental community and re-

imaging a different ecclesia cannot be overlooked. The sacramental vision and life of the Church can lead the mission and ministry in a more egalitarian manner i.e., ministry of both men and women. In order to re-order the ecclesial community in Christ, we need to construct discourses and practices for a sacramental self in which both the grace of God and self-emptying nature of Christ becomes one as in the Cross of Calvary.

The contemporary diasporic space rightly presents the limitations of conventional pastoral ministry and portrays the challenges behind the emergence of a ministry for a Cyber Age. Cyber age is a different knowledge space that constructs the identity or self in a fragmented way. Entertaining the fragmentation has become the buzz word of cyber culture. In order to tackle the diseases of cybernation, the scope for an e- Church has to be worked out in which different identity formation and social formation can be possible through relevant biblical studies and liturgical affirmations of faith through network.

Church shall become relevant when it ministers to the people by bringing the centrality of Text (Holy Bible) for their faith and disciplined life and enabling them to understand the royal priesthood of all. The Church shall care for its members, not only in consoling the bereaved, assuring forgiveness for their sins and the like, but also enabling them to renew their life in the image of Christ. Thus, such guiding helps one to determine what he/she ought to do in a time of crisis and also to (re)establish relationship with God, family, friends and neighbours. Members need assurance that God's power is available in the present order to bring about fair and just treatment in systems and structures that negatively impac t all people. Formation of a new subjectivity, as a result of this, should lead one to new practices and experiences of freedom. A church that falls short of such transformation will lead the faith-community as a dormant one. The Church will also fall. Chu rch has the mission to move and point the way forward to the people to realize that Jesus, the eternal contemporary stood in history saying, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life!" (John 14:6).

Reflections and Questions

In this paper, I have attempted to draw our attention to the ecclesial and missional aspects of diaspora of North America from the perspective of the Mar Thoma Church. Church in diaspora has to face many cultural situations and inter- cultural, inter-religious issues, which has to be addressed relevantly. It is not easy to find a simple solution to the problems. Even the strong source of spirituality such as biblical hermeneutics, liturgical worship and rit uals need adequate change and interpretations. Different elements in worship are becom ing meaningless to a ge neration formed outside the borders of traditional lifeworld. Formation of life in multiple spaces results in questioning the traditional spirituality. Why?

1. Church-Faith practices: The Church of the parents is a traditional Church having conventional means of communication of the gospel and liturgy. The new generation , especially the third ge neration, living in diaspora finds difficulty in imbibing the meaning and means of expression of faith. The traditional worship pattern is not addressing their experiences in faith practices.

2. Virtual world as real world: The virtual world is the real world for the new generation living in diaspora. They love to see what is real instead of reciting certain traditional formulas and practicing certain ritual of faith. Their mind is technologically oriented and their rhythm of life is more individ ualistic. They believe in the images of the screen than in the letters of the written texts. Written texts especially liturgical texts, its world and words are not familiar to the diasporic community.

3. Multiplicity of space, multiple formation: Selfformation or identity formation in a diaspora happens not only through ecclesiastical space but a lso through cultural, linguistic discourses. Migrating from the traditional cultural space and la nguage discourses to new cultural space and a foreign language discourse was not that much easy. The new generation formed in the enviro nment of diaspora could not conceive the trad itional lifestyle, food habits, values and ethos a ttached to the parent-generation. Diasporic culture gives new perception to the understanding of human body and sexuality.

In such a setting, the diasporic context demands a re- reading, re-writing, re-articulation, and reinterpre tation of all sources of spirituality.

Endnotes:

1. There are several other papers focusing on different topics, among them the recent one is ‘Moving Beyond Diaspora’ Mar Thoma Church Identity and Mission in the Context of Diversity’, CSS, Thiruvalla)

2. Arjun Appadurai, ‘Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization’, Minneapolis: Un iversity of Minnesota, 7th Printing, 2005, page 33.

3. Steven Vertovec, ‘Transnationalism’, Routledge, London & Ne York, 2009, page, 6.

4. Emmanuel Levinas, ‘Entrée Nous: Thinking of the Other’, Continuum, New York,2007.

5. Homi K. Bhaba, ‘The Location of Culture’, Routledge, London &New York, 1994, page 4.

6. Homi K. Bhaba, Ibid, page 38.

7. Clifford Geertz, ‘Interpretation of Cultures ‘Page 310.

8. Slavoj Zizek, ‘The Sublime Object of Ideology’ Verso, London, 1989, Page 105.

9. Cf. Nina Glick Schiller, “Lived Simultaneity and Discourses of Diasporic Difference”, in ‘Displacements and Diasporas: Asians in the Americas’ edited by Wanni W Anderson and Robert G. Lee, Rutgers University Press, New jersey, 2005, pages 159-169.

10. Cf. Chapter 8, Geevarghese Mar Theodosius, ‘Churching the Diaspora, Discipling the Families’ CSS, Thiruvalla, 2013.

Christmas and New Year Greetings

As it is the time of Christmas and New Year, we wish to offer all our distinguished writers and readers the glad tidings of the season. Although we were coming out the dark experiences of COVID-19, Putin’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 th February created additional refugee crisis, various financial issues leading to inflationary pressures and recession across the world. We are also struggling with environmental problems leading to the climate change, floods, food shortage and starvation, particularly in the poor countries of the world. As the days grow shorter and the nights go longer, it is the time of the year to be still and know how God sent His only begotten Son to be with us as our Immanuel to give us light to navigate in all situations and seasons of life. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6). We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year.

FOCUS Editorial Board

Kerala Diaspora: Keeping Heritage and Faith in Foreign Lands

Plammoottil V. Cherian, M.Div., Ph. D*

The term diaspora comes from the Greek word meaning to scatter abroad People become scattered from their homeland to places across the globe keeping their cultural heritage, and in most groups, assimilating with the culture of the land. The Bible refers to the Diaspora of countless Jews scattered abroad. But the word is now used more generally to describe any large migration of refugees, language, or culture. The word diaspora in its original meaning is used first in the Bible to refer to the exiles in the Deuteronomic laws in the Septuagint (Latin) where it states, ἔσῃ ἐν διασπορᾷ ἐν πάσαις ταῖς βασιλείαις τῆς γῆς, esē en diaspora en pasais tais basileiais tēs gēs, translated to mean “thou shalt be a dispersion in all kingdoms of the earth” (Deuteronomy 28:25). Only in the Septuagint we find the word dispersion However, the first usage of the word in New Testament is in John 7:33-35 when Jesus said, “for a little while longer I am with you, then I go to Him who sent Me,” the Jewish religious leaders wondered he was going to “the dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks.”

However, in the rest of the New Testament, the meaning of the Diaspora is more specifically to Jewish Christian converts who were spread out all over the Roman Empire rather than Jews in general. In Acts 8:1-4, we see persecuted Christians were dispersed (scattered) throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria” and those that were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.” Thus in true Biblical sense where the word origin is rooted, diaspora carries a sense of displacement of one’s homeland, being scattered to other parts of the world from his original home by exile or persecution. Yet, both carried their heritage, culture and faith in those places and Christians have spread the gospel in the past.

When applied to our native land India, the United Nations report that the largest Asian diaspora in the world is the Indian diaspora. The International Migrant Stock 2019, a dataset released by the Population Division of the United Nation’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), provides the latest estimates of the number of international migrants by age, sex and origin for all countries and areas of the world According to the report, India was the leading country of origin of international migrants in 2019 with a 17.5 million strong diaspora, according to new estimates released by the UN, which said the number of migrants globally reached an estimated 272 million. Kerala diaspora is among those Indian migrants. [1]

Kerala Diaspora

Kerala Diaspora is only a tiny portion of the larger Indian diaspora who are found all over the world. There are millions of non-resident Indians across the globe. The persons are either of Indian descent or born in India but mi-

grated due to various reasons. The Republic of India estimates that over 31.2 million Indians reside in other countries. This figure means that India has the largest diaspora population in the world. Of the global population of Indians the United States has the highest number of Indians, and thus uniformly of Keralites also. However, I have an strong feeling that when we (Christians) refer to Kerala Diaspora or Malayali Diaspora, we mean Kerala Christian diaspora which is a misnomer because most statistics are referring to the total Indian diaspora or rarely the Kerala diaspora.

Be that as it may, before I can narrow it to Kerala Christian diaspora, we must know where the Indian diaspora are in the world of which we are part of, from which we must attempt to sieve out the Kerala Christians. We have a common saying among Malayalees that if someone can explore Chandran (Moon) or Mars for human habitation, they would sure find a Malayalee Kappikada or chayakada (coffeeshop or teashop) in those distant planets, attributing to their ability to migrate, the motivation and intuition of Keralites. Neither the United States mission of Mars Rover in 2012 nor the Apollo mission in 1969 to Moon did find a conducive environment for human habitation in either planets.

According to Kerala Migration Survey, 90% of Kerala Diaspora is in the Middle East Gulf region. Moreover, nearly 80% of the Indians living in Kuwait are from Kerala. The “Gulf Boom” refers to the mass migration of a large number of people from the Indian state of Kerala to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) from 1972 to 1983.[4] Kerala Christians consists of a large percentage of the Keralites in the GCC countries of the Gulf region. The movement allowed many migrant workers from Kerala to the GCC states, which still continues, although in smaller numbers after the 2008 international financial crisis began to affect the GCC region. This initial wave of migration is usually referred to as the Kerala Gulf Boom In 2010, the GCC states contained a total Keralite population of more than 3.5 million, who annually sent home a sum of around $6.81 billion ($US),[5] which is more than 15.13% of the total Remittance to India in 2008. In 2013 the remittance was more than 60,000 crore (600 billion) rupees.

Where are the Indian Diaspora (NRIs) and Keralites

Country Total Indians Malayalees (Keralites) Percentage Kerala Diaspora By Religion

Total Indian Diaspora 34,838,819

United Arab Emirates 3,456,477 1,014,000 2.94% Hindus 54.73%

Kuwait 700,000 634,728 29.34% Islam 26.56%

Saudi Arabia 2,500,000 595,000 23,80% Christians 18.38%

Qatar 650,000 445,000 68.46%

Malaysia 2,012,600 344,000 17.09%

Oman 796,001 195,300 24.54%

United States 3,465,477 146,600 4,23%

Bahrain 400,000 101,556 25.29%

Australia 700,000 53,206 7.60%

Israel 85,000 Not known Not known

United Kingdom 1,451,862 45,264 3.12%

Canada 1,374,710 30,000 2.18%

Singapore 250,300 26,000 10.38%

Ireland 20,000 10,642 53,21%

New Zealand 155,178 6,000 3.87%

Pakistan 1,597,000 6,000 0.375%

Germany 1,000,000 5,867 0.587%

Indonesia 120,000 4,000 3.33%

Australia 700,000 53206 7.60%

Finland Not known 633

South Africa 1,274,867 Not known

Myanmar 1,030,000 Not known

Mauritius 994,500 Not known

Table of Non Resident Indians (NRIs) abroad in the countries listed. These do not include second or third generation children of original NRIs, because they are citizens in the respective countries. Most of the younger generations who are citizens in these countries like their Indian or Kerala heritage, but they are citizens of US, UK or other countries. Of the Total Indian diaspora, I have tabulated the Keralites and their percentage in the two right columns. These are data according to Indian census data of 2011, the latest available, [2,3] as well as from Indian Diaspora Council.org, Wikipedia.org, and United Nation’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA). Additionally, Keralites are present in countries like, Finland, Austria, Japan, and Israel,

According to Kerala Migration Survey, 90% of Kerala Diaspora is in the Middle East Gulf region. Moreover, nearly 80% of the Indians living in Kuwait are from Kerala. The “Gulf Boom” refers to the mass migration of a large number of people from the Indian state of Kerala to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) from 1972 to 1983.[4] Kerala Christians consists of a large percentage of the Keralites in the GCC countries of the Gulf region. The movement allowed many migrant workers from Kerala to the GCC states, which still continues, although in smaller numbers after the 2008 international financial crisis began to affect the GCC region. This initial wave of migration is usually referred to as the Kerala Gulf Boom In 2010, the GCC states contained a total Keralite population of more than 3.5 million, who annually sent home a sum of around $6.81 billion ($US),[5] which is more than 15.13% of the total Remittance to India in 2008. In 2013 the remittance was more than 60,000 crore (600 billion) rupees.

Kerala Christian Diaspora

Kerala Christians traditionally were called Nazarani Christians, a name accorded by the rulers of ancient Travancore, as they were followers of Jesus of Nazareth. Later they were called Syrian Christians in view of the Syriac (classical form of Aramaic) liturgy used in church services since the early days of Christianity in India. Among the Kerala (Malayalee) diaspora, Hindus are the highest number (54.73%), followed by Islam (26.56%) and Christians at (18.38%). [6] These are the latest numbers available for expatriate of Keralites globally. Most are permanent residents or working on temporary visas. According to Immigration world report, Indians are the second-largest group of immigrants in the United States of America.

There are more than four million Indian Americans in the USA. Many come here with the aim of eventually becoming American citizens but they each bring with them a part of their regional culture, heritage, and practice their faith. To get an estimate of the Kerala Christians, each church must take an enumeration of their members and keep a database in their diocesan headquarters. Having served the Diocese as the Associate Secretary from 1982-1990, I have calculated that at present there would be close to 65,000 Mar Thoma Christians in the Diocese of North America & Europe. That brings me to explain the

theological meaning of Diaspora, and what it should mean to the Kerala Christian diaspora.

Theological Meaning of Diaspora

Humanity is God’s diaspora on earth. When God elected Abraham to develop a faith community in the pagan land of Canaan, one of the covenantal blessings given to him was “And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). Also, man became a living being only by the breath of God. The breath of God is the Spirit of God, and therefore man’s soul bears the image of God (Genesis 2:7) “Then God blessed them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:28). The same blessing was given to Noah, after the entire population of ten generations from Adam to Noah was destroyed by the great flood. The generations that were destroyed included both the Cainite and Sethian origins. Then the world was repopulated through Noah’s descendants and the present world everywhere are filled with the descendants of Shem, Ham and Japheth. I have traced the genealogy of the world population and the tribal head of each ethnic group as described in two recent books. [7,8]

Since humanity is brought to life by God’s breath, we must know that we are on earth but not of earth. The first faith community God established through Abraham, the Jewish nation was scattered throughout the world, though by conquest and exile by other nations, but by the foreknowledge of God, for the purpose of spreading the Word of God throughout the world. Thus, the Latin phrase “Missio Dei.” Missio Dei can be translated the “mission of God,” or the “sending of God.” It is a concept, which has become increasingly important in missiology, and in understanding the mission of the church since the beginning of the 20th century as proposed by scholars like David Bosch and Lesslie Newbigin.

For Christians, the true meaning of Diaspora should be “send by God” or “scattered by God” to carry out his mission on earth. It is in this concept the word “deo” for God is used in the Gospels and Acts as well as in the Epistles. In Colossians Paul says “that God would open to us a door to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains (4:3) as well as in his epistle to Timothy, “For which I suffer trouble as an evil doer, even to the point of chains, but the Word of God is not chained ( 2 Tim. 2:9).

Kerala Christian Diaspora as shown in the Table above, are scattered everywhere, though a minority. Most of us went to foreign countries in search of higher education, better living, earnings, and quality of life. Apostles also earned their living by working whatever they could without means of earning none of us can survive. Paul was a tentmaker by trade, and he used his earnings making tents to support himself, and for the support of other

poor people while he was spreading the mystery of Christ. Paul met Priscilla and Aquila in Corinth who were fellow workers with him who practiced the trade of tent making to support them (Acts 18:1-4).

Notes:

1. https://economictimes. indiatimes.com/nri/nrisin-news/at-17-5-million-indian-diaspora-largestin-the-world-un-report/articleshow/71179163. cms?. Accessed October 4, 2022.

2. Census India. Accessed from the Original (May 13, 2010 PDF, web.archive.org) on October 12, 2022.

3. Indian Express (September 17, 2014). Kerala Migration Survey 201

4. 4. State’s Youths still fly abroad for livelihood. Accessed on October 12, 2022.

5. Gulf Dream: For Indians The Golden Beaches Still gleam, Malayala Manorama Year Book, 1990.

The question I have for Kerala Diaspora Christians in any denomination is, are we “send by God” to spread the Good News of the kingdom of God and mystery of Christ in the respective global spots God placed us? Do we know that we are not of this world? What affirmation we have for that? Just before Jesus was betrayed and arrested, he prayed “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” (John 17:12-16, emphasis added). Apostle Paul captured on this truth and reminded us “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20).

Based on this theological meaning of the diaspora, as a scientist who spent fifty years in teaching and research, and as a theologian, human being should not have taxonomic name Homo sapiens. Homo in Latin means man and sapiens means wise or astute, or wise man. Evolutionists consider us a little more wiser than apes and chimps, the primate group to which they classified humanity. But the Scriptures teaches that God made man a little lower than the angels; yet he crowned us with glory and honor (Hebrews.2:7), and heirs and coheirs with Christ in the heavenly realms (Romans 8: 17). Therefore, our taxonomic name in my view should be Homo deospora, meaning “God’s scattered human beings” on earth to carry out Missio Dei, spreading the Mystery of Christ and the salvation through Him. Amen!

6. Govind, Biju (19 August 2008). GCC residency cap may force lakhs to return. Move to limit period of stay for non-professionals. The Hindu. August 19, 2008. Accessed October 10, 2022.

7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malayali Accessed October 10, 2022.

8. Plammoottil V. Cherian (2019). Promised land: Whose Land, Whose Promise, Who shall Inherit? pp. 669.. ISBN 978-1-64300-991-9.

9. Plammoottil V. Cherian (2023). Finishing the Race. Socio-Theological Reasons of Despair and Confusion of Nations. ISBN Paperback ISBN: 979-8-88644-858-0; Hardcover ISBN: 979-888644-860-3.

*Dr. P. V. Cherian is a retired professor of Life Sciences, and a researcher of medical sc iences who has a great interest in the truth of science and with his theological understanding, he relates world events, scientific discoveries and cosmological changes with Bib lical prophecies that are being fu lfilled. He published art icles and books stressing emphat ically that science proves God in action in the affairs of the world, nations and ind ivid u als. He has authored ten books. He served as the A ssoc iate Secretary of the Di ocese of North America and Eu rope, and now lives in Buff alo Grove, Illinois, USA and a me mber of Ch icago Mar Thoma Church.

The Challenge That is Laid Before Us

David Brand

[The challenge that is laid before our diasporic existence is a spiritual one. The following article highlights the importance of a spirit-lead life and believing in that Jesus is the truth, and the way, and the life. The author spent his childhood in Hong Kong and then returned to the UK and he is now involved in integrating with the Indian Comm unity and he is a role -model. Editorial Comment]

The challenge is quite simple we are required to develop a close and personal relationship with God. However, the solution is not a simple quick fix, it will require comprehension, time, focus and a sustained effort on our part. In a previous article I explained that we should understand that we are not flesh and blood, but spirits on an eternal learning curve to convert, in this case the physical and mental state that we find ourselves into a higher level in order to progress further spiritually. You are probably asking who is monitoring your progress and surprisingly the answer is that it is you and you alone, when you reflect bac kwards.

Do not worry about the rate of progress of your development, we are all at different stages and you have all eternity before you and there is no time related syllabus to adhere to or a qualification to attain by a specific date. However, be very much aware of avoiding lessons, not trying, giving up or worse still being negative or rebellious as this will result in you being placed back in your infinite timeline not as a punishment but as a need for revision and a reminder before you can continue.

Fortunately for us the task is not an academic one but one of refinement and awareness of the power of love. We have been given the perfect role model and teacher in Jesus Christ himself . How? You may ask? And Jesus supplies the answer, “I am the way and the truth and the life, no-one comes to the Father, but by me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father.” Even though those words were spoken to comfort and sustain his disciples just before his crucifixion over 2000 years ago they are equally relevant to us today.

However, what we fail to fully appreciate is the reason why he allowed himself to be denigrated, flogged, mocked, injured, and suffer a thief’s execution on a cross. His conduct is in marked contrast to the actions of the Sanhedrin, Pilate, the Romans, the crowd, Peter, and the disciples except one, namely John. Jesus proved to us he could easily have avoided this persecution by his resurrection, after all he was God’s representative on earth in the form of a human being. Why? Because he was demonstrating to the world that he was giving himself to us for our salvation and as an example of the conduct that he expects from us. The absolute tragedy is despite his supreme sacrifice for the world we are still in the same chaotic situation as in those times except we have more efficient weapons of destruction and are even now contemplating their use. If we had spent more time appreciating his sacrifice and applying his lessons to ourselves, our world would now be a beautiful and peaceful earthly version of what some might consider heaven to be. However, we cannot compare a physical world to a spiritual existence as our minds are not programmed to imagine what it really is.

So, what is this challenge, quite simple really, we have to conduct ourselves in the same way using the role model created by Jesus himself.

He said,” I am the way, the truth and the life.” You are required to open your heart and give yourself to God with complete faith in the same way that Jesus gave himself for us by dying on a cross in order to make it possible for us. We need to project his love, healing, forgiveness and peace into this turbulent world.

Remember, by talking to his disciples, Jesus is also guiding us to accept the Holy Spirit into our lives. This will become our perfect interface for communication with God. We need to be far more aware of its presence in our lives and in ourselves because it inte racts between us in our physical world with the spiritual world and is a precious gift from God made possible through Jesus. By accepting the Holy Spirit in our daily lives and communicating by prayer and supplication we will develop both mentally and spir itually. You sometimes sense this in people who are achieving this by experiencing their inner peace, calmness, fortitude, humility, wisdom, the pleasure in the goodness of their company, the trust they project, their confidence, the softness of their eyes, the ability to comfort and in some rare cases the ability to heal. This is the result of opening your heart through the Holy Spirit, so that you can close the gap that exists between man and God.

Much finer minds than mine can explain it better than myself so I shall quote from Jean Vanier’s superb book, ‘Drawn into the Mystery of Jesus through the Gospel of John.’ “Jesus tells the Disciples that the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, will not only be with them and in them, but will teach them all things and will bring back to the memory of their hearts and minds all that he has taught them. This is true for all of us. That does not excuse us from the need to study, to spend time with the word of God as it has been understood over the centuries. That does not mean we should not study theology, each one according to our call, needs and possibilities. But it means that everything we learn must be viewed, reviewed and tested in the silent light of the Spirit and in a prayerful attitude. It means that each of us has direct access to God, who is the centre and light of all things.

It is those who are poor enough, humble enough, crying out faithfully enough, who will receive the Paraclete and will be able to see the light and presence of God in the word of God in all things. If Jesus and the Father are dwelling in us, we will live a new and deeper peace, because peace comes from the presence of God. It is the trust that Jesus is there with us and in us. For Jesus is our peace. Peace is resting in the beloved, having total trust in him. It is the peace of a child resting in the tender arms of her mother.” Thank you, John Vanier, I rest my pen and wish you all well and may God be with you, always.

* Mr. David Brand is a retired electronic engineer; he is an elder of the Church of England, the heart and soul of the parish community of All Saints’ Harrow Weald, London.

ATONEMENT – RECONCILIATION

Fr. Thomas Punnapdam, SDB*

Living together in peace and harmony with other comm unities is an important part of the spirituality of Diaspora existence and experience. Editorial Comment]

strained relationship. Authentic human relationships are essentially a two-way process. One must grow in the awareness that one is receiving no less than giving. The ult imate goal of any and every relationship is union and identification with the other. So, if one only seeks to take advantage of such relationships it can never last.

The Old Testament describes to us several feasts the chosen people celebrated. However, it would be no exaggeration to say that the feast of atonement was the greatest of them all. It was the most solemn religious fe stival of the Jews, known as Yom Kippur. It was celebrated on 10 th of the seventh Month (September October). Du ring a solemn assembly at the temple, special sacrifices were offered in atonement for the clergy and the people. This is the moment when the high priest entered the holy of holies, which symbolized the high point of contact with the divine. It is also called feast of expiation and the details of ceremonies are described in chapter sixteen of the book of Leviticus.

One of the characteristics of the modern life is that the so-called scientific world and spiritual worlds are coming ever closer, often without deliberately making an effort to establish common ground. It is indeed most enlightening that many experts in the field of theoretical physics trying to identify the origin of the universe have come to the conclusion that the core of matter is not matter but dark energy. This dark energy is beyond the ken of rational science and has even been named God particle. Science is discovering ever more deeply that the whole world is interconnected, inter dependent. Social consciousness is deepening among all peoples of the world. Deepening awareness of climate change is undebatable proof is that we are all in the same boat as Pope Francis and the Secretary General of the Nations constantly remind us. Globalization and its effects touch the lives of each and every one without exception.

No one is an outsider to the realities around. We are part of the problem and hence of the solution too. Blamegame is shameful ignorance, which slides down irrevers ible destruction. So, awareness of the absolute centrality of relationships is indispensable to live meaningful and joyful human lives. When relationships of any kind are broken or strained, every dimension of life suffers. When they are restored, deepened, every aspect of life is e nhanced.

‘I am because we are’ so goes ancient African tribal wisdom. We are all in it together. So irrespective of the external and often superficial aspects any unpleasant situation, every painful circumstance is fundamentally a

The word atonement or expiation is in a way a bad tran slation of the concept of the feast. The synonyms for atonement that come to our minds are compensation or reparation for wrong done or injury inflicted. This implies that the goal of the celebration is undoing something of the past; regret, sorrow, contrition are the central focus of the rituals and sacrifices. The concern seems to be propitiation of the deity and win expiation of sin by paying the penalty, making amends for the loss to appease and pacify. This is often implying a God who would punish offences unless pacified.

Here sin is understood as material action, disobeying a rule. In the true biblical understanding sin is rebellion against God, by which the divine -human relationship is strained or broken. So, expiation is not blotting out a material offence but reuniting man to God, consecrating him to God and rendering him pleasing to God. So, the exte rnal acts of expiation can have no value independent of the interior dispositions of the one who offers it. Expiation is primarily a spiritual act. The external act in no way tends to change G0d’s dispositions, but disposes h umans to be open once again to experience more deeply the unconditional love of God. It is indeed to deepen int imacy after estrangement, purify after desecration, heal after being wounded, harmonies after being separated. So, the original biblical meaning of expiation and atonement is not chastisement. Positively, to expiate means to purify, to render an object place or person pleasing to the God, the concern is primarily about restoring a broken relationship, which always leads to deepening relatio nship.

This misunderstanding of expiation has often adulterated our understanding of what Christ has done for us through his passion, death, and Resurrection. The redemption won by Christ is not essentially a legal and juridical repayment of a debt. The expiation of sin through Christ is overcoming and destroying sin, and purifying human kind to restore the broken relationship with the divine. Christ communicated divine life once again to human beings. No wonder St. Augustine labels original sin a ‘happy fault’. So, the atonement attained by Christ is ‘AT ONE MENT’ making human kind one with God. This is inseparable from h uman beings brought closer to each other.

As St. Paul repeatedly and emphatically reminds us: So, w e, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another (Rom 12/5). For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ (I Cor 12/12). So, the work of redemption won by Christ is to reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby bringing hostility to an end (Eph 2/16).

We are familiar with the parable of Jesus where he emphasises that the joy of repentance is far grater in heaven over sinner who repents than over ninety-nine who needs no repentance. The parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin climax with the parable of the prodigal sin. It is better known today as the Parable of the merciful father who kills the fatted calf to celebrate the home coming of his wayward son (Lk 15/ 7, 10, 23, 24). The son definitely experienced the love of the Father more deeply after his return than before he left home, simply because he experienced what it meant to be away.

In the Book of Revelation God’s forthright message to the Church in Ephesus is you have abandoned the love you had at first (Rev 2/4). In his well- known discourse about the diseases of the Roman Curia, Pope Francis speaks of spiritual Alzheimer’s disease. It is losing the memory of our personal salvation history of the marvelous deeds of the Lord in our personal lives. When we do, we naturally and unconsciously abandon the initial fervor of our life of faith, be it our baptism, wedding promises or ordination to ministry. Once again what is needed is atonement. This is because Relationships are never stagnant. They deepen all the time or are fading or breaking away. So understood biblically, atonement is a life-time gift and challenge. All of us without exception need to be focused on deepening one’s relationship with oneself, with God and with others. Whether one is a so-called great sinner or presumed saint does not matter. All of us are on the same journey of deeper reconciliation.

While the three aspects of human relationships are distinct, they are inseparable. We are most conscious of the relationships with others. However, it is no secret that one’s relationships with others, reflect the relationship

with oneself. We can relate to each other because we are by our very existence related to almighty God, crated as we are in his image and likeness. Though divine-human relationship is the most basic and fontal relationship, it is often ignored, albeit unconsciously. This relationship is God’s inherent gift, which is always on offer. All one needs to do is, believe in it, open oneself to it and be ever transformed by it. It is primarily received and the more gratefully and consciously one is aware of the gift, one deepens one’s response to it. This transforms the person so deeply that one’s relationships with every one deepens too. While blood relationships and emotional relationships are extremely significant, without awareness of and focus on the divine-human relationships these cannot deepen and are in constant danger of fading away. Deepening of the divine-human relationship is the primary task of daily life as it is the ultimate goal of life. All religions and schools of spirituality are based on the fundamental, universal conviction that physical death is not the end of human existence. Life in this world is moving towards total union with the divine who is our origin too. To the extent we deepen our union with the divine, our union with the one self and with others deepens too. Any and every type of separation, discrimination and indifference do more harm to us than appears at first sight. We are all in it together, to bond ourselves with each other ever more deeply and ultimately with the divine for all eternity. We are one in the Spirit. We are one in the Lord… And we pray that all unity may one day be restored.

May these lines of a hymn be our heartfelt daily prayer.

*Fr. Thomas Punnapadom, SDB belongs to Salesians Don Bosco of the Sacred Heart Province of Bangalore. The Salesians live in imitation of the compassionate love of the Sacred Heart, commit themselves to the integral and inclusive development of the youth, especially the poor and the marginalized, and the other disadvantaged sections of society, in collaboration with all those who strive for the realization of a new society based on the Values of the Kingdom of God.

The Biblical Experiences of the Uprooted People

Saga of Naomi - Ruth (Ruth Ch. 1-4)

Revd Dr. M. J. Joseph*

The story of Naomi and Ruth

As there was famine in the land of Judah, Elimelech, a Bethlehemite, went to sojourn in the country of Moab with his wife Naomi and their two sons (Ruth1:1). Elimelech died and Naomi was left with her two sons - Mahlon and Chilion. They married Moabite wives - Orpah and Ruth. Later Mahlon and Chilion died. Naomi was left with her two inlaws.

The family of Naomi is a displaced family. Elimelech and Naomi had no choice, but to opt for another country. They took a decision of their own. It is in the spirit of the article 14 of UNHCR that the couple exercised their right to live in a foreign country. Naomi and Ruth later returned to Bethlehem (Ruth1:22) out of their own free choice.

Article 14of the UNHCR says: "Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persec ution." It is good to read the following rule of declaration of Human Rights that "no refugee is forcibly returned to a country or territory where he/she fears persecution or da nger to life of liberty." In the case of Elimelech and Naomi, it was not persecution, but famine, which sucked out the very existence of their selves.

In one sense they were refugees as they took shelter from the danger of life or distress. In a situation of displacement, he/she must affirm his/her right to live, to entertain a nostalgic feeling towards the restoration of land rights, to live constantly in the fear of the unknown, to remain in a hostile situation of vulnerability and to have a feeling of revolt against God. In the story of Naomi - Ruth, all the above experiences of displaced persons are noticed. The words of Euripides (431BCE) lead us to the heart of the most cr ucial problem of displacement: - "There is no greater sorrow on earth than the loss of one's native land." The displaced people will have to look for refreshing spots in the wider sector of life; who provides 'the refreshing spots' is the crucial issue.

Lessons from the story of Naomi - Ruth relationship:

1.Struggle of life is a struggle to look for an unknown future

In situations of displacement, there are attempts to transcend geographical boundaries. To cross the geographical barriers means to define life in terms of relationship. In such a situation, there are always threats and possibilities, which are meant to show how God is working out his plan of salvation. It is hard to accept the reality in its beginning. God's alternatives are given to the suffering lot in rough packing!

2.Naomi's words of anguish - cry for divine intervention

Naomi's anguish and frustration expressed in ‘1:20’ are quite genuine. In times of stress and strain, it is quite natural for one to doubt the existence and the benevolence of God. Naomi's words to the women of Bethlehem are quite revealing, “call me no longer' Naomi, call me 'Mara' for the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me". . . and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me."

In the above passage one may notice echoes of people who had undergone untold sufferings in different parts of the world. The cry of the Son of God on the cross, "why hast thou forsaken me", may make sense in situations of helplessness. But one should know that God's ultimate purpose would never be thwarted even in the face of such cries of despair.

3.Naomi - Ruth relationship is a symbol of the aspir ation of th e displaced persons for the restoration of one's God-given legitimate rights.

Boaz, the one who had shown mercy to Ruth, is described as "the reclaimer of their rights" or rather legal guardian of their rights (1:20). A threat-situation offers immense possibilities for the emergence of something beautiful. In Acts 8:4, we read that those "who were scattered went about preaching the Word." Such contexts in life may draw out the best to make one the subject of his/her own history. To remain in hope for a better tomorrow was the emulative character of Naomi and Ruth. Ruth's readiness to share the agony of Naomi is a lesson for us to establish solidarity with the less-fortunate ones in times of crisis.

Redemption of the land by Boaz is indeed a restoration of the land rights of the displaced persons (4:6, 7). In the presence of the ten witnesses, Boaz acquired the property that belonged to Elimelech and Chilion and Mahlon in addition to Ruth the Moabite as his wife in order that the name of the dead may not be cut off from his kindred and from the gate of his native place (4:9, 10)

4.Naomi's determination to return to Bethlehem makes a new beginning of history through the marriage between Boaz and Ruth

Through the birth of Obed, Ruth becomes the great grandmother of David, the King. The genealogy of Jesus (Matt 1:1) finds a fitting place in the saga of NaomiRuth - Boaz relationship. As Ruth finds a place in the genealogy of Jesus "the holy irregularity" in the birth of Jesus makes it a subject of theological debate. Contrary to the Jewish practice of the inclusion of women in genealogy, the placement of women of dubious character in the genealogy speaks of the demonstration of divine love in the drama of redemption. In the situation of dis-

placement in the life of Naomi, the gospel message for the acceptance of the outcasts shines bright. The four women who are displaced in holy matrimony marked by irregular marital unions become vehicles of God's messianic plan.

Our plea is that the situation of displacement m ay work out God's plan for humankind in a new way. In Is. 19:24, the exiled people of Israel are called upon to become a blessing for others and to serve as a light to the nations. (Is. 49:6)

As agents of change and channels of grace, the task of the Church is to weave communities of hope during lifeendangering forces at work. But the question is how best we could be sensitive to human situations for their reversal and how we could sow seeds of hope in situations of calamity.

One should remember that if a person becomes an uprooted one, no one should be blamed, but if he or she remains to be uprooted for a longer period he/she is to be blamed. The flow of love should not be blocked by erecting barriers of prejudice, tradition, bigotry, and xenophobia.

Responsibility of the 'called- out' and the 'sent-out' community

1. Welcome those who are passing through situations of crisis, just as Christ has welcomed all for the glory of God (cf. Rom 15:7).

2. Pursue what makes for peace and mutual up- building in the community (cf. Rom 14:19).

3. Make sure that the experiences of the afflicted become the resources for a better tomorrow by weaving communities of hope.

4. May the following prayer of R. Niebuhr be on the lips of every activist: "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference."

*Revd Dr. M. J. Joseph: formerly, Professor of New Testament and Principal Mar Thoma Theological Seminary, Kottayam; Director of the Ecumenical Christian Center, Bangalore; Convener, Ecological Commission of the Mar Thoma Church.

Photos of Churches Article - ‘My Diasporic Exploits and Experiences, Mr. George Thomas’

Green Park Free Church, New Delhi

Christianskirke, Aarhus

Trinity Episcopal Church, Arlington

Christianskirke, Copenhagen

My Expe rience Growing up Outside Kerala: Reminiscences and Reflections

Jacob Chacko*

Beginnings

My father, M.C. Chacko, after he graduated from Madras Christian College with a B.A. in Mathematics in 1947, went back to his hometown, Mallappally, Kerala, and started teaching in the local high school. He soon realized that the pay for a teacher in Mallappally would not enable him to support a family comfortably. So, while still a bachelor, he went to Ceylon, probably in 1948, and taught there, probably for a year, before realizing that life for teachers was hard there too. So, he returned to Ma llappally.

After getting married in 1950, he heard that there was a demand for teachers in East Africa. He applied for a job there and signed a contract to teach in a school in Arusha, Tanzania. In 1952, he set sail for Mombasa, Ke nya, from Bombay with my mother and older sister, Sha ntha. She was just about a year old at that time. They just had a couple of suitcases of clothes and when they reached Mombasa, they were surprised at how cold it was. For a few days they stayed with an Indian man, and had to borrow money from him to buy some warm clothes for the baby. So, you can see that they really did not have much when they started off.

You could say that my parents were part of the Indian diaspora in East Africa. But they did not consider themselves to have migrated there. Many Keralites went there on a fixed term contract to teach in the schools, intending to come back to India at some point in the future. This was unlike the other Indians who had lived there for ge nerations and probably didn’t have strong ties to India. I was born in Arusha a few years after they got there.

Arusha, Tanzania

We lived in Arusha till I was eight. My father first taught in the Aga Khan School in Arusha. That is also the school where I began my primary education. Most of the students in the school belonged to a Muslim sect called the Ismailis and originally came from Gujarat, but had probably lived in Tanzania (or Tanganika, as it was known then) for a few generations. I remember Arusha as a small town with a fairly significant Indian population, most of them Gujaratis or Punjabis engaged in business. There were a few Malayalees, some of them teachers and some working in the e states there. Almost all the shops that we patronized were run by Indians. Most of the students in my school were Indians, although there were a few Tanzanians.

After a few years teaching at the Aga Khan School, my father signed a contract to teach in a boarding school, the Lutheran Secondary School in a place called Ilboru, ten miles from Arusha. This school was established by the

Lutheran Church and several of the teachers were Norwegians and Americans. The students in this school were mostly local Tanzanians. All the teachers were given quarters and lived in the sprawling school campus.

We made good friends with several of the families of the teachers. Some of those friendships lasted for decades. For example, for many, many years, my sister kept in touch with the daughter of a Norwegian family. The father, who was a teacher in the school at that time, after going back to Norway, became a Member of Parliament there. In addition, we used to play with the children of our next-door neighbors (another Norwe gian family). Many years later, after I came to America, I discovered that their younger daughter, Hilde Johnson, became a minister in the Norwegian cabinet and served in senior positions in the UN. One of our close friends was the Mammen family. They named their son, Anza, after the headmaster of the school. In Arusha we would normally attend an Anglican church and sometimes the Lutheran church in the school campus in Ilboru. I have memories of going to Sunday School there with my sister.

We had a few families in our social circle who were Malayalee teachers, like my parents. In addition, we had a few cousins who lived in a small town called Dodoma, and during the long school holidays they would come and spend weeks with us, or we would go and spend time with them. Arusha was a small town. I have fuzzy mem ories of three homes in Arusha – one, which was a flat in the town, and the last two were teachers’ quarters that were allotted to my father in Ilboru. As a family, we e njoyed gardening and planting veget ables in our backyard.

Kampala, Uganda

My father then decided to move to Uganda where the terms and conditions were probably better. So, we left Tanzania and drove hundreds of miles to begin life afresh in Kampala. Kampala was a big city. I remember it a s being quite beautiful, set in the midst of seven hills. My father knew some families there. I remember the Mathens, the Abrahams, P.G. Paul family, and George Thomas fa mily. Mr. Mathen was a classmate of my father in Kerala, and his wife, Mrs. Mathen happened to be a classmate of my mother.

As far as I can remember we moved to four different homes in the three years that we lived in Kampala - we rented part of Dr. C.T. Shah’s home, and then we rented a duplex home on Kira Road, and then stayed in the hom e that belonged to P.G. Paul and family (while they were in India, I guess), and finally lived in teachers’ quarters in Mengo, a suburb in Kampala when my father was

employed by Mengo Secondary School. The crime rate was high in Kampala. Cars were stolen, thieves stole the hubcaps of cars in the church parking lot and everyone had a watchdog. In 1965 my father was carjacked on his way to pick me from school. That was quite a traumatic experience for our family. Fortunately, my father was not hurt.

For a few months, we lived in a house that did not have a garage, and so every night we would park our car in the compound of a nearby apartment building that had a compound wall and a security guard. Well, one night we did not do that, and instead parked our car on the side of our house. My father decided that he would sleep in the living room that night, since it had a window through which he could keep an eye on the car. Well, that night, thieves decided to steal the tires of the car. My father heard them and shouted loudly and smashed the window (with his bare fist, I recall). We all woke up with a start and rushed outside with our dog. But the thieves escaped and if I remember correctly, they managed to get away with a couple of the car’s tires.

Around that time there was a coup in Uganda and Pres ident Obote overthrew the local king who managed to escape to the UK. A dusk-to- dawn curfew was imposed in the country, and I remember switching off all the lights in our home and peeking through the darkened windows as we watched army trucks driving by and soldiers beating poor Africans who were rushing to get back home before the curfew.

When we lived in Kampala, my father was fond of the card game, ‘56’ and would, on some Saturdays, get together with a group of Malayali men and play this game for hours on end, while the moms chatted in an adjoining room. And the kids would get a chance to play together. This is a game that is popular with men who have grown up in Kerala. It is played in teams with six to eight players. Sometimes, when a teammate would mess up in bidding, we could hear my father yell and scold his teammate. He was very excitable and didn’t hide his emotions.

I attended the Norman Godhino School in Kampala, which was named after a wealthy Goan who had esta blished the school. The school was informally known as The Goan School. Most of my classmates were Goans. When I left Uganda, I could speak Swahili as fluently as English or Malayalam, although Swahili was not taught in schools.

In Kampala we attended an Anglican Church, The AllSaints Church. The congregants were whites, Africans and some Indians. As children we had a separate Sunday School where we were encouraged to memorize a verse every week. I received my first Bible as a prize after memorizing Bible verses for a year.

After three years in Uganda, we packed our bags and went to another former British colony in Borneo - the

State of Sarawak in Malaysia. Fortunately, we left Uganda before Idi Amin came to power and were spared the way he brutally expelled all people of Indian descent from the country. Many of our friends became stateless and landed in the UK and in Canada. The Ugandan economy crumbled after that since the locals did not know how to run the businesses that the Indians had to abandon.

Sarawak, Malaysia

We lived in Sarawak for five years. My father taught in Dragon School, which was a boarding school built 24 miles outside Kuching, the capital of Sarawak. The school had a large campus and all the teachers were provided with quarters. I completed my schooling there, from Form 1 through Form 5. It was said that the school got its name from the surrounding hills, which looked like the coiled body of a dragon. Several of the teachers there were Australians, since the school was initially funded by the Colombo Plan. In addition, there were American Peace Corps volunteers who were teachers. Many years later, when I came to America, I was able to contact one of my former teachers, Gary Nelson, who now lives in Arlington, Virginia. The other teachers in the school were local Malaysians. My father was one of the two Indian teachers in the school.

There were several ethnic groups in Sarawak - the Da yaks, the Chinese and the Malays. The Dayaks, in turn, were composed of two groups, the Land Dayaks and the Sea Dayaks. There were very few Indians in those places. I was the only Indian student in my school for most of the five years I spent there. Sarawak used to be an independent country, but a few years before we arrived, had agreed to become a state in Malaysia. Most of my classmates were Dayaks or Chinese, with a few Malays. The Malays were Muslims, some of the Dayaks and Chinese students were Christians.

Since Dragon school was built in a rural area, it was surrounded by dense equatorial fore sts with a few smallscale farms that were mostly owned by Chinese. Appa rently, there was some sort of communist insurgency a few years before we arrived and the ethnic Chinese were suspected of being sympathizers. So, they were allowed to farm their land, but had to live in ‘controlled villages’. These villages were completely enclosed by tall barbed wire fences with armed military guards at the entrances. All the Chinese had to be in their village by 7 pm, since there was a 7 pm to 7 am curfew on the main road. We did some of our shopping in these villages, and many of my Chinese classmates, who were day scholars, lived there. Most of my classmates were the first in their fam ilies to get a formal education. The Chinese students were good in math and science. Some of the Dayaks were headhunters just two generations before.

The school campus had its own electricity generator, which ran from about 6 am till 10 pm. So, if I wanted to study late, I had to do so by candlelight, which my par-

ents frowned upon. On alternate Saturdays we used to drive the 24 miles to Kuching, the capital of Sarawak and do our regular shopping there and visit other Malayalee families there.

On Sundays, a priest from the Anglican Church in Kuching (24 miles away) would conduct the service, which was held in the school hall. Oftentimes the priest would arrive on Saturday, stay in our house overnight, and lead the service on Sunday. Over the years, we made some good friends with the priests who stayed in our home. I remember Father Tudbull and Father Made.

On the whole, we lived a quiet and peaceful life in Sarawak. We all enjoyed gardening around our house. I had good friends in school, enjoyed spending time with them doing things like playing badminton on weekends. The school emphasized Agricultural Science in a practical way. They reared their own chicken, had fish ponds and all the boarding students were assigned landscaping tasks. And by the time I left Sarawak to go to college in India, I could speak Malay well, although I struggled with it as a subject in school.

Reflections

As I look back on my life, I wonder how living in different cultures shaped my life. After all, I am a product of my upbringing. Perhaps I am more tolerant of other cultures, knowing that all people, at a basic level, desire similar things. Once we left a country, I never met any of my schoolmates again, although I did stay in touch with some of them through letters for a few years. Is that why I do not feel a strong attachment to an old school, college, or hostel?

My parents took me to church regularly and the importance of going to church stayed on with me even when I was on my own in the subsequent years when I lived in India. Most of the churches I attended were mainstream, nominal churches that did not emphasis the gospel, the good news of salvation. Despite that, I came to understand the truth of the gospel when I was in college in BITS, Pilani. Fellowshipping with other like-minded students helped me grow spiritually.

I am an ardent follower of Jesus Christ and I am still growing in my relationship with God. The most important decision a person makes is, “What are you going to do about Jesus Christ?”. Once you understand that, and u nderstand and accept the way of salvation, it is important to be fed well spiritually, to be taught correct doctrine, and to continually grow in your faith.

“For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Mark 8:36

*Jacob Chacko worked as an Information Technology Specialist for the World Bank in Washington, DC, for thirty years, retired in 2016. He serves as at the Fairfax Baptist Temple in Fairfax Station, Virginia and is actively involved in various ministries of the church.

T heme for April 2023 Issue Kerala Christian Diaspora (Contd.)

Over the years, the pattern of the Christian migration from Kerala has shifted from internal (withinIndia) to external (outside-India), to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Malaysia and Singapore in 1930s, to the Middle East in the 1950s, and later to North America, Europe, Australia and New Ze aland. The Kerala Christian Diaspora defined as people living outside the State of Kerala has followed this broad migra tion pattern as well, who have made contributions to the growth and deve lopment of the State through re mittanc es, investments, philanthropy and other means.

The origins of Christianity in Kerala date back BCE 52, to the tradition of Apostle Thomas arriving in Malabar to fu lfill Jesus’ Great Commission to His disciples to share the good news (“Gospel”) of salvation for all through Christ (Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15). The January 2023 FOCUS issue on the Kerala Christian Diaspora theme has several articles extensively examining the Kerala Christian Diaspora globally.

Commensurate with the emergence of the Kerala Christian Diaspora, the various Kerala Christian denominations have also progressed well in different regions of the world. During the past hundred years or so of growth and consolidation, the Kerala Christian Diaspora has grappled with issues regarding identity, heritage, and community in alien settings. The issues have increasingly become more pressing, as the Kerala Christian Diaspora transitions to the next generation and beyond, with greater assimilation to local societies and severing ties to the original Kerala roots. We are inviting articles dealing with our understanding of our Diasporic existence, its purpose, mission, and its integration with local communities and responsibilities for cr eating a community of ‘atonement’

Since we have an overwhelming number of articles from various new authors detailing the personal and Diaspora experiences of various denominations from several cou ntries, we are forced to limit the number of pages for this issue to 51. The FOCUS editorial board has decided to continue the same theme ‘Kerala Christian Diaspora’ in the April 2023 issue .

We express our sincere gratitude to the guest editor for the January 2023 issue, Dr. Sam George, Chicago, who has published about dozen books on Christian Diaspora and related themes.

FOCUS Editorial Board

Branch and Leaves from the Sequoia Tree: My Kerala Christian Diaspora Experience

Shaun Joykutty*

Introduction

My Christian diaspora experience is reminiscent of He rman Melville's 1851 classic Moby-Dick. In my version, however, I am the obsessed captain chasing an intangible, my identity. "Astringent nomenclature!" I imagine m yself saying: "You can't get away from me, I'll straddle you from behind and drive my arrow deep into your abominable scabbard." Another version of imagining is that the monster shrank and vanished as I approached it, but it's never far enough away. My irritation and stress levels rise as I approach the point where I believe I have correctly discovered or approximated this sinister enigma, but then it vanishes. This is how I felt growing up in two cultures.

It is challenging to navigate between your parents' native country and their new culture (American) without the Christian foundation. No matter how you accommodate their heritage and traditional values, you cannot avoid the West's internal and external influence on how people perceive you. As a Western -born n ative child, the "diaspora experience" was bittersweet. Consequently, there were occasions when the ground beneath my feet felt foreign. The pull, in either direction, was applied so frequently that my genuine self became distorted.

The more I grappled with this conundrum, the happier I had become that I was thrown into the Christian faith at a young age. I found the countenance of Christ the Redeemer both redemptive and mighty, it cleared up the murky, aggravated the powerful, and plowed disdain on both sides of the Atlantic. I found out that the concepts given by Christ are flawless. Accordingly, my lens was revived and created afresh. The arbitrary became intentional in thought and action. The conflict between the two cultures became irrelevant because the struggle to find myself took a backseat since Christ was the driver, and I heard Him say, "Yes, there is a struggle, and it is crucial, but do it for Me."

Growing up in the American Midwest, I recall fighting with my parents over insignificant aspects of their native cu lture during my childhood. "Why should I rise when senior citizens or elders enter the room?" "What do you mean we have no dating tradition?" "Why do I need to learn Malayalam?" However, my campaign against them was unsuccessful because I sensed a voice saying, "Do it for Me." "Honor your parents, for you shall prosper."

The image of Christ upon me was unquestionably tran sformative, as Christ led me. My worldview shifted from conforming to society's mundane desires to becoming an agent of change. I began to inquire, "Heavenly Father, this is your world; you created it; please help me to comprehend it." I began to realize, in a practical sense, that

everything God created and manifested is based on a systemic approach involving interconnect ed systems. All I needed to do was go out and learn it, understand it, and practice it.

Coming to America

My parents' immigration to the United States (US) in the 1970s was remarkable. My mother was the story's protagonist (Aleyamma Joykutty). She was the second of seven daughters raised in the wild tribal regions of Wynad (Kerala), India, by two school teachers. She was responsible for her homestead and her siblings despite her youth. However, she desired more for herself. And she took up the cause of nu rsing education and fled to North India (Delhi). There, she met my father, a Malayali from Kottarakara who was serving in the Indian military in De lhi.

My mother believed she was content with her new family (Dad, Mom, and a newborn daughter), but she wanted more and applied to hospitals abroad in search of better opportunities. She eventually qualified for a work visa to work in a US hospital and immigrated alone in the mid1970s.

The 1970s were a time of social, political, and economic chaos in the US. Johnson, Nixon, Ford, and Carter administrations brought the US to a critical juncture. The federal minimum wage at the time was approximately $2.00 per hour 5 and the country faced a nursing shortage 6 . Perhaps, a 2004 book on the 1970s, "America in the Seventies" says it best, "It was an age of limits and an age of excess…A time of high drama in which sexual liberationists and Gospel Hour devotees, Mohawked punks and disco dancers, furious displaced steel workers and new women professionals, Sunbelt and Rustbelt, white ethnics and people of color, all struggled to define America and to secure a future on a shifting cultural and economic ground."7

1 US Department of Labor. DOL https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/minimumwage/history#:~:text=The%20minimum%20wage%20we nt%20to,and%20%241.60%20in%20February%201971 Accessed 3 November, 2022.

2 Institute of Medicine (US) Division of Health Care Services. Nursing and Nursing Education: Public Policies and Private Actions. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 1983. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK218548/ doi: 10.17226/1120

3 Beth Bailey and David Farber, America in the Seventies (Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 2004)

My Malayali immigrant mother became the archetypal "fish out of water." Everything was new to her: people of various cultures and skin tones; spoken English was so distinct that several things were lost in translation; and, among other things, American traditions were more n uanced. Her exceptional work ethic and faith in God, however, remained constant. She transitioned from a contract nurse to a full-time nurse at her workplace. And enough funds were saved to bring my father to the US while my sister remained with he r family. I was born in the US, though I grew up in my mother's household in Kerala during my early years. My sister and I moved to the US permanently a couple of years later.

Our home away from home in the US was the newly established Mar Thoma community in Chicago. In the US, Malayali families were well- established, and they lived happily ever after. However, this was not our situation. We were surrounded by Christian Keralites who shared our struggles as new immigrants to the US, pursuing the "American Dream."

My sister and I attended private Christian schools in the US. Still, we were also raised on a steady diet of American television shows, including "I Love Lucy," "The ATeam," "MacGyver," "Magnum PI," "Little House on the Prairie," and many others. However, we also acquired a genuine taste for Indian films and songs from our father (late Ayroor G. Joykutty), specifically Malayalam films and old Hindi songs. My father sought to escape the US cu lture by immersing himself in Indian cinema and music.

My father was raised in India shortly after its independence. When reminiscing about India, he discussed the political, economic, and social upheavals and food shortages.8 Even though India was taking baby steps after nationhood, he stated that the country was governed by ideology rather than practical considerations. He spent his adolescence and teenage years taking care of his extended family after his brother's death, much like my mother did for her family. At that time, my father had two options: to cont inue his education or to look for work to support his family. He enlisted in the army to provide for his loved ones.

My immigrant father compensated for his lack of formal education with a firm understanding of human nature and motivations. After working as a machine operator for several years in the US, he got tired of authority and someone supervising his time. And in the early 1990s, he be-

4 Vikram Doctor. “Recollecting India's frantic efforts to end starvation after independence” The Economic Times, Jan 26, 2020, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-andnation/recollecting-indias-frantic-efforts-to-endstarvation-afterindependence/articleshow/73618277.cms?from=mdr Accessed 26 October, 2022.

came an entrepreneur and opened a small Indian spice and convenience store9.

Our Store

Owning a business is like getting married for the sake of your career. However, I have learned priceless lessons from this experience. In the first five years, it is estimated that roughly half of all new businesses fail.10 Our fifteen years of business ownership ended when we sold the store. However, those fifteen years were not quiet. We tirelessly toiled to make the business successful. Working the typical 9am –5pm doesn't work here, as business owners know well. Extended hours are standard and occasionally required for good results. This mindset has proved to be beneficial for my own professional career.

My father was a natural saver who only spent money on things and people that helped him achieve his goals, e ither out of need or habit. Even though I cannot fully agree with his goals, I agree with his approach to keep the store's economics simple. Our key goals were to keep income above costs, avoid debt, and save consistently. We lacked advanced cost accounting methodologies and fancy accounting instruments.

Growing Pains

We started to figure out how to balance our new lives in the US, and were slowly learning the rhythms of American life and living in the middle of two cultures. But do you remember how my parents loved and supported their extended families when they were younge r? Well, their philosophical, romantic nostology for their remaining siblings and families never wavered. During the course of our family's history, my sister and I understood the competition between our parents for supporting relatives.

My mother's four sisters and their families arrived in the US in the late 1990s and early 2000s, following my mot her's filing under the family visa category. By this time, my sister was away in college, and guess who remained to cater to all my parent's wishes? The voice I heard before came back and said, "Yes, there is a struggle, and it is crucial, but do it for Me." Before this "new relatives in America " episode, my life was already a whirlwind of organized chaos. In addition to my studies and helping out at my father's store, I was actively involved in the Chicago Mar Thoma Church, where I taught Sunday School and VBS, directed plays, sang in the choir, coordinated outreach programs for youth, and organized our regional youth conference, picked and dropped off Achens and

5

“Joy Food and Gifts”, 9186 W. Golf Road, Niles, Illinois 60714

6 Timothy Carter. “The True Failure Rate of Small Businesses” Entrepreneur, January 3, 2021, https://www.entrepreneur.com/starting-a-business/thetrue-failure-rate-of-small-businesses/361350 Accessed 3 November, 2022.

Thirumenis, all while, assisting our Vicar as a primary En glish lay leader.

Nevertheless, I had to help my parents in settling the new family immigrants to the US. So, in addition to the responsibilities listed above, I was tasked with assisting our new relatives and their children with their job searches and adjustment to life in the US. Our house was sometimes crammed with 15- 22 cousins and other relatives. Everyone needed to get a green card, a driver's license, and a Social Security number right away. I was transporting people, which included dropping off and picking up passengers en route to and from various locations (such as job interviews, schools, and errands), as well as tutoring and mentoring. I was the facilitator for my extended family's transition to life in the US.

During this time, the challenges posed by this environment were significant. Due to various familial issues, I had to stay behind and take care of our store and household while my parents traveled to India for my sister’s marriage. The cycle of caring for relatives, attending to my studies, and taking care of our household and the store resumed. Was all of this normal for an average US teenager? I don't know. I can assume, while others enjoyed their leisurely hours frolicking with friends and pursuing hobbies and girlfriends, I had to manage our family environment.

Marriage

Between the ages of 14 and 22, my life was devoted to helping my parents/relatives, our family store, and the Chicago Mar Thoma Church in many ways. But the voice that said, "But, do it for Me" now said, "Now work on yourself." I spent the next few years focusing on my studies and career. I figured God probably wanted me out of this cycle.

Neither time nor energy allowed me to seek out female companionship. Those that cared came to me, saw that I was juggling too many tasks at once, and went elsewhere. To some extent, I attribute their departure to the advice given to me by a Mar Thoma Achen, whose teachings have served as the bedrock around which I have built my worldview. Of course, I'm paraphrasing here, but he said something like, "Shaun, you were born here; you have the education; you have the freedom and talents. Even though you can express your emotions to any girl in the US, hold off for a little. If you believe that God has a purpose for your life, perhaps you could return to India and consider getting married to someone who is not as affluent but comes from a good family. All you have to do is give them a chance." And that is what I did! I tied the knot in the Indian state of Kerala in January 2003.

What I have Learned

Do I advocate that US residents ready to marry do so in India? I have absolutely no idea. It depends on the person's upbringing and viewpoints. Perhaps women find the hardships and compromises more complicated than men and thus skip this path entirely. Another thing I learned was the importance of never giving up my agency for parents,

friends, relatives, workplace, or mentorship. Your agency is solely yours. The battles you wage against the world exist for a purpose; never allow someone to take away your right to fight.

Carl Jung and other psychiatrists refer to this phenomenon as the Regressive Restoration of the Persona11 We must distinguish God's image from that of our parents. Their nature and culture cannot significantly impact our lives. We must be sufficiently self-reliant, robust, and unattached so that when the time comes for battle, we will be the ones to lead the charge. Don't worry excessively about the outcome; let the Holy Spirit guide you, and have faith in God's plan.

Doing what is challenging is another principle that I suggest. Do not limit yourself by accepting the status quo. It's essential to recognize that there will be challenges and pains in life, but we're responsible for growing beyond them. And finally, I urge you to make a habit of planting productive seeds. I mean, we need to put effort into the present to reap benefits in the future. Methods of self-discipline may include but are not limited to, regular reading and exercise. Create a foundation of good practices today that will serve you and others well in the future.

Fruits of Labor

Everything that led me to this point, from long work hours to constantly delayed gratifications, was for a purpose. Children of my first-generation relatives who arrived recently and took advantage of the American Dream are a source of pride for me. There are Doctors, Pharmacists, Respiratory Therapists, highly skilled Nurses, Transportation Services managers, IT specialists, and Entrepreneurs in my extended family. And they are also learning to navigate between two cultures.

The Lord has also granted me two exceptional brothersin- law. They assumed burdens and responsibilities that I believed were mine alone to bear. Their caring attitudes and consistent vigor have given me a tranquil disposition.

Conclusion

So, is this the identity that I struggled to comprehend? It is irrelevant; my identity is in Christ. His inner voice, which stated, "Do it for Me," has provided me with a solid fou ndation. He alone is sufficient and I will follow where He leads.

*Shaun Joykutty works as a program expert for the US Department of Labor in Washington DC. Shaun and family are members of the Immanuel Mar Thoma Church, Virgi nia.

7 Regressive restoration of the persona. In: Jung, C., Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Vol. 7. 2nd ed., Princeton University Press, 1966. 349 p. (p. 163-168).

KERALA CHRISTIAN DIASPORA - AN OVERVIEW OF THE HISTORY IN RELATION TO THE MIGRATION OF KERALA CHRISTIANS

Dr. Ninan Daniel

KERALA CHRISTIAN DIASPORA has a very long, chequered and blessed history, one that we all are grateful for and certainly proud of. Praise THE LORD! More than a century ago, the then Suffragan Metropolitan of the Mar Thoma Church Rt. Rev. Dr. Abraham Mar Thoma made a fervent prayer to God Almighty,'' scatter my people all over the globe''. That was a time when Christians and other minority communities had been struggling to make social, cultural and political progress in Travancore, Cochin and Malabar. The Indian freedom movement had just been rejuvenated under the leadership of Mr. Mohan Das Karamchand Gandhi.

Kerala thrived abroad- from the Far East to the Middle East, to North America and Europe, to North, East, West and Southern Africa, to Australia and New Zealand.

The Second World War was a tumultuous period for our families in the Far East (perhaps the first Christian Diaspora from Travancore). There was a very thin line between life and death in those years of Japanese aggression and occupation. Despite the heavy Japanese onslaught, the generations of our parents and grandparents, of whom there was absolutely no news for anxious, frightened relatives and friends back home, survived by the Grace of God Almighty. In the bunkers with bombs exploding close by, with severe food shortage, they opened the Bible and prayed incessantly for the end of the war. After the war, the Kerala Christian Diaspora in Malaya, Singapore, and Borneo rose from the ashes to glory and prosperity and the God of their fathers was with them. Praise the Lord!

Syrian Christians holding a religious rasa in Kerala

Our grandfathers and fathers realised the lack of opportunities for progress in Travancore and in India in general. They managed to acquire basic English education and left the Pamba basin for a better day for their families. Some of the early pioneers of migration settled in the Far East, Malaya, Singapore, Borneo, and Burma. Some found opportunities in Ceylon. This generation had been brought up with deep Christian faith. Morning and evening family prayers were the norm. Our appachens took great pride in leading the family prayers. They took an active part in local prayer groups and fellowships. Ammachis made sure that all members of the family attended prayers on time.

Hence there was no doubt their sons and grandsons who had settled abroad had the Holy Bible close to their chest! They had lit the lamp of faith wherever they settled. No wonder Kerala Christian Diaspora made deep roots in all parts of the world. All Christian denominations from

The war- time was an extremely difficult period for Indians as a whole. There was food rationing. Essential commodities were in extreme short supply. In Travancore, the Dewan Sir C. P Ramaswamy Iyer made life difficult for the Christian community. As far as government jobs were concerned, we had no 'look in'. The Dewan tried hard by hook or crook to destroy the Travancore State Congress led by Christian political heavyweights like Mr. T. M Va rghese Esq, Sir C. P Ramaswamy influenced the legal circles to ruthlessly annihilate the National Quilon Bank and its directors Mr. K.C Mammen Mapillai, his brother Mr. K. C Eapen and C.P Mathen were imprisoned. The Dewan suspected strongly that this bank and its land and plantation- owning directors were supporting the State Congress which stood and agitated for responsible government and mass franchise. The Malayala Manorama of which K.C Mammen Mappillai was the Chief Editor, was forced to cease its printing and publication and the premises were locked and sealed. The Dewan cruelly suppressed all opposition against him and his government. He was even orchestrating plans for an independent Travancore state. At this point our Beloved His Grace Rt. Rev. Dr. Abraham Mar Thoma Metropolitan was the only head of any Christian denomination who had the moral courage to vehemently oppose the Dewan's utterly horrible and foolish plans. A rumour spread that Sir C. P. Ramaswamy was thinking of imprisoning our Metropolitan. As a result of the anti- Christian stance by the De-

wan, a generation of Christians who grew up around this time were determined to gain the best education they possibly could, and fend for themselves and their fam ilies. The rest is post -independence history. To make this happen, their fathers and grandfathers worked physically hard from dawn till dusk in their paddy fields and sugarcane farms maximising the income to support their sons and daughters. They left home early in the morning with a prayer and returned at the end of the day in time for leading the family prayers. They sang loud Sadhu Koch Kunju Upadesi's songs.

After the war, employment opportunities arose in the Middle East and the Malayalees grabbed them. The hardearned money from the Persian Gulf transformed life in Kerala especially in Central Travancore for ever. This helped all Christian denominations on the Malabar Coast. As time passed by, prayer fellowships and later congregations and churches sprang across most Emirates. It is an undeniable fact that Christian churches of all denom inations are thriving in the Middle East. Praise the Lord!

tures. The Government of India's constitutional obligation has always been to help communities marginalised due to their caste and creed. This entailed reservations for jobs, which indirectly affected the chances, members of the forward communities would have had otherwise. This was a further determinant in the migration of Christians of all denominations to USA and Europe, the Middle East, Australia, and New Zealand.

Wherever Kerala Christians of any denomination settled, they started fellowships for prayers with lay leadership. These prayer fellowships gradually developed into parishes. A collection of parishes formed into a diocese or joined an Outer Kerala Diocese (Bahia Kerala Bhadrasanam). All Christian denominations from Kerala are going from strength to strength abroad under the guidance of the respective church leadership.

As far as Mar Thoma Diaspora was concerned, that leadership came from His Grace Rt. Rev. Dr. Abraham Mar Thoma Metropolitan who had the vision of Marthomites going to the far corners of the world as ambassadors of the Church. It was Beloved Thirumeni who exhorted them that every Marthomite is an Evangelist. It is no exaggeration to say that wherever they settled, they had the Holy Bible and the 'Parasyaradhana Kramam' with them.

The New Millennium has witnessed a great migration of the young enterprising, god-fearing generation to North America and Europe, Australia and New Zealand and the Middle East. They have settled in all walks of life especia lly in the medical and social care sector, in engineering, computing and other technological fields, teaching and various business enterprises. The contribution of our Church in University, Technical, Medical, Nursing and Industrial Training Education has been marvellous. All the Christian Churches in Kerala have made higher education accessible to everyone in any part of the state and in other Indian states too.

In the fifties it was mostly the graduates, postgraduates and professionals of various disciplines who had arrived in North America and Europe. Those in the medical profession after gaining suitable training and experience decided to settle down in these continents. The sixties and seventies witnessed a great brain drain from Kerala to the USA, Canada, the UK, Republic of Ireland, Germany, Switzerland and France.

The Mar Thoma Church has had the vision and farsightedness to expand collegiate education throughout Kerala giving students from all backgrounds the opportunity to gain necessary skill and knowledge. This equipped them to go out into the world at large in search of greener pas-

Kerala Christian Diaspora is here to stay. They will always uphold what our LORD and Saviour Jesus Christ said to His Disciples '' Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation''. The Diaspora faces many trials and tribulations. We face a lot of challenges too in a world that has very complex problems. Christians throughout the world are suffering discrimination, open hostility and in some instances outright persecution. Climate change is another big issue. The Mar Thoma Church has a very clear stand on this; to protect and preserve what God Almighty has entrusted us with. Let us pray that the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob will guard and guide us and our future generations on our onward journey. AMEN!

An old photo of Maramon Convention

Reflections on the Kerala Christian Diaspora

Thomas Varghese* Kerala Christian History

“You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). These are the last documented words that Jesus spoke to His disciples before ascending into heaven. From that little group of disciples, Christianity has grown globally into two billion-plus adherents currently. Wherever the early Christians ended up in different parts of the world voluntarily or involuntarily, they preached the good news (Gospel). The Book of Acts states that, due to persec ution, the followers of Christ were dispersed in Judea and Samaria, where they preached the Gospel. With Saul’s conversion and the witness and teaching of other disc iples and believers, the good news was preached to the gentiles, and beyond Judea and Samaria. Apostle Thomas brought the Gospel to India.

For many centuries, Kerala Christians remained dormant and restricted to the State, engaging in agriculture and local trade. With the arrival of the Europeans and Western missionaries, Kerala Christians availed of the new educational opportunities, which enabled them to leave the State for career opportunities. With the availability of the Bible in Malayalam and reformation in the Church, the missionary zeal was also rekindled. Many congregations were established in the major cities of Kerala, as Christians gained employment with the government and the private sector and took up residences there.

The British rule in India gave educated/trained Kerala Christians opportunities to seek careers all over India. This led to the establishment of Kerala churches in all the major Indian cities. Many mission fields were also started by the initiatives of Kerala Christians in various parts of India. Following the World Wars and the advancement of travel, Kerala Christians were able to move to other parts of the British empire outside India. Many Kerala Churches and congregations have been established in Asia and Africa.

The latter part of the 20 th century also witnessed the Kerala Christian diaspora spreading to North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. In the US, pre- 1960s immigration laws severely limited Asian immigration. Highly qualified students and scholars came for education and research, but returned to India at the end of their US tenures. Very few stayed behind, taking permanent employment positions or marrying local spouses. Pres ident Lyndon Johnson liberalized the US immigration laws in the 1960s, which opened the doors for Indians to acquire jobs and seek permanent residency. Subsequent decades have seen large -scale migration of Kerala Christians to the US, leading to the formation of community organizations and Malayalee churches.

Initially, with smaller number of members, the Mar Thoma Church leadership considered establishing communion with American churches, advising Marthomites to join the local American churches. However, with the arrival of larger numbers of Marthomites, their inability to assimilate quickly and their desire to hold onto Kerala traditions, Mar Thoma churches and congregations were sanctioned and a North America and Europe Diocese established. From those small beginnings, the Mar Thoma Church in North America has grown to what it is today, with multiple churches in all major cities of North America, mission fields and many charitable endeavors.

My Story

To share my own experience, I arrived in Philadelphia as a graduate student in 1970 and has lived in USA and Canada for over half a century as my life evolved, as a student, family man, professional, parent and grandparent. My wife and I have participated in the establishment and growth of several Mar Thoma churches in Canada and the USA. We have witnessed the birth and growth of the Kerala Christian diaspora as a whole in the USA and Canada for more than a generation. In those days there were very fe w Indians, let alone Malayalees in a major city like Philadelphia, if you came across an Indian in the street, you stopped and chatted and probably invited him home for dinner.

The few Christians, from all denominations, came toget her occasionally, usually in the basement of a local church or a university hall. If there was a visiting clergy from any denomination, he usually conducted a Holy communion service. For Christmas or Easter, the practice was to go to New York to attend Malayalam services there. A potluck meal often followed these get togethers. For the homesick diaspora, these occasions provided great comfort and encouragement. These gatherings gave them an avenue to share their experiences, voice their concerns and seek guidance.

Most of the im migrants lived in low-cost, often roachinfested, inner-city apartments that were some times in unsafe neighborhoods. Many did not have cars and had to depend on public transportation to get to work, shopping and recreation. Even if you had money in India, it was next to impossible to convert them to dollars due to Indian foreign currency restrictions and low exchange rates at about a tenth of the current rates. Also, almost all had to send money home to support parents, siblings and other family members. However, they helped and supported each other in many ways.

Now a days we might not be willing to drive to New York to pick up a new family arriving from India and accom-

modate someone in your small apartment for months until he found employment. Helping someone with acquiring a driver’s license, babysitting each other’s children, helping with moving, sometimes on foot, and assisting with negotiating a car deal were all part of the assistance provided. Before the Internet, cell phones and cheap overseas calls, snail mail was the main mode of communications. Lack of spoken communication skills to the adopted community sometimes limited their ability to gain employment. All these factors contributed to the formation of Malayalamcentered churches and community organizations so that the immigrants could socialize and help each other.

children they brought from Kerala were encouraged and supported by the immigrant parents to get professional education and good careers. For the most part they were successful. Many of them occupy high positions in all professions, probably much higher than any othe r imm igrant community in North America. Their limited proficiency in Malayalam as well as the atmosphere they grew up prompted many Malayalee youths to attend local churches and engage in mission endeavors. We have Malayalee pastors, bishops and elders in local churches. The second generation is also getting into politics and are beginning to get positions of power in local governments, as councilmen, state representatives, mayors, judges etc. A few are making their mark as media persons.

Concluding Though ts

With the assimilation of our youth into the local American community, serious consideration must be given to the future course of the Malayalee churches and cultural inst itutions that the first- generation immigrants established through so much sacrifice It is a possibility that some locations may close as arrival of Christians from India trickles down and the second and third generations assimilate to the local churches.

The resourceful immigrants acquired American skills and education and their em ployment and economic situation improved. They advanced in their careers, started owning houses, cars and luxury items and began to live the American dream. Utilizing the liberal immigration policies, they brought their parents and siblings to the country and their numbers have increased exponentially. This has led to the rapid growth of Kerala Christian churches in all the major cities, with multiple congregations of the same denomination. North American Dioceses were established by almost all Kerala Christian churches, with clergy and bishops from India assigned to lead the parishes.

Initially, the Kerala Christian churches met in the basements of local churches who often let them use it free of charge. In some instances, we abused that privilege by not being punctual, failing to clean up properly, being noisy and many other such transgressions. In other ca ses, the churches met in schools or community halls which charged minimal rent. Gradually Kerala Christians realized the need for their own facilities even though they were struggling financially. With so much effort and sacrifice they started buying their own buildings, typically old churches that were no longer used by American congregations. Where zoning permitted, they converted empty warehouses, office buildings or other facilities into churches. More prosperous congregations started from scratch, buying land, obtaining church zoning, designing facilities according to their requirements and erecting the buildings. As communities prospered churches also prospered, acquiring and improving their own worship facilities, supporting clergy, taking on mission projects locally and overseas

The first- generation immigrants valued education and self-reliance. Their American- born children or the young

We see some adaptation to cater to the young members, often with resistance from the first -generation immigrants. Effort is also made to ordain clergy from the local second-generation candidates. Limited activity is also happening in mission work locally, in India and internationally. Success of these initiatives is imperative if we have to maintain a presence of Kerala Christian churches in North America in the future.

In all through this process, we have to ask the question, “Have we contributed to fulfilling Jesus’ commission? Were we His witnesses in Kerala, India and to the end of the earth?” We could have done better. Perhaps we were concerned too much with our own survival and prosperity that it was in the back burner. If we got another chance, will we do it differently? I hope and pray we will all make use of the privileges and resources that are available to us to be true wit nesses as long as the Lord allows us to live!

*Thomas Varghese studied up to BSc. Engineering from Kerala University, before pursuing Masters and Doctoral education at Drexel Unive rsity in Philadelphia, PA. In his lifelong engineering career spanning half a century in North America, he has worked for major corp orations and the Federal governments of USA and Canada. Thomas Varghese and family has been members of the Phil adelphia Mar Thoma Church, Canadian Mar Thoma Church, Mar Thoma Church of Greater Washington and Immanuel Mar Thoma Church of Virginia, serving in various capacities, includ ing some churches from their inception, now living in Sterling, Virginia.

HISTORY OF DIASPORA ST. THOMAS CHRISTIANS AND MALANKARA MAR THOMA SYRIAN CHURCH FROM KERALA

Lal Varghese, Esq.

The following is a brief overview of the history, faith practices, and liturgy of St. Thomas Christians and Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, different schisms among St. Thomas Christians, reformation in Malankara Church and to know more about the roots of Mar Thoma Church. St. Thomas Christians have been influenced by the Church in Antioch, Persia, Rome and England. But Mar Thoma Church has followed the faith and practices of St. Thomas Christians as an independent church under the Sea of St. Thomas and uses a refined liturgy of St. James as a reformed eastern, oriental Church.

St. Thomas Christians have migrated to various countries: beginning in early fifties to Malaysia and Singapore, late sixties and seventies to North America and Europe, Africa and Middle East and most recently to New Zealand and Australia. Abraham Mar Thoma prayed: ‘Lord please scatter my people.’ Now it appears that the Lord has responded to his prayers and scattered the people from Kerala to almost all continents of the world. Wherever you go, you can see a good presence of Kerala Diaspora Christians. But the question is whether it will continue as a separate Diaspora community by itself or tend to mingle with the local communities and lose its identity of Kerala Christians.

Traditionally, it is believed that St. Thomas, one of the Apostles of Jesus Christ, came to Kerala in A. D. 52 and established seven churches at Kodungallor, Chavakad, Paravur, Gokkama ngalam, Niranam, Nilackal and Quilon. It is believed that St. Thomas was martyred in A. D. 72 at Mylapore, Madras. The Malankara Church was in ecclesiastical relationship with or communion with the Church of Persia from 4th to 15th century. There is not much historical record about Malankara Church during this period.

Portuguese came to Kerala in 1498 and Archbishop Alexios De Menzes and convened the Udayamperoor Synod in 1599 and brought Malankara Church under the Roman Church. The old records and prayer books were burned. Under the leadership of Archdeacon Thomas, in 1653, people assembled in front of the stone cross at the Mattancherry Church in Cochin and took an oath severing all connections with the Roman Church. This is known as the 'Coonan Cross' (bent cross) oath. 12 priests joined together and installed Archdeacon Thomas as Mar Thoma 1. Thus, the Malankara Church divided into two: one group supporting the Roman Church and the other remained as an independent Malankara Church.

The Dutch arrived in Kerala in 1663 and the Roman Catholic Church's influence in Kerala began to decline. In 1665, Mar Gregorios Metropolitan of Jerusalem, under Jacobite Patriarch of Antioch came to Kerala. He consecrated Mar Thoma 1 and thus the validity of his Episcopal succession was confirmed. Thus, Malankara Church came under the influence of the Jacobite Church and thus the West Syrian liturgy was introduced in the Malankara Church.

Nine Metrans under the title Mar Thoma and four with the title Dionysius held ecclesiastical authority over Malankara Church from 1665 to the first half of 19th century. In 1772, Mar Gregorios, another Bishop from West Asia came into Kerala and consecrated a priest as Metran with name Coorilos (Cyril) without the knowledge or authority from Mar Thoma VI. Mar Coorilos left Travancore and left for Malabar at Anjoor (Thozhiyoor) and established Malabar Independent Syrian Churc h (Thozhiyoor Church). Metropolitan and the Suffragan Bishop of the Thozhiyoor Church consecrated Titus 1 of the Mar Thoma Church.

In the beginning of 19th century, British came to Kerala and began a relationship with the Church of England. Colonel Macauly, who was the first British resident, and Colonel Munroe took much interest in the Malankara Church and wanted to reform the Church. Colonel Macauly made available for the Metropolitan of the Malankara Church an amount of Rs. 10,500, the interest from it is to be used for the benefit of Syrian Church. This led to the famous 'Vattipanam' case between the Metropolitans of the Syrian Churches. The old seminary was built in 1813 in Kottayam in the land donated by the Queen of Travancore.

At the request of Colonel Munro, Church Missionary Society (CMS) and Revd Thomas Norton came to Kerala in 1816; this was followed by Revd Benjamin Bailey in 1816; Revd Joseph Fenn in 1818 and Henry Baker in 1819. Metropolitan Pulikottil Mar Dionysious established a seminary in Kottayam in 1813, under the leadership of Revd Joseph Fenn.

The Metropolitan was not happy about the Anglicization of the Malankara Church and decided to sever all connections with the missionaries in 1838. But some people continued to support the Anglican Church and thus the first Anglican Diocese of Travancore (CMS Church) was formed in 1878, which is now part of the Church of South India (CSI).

1836 was an important year for the Malankara Church. The reformation strategy was formed by a group of 12 senior clergy under the leadership of Palakunnathu Abraham Malpan and Kaithayil Geevarghese Malpan. They submitted a memorandum known as ‘Trumpet call of reformation to the British Resident Colonel Fraser. Finally, it was in 1836 that Abraham Malpan and Geevarghese Malpan who already prepared a revised liturgy omitting everything which one could not find scriptural warrant as part of reformation and celebrated Holy Communion in Malayalam at Maramon and Kollad churches.

In the reformed liturgy, all prayers to the departed, to the Blessed Mary and Saints were omitted. All elements in the prayers which overemphasized the sacrificial aspect in the Eucharist were eliminated. All prayers which had references to the tra n-

substantiation of the bread and wine were revised. Holy Communion had to be administered in both kind separately and Holy Communion not to be celebrated when there was no one to receive it. Confession in private to the priest was also abolished. The service had to be conducted in Malayalam. Abraham Malpan even threw the statue of 'Muthappan', used at the festival at Maramon Church, into the well in the compound of the Church, thus eliminating idol worship practices which had crept into Malankara Church.

The Metropolitan Mar Dionysius was not happy about the use of the revised liturgy and changes in the traditional practices and even refused to ordain deacons trained by Abraham Malpan and Geevarghese Malpan in the seminary. Abraham Malpan sent his nephew D eacon Mathew of Palakunnathu to Madrin, Syria in 1841 to the Patriarch of Antioch. Patriarch ordained Deacon Mathew and named him Mathews Mar Athanasius and he returned to Malankara in 1843.

divided into two separate churches, namely the Jacobite (later Orthodox) and the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church.

The beginning of the famous Maramon convention can be traced to 1873, but officially it began in 1896 at the banks of river Pampa in Maramon, which is the biggest Christian conve ntion, after the Keswick convention. Mar Thoma Evangelistic A ssociation was founded in 1888. Mar Thoma Sunday school was established in 1904/1905. Mar Thoma Suvisesha Sevika Sanghom was founded in 1919 and Mar Thoma Voluntary Evangelistic Association in 1924. Mar Thoma Yuvajanasakyam was established in 1933. Department of Sacred Music and Communication (DSMC) was founded in 1969.

Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, officially known as is an eastern reformed oriental church, accepts Bible consisting of 66 (39 in Old Testament and 27 in New Testament) books and also the Nicene Creed approved in A. D. 325. Mar Thoma Church recognizes seven sacraments: baptism, confirmation, confession, Holy Communion, Marriage, Ordination and extreme unction (anointing the sick). Mar Thoma Church also practices the following feasts: Danaha (Epiphany on 6th January) commemorating the day of the wisemen from the East visiting baby Jesus; Annunciation on March 25th, the day the Gabriel, angel of the Lord announced the birth of Jesus to Mary; Palm Sunday; Maundy Thursday; Good Friday; Easter Sunday; the day of A scension, which comes 40 days after the Easter; and the day of Pentecost, the day Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, the day of transfiguration.

The old Metropolitan Mar Dionysius opposed the new Metran as Malankara Metran. In 1852 Mathews Mar Athanasius was confirmed by Royal Proclamation as Metropolitan of the Malankara Church. Abraham Malpan passed away in 1845. The old Metropolitan, Cheppattu Mar Dionysius, was getting old; he sent Revd Joseph Pulikottil to Madrin. He returned in 1865 as Metropolitan Mar Dionysius. in 1868 Metropolitan Mar Athanasius consecra ted the son of Abraham Malpan with name, Thomas Mar Athanasius. The reformed section of Malankara Church was in posse ssion of the old Seminary at Kottayam and Thomas Mar Athanasius was living in the Seminary.

In 1876, Peter III, the Patriarch of Antioch, came to Malankara. Mathews Mar Athanasius ruled as Metropolitan of the Malankara Church from 1852 to until 1876 when the Royal proclamation was withdrawn and the two factions in the Malankara Church were asked to approach the Courts to sort out their claims. In 1876, the Patriarch convened the Synod at Mulamthuruthi and divided the See of Malankara in to seven Dioceses and consecrated four new Bishops.

Mathews Mar Athanasius passed away in 1877. Thomas Mar Athanasius succeeded as the Mar Thoma Metropolitan and led the reformed section of Malankara Church. This followed by several cases between the two factions including the famous 'Seminary Case' and the appeal was decided by the Royal court in 1889, wherein two of the three judges decided that Joseph Dionysius was the rightful Metropolitan of the Malankara Church. The one English Judge, Justice Omby, ruled in favor of Thomas Mar Athanasius, stating that Malankara Church was always an independent Church, not subject to the Antiochian Patriarch. Thomas Mar Athanasius had to leave the Seminary and the reformed section lost everything in the litigations, except few churches. Thus, the undivided Malankara Church was

The Mar Thoma Church uses leavened bread during the Holy Communion. The churches are built facing east and Holy Communion is administered form the Madbaha where there is a consecrated place known as Thronos, where the Kasa and Pilasa are kept on a wooden plank, reminding that Qurbana is a sacrifice without blood, in opposition to the worship in the Old Testament. Kasa with wine is placed in the east and piles with bread is placed in the west on the Tabaleetha. Kasa and Pilasa are covered with an ornamental cloth known as Kabalan and both Kasa and Pilasa are covered with Sosappa. The Mar Thoma Church uses Muron in the second part for confirmation during baptism as a symbol of conferring Holy Spirit. Sythe is consecrated olive oil is used in the first part of baptism, consecration of churches and houses and for anointing the sick. Mar Thoma Church uses Easter Cross (cross without crucifix). Mar Thoma Church uses St. James Liturgy in its revised form for Holy Communion. The beginning of the Holy Communion is known as 'Thooyaba', which is normally conducted before opening the curtain of the Madbaha for the laity.

The seating in the sanctuary is separate for men and women and women sit on the right side (south) and men sits on the left side (north) in the sanctuary known as 'Haikala'. The curtain of the Madbaha opens from south to north (remember church faces east) so that the women seated on the right side can see first the Thronos reminding that it is the women who saw the risen Je sus first at the tomb of Jesus Christ on Sunday morning.

Mar Thoma Church believes that Holy Communion is a mystery which cannot be explained by human beings, thus rejects the theories of transubstantiation (bread and wine changed after cosec ratio) as believed by Catholic Church, Consubstantiation (bread and wine do not change but the body and blood of Jesus Christ is united into the bread and wine, followed by Lutheran Church, Receptionalism (faith is the essential ingredient for the

believer to realize the significance of Holy Communion) followed by Calvinists and Memorialism (bread and wine are symbols of the body and blood of Christ, thus it awakens a memory in the believer the atoning death of Christ on the cross, a theory by Zwingley, one of the ref ormers of the Protestant Church.

Mar Thoma Church follows a democratic pattern for its administration both at parish, diocese and central level. The highest body of the church is Pradhinidhi Mandalam, consisting of representatives from all parishes and the executive body is the Sabha Council. The Episcopal Synod is the highest ecclesiastical body and Metropolitan is the supreme a uthority of the Church The policy decisions regarding te mporal matters of the Pradhinidhi Mandalam take into effect only after approval of the Episcopal Synod. The ecclesiastical matters of the Church are decided and administered by the Episcopal Synod. The discipline of the clergy and bishops rests with the Episcopal Synod. Thus, the administration of the church is a combination of episcopal polity and de mocratic procedures.

Thomas Mar Athanasius passed away in 1893 without consecrating a successor. Geevarghese Mar Koorilose of Thozhiyoor consecrated Revd Titus Palakunnathu, younger son of Abraham Malpan and brother of Thomas Mar Athanasius as Titus I Mar Thoma in 1894 at Cheriyapplly, Kottayam inspite of opposition from Jacobites. In 1899, Titus I consecrated his nephew as Titus II, with assistance from Geevarghese Mar Koorilose of Thozhiyoor. In 1911, Titus I passed away and Titus II became the Mar Thoma Metropolitan. In 1917 Bishop Abraham was consecrated as the Suffragan Metropolitan.

In 1925, the Mar Thoma Theological Seminary was established at Kottayam. Titus II passed away in 1944 and Abraham Mar Thoma Suffragan Metropolitan succeeded as the Metropolitan. Two more Bishops were consecrated in 1937, namely Juhannon Mar Timotheos and Mathews Mar Athanasius. In 1947, Abraham Mar Thomas passed away and Juhannon Mar Thomas succeeded. In 1953, three more Bishops were consecrated namely Alexander Mar Theophilus, Thomas Mar Athanasius and Philipose Mar Chrysostom. Mathews Mar Athanasius passed in 1973. Two more Bishops Joseph Mar Ireneaus and Easo Mar Timotheos were consecrated in 1976. Juhannon Mar Thoma passed away in 1976 and Alexander Mar Thoma succeeded. In 1980, Zacharias Mar Theophilus was consecrated as Bishop. Thomas Mar Athanasius passed away in 1984 and Easo Mar Timotheos in 1988. In 1989, three more Bishops were consecrated, namely Geevarghese Mar Athanasius, Geevarghese Mar Theodosius and Euyakim Mar Coorilos. In 1993, three more Bishops were consecrated, namely Joseph Mar Barnabas, Thomas Mar Timotheos and Isaac Mar Philoxenos. Alexa nder Mar Thoma passed away in 2001. Philipose Mar Chrysostom became the Mar Thoma Metropolitan in 2000.

In 2001, Abraham Mar Paulos was consecrated as a Bishop. In 2007, Joseph Mar Thoma became the 21st Mar Thoma. In 2011, three more Bishops namely Mathews Mar Makarios, Gregorios Mar Stephanos, and Thomas Mar Theethos were consecrated as episcopal. Since 2011, the Church was not able to consecrate any bishops due to opposition and court

cases. Currently, the Mar Thoma church has 13 dioceses and three dioceses are without any Episcopa due to the deaths of Zacharias Mar Theophilus Suffragan Metropolitan in 2015, and Geevarghese Mar Athanasius Suffragan Metropolitan in 2018. Joseph Mar Thoma passed away in 2020 followed by Philipose Mar Chrysostom in 2021. Following the death of Joseph Mar Thoma, Theodosius Mar Thoma succeeded as the 22nd Mar Thoma. Both Euyakim Mar Coorilos and Joseph Mar Barnabas Episcopas were consecrated as Suffragan metropolitans in 2022. The Sabha Pradhinidhi Mandalam in 2022 have decided to select four more bishops and appointed Episcopal Nomination Board for the same. For the first time in the history of Mar Thoma Church, women are also allowed to be appointed as lay persons (readers) to assist priests in the Madbaha during Holy Communion.

Mar Thoma Church is a global church with its members scattered across all the continents in the world and by esta blishing parishes and Dioceses outside Kerala, where St. Thomas believed to be established seven churches in A. D. 52. In recognition of this global expansion, the church is now publishing its official documents such as Mandalam Reports, Mandalam study, and the official journal, Malankara Sabha Tharaka in English. Currently, the Mar Thoma Church has 1.6 million members, nine bishops including the Metropolitan, 1,239 parishes, 13 dioceses, 947 active priests and 267 retired priests. The headquarters of the Mar Thoma Church is in Thiruvalla, Kerala, India. The motto of the church is "lighted to lighten” and the link to the Church web site is given below, where you can find more details about the church and its activities. www.marthoma.in

Books Referred:

1) An introduction to Indian church history, C. B. Firth ISPCK 1961

2) The faith and practices of Mar Thoma Church, Rev. Dr. K. V. Mathew, 1985

3) The Mar Thoma Church, heritage and mission, Alexander Mar Thoma Metropolitan, 1985

4)

The Mar Thoma Church, A study of its growth and contrib ution, Rev. Dr. K. T. Joy, 1986

5) Gleanings, The Mar Thoma Church: Its faith, Practices and Mission, Madras -Calcutta Diocese, 1994

6) St. Thomas and Syrian Christians of India, K. V. Koshy, 1999

7) Glimpses of Mar Thoma Church history, Dr. Zac Varghese Kanisseril, Mr. Mathew Kallumpram, 2003

8) Christian faith for our times, Rev. Dr. K. A. Abraham, 2004

9) The faith and sacraments of the Mar Thoma Church, Rev. George Mathew Kuttiyil, 2004

10) Christian faith for our times, Rev. Dr. K. A. Abraham, 2004

11) The Indian Churches of Saint Thomas, C. P. Mathew and M. M. Thomas, 2005

12) Liturgy for our times, Rev. Dr. George Mathew Kuttiyil, 2006

13) St. Thomas Christians and their Eucharistic Liturgy, George Poikail, 2010

14) Holy Qurbana, Response to 175 questions, Rev. Dr. Abr aham P. Athyal, 2011

15) Our faith and practices, Rev. Abraham P. Athyal, 2016

16) History of Christianity in India: An Introduction, F. Hrangkhuma, Theological Book Trust, 1918

Our Story through the Diaspora Prism

Prof. Dr. Kanayathu C. Koshy

Introduction

This essay is about our family’s Diaspora Experience since 1975 onwards, interposed by views on Ecumenism and Interfaith During those years overseas, we were exposed to several Christian groups; Anglicans and Methodists being the most common. Although we are members of the Mar Thoma Church all through, a full worship was a rarity because of our locations. We worshiped with Jacobites, Orthodox, Baptist, Jewish, Catholics, and Presbyterian groups, just enough to know them a little better. We also lived among Hindus, Islam, and other groups of differing belief systems. What emerged out of these experiences was an open mind and willingness for introspection.

Background

My wife, Elizabeth, and I have two children, Liza (47) and Jacob (40). We have retired fully in 2016, after which my wife and I returned to settle in Kerala State, India , while Liza with her family (Richard, Alana and Rohan) are se ttled in Hamilton, New Zealand and Jacob with his family (Tina, Isabelle, Andrew and Micah) are established in New York, USA. During our stay overseas, we lived in many countries, Jamaica, USA, Fiji, and Malaysia with me as a University Teaching Faculty member and my wife as a High School Science Teacher. The teaching and research life has given critical insights for us as we moved through various countries as sabbatical staff, short-term attac hm ent groups, long-term staff appointments and as tourists, so much so that we have been referred to as an international family, the depth and breadth of which is only beginning to emerge. This background, I thought, is useful for the Diaspora Christians who either congregate in one place, fall prey to persuasive individuals or groups, willingly migrate to other local groups etc. Most of the first- generation parents have kept their faith traditions, but the same cannot be said of their New-Gens. The problem is that the new generation is locally born, with little roots elsewhere, so they tend to be like their peers.

Ecumenism and Interfaith

Ecumenism

Most of the Diaspora Christian migrants have problems with these terms, which to some would mean:

• Nothing less than converting others into our faith in the end.

• Accepting some parts of other’s faith and trying to append them to ours, often failing to convert many from our own fold into this new combination, and in that process becoming frustrated.

• Either of the two above is far more difficult than converting untouchables or very poor people.

All the groups above are opposed to the cultural side of their faith, rather than the hardcore beliefs.

Interfaith

This is even more cumbersome because of the political ramifications associated with it; thus, only very few will even give it a go. True that many others have also thought about these issues deeper before and have commented on them. For example, Mahatma Gandhi said once, “Everybody’s faith has two sides to it, (i) the Peripheral and (ii) the Core. The peripheral is concerned with matters relating to the way in which we treat socio- cultural issues and the Core is for the real God”. What colour and type of attire we wear; which side of the aisle we sit; what type of books or gadgets are acceptable for church (electronic, print); the church building’s modernity and many more matters go with the peripherals. Whereas, the nature of God – character of GOD such as loving, or strict go with the Core. If we ask for the number of Gods there are, or about divine justice, it gets far more complex. Thus it looks like, we have as many churches as cultures or styles would allow and trying to covert one into another is nearly futile But at the Core, it is a singularity, and no conversion is needed, this is the only GOD.

Soon we realized that values like love, kindness, compassion, and charity are all common to God-fearing people despite their differences. This is why during a natural calamity, flood, earthquake, cyclone, for example, we help the next victim to safety without asking and asserting their faith preferences. Interfaith works on all such areas. Where we find it difficult to cooperate, it is better to have a healthy dialogue going than arguments raised. Do all religions boil down to the same thing then? No. What we want is a space for tolerance to understand where others are coming from. We know very little about other religions and those who follow them. An interesting example here is a story of a person asking a Catholic priest if he was married and how many children he has. With a little more understanding such embarrassment could well be avoided.

Ecumenism and interfaith in practice

There is no need for any of these, therefore, to enter into conflict as long as we are looking for a way that increases harmony. While we may have found this space during disasters, this is what the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Global Sustainability followers have been advocating. We are also mindful that there are very real hard issues too which have to be dealt with on a one -on-one basis. Some examples are: addiction involving sub-

stances, ideologies, internet and electronic media; material affluence and apathy; more religiosity (improved co nduct) than spirituality (improved character); increased work pressure; corruption; too much freedom, too little responsibility; lack of life skills but an entertainment freak alright; and slow migration of new- gens from traditional churches. These and similar areas need urgent remedy. As for us, since we were tail-enders of the generation change, and not right in the middle of it physically, our problems were quite manageable. With these caveats lets us take a look at what we did apart from formal work:

(i) Sunday school books:

While we were in the Pacific, it was a common practice to get imported teaching texts for Sunday Schools. Not only that these were expensive, they were also in short supply. This being a perennial problem, The Bishop of Polynesia, Jabez L Bryce commissioned a committee to address this issue. We divided the Sunday school age group into Junior, Middle and Senior, and in each level they had to spend two (2) years before graduation. We completed six books and distributed copies in Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, and ran training sessions too. Following this we were also asked to prepare a Youth Curriculum, which we have done, but it did not fly much for reasons beyond us. The writing group, although diminished in size by then, had plans to write a set of advanced level package for those anxious to serve in committees, and take up responsible positions in their churches. However, this too had to wait. I made a presentation of these activities in the Annual Anglican Synod for the Pacific.

(ii) Liza’s work:

Our daughter was part of the team which produced the Sunday school books. An active member of the church, she was given an Anglican Diocesan scholarship for a degree program at Auckland University, New Zealand. She completed her first degree and returned to Fiji to pursue a Master’s program in Marine Studies at the Un iversity of the South Pacific, Suva (where I was also working). This was followed by a PhD program in Waikato Un iversity in Hamilton. Her husband, Dr. Richard Storey worked in the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), New Zealand and Liza was working in the Ministry of Conservation, Govt. of New Zealand. At the moment they are in Pokhara, Nepal, and they are working on lake restoration, freshwater ecosystem programs and a number of activities at their children’s School, Palliative care Centre at their Hospital, NGOs etc.

(iii) ARUP Sustainability Project and COP -27:

Our son, Jacob, studied in Steven’s Institute of Technology for his degrees – Bachelors in Engineering and ICT Engineering (Masters). He secured a job with ARUP a global collective of designers, engineering and sustainability consultants, advisors and experts dedicated to sustainable development (https://www.arup.com/) during a

Campus interview. At the same time, I was made the Foundation Director of the Pacific Center for Environment and Sustainable Development (PACE-SD, USM, Fiji). No wonder, as soon as Jacob heard the word ‘Sustainability’, he realized that as a ‘project firm’ ARUP too needs to embrace sustainability, which they eventually did. During this year’s COP-27 meetings in Egypt (https://cop27.eg/#/), ARUP has made a commitment to cut at least 40% of all their carbon emission from new and refurbished buildings by 2030 with a view to reducing it to zero emission, quickly. While I make no claim that Jacob was responsible for this outcome, let us all rejoice that ARUP as a private firm took it on itself to be responsible and remain sustainable. Tina, his wife, is equally passionate about sustainability and even won a US$10,000/ award for her work place, Sloan Kettering, Cancer Research Hospital, New York. In both Liza and Jacob’s families, they try hard to practice what they preach.

(v) The Fragrance and Abundance book:

I have been thinking of this book project for some time –one that connects sustainability to Biblical principles. How nice, my wife and I together published the book “Fragrance and Abundance: God’s Earth in Human Hands”, in 2021. The premise of the book was that ‘Abundant Fragrance’ emanates from those who care for Creation and live a Sustainable life style. This requires both knowledge and skills that we get from formal education but that is not all, our ethics, value systems, and att itude matter too. This comes from non -formal and informal education. For Christians, the latter comes mostly from their biblical faith.

Apart from the book, I write for the Mar Thoma Church monthly publication, “Tharaka ”; the publication of the Mar Thoma Diocese of North America and Europe, “Messe nger”; an ecumenical digital publication from London/USA, “FOCUS”; and a global monthly, Damanjodi United, an epublication of the interfaith order; Somaiyai Vidyavihar University, e - Newsletter, Bombay, which are sustainability-based publications.

Conclusion

At this stage, I wish to acknowledge that our family has been truly blessed all these years, for which we praise God. Even now I am working as an Emeritus Professor of Sustainability, my wife proof reads all my articles and was a coauthor of our latest book Fragrance and Abundance; our daught er Liza and husband Richard, are currently working in Nepal on Lake Restoration and fresh water ecology. Our son, Jacob and Tina have a passion for Sustainability, and we are all very happy with ARUP’s performance at COP-27. I’m not boasting at all here, but would simply say that those who work truly for Him, as Indian Diaspora Christians or otherwise, He will never forget us.

The Story of a Journeying People: The Kerala Christian Diaspora

Dr. Zac Varghese

This article is written in the context and of the experience of being a member of the Mar Thoma Diaspora community in the UK. I am sure that other members of Christian diaspora communities from Kerala may have similar histories and stories relating to their migration to various part of the world.

The Late Metropolitan, Joseph Mar Thoma, in his September, 2011, letter in the Tharaka had described how our people reached Malaysia 100 years ago and how they established a worshipping community there 25 years after their arrival. They were the old-world pioneers who left their mark in evolving a traditional, parochial, Church from the Malabar Coast to become early members of a worldwide Church; it was indeed the beginning of an amazing story of a journeying people. Future historians of the Mar Thoma Church will undoubtedly look back on the twentieth and the first two decades of the 21st century as a great period in the transformation of the Mar Thoma Church (MTC) into a global Church. However, I do not think that many members of the MTC in Kerala appreciate or understand this new status endowed on the MTC by God’s amazing grace and our responsibilities emerging from it. Bringing people to God and bringing people together as an atoning faith community by living out the Christian faith through witnessing is our mission. This dispersion and scattering to various parts of the world may indeed be providential; this may help us to answer the question, why the Marthomites are placed in different corners of the world?

Within a span of just over 100 years, the mission field of the MTC has extended beyond the traditional boundaries of Travancore (Kerala) to other parts of India: Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Europe, Middle East, North America, Australia, Africa, and New Zealand. In this process, the Mar Thoma Diaspora communities in all the above regions contributed much to the elevation of the MTC into a worldwide Communion. Could it be an answer to the prayer of Abraham Mar Thoma Metropolitan, “Scatter my people.” Thirumeni also said, “Every Marthomite is a missionary.” We must remain grateful to God for giving us various opportunities to transcend our ethnic ‘Pampa River Valley culture’ and self-centred concerns to form ulate a global vision for our Church. It is indeed important to retain the story telling traditions of our people through various genre of communication and preserves the history in the collective memory of the members of our worldwide Church.

As I indicated, the first immigrants from Travancore arrived in Malaysia 100 or so years ago and they esta blished a Mar Thoma parish at Banting in 1937. In early

sixties, some members of this community from Malaysia and Singapore moved to the UK; they together with others from Kerala and other places contributed to the development of a Mar Thoma congregation in London in 1957. Although we have grown individually and can be very proud of our individual achievements, we do not have any real collective feeling for Mar Thoma diaspora communities in various regions of the world.

Arundathi Roy in ‘God of Small Things’ wrote: “Though you could not see the river [Manimala River] from the house any more, like a seashell always has a sea -sense, the Ayemenm house still had a river- sense. A rushing, rolling, fish swimming sense.” In a similar vein, the historical records of reformation, migration, and settlement would help the Mar Thoma Diaspora communities to maintain that important ‘Mar Thoma- sense’ which one may be able to pass on to subsequent generations. I very much hope the current issue of the FOCUS would be help in this direction.

Marthomites became a diaspora for reasons other than Jewish diaspora. They were not forced out, but they voluntarily left their villages, homesteads, or home towns. They believed that they have been sent for a Goddirected purpose. This ‘sentness’ was very important to establish a spiritual dimension to their lives in places where they lived. Therefore, their election as a diaspora community was clear and unequivocal, which was to proclaim the gospel by their lived-out experiences in communities where they lived, and to pass on their rich trad itions and heritage to future generations.

The basic thought guiding them in various diaspora regions is that they are not just ec onomic migrants in these countries; they are sent there for a divine purpose and they are an integral part of every aspect of witnessing including koinonia (fellowship), kerygma (preaching) and diakonia (service). They are not observers or bystanders; they are partners in a mission with a Gospel-centred lifestyle for serving their adopted countries and communities with Bible-centred work ethics.

Contributions of Laity

It is important to remember that almost all diaspora co ngregations and parishes evolved out of the commitments and loyalties of lay people to the mother Church; it also should be remembered that clergy from the mother church only came to the scene at a later stage of their lives in these countries. Wherever the Mar Thoma Christians emigrate d to, they carried with them their great he ritage – the tradition of Christian life and worship. In their countries of adoption, they organised themselves as

prayer groups and congregations and then sought pastoral help from their mother Church in Kerala to create co ngregations, parishes, and dioceses. It always has been a lay- centred initiative, to begin with. God had prepared the early Mar Thoma settlers in various countries to welcome and give a helping hand to the new Mar Thoma families who arrived later for settlement in these countries.

The great thing about the Jewish community is that they never forget their common beginning. When a Jewish family gathers to celebrate their candle -lit Friday evening meal, it is not just to recall another moment in their long history but also to experience anew its meaning and power for them, their children, and their grandchildren today. We should never be afraid of telling our children about our small beginnings, beginnings filled with struggles, struggles that we a ll had to face in our earlier years in our adopted towns and cities of various countries. These are our personal stories and these are our stories as a community. These are our Psalms, our songs, our folklore; we wrote it with our lives. Why should we be afraid of telling them? Recalling these stories is a way of thanking God for keeping us together as a community with His amazing blessings. These stories will become vibrant and meaningful when we find time and space to place Jesus Christ at the centre of our own stories; we should never ever forget His hidden hands which carried us and supporting us now. The moment we forget our common beginning we forget our roots and our identity, then we may long for guided tours in search of our roots and identity.

Forgetting a common beginning was the crime committed by the elder brother in the story of the prodigal son (Lk 15:11-31). The elder brother forgot his common beginning; he forgot the times he played with his younger brother; he forgot all the good things they did together; he forgot the magic of the secrets they kept between themselves; he even forgot that they are the children of the same father and mother; he totally forgot his own identity in the process. As a result, he could not enjoy the home coming of his younger brother. He lost the romance and magic of his life. He lost all the generosity and charity required in loving his brother. The moment he forgot his common beginning, he lost his brother, himself and everything that was sacred to him before. He is the personification of corridors of power, corridors of jealousy, corridors of narrow-minded attitudes and corridors of anger and rage. On the other hand, the father in this story represents expanses of an abundant and amazing grace. It is difficult to comprehend the infinite nature of this abundant and amazing grace. What it boils down to is simply this: the venerable father over compensates the prodigal nature of his son’s mistakes with his prodigious and aggressive forgiveness. This expression of undeserved kindness towards the younger son is the ‘outward sign of an inward grace.’ Whoever or wherever we are, our spiritual journey can only start at the foot of the Cross and this is the mother of all our common beginnings. Therefore, the remembrance of our common beginnings would help us to become ‘outward signs of an inward grace’ and this

will certainly help us to transform the societies in which we live. This is indeed the global witnessing of the Mar Thoma diaspora and the basis for celebrating ‘D iaspora Sunday.’ In the Diocese of North America and Europe. I hope that, one day, we will be able to establish a thanksgiving ‘Diaspora Sunday’ in all our Dioceses across the world.

Rarely any previous generation of Marthomite since reformation time has seen such extensive involvement of laity in the mission and the ministry of the Church. Through out the development and growth of Mar Thoma diaspora we have witnessed the spontaneous development of lay-ministry and pastoral care by exceptional individuals and small groups. I salute all those, both lay and ordained ministers, who contributed to the development of our communities over the last hundred years. In ge neral, these developments have been achieved with mutual respect among laity, clergy, and bishops.

There is an urgent need to sustain and nurture this mutual dependency and respect between laity and clergy. Laity has much to contribute since their experience within the family, professional, secular, and religious life is the very attitudes and convictions necessary for the growth and witness of the Global Church. However, there is a degree of neglect in providing pastoral care to diaspora comm unities; existing models are not totally adequate. Therefore, we need to develop voluntary ‘Pastoral Care Teams (PCTs)’ in each and every parish to provide a partnership in mission with clergy. This need is particularly urgent in diaspora parishes because of the discontinuity of pastoral care arising from the three-year cycles of the ‘hello goodbye ministries’ of parish priests. Parish executive committee is not a PCT; executive committee is there to oil the nuts and bolts of the Sunday worship. Lay people need to wakeup and assume their God-given responsibility in building our communities by caring for the spiritual needs of the present and future generations.

Many mainline churches including the Roman Catholics are beginning to realise this need and hope that the Church in the 21st century should be a lay-centred Church. Pope Francis has been highlighting the need to move from the model of a ‘church for the people to the church of the people.’ 12 Therefore, a change in the strategy is needed for moving away from the assumption that faith-related matters to be left entirely to professionals, clergy, or professional missionaries. It is time to turn away from that view to the realisation that in the comm unities that we now live, we are missionaries of Christ. Priesthood of all believers is an important concept, which gives us an authentic responsibility for expressing God’s unconditional love. One of the wonderful aspects of God’s graciousness towards us is that God raises us up to become co- workers with Him in a rescue mission for

1Joseph Xavier, SJ, VJTR, Vol. 80, 2016, 585-608

healing this broken world. It means that we in our own turn are ambassadors of Christ, reaching out to others and adding our efforts to this ongoing work of holding and healing. Part of our Christian responsibility is to ‘bear witness’ and to ‘walk our faith’ in the world or to become the fifth Gospel in the process for the world to read. There are many ways of doing this depending on our gifts and temperament, the people we are with, the circumstance of the occasion and so on. The diaspora mission is a great missionary enterprise of the Mar Thoma Church because they are a significant and identifiable ‘Mar Thoma global family’ in the emerging global village; as we are ‘lighted to lighten’ it is up to us to make us identifiable as partners in God’s mission (missio Dei).

The commonly available model of pastoral ministry from local and im migrant Churches is more concerned with caring for the sheep that are safe inside the fold than with searching for the lost. The result of this is the development of ghetto parishes for looking after the interest of the same ethnic groups. Each of the four Gospel ends with Christ’s command to spread the Good News to the ends of the world. To enable us for this mission, we have God’s assurance that He will be with us in the power of His Spirit. We are what we are today in different parts of the world because of people who have obeyed that command and believed in that promise. St. John’s Gospel takes us deeper into the mystery of the mission, when the risen Christ says to the apostles: “Peace be with you! As the father has sent me, I also send you” (Jn 20:21) That is to assert, those who belong to Christ are united with Him in His promise of bringing God’s peace to the world. Therefore, mission is at the very heart of our ident ity as Diaspora Mar Thoma Christians. There is a sharing of Christian faith through the contact of everyday life – in the family, among neighbours and among people we work with. Laity is our greatest strength, but many of them need to be helped to gain greater confidence about sharing their faith and providing pastoral care. We need confidence in sharing God’s creative vision of seeing the oak tree in the acorn and the butterfly in the caterpillar; this is indeed our God- given spiritual potential and it is in our spiritual DNA. Through our utter humility, weaknesses, impediments, and overarching God’s grace others should be able to see Christ in us and read us as God’s letters to the world.

We are in a radically new period in history that calls for a new stance towards tradition and traditional Christian witnessing. Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to London expressed his deep concern about aggressive secularism and how Christians being pushed out of the ‘Public Square.’ He used his keynote address to the parliament to protest at “the increasing marginalisation of religion in public life.” We need to understand who is now occupying the public space and who allowed them to do so or who put them there? Today the public square is dominated by the media moguls and there is less and less time given for religious discussions. However, walking our faith is more important than talking about it; this is indeed a

challenge for living the gospel and gossiping the gospel in the public square. In the Western culture, Christianity has become increasingly privatised and transformed from a social cultural force into various privatised rituals for Su nday worship and other new expressions of faith. As a result, its effectiveness as a socio-political voice has been silenced in the public square. Christians are forced out of the public square by ideological secularism, principled secularism, post- modern secularism, and other multiple discourses. We need to understand this challenge and tackle this for reoccupying our rightful place in the public space for proclaiming kingdom values. We need more reasoned articulation and apologetics to stand up to the propagators of atheism and post -modernity. We should be involved in transforming secularism into sacredness by establishing the kingdom values.

We must reach into the past and tap its energy for the present and the future; this is one of the strengths of the MTC. Diaspora communities are an ideal launching pad for such a realisation as we experienced during three FOCUS seminars at Santhigiri from 1999 to 2003. This was indeed a blessed occasion for few members from all diaspora regions to come together and think about future possibilities. I often sensed the spiritual wisdom of the past becoming alive in the present through our real stories of our diaspora existence. It is important to retell our heart-rending stories to give us strength to face problems that we are confronting today. This story telling tradition is at the heart of Judeo-Christian culture and we should never ever forget this and its importance for nurturing younger generations. This should be actively encouraged and cultivated in our diaspora communities. Let us hope that our readers would make use of this journal as a medium for such exchanges.

The ‘moon-view of the world’ as astronauts noticed was far different from anything man on earth ever exper ienced. Astronauts saw the beautiful blue globe shinning against the black background of the space. They were overwhelmed by its beauty; and although they were millions of miles away, they felt their rootedness to the earth. As a diaspora Mar Thoma Christian, I also have a “moonview “of the MTC and a ‘Mar Thoma- sense’, which is helping me to write about the emerging global matrix of culture, global consciousness and witnessing. Our foremost need is to value our own traditions, without setting up artificial barriers against those whose background and experiences are different. We also need to find a framework to find delight in the faith of others, wider-ecumenism, without feeling threatened by it. We should seriously consider the question late Chrysostom Thirumeni placed before us at the 3rd FOCUS seminar in 2003: “Will the diaspora community ever become the local community?”

There are still parts of the world where our Church is young, needing spiritual guidance and pastoral care from the mother Church and established Christian communities. But those established Churches and communities have their own special and difficult problems, problems relating to theology of gay ordination, ordination of women, celibacy of priests,

child abuse, relative poverty, etc. These can create te nsion in the years to come to ecumenical relationship with other churches, but we should be prayerfully prepared to face these and similar challenges. Hundred years ago, Western mission field was in Asia, Africa, and other colonial territories, but now it is our responsibility in helping others with the mission of God; this partnership will take different forms in different places and for different individuals. “Mission is now from everywhere to everywhere.” We need to find new paradigms of mission in these varied contexts. Each of us must give thanks for the goodness we have experienced from God and seek to share that goodness with others. This is our mission, should we decide to accept, it is not an impossible mission, for everything is possible for God. We are very proud of our ident ity and heritage; but the important identity of being in Christ should give us the courage and stability to integrate with other communities in other countries.

What should we do now?

More than 60 percent of Marthomites are now settled outside Kerala, in other Indian states and outside India. There is a clash in understanding of our identity, history, and generational conflicts. Should we stand and stare, admire all things we have done, mourn about the lost opportunities or go forward for more and more spiritually oriented diasporic experiences. In Psalm 137:1ff we read, “By the rivers of the Babylon we sat down; there we wept when we remembered Zion” When those Israelites sat down, they also hung their harps and they could not sing. Sitting down or standing still was one of their problems; as a diaspora community we need to go forward. We started this journey together and we are bound to find obstacles or comfortable wayside inns or other issue s, which may distract us from our pilgrimage. It is up to all of us to stay together, pray together and keep the dynamic nature of our fellowship to reach out and find the true potentials of our spiritual journey. We should not forget that it was during a journey from Egypt to Canaan that a Jewish nation was born; it was in the dispersion of the members of our Church that the Mar Thoma Church has become a global Church. Noble laureate, John R. Mott, used to say, “Take your stumbling blocks, and turn them to stepping stones.”

We should realise that Mar Thoma diaspora communities have an important role to play in sustaining faith; expressing concerns and providing ideas that would make man worthy of living in this planet with love, concern and responsibility for all created things and building His kingdom. Let us hope that the Mar Thoma diaspora communities will help the people in different parts of the world to a better life in Christ. Psalmist raises an important question: “How can I repay the Lord for all His gifts to me?” (Psalm 116:12). Therefore, let us offer thanks to Almighty God for the global witness of the Marthomites and for His abu ndant blessings on our communities throughout the world.

Book Review –

Journey of a Candle: Devotional Readings for Advent – by Geena Ajay

Maple Publishers, Milton Keynes, UK, 2022, Pp88, ISBN 978-1915796-10-3 (Pape rback); 978-1-915796-11-0 (E-Book), $5.99 (kindle). https://amzn.eu/d/j9o968U

Dr. Cherian Samuel

Advent meaning “arrival” or “an appearing or coming into place” is the celebration leading up to Christmas, lasting four Sundays from the fourth Sunday before Christmas, and ending on Christmas Eve. Advent is a commemoration of Christ’s first coming the Incarnation, the miracle of Jesus as God in human flesh, revealed in Angel Gabriel’s annunciation to Mary (Luke 1:26–38) as well as the expectation of His second coming.

Geena Ajay’s 2022 Advent devotional "Journey of a Candle: Devotional readings for advent” provides an excellent resource for preparing for Advent and beyond, a set of exceptional and insightful meditations and reflections for 25 days, anchored in pertinent Bible passages and befitting applications. The devotional is elegantly and ingeniously crafted in the beautiful lifecycle of a candle melted from frozen wax, mashed with fragrance, moulded, and lighted with striking parallels for the Christian life in terms of God melting frozen hearts, mashing spiritual fruits, moulding hearts, and lighting to lighten.

Rt. Revd Dr. Isaac Mar Philoxenos, Mar Thoma Church’s North America and Europe Diocesan Bishop, has re ndered an appreciation for the Devotional as: “It is a co lle ction of thoughts and stories for people to get strengt hened at the advent season a nd throughout the year. Christmas is always a hope- filled season and a time when we go beyond measure and sometimes even forget the reason for the season. This book may help you to meditate through each day of the advent with a prayer. As humans we have our own personal worries and problems, which sometimes blow out the flames of our light that we carry inside us. This book may make the flame inside you burning a little bit brighter.”

The Kerala Christian Diaspora in Malaysia

Professor Philip Koshi*

Syrian Christian Migration

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country, your relatives and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1).

The common reason why people leave their homeland is to have a better life. Even if they know that they would be facing harder times, they take all the chances in the hope of finding success.

By the end of the First World War (1918), new horizons opened for some of the English educated Syrian Christians of Travancore and Cochin. Young men fired by the call of adventure to look for greener pastures beyond the borders of their villages ventured forth to other parts of India, Africa, England and America. Some of them crossed the Indian Ocean to Malaya and Singapore. In this region, they found employment in rubber estates, tin mines, private and public sector.

Immigrants often meet challenges upon their arrival that they never anticipated. These difficulties range from navigating legal complications, securing living arrangements and employment, battling culture shock, psychological distress, depression and despair. Almost all of them came alone or were single, leaving their loved ones back in Kerala. In those days, the only source of contact was the mail, which would take some time to reach the concerned loved ones. Until then, it was a sheer guessing game that brought about heightened anxiety and fear.

Most of the Syrian Christians who landed in the Malayan hinterland, first landed in Port Klang (then Port Swettenham) and quickly settled in the estates or the urban areas nearby. It also became the meeting point for those who wanted the keep the Faith. In fact, their fondest wish was to have their own forms of worship in their mother tongue.

During the years before 1930, the total number of Syrian Christians in the whole country was only about 70 and it was easy to contact each other, and new arrivals were easily spotted and welcomed by the rest.

The following is an extract from the first report of the Mar Thoma Church in Malaya, “The craving for worship in one’s mother tongue…something inherent in all people and it is gratifying to note that this noble sentiment was not extinguished during our sojourn here, though we were placed in an entirely alien atmosphere…and as early as 1927, we had our own gatherings for worship and prayer.”

The Mar Thoma Community

The Mar Thoma Church has a unique history in Malaysia being one of the few major denominations and churches not set up by missionaries or ordained priests. Instead, it was initiated by a group of Malayali immigrants who were then employed in British Malaya.

The first Syrian Christian Marthomite from Kerala to set foot in Malaya was a gentleman from Mallappally known as ‘Ninan Inspector’. Later, he became known as Isaac Benjamin and lived in Singapore for 58 years. The next member of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church to arrive in Malaya in 1911 was Mr. K. C. George

from Ayroor. He was one of the faithful workers who laid the foundation of the Mar Thoma Church in Malaya.

The number of Mar Thoma immigrants continued to increase after 1935. But this ended when immigration from India was stopped by the Malayan government regulation in 1953.

Some Mar Thoma members in Kuala Lumpur who were railway employees also worked as teachers at Penuel High School, which was run by one Mr. Alexander from Mepral, Kerala. All teachers were at one time expected to attend the Chapel services. This led the members into paving the way for regular Sunday morning divine services at the Jubilee School, Klang. The first such service was conducted in September 1926.

The first clergy from Kerala to visit Malaya was the Very Rev. V. P. Mammen. During his short visit in 1928, he managed to meet the Mar Thoma community. Understanding the great desire of the people to have formal worship services in Malayalam, he returned to India and presented his recommendations to the Metropolitan and the Sabha Council. When Rev T. N. Koshy arrived in Malaya in 1936, the Marthomites got their first resident priest. It opened a new chapter in the history of the Mala nkara Mar Thoma Church. Rev. T. N. Koshy was a tower of strength, bringing faith, courage and hope.

The development of the Mar Thoma Church in Malaysia owes much to the dedicated services of Rev. T. N. Koshy who tra velled all over the country in very difficult times and circumstances to give pastoral care to the members of the church living scattered in out -of-the-way places. Risking danger to his own life and undergoing untold difficulties, he used to visit the members of the church during the Japanese Occupation of Malaya.

Rev. V. E. Thomas became the second clergy in Malaya when he arrived in 1947. This was followed by Rev P. C. John in 1952 and later by Rev. P. K. Koshy in 1956. It is highly gratifying to note that all of them rendered yeoman services and established the church on a sound footing.

With the conclusion of World War II, a spurt in the migration of Syrian Christians was seen as further opportunities in the plantations, civil/administrative services and educational sectors opened up. In September/October 1953, the first three church buildings of the Mar Thoma community in Malaya, all named after St. Thomas (Kuala Lumpur, Klang and Singapore) were consecrated by the Rt. Rev. Dr. Mathews Mar Athanasius during the first ever Episcopal visit to the fledgling Mar Thoma Church in Malaya and Singapore.

With the independence of Malaya in 1957, the number of parishes grew steadily and in 1962, the Diocese of Malaysia and Singapore was constituted comprising 27 parishes. Although the community suffered from emigration, especially after the May 13 incident of 1969, activity continued apace indicating the further indigenization of the Mar Thoma Church in Malaysia.

While there were those who doubted the viability of creating a parish out of this scattered community, they had not reckoned on the steady growth of the population. While most Syrian

Christians still thought of Malaya as a temporary sojourn, there were signs of increasing commitment to this country. Due to their excellent command of English the second generation of the Syrian Christians became plantation managers, assistant plantation managers and other professionals.

In 1982, the parishes in Malaysia and Singapore were constituted as the ‘Malaysia Zone ’ and the ‘Singapore Zone’ of the Diocese of Malaysia and Singapore respectively (now the Diocese of Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand). The Mala ysian Zone of the church now consists of a total of 10 parishes with just about 1000 members nationwide. The current Diocesan Bishop is Rt. Rev. Dr. Gregorios Mar Stephanos Episcopa.

Orthodox Syrian Christian Community

By the lat e 1920s, there was a substantial number of Orthodox Syrian Christian young men and women in and around Kuala Lumpur who gathered regularly on Sunday mornings at the YMCA, Kuala Lumpur. This eventually led to the formal registration of the group under the Registrar of Societies, Malaya, in 1932.

However, by 1928 itself the community was sufficiently large to warrant a visit by Rev. Fr. Alexios O.I.C. from Kerala to conduct services in Malaya and Singapore. In 1949, Rev. Fr. P.K. Abraham was sent to take ove r the pastoral work of the community which by then had grown considerably and with it came a more pressing need for a proper place of worship. HRH, the Sultan of Selangor granted a piece of land in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur. The first service was conducted on 5 August 1956. This church (St. Mary’s) therefore became the first Orthodox Syrian Church to be built outside of India.

In August 2006 the Parish Church celebrated its 50th Golden Jubilee. At present the Malaysian church has a membership of about 200 families. The mantle of lay leadership in the church has gradually been passed on to a new generation of members who are essentially Malaysian in their outlook and upbringing, but who also carry some of the heritage of faith and traditions from their elders. The Orthodox Church in Malaysia comes under the episcopal jurisdiction of the Diocese of Madras (Chennai). It currently has six congregations and is a full member of the Council of Churches of Malaysia.

No account of the history of the Kerala Christian Diaspora would be complete without the narration of the adventurous saga of a young man from Kattanam, Kayamkulam, Kerala. John Philip (popularly known as J. Philip) left home in his late teens, found his way to Madras, got on to a sailing ship and re ached Rangoon (Burma). Then he took another boat and arrived in Malaya in the early 1920s. He was lucky to find employment at Hurst rubber estate, near Taiping, in Perak. Owing to the fact that he was good with numbers he rose through the accounts section to a managerial position. He decided to call it a day in 1959 and chose to settle down in Madras (Chennai).

When the Japanese forces controlled Malaya from 1941 till 1945, most people in India had no idea whether their family members in Malaya had survived or not. There were plenty of hardships, including a shortage of food. Some people were tortured, and some were summarily executed.

John Philip was arrested and tortured for about 36 hours. There was a photograph of his brother in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, with his new motorcycle. The Japanese soldiers wanted that motorcycle. John Philip tried to explain, as best as he could, in

any and every possible language including sign language, to the soldiers who only spoke Japanese, that it was a picture from India. He failed and was arrested, tortured and released after a day and a half. There were many others who underwent a similar fate. It was their faith and commitment to the Lord that helped them to surmount these difficult experiences.

Concluding Thoughts

“Ulysses” is a poem by the Victorian poet, Lord Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892). The mythical hero, Ulysses describes his discontent and restlessness upon returning to his Kingdom, after his far-ranging travels. Despite his reunion with his family, Ulysses turns to his fellow mariners and calls on them to join on another quest…” Come, my friends ‘T is not too late to seek a newer world… To sail beyond the sunset… until I die.” This writer sincerely believes that what powered Ulysses two thousand years ago, powered the adventure seeking Syrian Christian Malayali to cross the turbulent seas, in the early years of the 20 century. Though their priority was to make a fortune and retire to live a quiet, contented and happy life in India it did not happen for most of the emigrants. Many permanently settled in Malaysia and Singapore and became part of the new culture and style of life. Their descendants today are a happy blend of less Keralites and more Malaysians!

Born in the mid-fifties in Sungai Petani, Kedah and coming back to the homeland for the first time in the late sixties was a somewhat confusing experience for me, as may be seen from the following excerpt from my book. “A feeling of strangeness and unfamiliarity crept in when the steam e ngine of the Trivandrum Mail screeched to a two-minute halt at Kottarakara railway station. Several large sized steel boxes, containing the assets of a lifetime were quickly and efficiently dumped into the open platform by the porters, mostly in red and some in blue” (A World Without Frontiers- Prof. Philip Koshi).

Today in Malaysia, the Syrian Christians are adequately represented in institutions of higher learning and professional occupations. The younger generation is more comfortable speaking English than Malayalam. This indeed is a worldwide phenomenon. Wherever they are, it is imperative to retain the Order of Faith of their ancestors and be living examples of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Happily, the legacy lives on.

[I like to thank Mr. Philip Mathews (Kuala Lumpur), Mr. Varghese Thirumala (Kuala Lumpur), and Dr. Thomas Philip (New Delhi) for providing information for the article]

*Professor Koshi served as Professor of English literature at Mar Ivanios College, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Professor Koshi is the author of five books, Ex-All India Radio Broadcaster, Quiz Master, and Freelance Journalist. He is a member of the South Florida Mar Thoma Church and lives in Weston, Florida.

NAVIGATING INTERGENERATIONAL TENSIONS: A REFLECTION

Revd Dr. T. V. Thomas*

MY ROOTS

If you knew my full name, you would be confident that I was South Indian. But if you simply met me on the street, you may wonder if there’s more to my story. And there is. I am ethnically Indian but culturally Malaysian – a SecondGeneration Malayali who attained Malaysian citizenship by birth. My parents migrated to this country in the mid1930s under the British rule.

Still, the roots of my faith were formed in predominantly Indian congregations. In my formative years, I faithfully attended the Mar Thoma Church in my hometown of Malacca. When I moved for Pre-University in Malaysia, I was a part of the local Mar Thoma congregation there. While studying at Madras Christian College, I was active at the Chetpet Mar Thoma Church in Madras (Chennai) and helped with children’s ministry of the Church of South India. While pursuing further studies at Nagpur University, I attended a fledgling Mar Thoma congregation in Nagpur, Central India. During my college years, I was deeply involved with the Union of Evangelical Students of India and Youth for Christ India.

Responding to the call of full-time ministry, I came to North America for theological education in the early 1970s and over the last four decades, I have been engaged in itinerant ministry nationally and internationally. I have had the privilege of ministering to a variety of Kerala congregations across five continents. In my travels, I have had many formal and informal conversations with Indian bishops, achens, parents, young couples, youth groups, teenagers and children in various settings. Some of the most frequent problems relate to intergenerational tensions, specifically the struggle between FAITH and CULTURE. The older generation wants to preserve both FAITH and CULTURE by all generations while the younger generation, having lost linguistic and cultural competencies, feel frustrated by the growing irrelevance of their parents’ ritualistic faith regarding their personal faith walk with Christ in the local contexts.

DEFINING GENERATIONS

“Generation” is a complex concept across many academic disciplines including biblical studies.

Biblical writers once defined “generations” as the time elapsed between the beginning of one particular generation and the next. They typically understood this to be a period of 40 years. In the 21st century, the length of years between generations has been reduced from the Biblical four decades to a more manageable two decades. Here, we are not taking the marketers’ approach where they define generations to sell more goods to generationally distinct markets.

Sociologists define the adult who arrives as immigrant in a new country as Generation 1 and those who are come in preteen years as Generation 1.5, while children born to immigrants in the foreign land as Generation 2. The children of Generation 2 are considered as Generation 3.

FIVE NON -NEGOTIABLES TO HELP NAVIGATE G ENERATIONAL GAPS

1. Our God is the originator of family, generations and the Church.

From the beginning, God’s purpose was perceived that humanity should increase through families and not through isolated individuals (Gen 1:28). The family unit is understood as a basic unit of creation. This means that the family is a fundamental divinely – ordained unit in human society and is intended by God to function as a microcosm of the Church. The family is the key training ground of cross-generational understanding and respect. The New Testament depicts the Church to be an all-age community of brothers and sisters in Christ. Therefore, God is interested that each of the three elements of family, generations and the Church serve its purpose for God’s Kingdom.

2. Our God is the God of all generations

Every generation has its own assumptions, peculiarities and preferences. It is natural for one generation to be biased toward one’s own generational views. We need to constantly remind ourselves that God does not have such biases towards any generation or cultural particularities. Every generation is important to God, and each has to fulfil their respective destinies. In the Old Testament God frequently refers to himself as God of many generations (Gen 32:9, Ex 3:6, Deut 9:5).

3. Our God is above culture

Each and every culture is valid. But no culture is perfect because each culture has been tainted by sin. Therefore, every culture must be scrutinized and evaluated through the lens of the Bible. It is common to remain blind and ignore such evaluation. Critiquing each culture with Biblical principles needs to be an on-going discipline and process. The deeper the understanding of biblical principles the more precise the critique would be.

4. Each generation will have its own culture or

culture and its own worldview

sub-

The first generation will likely have an Eastern worldview (values, beliefs and feelings) that they brought from their

ancestral homelands while the younger generations would have grown up in the outside of India are influenced by a contemporary culture of their adopted homelands. Therefore, the values, expectations and aspirations of the generations will significantly be different. Every generation need to mutually seek to understand their distinctives and differences and learn to appreciate and relate to each other.

5. Intergenerational tensions in the Church are to be expected

It is commonplace that intergenerational tensions develop in family life. When a child moves into adolescence, he/she will assert his/her own independence and identity. This often results in misunderstanding and division between the teenager and the parents who expect certain behaviour and respect. God’s ideal is that children mature to the point where they and their parents begin to empower each other.

The family is an analogy of the broader tension that can develop between the generations in church life. Each generation in any congregation will tend to contribute to the respective tensions. The emerging leaders of Generations 1 and 1.5 may display impatience, arrogance and self-righteousness. The older leaders of Generation 1 often may exhibit insecurity, over- protectiveness and control. I believe that the differences between generations could be ironed out with a combination of open communication, ready acceptance and generous forgiveness.

PRESSING NEED

The pressing need in the Church is for the older generation to model to the younger generation a life of deep faith, authentic character, and humble service. The older generation must also be vulnerable about their shortcomings and flaws considering a loving, merciful and patient God. This is essential if we want to be living examples of God’s goodness and grace, and an inspiration to all who follow behind. By doing this, the senior members of God’s covenant community can humbly impart knowledge and understanding to emerging generations. On the other hand, younger generations have a responsibility to honour older generations and be open to learn from them (Proverbs 4:1-2, 1Cor 4:14-17, 1Tim 4:12). They need to ask God for his divine perspective to better understand their parents’ upbringing and have grace for their cultural blinders.

When both groups allow God into the frustrations of their intergenerational tensions, they can expect supernatural healing and understanding towards each other. Only then will leadership pass from one generation to the next, along with appropriate preparation and training provided for such transition to better navigate generational differences.

*Rev. Dr. T.V. Thomas is an international speaker, mission mobilizer and networker. He serves as Chairman of the Lausanne Global Diaspora Network. He lives with his wife Mary Thomas in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. They have three adult children living in various cities of Canada.

(Continued from page 38)

Book Review – Journey of a Candle: Devotional Readings for Advent – by Geena Ajay

As we learn from the message from Revd Eapen Abraham former Vicar, St. John’s Mar Thoma Church, London and the preface by Professor Dr. Zac Varghese, London, the Devotional was originally used at the St. John’s Mar Thoma Church during the Advent season. However, the Devotional has now been released as a book, based on popular demand, making it available to the broader faith community, with the potential to lead us “to rediscover the real meaning of all the events associated with the life and ministry of Jesus Christ to create a community of ‘at- one-ment ’”, as suggested in the preface.

The Devotional is divided into five sections: (i) Melt the frozen wax melt the frozen heart (Day 1-7); (ii) Mash the fragrance mash the fruits (Day 8-16); (iii) Mo ulding the wax moulding the heart (Day 17 -20); (iv) Mirror time . . . moulded candles . . . moulded hearts (Day 2124); and (v) Lighted to Lighten by the Light of the Life (Day 25).

In the first “Melt the frozen wax . . . melt the frozen heart” section, the Devotional opens with the examples of Mary (Day1), who overcame fear by accepting God at His word, and Joseph (Day 2), who conquered doubts and questions by accepting and obeying God’s will and purpose for his life. Next, the Devotional presents Zechariah (Day 3), the priest; though his heart was “frozen with unbelief” first, God used Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth, for raising John the Baptist, the forerunner to Jesus. However, in the rest of this first section, the Devotional presents others Herod (Day 4), the Innkeeper (Day 5), all Jerusalem (Day 6), priests and scribes (Day 7) who responded differently to the news of the birth of Jesus and missed Christmas altogether. From the standpoint of the candle lifecycle, this first section marks the process of melting the frozen wax.

In the second “Mash the fragrance mash the fruits” section, the Devotional charts the process of being filled with the fruits of the spirit ((Galatians 5:22- 23): love (Day 8), joy (Day 9), peace (Day 10), forbearance (Day 11), kindness (Day 12), goodness (Day 13), faithfulness (Day 14), gentleness (Day 15), and self- control (Day 16). The daily meditations emphasize behaviors the mandated by the spiritual fruits: (i) We can show our love for God only by loving our fellow beings; (ii) Joy is a gift that we enjoy through service to others and the creation; (iii) We need peace with God and others; (iv) We must show forbea rance to others, just as God has been patient with us; (v) Practicing kindness and compassion is t ransformative, but demands intentionality; (vi) We must remember and embrace our inherited goodness from God during Christmas; (vii) Jesus calls us to live faithfully with total trust, commitment, and fidelity;

Situating Kerala Christians in the Indian Context

Dr. T.K. Oommen*

The popular perception prevailing in India is that Christ ianity is a Western colonial import. But this is historically incorrect. Pre-colonial Christianity existed in three geographical regions – the Co-optic Christians of Egypt, the Orthodox Christians of Ethiopia and the Syrian Christians of Kerala. Church historians have not yet made the final conclusion with regard to the historicity of Christianity in India. There are two views on the matter. One view is that Christianity came to India as early as the first century AD and that St. Thomas, one of the twelve Apostles, visited India and preached here. The second view attributes the arrival of Christianity in India to e arly merchants and missionaries of the East Syrian or Persian Church.

There are at least five strands of opinion with regard to the tradition of St. Thomas in India: (a) the general trad ition which holds the belief that St. Thomas preached and suffered m artyrdom in India; (b) the view that St. Thomas may have come to north India (now Pakistan) but not to South India; (c) the position which denies that St. Thomas went to north-India but asserts that he came to South India; (d) the opinion that the apostle visited both the north and the south, and (e) the view that St. Thomas did not came to India at all.

However, after an elaborate examination of all available evidence and a careful study of the various strands of opinion, Mundadan concludes “St. Thomas the Apostle preached, died and was buried in South India (see, Mu ndadan, History of Christianity, P.64). We may distinguish between the ‘cognitive value’ of an event and its ‘fact va lue’. Invoking W.I. Thomas, the American sociologist, one may say that if persons define a situation as real, it is real in its consequences. Thus, the perception and strong belief among a section of Christians in Kerala (referred to as Syrian Christians) that St. Thomas came to Kerala and converted its ancestors is of critical psychological and sociological significance. Psychologically, such a perce ption is important in that it helps to attach the Syrian Christians to a long tradition, which in turn invests them with dignity and pride. Sociologically, the belief that they were Christians before colonialism invests them with treme ndous existential consequence.

In the perception of the average Indian, Christianity is an offshoot of British colonialism, invariably converts from lower castes and class. The perception that Christianity came to India through the agency of colonialism and they are of low caste background and of lower-class origin results in several stereotypes about Christians – ‘antinational’, ‘rice -Christians’, etc. Even if the visit of St. Thomas to Kerala is contested there is historical evidence of Christian settlements in Kerala as early as third century, much before Western colonialism.

The distinctive marks of Syrian Christians are the following. First, they were/are a small community. Second, they claimed to be the descendants of those converted by St. Thomas. Third, they were geographically concentrated in present day Kerala. (Before the linguistic re -organisation of India in the mid-1950s two principalities – Travancore and Cochin – and British Malabar c onstitutes today’s Malayalam -speaking Kerala). Fourth, a substantial proportion of Syrian Christians were converts from ritually clean castes and the local landed aristocracy.

The history of Christianity in India from the first century AD up to the 16th century is virtually the history of the Syrian Christians of Kerala. The uniqueness of Kerala Christians constitutes precisely in their cultural adaptation to the local situation. The Syrian Christians did develop rit uals and a lifestyle distinct to them and yet drew profusely from the local cultural reservoir of Kerala. In matters of Christian doctrine and belief they were dependent on the East Syrian or Persian Church. Thus, they lived in two worlds simultaneously, “the socio -cultural world of Kerala and the ecclesiastical world of Persia”, to quote Mundadan.

Demographically, the Syrian Christians were drawn from two sources: the descendants of those who were believed to be converts by St. Thomas usually of high caste origin, referred to as the Northist s, and the small band of migrant merchants and traders from Syria, who settled down in Kerala, who were referred to as the Southists. These groups maintained their socio-cultural boundaries through the practice of endogamy. The Northists did intermarry with persons from upper caste background, particularly Nairs, the dominant caste of Kerala, but they did not proselytise. This was in tune with the Hindu ethos –gradual assimilation, not sudden proselytization, which in turn made peaceful co -existence of religious communities possible.

Given the fact that Syrian Christians of Kerala were a small community, did not proselytize and were ecclesiastical descendants of the Persian Church, they did not establish any theological institutions. But even a small community may venture to establish its own theological institutions if they experience oppression, objectively and subjectively. Further, the community should envision a specific lifestyle and identity for itself. In the case of Syrian Christians, prior to the introduction of Western Christ ianity, these conditions did not apply. In fact, Syrian Christians did practice Hindu customs and being converts from upper castes could co-exist with dignity along with Hindus. A telling example of the cultural adaptation of Syrian Christians is the bride wearing a ‘thali’ at the time of marriage, an utterly Hindu custom but Christianising the thali by embossing a cross on it.

The first large -scale demographic increase of Indian Christians occurred in the 16th century under Portuguese auspices whose main theatre of activity was Goa. The second Portuguese Governor of Goa, Alfonso de Albuquerque, encouraged marriage between Portuguese men who would settle in India and Indian women who would accept Christianity. However, the fact that the bulk of the converts were from lower castes, and products of mixed marriages who were stigmatised, not only alienated upper castes from the Portuguese but also resulted in an erosion of the status of Indian Christians in the eyes of fellow Indians. To complicate matters Portuguese political and ecclesiastical authorities insisted on Latinisation of Indian Christians. Latinisation had two aspects: first, to bring the Indian Christians under the jurisdiction that is, ecclesiast ical and political control of the Portuguese; second, to insist on Indian Christians following Latin customs and rites and accepting Latin sacraments. That is, Indian Christians would follow Latin and Western customs and lifestyle.

The prescription of isomorphism between Christian belief and specific form of western lifestyle created predictable tension between the Portuguese and traditional Syrian Christian community. In fact, the Synod of Diamper of 1599 convened by the Portuguese condemned and proscribed a number of native customs and practices fo llowed by Syrian Christians. On the other hand, a large number of Latin Rite Christian communities sprang up all along the coast, from Gujarat to Kerala, as a result of the Portuguese missionary activity in India.

By the ea rly 18 th century, the Protestant mission of the Dutch, British and the Danes started functioning in India. Some of the features of the Protestant missionary work may be noted here: First, there was hardly any formal cooperation between the Church and the State. The 1853 proclamation of the British Queen is symptomatic of this: “Firmly relying ourselves on the truth of Christianity, and acknowledging with gratitude the solace of religion, we disclaim alike the Right and the Desire to impose our convictions on any of our subjects” (Quoted in C.B. Firth, An introduction to Indian Church History, p. 189). The British colonial state thus professed neutrality towards the different religions practised in India.

This, however, do not mean that conversion to Chris tianity did not take place under protestant auspices. There were two types of conversions. First, throughout the middle years of the 19 th century, educated men from upper castes converted to Christianity on the basis of personal convictions (see, Firth, for details). Second, from the third decade of 19 th century, mass conversion movements among the Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes and the Backward Classes began to reach their peak. Although the major centres of these movements were Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and the tribal belt of Chotanagpur, Kerala was not exempt from this.

It is necessary to advert briefly to India’s caste system with special reference to Kerala. According to the Hindu Doctrine of Creation there are five varnas – Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Shudras and Untouchables, the panchmas, those of the fifth varna. Brahmins were to look after the spiritual needs of society as well as be the producers and disseminators of knowledge. The Kshatriyas were the accredited administrators. The Vaishyas were assigned the task of producing and distributing wealth. These three varnas constituted the upper castes. The Shudras were expected to serve the other three varnas. The panchmas (the fifth varna) were reckoned as outside the varna scheme and treated as “untouchables” and were indispensable to the society to perform all the “po lluting occupations” and the manual work in society. They are societal insiders but ritual outsiders.

India’s caste system was the most elaborate and unalte rable division of labour known in pre-industrial world. But local variations did exist. The Brahmins and Kshatriyas are numerically small in Kerala and there are no Vaishyas. The Nairs, although are Shudras, because of three factors – land ownership, numerical superiority and hypergamous marriage relationships with Brahmins and Kshatriyas –were a dominant caste. Syrian Christians too were /are landowners, and traders, numerically substantial and converts from ritually clean castes, mainly Nairs, enjoyed social status equiva lent to that of Nairs and often reckoned as a dominant caste along with Nairs. But the largescale conversions initiated by the early 18th century by the protestant missions of the Dutch, the British and the Danes were from the ritually impure lower castes

The protestant missions focused on institution building, particularly for education and health. They also pioneered activities relating to social reforms and development among Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. These factors brought about a status difference between Hindu Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and the converts to Christianity from these groups. In turn this also meant a difference between the old Christians and the new co nverts. The addition of the neo-Christian to those denom inations brought down their social status in society.

The only denomination which did not involve themselves in mission work was the Orthodox/Jacobite Syrian Christians. In a socio -economic survey conducted by the Kerala government in 1960s it was revealed that their socioeconomic condition was second only to that of Brahmins. All other Christian groups experienced downward mobility, which might have been caused by their mission activities resulting in new converts adding to their denominations from Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs). But the practices of untouchability and endogamy among the Syrian Christians and the new converts from low caste groups still prevail among the Christians of Kerala.

The anti-colonial movement initiated the need for a fresh thinking among Indian Christians because they and colo-

nisers were co-religionists. Two steps were needed in this context. The first step was to reclaim Christ from the West. Indian nationalists facilitated this task. Thus, Rammohan Roy restated the fact that Jesus was an Asiatic. Keshub Chandra Sen developed the concept of ‘Oriental Christ’. These ideas were readily endorsed by Syrian Christians of Kerala, a pre-colonial Christian community. The second inevitable step in developing an authentic Indian Christianity was to establish a sense of pride in Indian Christians about the traditions and cultures of India. The most intense advocacy for this came from K.T. Paul. He wrote in Christian Nationalism, (London, 1921) that: “Of all the ancient cultures of the world one which has maintained its progress unbroken for thirty centuries is that of India… the Christian nationalist, then, is enthusiastic in his patriotism. He studies many nations at close quarters, notes many admirable features in their life and thought, but when all is reckoned up he remains envious, and profusely thankful that he was born in India, and has an essential share in her peculiar genius.”

The fact that the Syrian Christians of Kerala is one of the three pre-colonial Christian communities in the world makes their differentia specifica obvious. The Hindutva argument that Indian Christians are cultural outsiders to India is rendered hollow and puerile. Further, the Syrian Christians are present in every nook and corner of the globe renders them a global community without diluting their allegiance to India.

*T. K. Oommen is currently a Profe ssor Emeritus at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, where he taught for 26 years, retiring in 2002. He was a President of the International Sociological Association, as well as the Indian Sociological Society. Professor Oommen was a Visiting Professor/Research Fellow at University of California, Australian National University, Institute of Advanced Studies at Budapest and Uppsala. He has a uthored and edited 33 books. Professor Oommen was conferred the Padma Bhushan in 2008 in recognition of his contribution to higher education.

Indic Digital Archive Foundat ion: A Dream Come True!

Dr. Cherian Samuel

On October 30, 2022, the Indic Digital Archive Foundation (IDAF, https://indicarchive.org/) was launched in Bengaluru, India, as a non- profit organisation for the digital archival, preservation, and open access of Indic language cultural artifacts like books, publications, and documents. The Foundation's flagship project is Granthappura

(https://gpura.org/), a digital archive of cultural artifacts related to Kerala and Malayalam, a collection of 2000+ digitized books and publications spanning 120,000+ pages (https://gpura.org/collections). The collection includes some of the earliest printed documents related to Kerala: first printed book in Malayalam; first Malayalam book printed in India; first Malayalam dictionary; old Malayalam periodicals; first Malayalam book with colour images.

The Foundation marks the realization of the dream and vision of Shiju Alex, the principal archivist and a director of the Foundation. Since 2009 , Shiju living and working in Bengaluru as a Technical Writer for a company has led an extraordinary voluntary effort for the digital archiving of Kerala-related documents (https://shijualex.in/about/). In December 2021, Shiju a nnounced the winding down of the digital archiving initiative, given its sustainability and scaling challenges as a personal project. However, financial and non-financial support emerged subsequently to restart the Project on an institutional basis, with expanded scope and scale, leading to the establishment of IDAF.

From the Kerala Christian history perspective, digital archiving of the records and documents related to the Church Missionary Society and the London Missionary Society which led evangelical missions to India during the British colonial rule provide useful insights into the activities of the missions, including discussions with the Church of England (https://shijualex.in/missionary-documents-with-references-tokerala/). Likewise, the 2013-18 Gundert Legacy Project led to the Herman Gundert digital archive collection, housed at the Tuebingen University library, Germany, thanks to the efforts of volunteers and financial support from the University. Hermann Gundert (1814-1893), the German scholar of Indian languages, had taken his collection of manuscripts and rare books to Ge rmany in 1870, after living in Kerala for 20 years as a Basel Mission missionary. Gundert has made outstanding contributions as an Indologist, compiling a Malayalam grammar book (1859), a Malayalam-English dictionary (1872), as well as contributing to Bible translations in Malayalam.

The digital archiving initiative is relevant and significant for the Kerala Christian Diaspora, from a heritage and tradition standpoint. The growth and progress of the Kerala Christian Diaspora has been amazing and providential inside as well as outside India with Kerala as the largest remittance receiving state in India currently. As the Kerala Christian Diaspora gets integrated into the global melting pot, digital archiving will remain vital for preserving and understanding their genesis and history. Digital archiving should also be treated as a priority, given the adverse effects of Kerala’s climate conditions on the lifespan of pu blic domain doc uments.

Shiju Alex, the principal archivist and a director of the Foundation Digital A rchive Foundation (IDAF), https://indicarchive.org/). Since 2009, Shiju is living and working in Bengaluru as a Technical Writer for a company.

My Diasporic Exploits and Experiences

George Thomas

Introduction

I was born and brought up in Thiruvananthapuram. I was baptized and confirmed at the Christ Church (CSI). My faith/spiritual journey began from this city. After almost eight decades, when I sit down by the “river Chebar” as in Ezekiel 1: 1 and look back, so many servants of God walk through my memory garden: pastors and vicars, Sunday school teachers, preachers and evangelists, parents and family members, school and college teachers. I hear their seeking an honest summary of my diasporic exploits and experiences.

Here is a brief account of my diasporic journeys over the last 55 years. The first move was within India itself. The others were intercontinental. God had a clear plan behind my moves. He has clearly engaged my family with the motto: Lighted to Lighten

Today my wife and I lead a purpose -driven life in Denmark. We enjoy our spiritual life in the company of a substantial group of fellow believers drawn from different races, languages and nations. We feel greatly encouraged by the verse: “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28

From Kerala to New Delhi

My story of Diaspora began first in India itself – from Kerala to New Delhi in 1968 – when I took up my first job outside Kerala. I encountered different language (Hindi), subtropical climate, cuisines native to the northern part of India, pronounced cultural diversity and very few Keralites in the places where I lived or worked. By the time I got married and set up my family in early 1970s, I became more attuned with the local society and its settings.

My spiritual life and church connections got disrupted in its regularity and intensity during 1968-73 – almost 5 years. Reasons were many and varied. Absence of a Malayalam speaking congregation was foremost among them - though a small Mar Thoma congregation already existed at that time in Karol Bagh, Old Delhi. Non -attachment to a regular Christian fellowship was a serious concern. By the time my newly married wife joined me in New Delhi, I had set up our residence in Green Park – within walking distance to the Green Park Free Church (belonging to the Church of North India). From 1974 to 1991 until we left New Delhi, GPFC remained our spiritual home. Our children – a daughter and a son –grew up and got schooled in New Delhi. We used to occasionally attend the Saturday evening services at the St. Thomas Church, R.K. Puram (Roman Catholic) and Delhi Bible Fellowship along with our children.

What were the major highlights of this “Diaspora” in New Delhi? Firstly, the barrier of language was broken. Worship in English became the new normal for the family – with periodic exposures to worship in Hindi. Secondly, we, as a family, learnt to be less sensitive to denominational differences. We didn’t know that God had been preparing us for our journeys ahead.

From New Delhi to Aarhus in Denmark

Our first intercontinental move took place in 1991 when the whole family migrated to Aarhus, the second largest city of Denmark with a population of less than 250,000 as against nearly 10 million of New Delhi in 1991. The fa mily experienced a huge shift in language, culture, weather, life style and even values. The only binding thread was our Faith in Christ Jesus. We quickly discovered that most Danish cities offer a range of churches that include the Lutheran Evangelical state church as well as Catholic and Pentecostal congregations. However, few Danes go to church on a regular basis.

All of us had to learn the new language. For our children, la nguage proficiency became mandatory to join school or university. Very soon we came into friendship with few Danish families who were Christians. Through these friends, the Holy Spirit led us to Christianskirke (Lutheran Evangelical state church). This opened the avenue to experience the admirable side of the Da nish Christian life and its attendant values.

In due course, both our children were confirmed in faith at Christianskirke. We became active in the church life through Bible studies (held at different homes), monthly English services organized for the foreign students of the Aarhus University, and radio programs anchored by our children.

In between we got opportunities to attend monthly Anglican Church services in English, thus reinforcing our growing respect for ecumenism. Before we knew, we had become fully integra ted with the local community and society at large.

Our family got actively engaged with the work of a cross-cultural center (Tværkulturelt Center) whose principal mission is to create a platform for refugees and migrants in Denmark. Both our children remain emotionally connected to this center till today.

What was the most noticeable outcome of this second diaspora in Aarhus? Firstly, we all learnt that worship should take place in spirit and truth; language is secondary; God is omnipresent. “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matt. 18:19–20.) Secondly, we realized the importance of functioning as “bridges” among various Christian denominations.

From Aarhus to Washington DC

My wife and I made another major intercontinental shift in 1999 to Washington DC leaving behind our by now grownup children in Aarhus. They were in the midst of their university education. Migration from Europe to North America (Washington DC) did not pose serious challenges like what we experienced in the former move. Language was not an issue. High level of diversity in the United States was a helpful factor in our smooth transition to a new phase and place. Presence of quite a few Keralites in work-related and social circles was indeed a pleasant feature.

We attended worship services at the Trinity Episcopal Church in Arlington. We were received with great cordiality by the congregation. We both played an active role in the church life there. I served on the Vestry for almost 4 years. This was the first time my wife and I experienced the ministry of a female Rector. The Episcopal Church is part of the Anglican Communion. On hindsight, that was a preparatory exposure to the ministry of female priests back in Denmark when we returned after my retirement. Also, we got an intense experience to practice our faith in a multiracial society.

Meanwhile, our daughter got married in 2000 and moved to St. Louis in Missouri, and later to California. She and her family currently attend the Northkirk Presbyterian Church. She serves as a Deacon of this church. Our son worked for couple of years in Copenhagen, and moved out to Vienna, Berlin and then to Brussels. He is resident in Brussels since 2013, and currently attends the Anglican Church there.

From Washington DC to Copenhagen in Denmark

On my retirement in 2007, we returned to Denmark – this time to its capital city Copenhagen with a population of over 1.2 million. This move marked the third diaspora (migration) though to a previously lived country. Copenhagen is a much larger city with a more diversified population when compared to Aarhus. We created a new network of friends – both Danes and non-Danes while renewing the old friendships. Once again it called for adjustments in our life style – coming from the “largeness” of the US to the “smallness” of De nmark. Soon we learnt to live in a smaller apartment and relying entirely on public transport system. We became conscious of the egalitarian ethos of the Scandinavian countries.

On arrival in Copenhagen, we joined an international congregation called the International Church of Copenhagen. ICC has been an outpost of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in Copenhagen. We enjoyed the fellowship of quite a large number of nationalities worshipping together. I had the privilege to serve on the Church Council for 3 years. After a stay of 8 years, we decided to get back to the state Lutheran Church. By then we had received the Danish citizenship. Presently, we live hardly 300 meters away from Christianskirke (same name as in Aarhus) belonging to the state Lutheran Church (Folkekirke). Since 2015 we are attached to this church. By now, we have learnt to enjoy the liturgy and music of Folkekirke Christianskirke is one of the well-known churches in central Copenhagen built in 175459. Further, my wife and I get to attend daily morning devotion through the Danish television/radio broadcasted from the Cathedral of Copenhagen. This service has truly become our daily spiritual manna.

Besides the church services and programs we had been actively engaged in the work of Tværkulturelt (mentioned earlier). I served on its Board for 10 years. We have established a close connect with Danmission (a missionary organization since 1821 and who in the past sent its missionaries to India). It is quite an experience to meet some of those missionaries in their late 90s. Our home remains open to receive friends of all backgrounds.

Keralites in Denmark Today

The number of Malayalee migrants in Denmark has shot up from countable families in 1990s to about 500-700 families in 2022. This is mainly because of the influx of Indian profe ssionals in the Information Technology (IT) sector. Quite a few nurses of Kerala origin are also working here. However, the number of Christian Keralites at present would be limited to 100-120 families. In the last 10 years, occasional Malayalam services have been held through the Roman Catholic Church and the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church. The Christian families from Kerala with young children have been zealously guarding their faith and are quite conscious of their role to shine as Christ’s ambassadors in Denmark.

Lessons Learnt

Our family has been quite grateful for all the goodness and blessings - especially academic and professional opportunities, medical care in certain major health issues, absence of any kind of racial or other prejudices - we have received in each of the places where God has been placing us. We have learnt to pray for the countries of our residence. “S eek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” Jeremiah 29:7

God is using us as tools in the process of “reverse evangelization” For almost two centuries Danish missionaries had been coming to India, and making solid contributions through various projects of Danmission in eastern and southern India. Now, it is the turn of migrants from Africa and Asia to spread the good news of Jesus Christ in Denmark and other parts of Europe.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German Lutheran Pastor cum Theologian said: “We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God.” Such interruptions from our comfort zones may not be pleasant or easy. But in retrospect, God’s magnificent plan gets revealed.

Having moved through various church denominations – CSI, CNI, Anglican, Episcopalian, ELCA and Folkekirke with occasional visits to Roman Catholic, Malankara Syrian Orthodox, and Free Church congregations – we seem to have learnt to serve as “bridges” among them. “Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters.” Romans 14:1

Every member of a diasporic family is called upon to different tasks and missions in the vineyard of Christ – different in content, scale, timing and mode of delivery. Matthew 20:116 is a true-to-life parable.

Looking Up

Today, after almost 55 years since leaving Kerala, I sit in Copenhagen and acknowledge: “The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.” Psalm 16:6. I have come to the evening of my life. There is plenty to do where I am now. I have time and space for talking and walking with my Creator. My eyes are now lifted up to the hills from where comes my help. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29: 11.”

Book Glimpse :

DESI DIASPORA - Edited by

This book on global Indian Christian diaspora comprises of sixteen chapters written by Christian leaders and scholars in diaspora who are in the forefront of diasporic life and ministry. All contributors are carefully chosen from varied linguistic, ecclesial and cultural bac kgrounds, located in different parts of the world and are active in diverse Christian ministries. Except one, all contributors are of Indian descent, but hail from different ethnicity, generations and settlements. Besides portra ying a contemporary snapshot of faith experiences in their respec tive diasporic contexts, these chapters validate the migratory nature of Christian faith and its far- reaching missional implication s across many cultures of the world. This book explores religious sentiments and challenges facing the Indian Christian communities in diaspora in several places of settlements and analyzes how migration shaped their life and faith practices in the new wor ld.

This book includes an ancient Christian community of India like Kerala Orthodox Christians as well as new co nverts of diaspora. It covers Syro-Malabar Catholics, Reformed, Anglicans, Evangelicals, Pentecostals, Brethren and others. The contributors c omprise of both men and women, while their mother tongues are as varied as Ma layalam, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati and Ka nnada. They work as pastors, missionaries, professors, engineers, consultants, counselors, students etc. and their expertise lie in different domains such as theology, religion, history, missiology, sociology, psychology and literature. However, this is not a comprehensive account of global Indian diaspora Christianity, but a mere glimpse of the great diversity within it while presenting numerous challenges involved and lessons to be learnt about God’s mission in diasporas. It does not include any accounts from Australia or South America. They were not intentio nally omitted, but could not be included due to limitations of a printed book and the challenge of writing a scholarly chapter for most of whom English is not their primary la nguage.

This volume on Indian diaspora Christianity presents eclectic voices and traditions from different parts of the

Dr.

Sam George, SAIACS Press, Bangalore 2020

world. After this short introductory chapter on the Old Diaspora (pre -1947 emigration out of Indian subcontinent), George Oommen locates three basic strands of Indian diasporic Christianity, namely generation, ge nder and culturalized faith expressions. Varghese Mathai reflects on the historic contributions made by foreign missionaries in India toward the development of language and educational achievement, which caused a worldwide dispersion of Indians in the late twentieth century. He challenges readers that such privilege comes with a responsibility to serve others in diasporic locations and a ncestral homelands. John Daniel analyzes the history of the making of Tamil churches in London, the United Kingdom (UK), as people from both India and Sri Lanka from very diverse sociocultural and political conditions come together to form a faith community in diaspora. Father Tenny Thomas paints a picture of the establishment of the historic Malankara Syrian Orthodox Christians from Kerala in the United States, Malaya and Singapore. Kyle D’Souza traces the development and growth of the Syro Malabar Catholic churches in the US and pinpoints challenges facing the community through a sociological analysis.

Amit Bhatia and Ushaben H. R. Patel bring distinctive voices of first generation converts to Christianity from Hindu backgrounds from the US and the UK respectively, while Pritam Singh brings the voice of a convert from Sikh background from a Singaporean context. Together they explore the theme of conversion occurring in diasporic settings and the challenges it poses within family, community and respective religious contexts. Paul Sunkari identifies twelve challenges faced by recent immigrants who work in the technology industries and offers suggestions to help immigrant perspectives on pastoral ca re and counseling. Ravi David reflects on his own diasporic journeys to multiple locations in New Zealand and the US, to draw out twenty key pastoral care challenges in various stages of diasporic life and integrates the pastoral and missional aspects of diaspora congregations.

Vance Masengill and Shibu Cherian evaluate the inwardlooking tendency of immigrant Indian Christians and the general lack of evangelistic fervor to reach fellow imm igrants or people of host societies. They evaluate what it takes to infuse passion for the lost soul and compare diasporic churches in the Arabian Gulf and North America. Chandra Soans reminds us that immigrant churches have an obligation to serve the urban poor in host societies and not to remain as an affluent cloistered group. He showcases practical models to serve their church’s immediate neighborhoods and overcome hurdles among immigrants for missional engagement in diaspora.

Stanley John, a second generation from Kuwait, unpacks from a case study with Kerala pastors in Kuwait to locate transnational linkages and ecclesiastical agents involved in ministry in diasporic contexts. Denominations, pastors, and lay individuals play distinctive roles in a diasporic church ministry and fixed duration of tenure presents both practical and financial dilemmas. Suraja Raman, a second-generation Singaporean, excerpts from recent cross-cultural teaching experience in a seminary in Kenya and advocates a model for global South-South partnership between churches and mission agencies. This avoids issues of dependency, focus on resources, bypasses well-resourced Western and global North churches while helping these partners view each other as equal partners in the mission of God. Geomon George examines the diaspora church in the gateway city of Indian immigration to the US in New York, particularly generation discontinuity among Kerala immigrants. Finally, I conclude this volume with a brief overview of the voluntary migration out of India in recent decades and present a contemporary survey of religious faith in the New Indian Diaspora with some missiological reflections on overcoming of Indian religious restraints on crossing of black waters (Kala Pani) as scattered people become a part of the mission of God.

Note: Dr. Sam George was born in the Andaman Islands (India) to Christian parents with the heritage of the St. Thomas Chri stians of Kerala and had a life-changing pe rsonal encounter with Jesus at the age of 15. He holds degrees in mechanical eng ineering and management, and worked for a decade in Asia and the US. Later, he studied at Fuller and Princeton Sem inaries, and over the next two decades, God used Sam to pi oneer two family organizations, Urban India Mission and Parivar International. He did a PhD in theol ogy, researching family, church, and diaspora, at Liverpool Hope University (UK). He now teaches global migration, diaspora missions, and world Christianity and has authored many articles, book chapters, and about dozen books. He lives with his wife, Dr. Mary M George, and their two boys in the northern suburbs of Chicago, USA. (Continued from page 42)

Book Review – Journey of a Candle: Devotional readings for advent - by Geena Ajay

(viii) We must be filled with gentleness power under control–cultivated through practice; (ix) we can exercise self-control controlling our attitudes, thoughts, desires and habits only by focusing on Jesus. From the standpoint of the candle lifecycle, this second section marks the process of mashing fruits and fragrance into the melted wax.

In the third “Moulding the wax moulding the heart” section, the Devotional elaborates the process of God

moulding and shaping us like clay in the hands of the potter (Isaiah 64:8) in various ways: (i) As our perfect Father, God has a perfect plan for us (Day 17); (ii) God is Immanuel, with us always, in all things, at all times (Day 18); (iii) We must wait on God patiently (Day 19); (iv) While waiting offends us with questions and fills us with doubts, we must be confident that God will reveal the purpose to the world (Day 20). From the standpoint of the candle lifecycle, this third section marks the process of moulding the melted and mashed wax, with the chandler putting in the wick before pouring the wax into the mould.

In the fourth “Mirror time moulded candles moulded hearts” section, the Devotional (Day 21) begins by introducing the Advent wreath with five candle spaces pivoting from the finished candle lifecycle of fully moulded candles, representing hope, love, joy, peace and Christ candle. The wreath’s circle signifies God, His eternity and His endless mercy, without beginning or end; green represents hope in God, the hope of renewal and eternal life. The four outer candles represent the waiting period during the four Sundays of Advent, symbolic of the 400 years of waiting between the prophet Malachi and the birth of Christ.

In this fourth section, the Devotional presents the following four Advent figures, and the related Advent wreath candles: (i) Angels as carriers of joy and good news Candle of Joy (Day 21); (ii) Shepherds humble, lowly, ordinary chosen by God to show that His love included the lowly and the ordinary, evidencing His power and wisdom –Candle of Love (Day 22); (iii) Magi, seeking to worship the Prince of Peace –Candle of Peace (Day 23); (iv) Prophetess Anna, though not part of the nativity story, is presented for her steadfast devotion to God, notwit hstanding life challenges of long widowhood from a young age –Candle of Hope (Day 24).

In the final, fifth “Lighted to Lighten by the Light of the Life” section, the Devotion reaches a climax, the grand finale, the final movement of a symphony, with the Christ candle, the Light of the World (John 8:12). As His followers, Christians are Lighted to Lighten, mandated to let our light shine (Matthew 4: 14,16). Through His Great Commission (Matthew 28:19 -20), Jesus has also commanded Christians to proclaim and share the Gospel the good news of the reconciliation between holy God and sinful humanity through Jesus who died on the cross as a substitute for sinners, bearing the guilt and punishment for sin (2 Corinthians 5:18-19).

Let’s pray and hope that God will use the Devotional to strengthen us all, as the author envisages at the start: “Together we can always be stronger.” May the Lord Almighty make us more like Mary and Joseph, willing to trust and obey God, rather than Zechariah, waiting for God’s blessing with unbelief, going through the motions of Christian life. Overall, I found the Devotional encouraging and uplifting and therefore, gladly recommend it for both personal and group study.

Kerala Christian Diaspora: An African Perspective

Revd Dr. Pookkattu P. Paul

Christian is a person in whom Christ is happening. The reality of a need for a Savior and a choice to follow him as Lord and Savior is what sets a Christian apart. Christ is in you (Col 1: 27). My family life in Africa for over 42 years mainly in Zambia and later in South Africa has led me to write about the Kerala Christian Diaspora from an African perspective. The witness to what God is doing through the Kerala Christian Diaspora is eye-opening and gives hope for the future of the Church globally.

Born, raised, educated, came to know the Lord Jesus Christ in a Christian home in Kerala, and got married in India. It was encouraging to have a network of Christian believers when I moved to Lusaka, Zambia in July 1980. Several of those who are part of the Kerala Christian Diaspora met together each week and set apart time to worship, prayer, study the word and fellowship in our mother tongue. Kerala Christian tradition dates back to the days of early Christianity. Many Keralite Christians seek to find community with each other when their careers take them to foreign lands. A deep tradition of gathering around God’s Word and singing spiritual songs is a staple of such gatherings, regardless of denominational affiliations. Kerala Christians in Lusaka were eager with wide opened hands to accept and accommodate solid Bible teaching. It is through these meetings that the word of the Lord came heavily on the writer to surrender to God’s eternal truth and burdened my soul to move from a lucrative career to full time mission of Christ.

‘God is first in going forward’ was the encouraging but cha llenging phrase several of the diaspora heard in Lusaka. Since the 1990’s, several in the diaspora have followed in obedience to the call of God to use their opportunities in Africa to advance the gospel. Some left their lucrative careers, while others have been able to grow in their careers and have gospel impact on their local communities. Men and women moved by the teaching of the Scriptures have shown evidence of commitment to submit to the will of God as they build their careers. Some have moved on from medical, e ngineering, and accounting careers to serve the local church full-time. In the new millennium, we see the commitment of Kerala Christian diaspora and their next generation to continue to see their place in gospel work not only in Africa but across the globe (2 Timothy 1:7, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit power, of love and of selfdiscipline.”)

The Spirit of God continues to work through the Kerala Christian Diaspora and impacting the African community in many different African nations as they follow God’s call to share their faith in their local communities. The Kerala Diaspora Christians in the UK, the US, Australia, and the Middle East are also challenged to get involved in the mighty move of God in Africa.

I agree with Michael Oh in his talk about Truth of Future Church in Africa, “Toward the end of this year, something

remarkable will happen. The 8 billionth person will be born in the world. When considering the global population, we often think about China, with 1.45 billion people, and India, with 1.4 billion. There are reasons for us as Christians to be concerned about both nations. China is a place of incredible persecution of the church and could be the next global conflict. India is a hotbed for religious division and particularly for persecution of the Christian church.”

But on the continent of Africa, we have 1.3 billion people. By the year 2050, that will double. Most of the population growth in the world in the next 28 years will be in Africa. So, in the year 2050, one quarter of the world will be African; and 50 percent of all global evangelicals will be in Africa. It is thus critical for us to be in prayer for Africa. We are excited about this future and about the 300 million new African Christians in the years leading up to 2050. Christianity in Africa is a mile wide and an inch deep.

Africa is a spiritual battleground. And we can see the fault lines before our own eyes. Christianity is growing up from the southern region of Africa, but more rapidly, we have Islam growing down from the north, and eastward from the west. The impact of the Kerala Christian Diaspora will be of valuable importance for the gospel spread throughout Africa.

Christianity is growing in Africa and people are coming to the faith and become matured followers of Christ. They are eager to know Jesus, but also, they are asking for one more thing – economic stability. But the church in Africa doesn’t really have an answer to that question. Islam in Africa, on the other hand, is creating a socio-economic, religious-political ecosystem that includes jobs and community, and they are viciously protecting this ecosphere and also persecuting those who will not enter into it.

With Africa slowly becoming the seedbed for the future global church, the future of global mission will be in Afr ica. And one day, LORD willing, we will hit one billion Afr ican believers. The Kerala Christian Diaspora will be an integral proponent to offer a considerable amount of Christ followers in Africa among many nations and tribes of people and languages (Rev. 5:9). It is a rare privilege in this generation as a Kerala Christian Diaspora to be part of these great adventurous Christian life in Africa. It is e ncouraging to note the Kerala Christian diaspora is actively serving various communities to reach, build and equip men and women in Kenya, Mozambique, Malawi, Botswana, Tanzania, Lesotho, Eswatini (Swaziland) Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

As in most cases, not everything is perfection. As the Kerala Christian Diaspora lingers in a region, division aris-

es. Division is clearly among the denomination and cultural and systematic superstitions brought from the Kerala state of India. In 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15, Apostle Paul instructs the churches to simply “acknowledge” those who serve (v. 12) and “hold them in the highest regard”. Paul urges the body to come to one another’s aid when people become idle or tired (v. 14). Believers shouldn’t condemn one another with a critical spirit and harsh tongue, nor should they merely give half-thought suggestions. Rather, Paul implores believers to give serious advice with a comforting tone and patient heart (v. 14). His final piece of corporate advice to the body is for them not to seek revenge. Instead, believers are to “always strive to do what is good for each other” (v. 15). Churches will find peace when people are appreciated, selfishness is abandoned, and servanthood is adopted.

The writer has over 42 years of ministry partnership and encouragements in Christian mission out of India. It is our desire and prayer that many young Kerala Christians would become maturing followers of the Lord Jesus Christ and get involved in the Mission of God in all the states of Africa. Kerala Christian Diaspora is recognized as the people who obey the great commission of the Lord with deeper understanding of their call and taking the command of the Lord seriously. Obedience to the Command of Christ is taken in its full sense. “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord and take great delight in His commands” (Psalms 112:1)

As the Greek word Parangello is used for command, we see it as a Military term and an aggressive and definitive statement of absolute behavior that requires obedience. Command of Christ is considered as a legal word that imply obedience and response. Kerala Christian respects the ethical aspect of the command and bound to obey it as the matter of integrity. Command is a technical word implies something is to be done. The word command is also considered in medical term as a prescription for a sick, to get well there must be a response.

May the Lord continue to pour His grace upon His obedient Kerala Christian diaspora to continue the mission, ministry and monuments that become a beacon for the Lord in every global village. May the power of the resurrection be displayed among the Kerala Christian Diaspora across the Globe. Let us serve together to bring honor and glory to the Lord.

“Revd Dr. Pookattu P. Paul is a SIM Missionary who was raised in Kerala, India, answered the call to full-time missions work while pursuing a lucrative dental career in Lusaka, Zambia. He then moved with his family to study at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, USA before returning to Africa for full-time ministry in post-Apartheid South Africa. In his ministry experience, he has traveled extensively around the globe and continues to encourage fellow believers in the Kerala Christian Diaspora to engage in spreading the gospel wherever God leads them. The writer, his wife, Molly, three adult children, and seven grandchildren are living currently in USA and serving the Lord in IL, OK and TX.

Reflection on the Advent Season

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

In a predominantly materialistic world of today, it’ is not surprising that so many people are largely indifferent to God and the true meaning of Advent. The season of Advent refocuses us and reminds us that Christ has come to change the world. The word advent comes from the Latin for "coming" or "arrival". It is a time of preparation for Christmas, the first coming of God's Son. It is also a season which reminds about the Christ's second coming at the end time. It is a season of joy and spiritual expectation to all believers. This season is not just about preparing for the birth of Christ at Christmas, but for the Christ who is continually being born in our midst and transforming the Church ever more into his body in the world.

Without Christ at the center of our lives, helping us focus on God, life can seem a desolate wilderness, a dark and hopeless place where we are trapped by our own h umanity and self-centeredness. As we open ourselves to Jesus, the light of the world, He releases us into new life and restores those places in our lives that have been marred, or even devastated by the effects of the darkness of the world. Advent is an attitude of anticipation, a hope that transcends our minds into a joyful season. The entire season prepares us to allow Christ into our hearts, into our homes and into our faith life, far different from other times when we are immersed in a predominantly hedonistic and market culture.

In the weeks before Christmas, churches around the world celebrate Advent a season of reflection and preparation for the birth of Jesus Christ. Advent is a time of waiting and expectation; a season of quiet anticipation and preparation. We are waiting for our Lord to come into the world to rescue us from the effect of darkness and lead us from ignorance to truth. We are also preparing for His return, His second coming as the shepherd-king, to restore harmony and right relationship between all creations. Advent is a season yearning for God to come and set the world right with God’s justice, truth, and peace. It is a season of hope for the entire mankind.

Advent is a time to prepare our hearts and minds through prayer. While Lent emphasizes a spirit of repent ance through prayer and fasting, Advent’s prayers are prayers of humble devotion and commitment, prayers for deliverance, prayers of gladness and joyful expectation, prayers that await the light of Christ coming into the world to save the entire humanity from their sins. Advent is a season to re-dedicate ourselves and to live a life worthy of the Lord. Advent also brings us the joy of Christmas and the hope of his second coming. May the Lord help us to rededicate ourselves as individuals, as families and as faithful believers, during this advent season. Lal Varghese, Esq.