19. Glimpses of book: ‘Desi Diaspora’ Dr. Sam George

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 backgrounds, 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 portraying a contemporary snapshot of faith experiences in their respective diasporic contexts, these chapters validate the migratory nature of Christian faith and its far-reaching missional implications 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 world.

This book includes an ancient Christian community of India like Kerala Orthodox Christians as well as new converts of diaspora. It covers Syro-Malabar Catholics, Reformed, Anglicans, Evangelicals, Pentecostals, Brethren and others. The contributors comprise of both men and women, while their mother tongues are as varied as Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati and Kannada. 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 intentionally 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 language. 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, gender 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 ancestral 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 care 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 immigrants 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 Christians of Kerala and had a life-changing personal encounter with Jesus at the age of 15. He holds degrees in mechanical engineering and management, and worked for a decade in Asia and the US. Later, he studied at Fuller and Princeton Seminaries, and over the next two decades, God used Sam to pioneer two family organizations, Urban India Mission and Parivar International. He did a PhD in theology, 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.

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Book Review – Journey of a Candle: Devo-

(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, notwithstanding 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.