HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE FOR INDIAN MISSIONS TO BE SELF SUFFICIENT? Since the days of Barthlomew Zieganbalg, the first protestant missionary to India, Indian Missions have been blessed by the financial contributions of sincere believers from the West. We need to be grateful to God for this privilege. Nevertheless, the time has come now for the Indian Church to assume its responsibility of meeting the needs of Indian missions. The Indian church is now almost self-supported but how long will it take for Indian missions to be self-sufficient? Undoubtedly, we have the resources. Today, many believers in India are blessed by jobs that fetch them huge salaries. This is clearly evident by the ‘improvements’ seen in the living conditions of many Christians in the last two decades. God is blessing us in order to be a blessing to our nation! I can’t forget how earlier, as a staff worker of the Union of Evangelical Students of India (UESI), a student came and said, “This is my gift for your work,” and tucked Rs 500 into my hands. I was shocked to receive this large amount and enquired how he had gotten it. He said that his mother had given him pocket money to enjoy the study tour from the college. He added, “I didn’t spend all the money, so that I could give to the ministry.” My eyes were filled with tears. I realised that to spare that money, he must have sacrificed his ice-creams, popcorns, colas, kebabs... That day, he taught me a new lesson on Christian giving: Sacrifice. God doesn’t want our balance. C S Lewis said, “Charity should pinch us.” That’s why Jesus commended the widow who gave her all, while the others contributed from their excess. Prof. H Enoch was one of the founders of the UESI. Many accused him that the motivation for starting UESI was to get foreign funds. To counter these accusations, Enoch and other leaders decided to do the work with only Indian Funds. When the first full time staff joined the student work, Prof. Enoch said, “I can’t guarantee you anything, but be assured, if I have food in my house, you will have it too…” That’s commitment. Do we care enough to tell our missionaries, “If I will... you will also...” If 1% of the Indian believers will make such a commitment, there will be a revolution in Indian missions! Shibu K Mathew. Shibu is a mission educator based in Bangalore. He also edits Ethne.
Announcement
Until now, we were informally functioning under the banner ‘Things Above Friends Network’ (TAFNET). Henceforth, we will be known as Kingdom Friends Network (KFN). KFN is registered as a religious charitable Trust in Bangalore, Karnataka. The KFN core team consists of the following members: Sakthivel Sundaresan (Bangalore), Joshua Arul Kumar (Trichy), Joseph Devadason (Kodai), Rajan Prakash (Madurai), Vivin Franklin ( Chennai) and Sam K John (Bangalore). Soul Connec t , a ministry endeavor of KFN is financially sustained by free will contributions. We would like to continue the same way as long as the Lord enables us to do so. We request your prayers for this. Thank you.
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