BREAKING GROUND
Ministry to the Indian Diaspora
HOW CAN WE HELP THE GOSPEL GO FORTH IN INDIA? AT THE CROSSROAD Internationalisation & the Future of Mission IN THIS ISSUE...
ALL ABOUT India
A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
I went to India once, 23 years ago. I spent a month in Delhi as part of a shortterm mission team, interacting with the Delhi arts community with the aim of introducing my new Indian friends to the long-term missionaries living in the city at that time. India was like nowhere I’d ever been before, or since. Truth be told, I hated it. It was too hot, too crowded, too loud, too smelly. Everything was unfamiliar and uncomfortable.
Thankfully, about four weeks into my trip, something clicked and I came to understand and appreciate India more, and what has stayed with me all these years is not the overwhelming smells and sights and sounds, but the people in all their glorious variety.
It’s the people - all 1.46 billion of them - that draw God’s heart to India too. It’s the people, and their deep need for Jesus, that have drawn missionaries to that great sub-continent for hundreds of years. It’s the people that, despite increasing persecution, compels the Indian Church to keep pressing forward in gospel ministry to the lost millions around them.
This edition of Reach is all about India - the need in India, the mission work going on in India, the Indian diaspora in the UK, and so much more. I am deeply grateful to David B (see page 30) for raising the issue of India again and again as we search for new ways to engage its people, and for graciously lending me his expertise as co-editor for this edition. I hope that as you read, the Lord inspires you to give, pray or go to India yourself. The need is great, but our God is greater!
Happy reading!
All unattributed photos are either owned by Pioneers or free for public use. The following photos were taken from unsplash.com: Cover - Martin Jernberg; 3 - Jorik Kleen; 4 - Rahul Saraf; 5 - Annie Spratt; 6 - Ibrahim Rifath; 7 - Prashnanth Pinha; 12 - Aniket Ganguly; 13 - Shelby Murphy Figueroa; 14 - Koushnik Das; 15 - Renzo deSousa; 18 - Jon Tyson*; 20 - Gabriele Tirelli; 21 - Dr Josiah Sarpong; 22 - Road Ahead; 23 - Ale Vargas; 24 - Artistic Frames; 26 - Birmingham Museums Trust; 30 - Pratham Gupta; 32 - Ashwini Chaudhary Monty; 33 - Sonika Agarwal Nda; 35 - Benigno Hoyuela; 36 - Artur Aldyrkhanov.
* The original photo on p18 was extended to p17 using Adobe InDesign’s Generative Expand tool.
Deeper Waters + INDIA
BY AMANDA A, EDITOR
You may remember, from the Spring edition of Reach, that 2025 marks the beginning of Pioneers’ ten-year Deeper Waters initiative. Pioneers teams around the world have committed to doubling the number of unreached people groups we engage with over the course of the next decade. Just as the disciples were instructed in Luke chapter 5, the Lord has asked us, as an international organisation, to ‘put out into deeper waters’ in order to partner with him to bring in a bigger ‘catch’.
As the world’s most populous country (1.46 billion people to date), Deeper Waters is particularly significant in India. Not only does India have the most people, it also has the largest number of unreached people groups - 2,041 (that’s 1.39 billion people) - of which 1,707 (1.07 billion people) are considered ‘frontier’, meaning that there are few, if any, Christ-followers and no gospel movement.*
So when we talk about doubling the number of people groups we’re engaging, India seems like a logical place to start - lots of low-hanging fruit, so to speak. But is it really?
According to tradition, Thomas - as in, THE Thomas, the apostle - travelled to Southwest India within a couple of decades of the resurrection. By the end of the second
century AD, Christianity had taken root in India and it continued to flourish throughout the medieval period. Fast forward 1,000 years or so, to Portuguese explorer, Vasco da Gama, who opened the route between Europe and India in the late 15th century, paving the way for trade, colonisation and Catholicism.
In the early 18th century, Lutheran missionaries from Germany sailed to India, and in 1793, William Carey, considered the ‘father of modern missions’, arrived, bringing with him not only the gospel but also education for impoverished children, justice for widows, and advancements in fields as broadly distributed as theology, accounting and botany. The Christian faith, in all shapes and sizes, continues in India today, an unbroken chain of faith stretching back almost 2,000 years.
According to the 2021 census, around 28 million Christians live in India today. But a quick Google search will reveal that those 28 million live in concentrated areas of this continentsized nation, and the vast majority of the country remains untouched by the gospel.
It will come as no surprise that the vast majority of Indian people consider themselves Hindu. (It may be a bit of a surprise that over 200 million are Muslim!) Most Indian
* According to Joshua Project (www.joshuaproject.net/countries/IN)
people wouldn’t consider Hinduism a religious choice, per se. Rather, for most, it is synonymous with being Indian. It is an identity, a heritage, a tradition, an inextricable component of Indianness. This inextricability is one of the biggest barriers to gospel advance. For most, being Indian and not being Hindu simply doesn’t compute.
Compared to other world religions, Hinduism is a different kettle of fish. There is no single founder or central authority. There’s not one, but hundreds, thousands, or millions of gods, depending on who you’re talking to. The end goal of Hinduism is liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth known as reincarnation, and absorption into Brahman, which is the source and essence of everything that exists.
Hinduism is so synonymous with Indianness that many in India are hostile toward non-Hindus. To choose not to be Hindu is to choose against India, against community, against family. Violence against non-Hindus in recent decades has risen steadily, and becoming a follower of Jesus is becoming riskier. Indian church leaders and
Christian workers are facing rising levels of persecution, and going to India as a foreign mission worker requires creativity and perseverance.
And yet ... the Lord has asked us to put out into deeper waters. For the twenty(ish) Pioneers mission teams on the ground in India, this will require creative thinking and steadfast commitment to listening to Jesus. It will also require a death to self - looking for ways not only to partner with the Indian Church but in some cases to come under local leadership and let go of ‘how we’ve always done it.’ (For more on this, see pages 20-25.) These ‘deeper waters’ will very likely also be rough waters.
India may be the world’s most populous nation with, 1.39 billion unreached peoples. But, low-hanging fruit it is not. The good news is, it’s very much under the lordship of the Creator of the universe, and he’s the one who’s asked us to put out into these deep waters. The only question we need to ask, then, is, ‘Where’s my oar?’
How to Pray for Pioneers in India
That Pioneers leaders in India would connect with influential Indian mission leaders so that mission to India would become more and more collaborative.
That Pioneers workers would be able to remain in India in spite of the tightening of visa regulations.
For compassionate and fruitful ministry to Indian people, and that mission workers would find new and innovative ways to make the name of Jesus known.
For Indian Pioneers workers to have greater influence as strategies for reaching the unreached in India develop.
For Natasha*, a Pioneers medical worker in Northern India: that her work with women’s health and wound care would increase health in the local population and provide opportunities to share Jesus’ love.
For Ron and Heather* in Southern India: that their ministry with orphaned and abandoned children would flourish and that they would have strength and joy in the midst of difficult circumstances.
For Daisy* in Southern India: that her gospel ministry to transgender people would yield incredible fruit and that her business would provide them with stability and purpose.
Daring to Dream
(enthusiastically)
BY STEPHEN C, NATIONAL DIRECTOR OF PIONEERS UK & IRELAND
‘
Young man, sit down! You are an enthusiast. When God pleases to convert the heathen, he'll do it without consulting you or me.’
Such was the less-than-inspired response of a Baptist minister to William Carey (1761-1834) when Carey gave his passionate plea to fellow ministers in the UK to engage in reaching the unreached to the ends of the earth with the good news of Jesus Christ!
Carey believed God had laid a burden on his life for global mission. His response to the apathy he met was to write his now-famous pamphlet, which glories in the pithy title,
An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians, to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens. In Which the Religious State of the Different Nations of the World, the Success of Former Undertakings and the Practicability of the Further Undertakings Considered.
The pamphlet was published on 12 May, 1792. 233 years ago.
Carey didn’t just write; he took bold action. In 1792, he founded a missionary-sending society. At its inaugural meeting, Carey preached a sermon in which he uttered the even more famous words which have influenced the lives of countless Christians and missionaries ever since:
‘
Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God!’
Not only did he write, and not only did he found the Baptist Missionary Society … but Carey walked the talk such that, in 1793, Carey and his family, which included three boys and his wife expecting their fourth, were on a ship bound for India. After first establishing work in Calcutta (now Kolkata), Carey relocated to Serampore in West Bengal in 1800, where he remained until he died in 1834. [Carey served 41 years in India without a furlough - or Home Assignment as we call it now. He died in India on 9 June 1834, aged 72 and is buried in the Mission Cemetery in Serampore, West Bengal.]
William Carey has been called ‘the father of modern mission’ - a title that really only works if one overlooks 200 or so years of Catholic missions! Nevertheless, Carey, a poor cobbler from Northampton, England had an immense vision for the least-reached. As one historian wrote, ‘He may have done more for (Christian) missions work than any other man who ever lived with the exception of Saint Paul.’
And India stars!
India.1
In 2023, India surpassed China as the world’s most populous nation.
The current government has been operating on a Hindu nationalist platform, and this results in intensifying persecution of other religions and the introduction of many barriers to foreign Christian mission in India.
2.
One of our members told me recently that there are 687 people groups in West Bengal (where Carey served for so many years), with 614 of them ‘unreached’ and 484 of them ‘unengaged’. [This UK member encourages and supports a team of nationals in their work to strategically reach out to these groups, attempting to reach each district of West Bengal.]
The world's least-evangelised peoples are concentrated in India. Of 159 people groups of over 1 million people, a whopping 133 remain unreached. Hundreds more groups of fewer than 1 million are unreached. Also, 953 ethnic groups have populations greater than 10,000; of these, 205 have no church and little to no outreach from Christians. 4.
According to Operation World: ‘The Indian Church is highly diverse, with a long legacy. Much of Indian Christianity results from people movements of the last 300 years, often started by local revivals. Some Christian groups today have remarkable growth ….
The Orthodox Churches trace their origin to the tradition of the Apostle Thomas, who was said to minister here in the 1st century.
Catholics represent the largest Christian group in India (nearly 20 million). People respect their charity work, especially their care for the poorest of the poor (inspired by Mother Teresa). Catholics run more than 5,000 healthcare facilities. The charismatic movement in the Catholic Church began in 1972. It spread to almost every congregation, and brought both new life and increased outreach.
Evangelical denominations and congregations multiplied. God uses several networks and alliances to mature and mobilise believers through prayer, pastors’ retreats, and
conventions. They also coordinate training, literature production, missions, and outreach (the Evangelical Fellowship of India links over 224 denominations, the Pentecostal Fellowship of India links the major Pentecostal groups, and so on).
Newer Pentecostal and charismatic fellowships sprang up quickly, and spread throughout India, especially in the last 15 years. The Yesu Darbar gathers tens of thousands of Jesus’ followers in North India. They model biblical worship and fellowship patterns in an Indian style.
Millions of followers of Jesus (Yesu Bhaktas) are secret believers, or unbaptised Christians outside the established denominations.’
1 For these facts and more, see the Operation World website: https://operationworld.org/locations/india/
I have just returned from a Pioneers leadership gathering in Singapore. This ‘Antioch Table’* gathered a small group of leaders who have a heart for Asia – including India. There are missional movements from this part of Asia – including India. I have a growing conviction stirring in my heart that Pioneers needs to go up a gear in partnering with the Indian Church … Indian Mission agencies … Indian Christians. Elsewhere in this edition of Reach, you will hear from Fred. Fred is a Ghanaian who lives in Asia. He has something powerful to say to us in Pioneers. ‘We are seeing,’ Fred states, ‘the rise and growing influence of missional movements around the world that is shaping and influencing the breadth and scope of global missions.’ Amen. Therefore, he concludes, ‘Instead of just saying, “Come and join (Pioneers),” there's also the need for us to join what God is doing through them.’ Amen again!
200 years after William Carey, what is God wanting to do with Pioneers as regards India and its peoples?
To be sure, there is the ongoing missionary calling of God to reach the still-unreached millions of India.
Yet, there is also the urging of the Lord for servant-partnership with the Indian church and Indian Mission agencies.
Dreaming.
At our Antioch Table gathering in Singapore last week, another Ghanaian missions leader challenged us. ‘Leaders,’ he said, ‘are paid to dream!’
What am I dreaming for regarding India?
I dream of a Pioneers India mobilising gateway. Led by an Indian.
I dream of more Indian believers mobilised across the world with Pioneers.
Two hundred or so years after Carey and his family left Northampton, England for India, I dream along with one of our Pioneers Indian members – a field leader based in Cardiff – of a Hindu-background believer mobilised from India to lead a Pioneers Hindu Outreach Team (HOT!) to engage with the Hindus of Leicester – 40 miles as the crow flies from where Carey was born. [NB. After London, Leicester has the largest concentration of Hindus in the UK … and Leicester’s Diwali celebrations are widely considered to be the largest in the world outside of India!]
Will these dreams become a reality? By God’s grace and with his help, not only will these dreams become reality, but he will also teach us to dream dreams for India that we haven’t yet dared to imagine. William Carey’s dream for God’s glory in India spanned four decades. During the time he was given, he both expected (and saw) great things from God, and attempted (and achieved) great things for God. Do we dare, in this new missional paradigm, to do the same?
* More on Pioneers’ Antioch Tables on page 21.
BY JISMIEL K, A PIONEERS WORKER IN INDIA
THE UNREACHED PEOPLE OF THE
Hindu World
On the busy streets of Delhi, Geeta* sat on an old charpai, watching her husband hammer iron to forge tools. As part of the Lohar community (a nomadic unreached people group), life meant moving from place to place. But what troubled her most was her little son - old enough to walk, yet not able to balance himself.
One day, she heard about some free gifts being distributed for children. Wanting to see her son happy, she went. Along with the gift, someone offered to pray for him. As a Hindu, Geeta had prayed to trees, stones, and countless gods so she didn’t refuse.
But this prayer was different. Slowly her son began to walk, speak, and grow strong. Week after week, as she returned, Geeta realised it was Jesus who healed him. Together with her husband, she gave her life to Christ, and in him she found love, hope, and a new beginning.
In another Rajput High Caste village of northern Uttar Pradesh, life for 24-year-old Nisha* is tightly bound by unspoken ruleswhat to wear, how to speak, even to go to school or not. She never once heard the name of Jesus, and Christianity was only heard with the suspicion of conversion. In the summer of 2024, she visited her married sister in Delhi and stepped into a different world. There were no idols in the house, no incense offered to gods. Instead, her sister and brother-in-law said that they worship a living God, Jesus Christ. Listening to her sister’s story of freedom and transformation, Nisha’s heart was stirred. She opened a Bible for the first time, and quietly gave her life to Christ. Returning to her village, she now hides her Bible, prays in secret, and clings to faith as the lone believer in her entire world.
India is more like a continent wrapped in one country, with more than 1.4 billion people—17.8% of the world’s population. The nation’s diversity is staggering: 28 states, 8 union territories, 22 official languages, and nearly 19,500 dialects that change from village to village. More than 2,000 ethnic groups and countless castes and tribes co-exist, each with their own customs, stories, and struggles. Yet, amidst this richness, nearly 22.5% of Indians remain illiterate—a number equal to the entire population of the United States.
Religion shapes the daily rhythm of life here. Hindus make up 76.7% of the population, more than the entire African continent. Christians are just a small minority, barely 3–4%.
When you look deeper, the challenge becomes even more concerning. According to the Joshua Project, India has 2,272 distinct people groups, but nearly 90% remain unreached by the gospel. Among them, 1,700 groups are ‘frontier’ peoples—where there is no known church, no movement, no visible sign of Christ.
Unlike Christianity, which is centered on the person and work of Jesus Christ, Hinduism does not have a single founder or central creed. It is a vast and fluid system of beliefs, philosophies, rituals, and cultural practices. With over a billion followers, Hinduism is not just a religion but a lifestyle that permeates nearly every aspect of life—family, social structures, food, clothing, festivals, and even death.
Beliefs Compared to Christianity
At the heart of Hindu belief is the idea of the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth governed by karma (the law of moral cause and effect). Liberation (moksha) is attained through self-realisation, detachment, devotion to deities, or philosophical knowledge. In contrast, Christianity proclaims salvation through grace, not works - freedom from sin and eternal life through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. Where Hinduism teaches countless gods and paths, Christianity declares one God, one Saviour, and one way to eternal life (John 14:6).
Hinduism as Religion and Lifestyle
Hinduism cannot be easily separated from daily living. It crosses the boundaries of religion into lifestyle - woven into food habits,
Hinduism is one of the world’s oldest religions, tracing its roots back over 3,000 years to the Indus Valley and Vedic traditions.
* Names changed for security
festivals, marriage customs, family duties, and rites of passage. From the moment of birth until death, rituals bind individuals into the social fabric.
This strong social fabric makes leaving Hinduism particularly difficult. To embrace Christ is not simply a personal decision; it often means tearing oneself away from centuries-old traditions that define identity, community, and honour. For example, refusing to participate in death rituals may be seen as dishonouring ancestors, while rejecting festival observances disrupts family cohesion. Nuclear family and extended family ties and community interdependence all make it more challengingfaith in Christ can be seen as betrayal of both family and society. It risks social ostracism, loss of family inheritance, broken marriages, and communal hostility and often violence.
The Caste System: A Barrier and an Open Door
The caste system in India has its roots in ancient Hindu social structures, originally dividing people into four varnas - Brahmins (priests), Kshatriyas (warriors), Vaishyas (traders), and Shudras
(labourers). Over time, this evolved into thousands of sub-castes, defining occupation, status, and even who one could marry or eat with.
The caste system has fostered deep inequality. It justifies privilege for the few and oppression for the many, often branding Dalits and other lower castes as untouchable. This has led to centuries of discrimination, exclusion, and violence. For the marginalised, caste is not a mere social category - it is a daily experience of humiliation and denied dignity.
Ironically, this very oppression has created an openness to the message of Christ. The gospel proclaims human worth, equality before God, and love expressed through service. Where caste denies dignity, the Christian message restores it. Many accuse Christians of ‘proselytising’ or ‘enticing’ the poor with services, portraying compassion as coercion. Social media amplifies these claims, painting a distorted picture. In reality, Christian institutions have selflessly educated, healed, and uplifted countless lives, often in places where no one else was willing to go. The seeds of the gospel have promised dignity, freedom, and a new identity not defined by birth, but by being children of God.
To embrace Christ is not simply a personal decision; it often means tearing oneself away from centuries-old traditions that define identity, community, and honour.
The Cost of Discipleship
Persecution against Christians in India is real and increasing. Grassroots workers - pastors, evangelists, and ‘foot soldiers’ of the gospel - often pay the highest price. Many face harassment, social boycott, loss of livelihood, imprisonment, and even martyrdom. Yet they continue to sow the seed faithfully, often with little support or recognition. Without robust support systems - prayer, training, financial partnership, trauma care, and advocacy - these frontline workers cannot endure the weight of the opposition.
Reaching out to Hindus requires overcoming cultural, social, political, and communal barriers. What is needed is patient, incarnational presence; contextualised gospel witness; and longterm partnerships that bring together local believers and the global church in humility and love.
A Global Responsibility
Reaching out to the Hindu world is not India’s burden alone - it is the responsibility of the global church. If the church does not
rise together, the Great Commission will remain incomplete. This is not optional; it is central to our obedience to Christ and the church must count the cost and respond.
From the streets of Delhi to the hidden corners of rural India, the gospel is quietly but powerfully at work. Geeta, from the Lohar unreached people group, shared Christ with her own family. Eleven of them embraced Jesus and took water baptism. But they didn’t stop there—through their witness, the good news has now reached 57 clusters of their community in North India, and more than 60 people have publicly declared their faith in Christ among this community only through Geeta and her family.
At the same time, Nisha, the young Rajput woman, calls my mother faithfully and secretly every Saturday to learn more about Jesus. For many like Nisha, the path of discipleship is still a long, lonely journey full of risks.
Yet, these stories remind us that God is at work - building his church in places once thought unreachable. The journey is hard, but the harvest has already begun.
HOW CAN WE HELP THE GOSPEL GO FORTH IN INDIA?
BY JANE*,FORMER PIONEERS MISSIONARY
TO INDIA
India is a rather large country, so I can only speak from my own experiences in West Bengal. The first known convert to Christianity from West Bengal, India was Krishna Pal. A missionary doctor, John Thomas shared with him the gospel and later he was baptised by William Carey in 1800. As he came to Christ through the interactions with these foreign missionaries, it is interesting to me that he didn’t change his name, he didn’t change from his dress - culturally he was the same, but he was now a new creation in Christ. I am in awe at the insight of these missionaries in the 1800s and the sensitivity that they showed, shaking their own cultural ideas of the gospel and letting it be birthed into the new cultural context they found themselves in. This is a huge challenge for all of us serving overseas.
The work of the Baptist Missionary Society had profound impact, seeing churches planted and social reforms for the betterment of society. Their base in Serampore (north of Calcutta) saw the translation of the Bible into nearly 50 different languagesand not just Indian languages, but others including Persian and Chinese. I have been to Serampore and had a wonderful opportunity to do the tour, hearing how these missionaries long ago made such huge impacts in India and, indeed, other nations.
As I reflect over these miraculous stories and am in awe at all God has done, one question lingers in my heart. How come, out of the 687 people groups living in West Bengal, there are still 614 unreached people groups - with less than one percent of the total population (113,333,000) knowing Jesus? So much work has been done, and yet there is so much more that needs to happen. How can we help the church to grow…?
In my interactions, I have had the privilege of working beside first-generation believers from Hindu and Muslim communities. Their passion and dedication to the gospel challenges me greatly. They are totally sold out for Jesus and giving their all to serve the Lord. The calling I feel the Lord has given me is to be a support to them as they carry out the work of reaching West Bengal. With this in mind, my role has been to encourage and equip. Practically, this has looked like running trainings or sign-posting to other trainings on various topics that they identified as needs.
Within our discussions we talk a lot about how, when reaching into a new community, there need to be relationships of trust, that become like a bridge, and that these relationships need to be strong enough to bear the weight of the gospel. If these relationships are not strong enough then in sharing the gospel there becomes division and new believers are ultimately unable to stay in that community. The gospel threatens their current way of living, because following Jesus would literally change everything for them in their day-to-day practices. For them to accept this
message, it needs to come from someone who has proved to have genuine love and care for them, so they can believe that what is being shared isn’t a threat but actually good news.
Having just returned from a recent trip, I keep pondering: What do they need next? What can empower and equip them for reaching the communities around them?
Local believers who are reaching out to the unreached people groups of West Bengal are much more culturally close to them than foreign missionaries. But I do think that perhaps we have at times assumed that as they speak the same language they are more similar than different. However, that is not always the case.
Can you imagine what it might be like for you if your church decided to send you to another part of your own country to share the gospel with a community quite different from your own? Let’s take for example the travelling community. You are able to communicate in English with them, but such a task comes with many issues. First is access to these communities, you can’t really just rock up without a reason, and as soon as you enter the
community you will be noticed by everyone as an outsider. How would you build up relationships with a community that are so close knit and often closed to ‘others’? How would you share the gospel with them? How would you help them figure out what it means to follow Jesus while remaining in their community? Or would you rather they didn’t remain in their community? So many questions come rushing forth when we consider this great challenge.
Yet this is the challenge that our dear brothers and sisters face when trying to reach the remaining 614 unreached peoples in West Bengal. Yes, granted, the cultural difference between all these may not all be as big as the above example, but some indeed are, and regardless of how extreme the differences are, they bring up many questions about how to share the gospel in a way that they can understand, and how they can worship in a way that resonates with their cultural identity. All these issues are commonly known as issues of contextualisation.
Foreign missionaries often receive lots of training and education on cross-cultural ministry and contextualisation, but from what I have experienced this is not something that local church planters and churches in West Bengal have received a lot of teaching or training on. They go forth sharing the gospel the best way that they know, but often without realising how they might be culturally stepping on toes of the communities they are attempting to engage with. Some, in their story of conversion, had to step out of their communities, so naturally it is their assumption that others will have to do so too. But is that the best way to see a movement of God, to take the one who has accepted the gospel out of that community that we want to see reached?
I write my thoughts and share them with you all so that you can better understand the challenges that believers in India have when attempting to reach the unreached peoples around them. In my experience this issue of contextualisation is the ‘unseen’ challenge to their work. They face issues of financial instability and persecution and often issues around disunity in the body of Christ. However, I do think that lack of understanding around contextualisation has been a stumbling block from seeing the gospel spread from one people group to another within India. Pray that whatever are the barriers to the spreading of the gospel in this land, that the Lord would illuminate them and equip the locals in overcoming them so that his name is glorified amongst all the peoples. As I write that, I am filled with joy, for we know that according to his word that is a prayer he longs to answer as he will be Glorified amongst all peoples of the earth!
BREAKING GROUND
A CONVERSATION WITH RANI JOSHI, LEADER OF EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE’S SOUTH ASIAN FORUM
Can you tell us a little about your background and journey of faith?
I grew up in a Hindu Gujarati family in Buckinghamshire. My heritage is from Gujarat in Northwest India, but my grandparents and parents were born in Uganda and Kenya. They came to the UK in the 1970s when Idi Amin expelled all the South Asians. In 2012, I had an encounter with the Holy Spirit in a church in Windsor, and I was baptised in 2013. And here I am, 13 years on!
I currently lead the South Asian Forum which exists to connect and support the UK’s growing South Asian church. We want to gather people to pray and have deeper conversations. We do that through networking, but we also want to help people build genuine friendships across cultures—often by eating together— so that we can bring God’s kingdom wherever we are.
We work with anyone who has a heart to reach the South Asian community with the gospel. That means the whole UK
church across denominations—Baptist, Pentecostal, Anglican, and others—as well as South Asian churches, whether Indian, Pakistani, Tamil, or Punjabi and so on.
One of our main goals is helping the wider church understand South Asian culture—and also its diversity. South Asia includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Afghanistan, the Maldives, and Nepal. Each has its own unique culture.
So we’re asking questions like:
• How do we equip the church to understand South Asian culture while remembering its diversity?
• How do we welcome people well?
• How do we integrate people meaningfully?
One way we’re doing this is by relaunching a resource called Discovering Jesus, an evangelism course like Alpha designed for South Asians from any background. That’s due to launch in December 2025, and right now it’s my core focus.
That sounds like a big job! At Pioneers, we’ve talked a lot in recent years about intercultural church versus monocultural church when it comes to how diaspora Christians interact with the indigenous British church. What are your thoughts on that?
Most British-born Gujaratis, like myself, will attend any church. But some people prefer monocultural churches— and that’s okay. For example, I visited a Gujarati church where a lady told me her previous church had an Indian fellowship within a wider congregation. The church shut down that service to become intercultural, but many people stopped attending altogether. Most were factory workers who couldn’t make a 10am Sunday service, so they just drifted away and others did find another church.
There are also cultural reasons people may prefer a monocultural church. Many South Asian churches share a meal after the service, while most Western churches offer tea, coffee, and biscuits. Language is another factor—some South Asians don’t speak English, or not fluently. People often connect with God best in their own language and culture. So some will integrate into intercultural churches, but others will prefer mono-churches. We need to allow both even if it’s not ideal.
Culture is a much more important aspect of our Christian identity than we sometimes realise, isn’t it?
Yes. A friend once told me, ‘Don’t let anyone tell you your Indian culture is far from who Jesus is.’ In fact, Indian culture is very close to biblical culture—honouring parents, generosity, hospitality,
sharing food. Jesus went and ate with lots of different people, and that’s how he brought people to his kingdom: he was eating with them, he was sharing stories with them, he was meeting people where they were.
When I first came to Jesus, I read the Bible through a British lens. Later I realised God made me brown, made me a woman, and I can see the gospel through that experience. So if God wants to reach South Asians, culture and community are important.
If he didn’t want different cultures, he wouldn’t have created them. The real question is: how well do we love one another across difference?
What advice do you have for British Christians who want to show the love of Jesus to Indian people?
Keep an eye on the Evangelical Alliance website in December for the launch of www.eauk.org
Discovering Jesus
Firstly, be sensitive to individuals. Not every Indian person has the same story. Sometimes we see the gospel as a blanket thing share to a group of people, rather than understanding that God wants to meet with individual people intimately. He wants to meet with them where they are. Some are wealthy and successful; others may be struggling in poverty or facing family rejection. God meets people where they are, not as a “group.”
Second, ask questions and find common ground. Don’t be afraid to ask about someone’s culture, traditions, or faith. For example, many South Asians fast or pray—you can use that as a bridge to talk about your own faith. Festivals like Diwali can also be opportunities to talk about Jesus as the light of the world.
Next, be a genuine friend. Your friend may choose not to follow Jesus and whilst this is heartbreaking God has given them a choice, our role is to keep loving them without any expectation, to keep praying for them in the hope they will follow Jesus. It’s the Holy Spirit’s role to bring about transformation of the heart.
Finally, support people in their culture. We encourage new believers to remain rooted in their community, though sometimes the Lord does move people into new areas. Often the best witness is when they remain in their culture and share Jesus with their own people. Be genuine family to them as they face challenges.
Jesus said, ‘I stand at the door and knock’—He doesn’t barge in. Often the simplest way is to invite someone for a meal, walk alongside them, love them regardless of whether they ever believe. You never know—sometimes seeds planted bear fruit decades later.
Finally, what’s your dream for Indian people?
God recently gave me an image of dry ground breaking and new life springing up. That’s my dream: to see Indians in the UK follow Jesus, and for that transformation to spread back to India too.
India has such a vast population and I’d love to see it on fire for Jesus. Jesus is the God of the universe. My prayer is to see even a glimpse of that transformation in my lifetime and say, ‘Wow, this is only the Lord’s work.’
The Indian Diaspora:
FACTS AND FIGURES
According to the 2021 census, 1.9 million Indians live in England.
115,000 Indians in England are Christians.
Indian diaspora people arriving in the UK during the 1970s came via East Africa, where their families may have been living for generations These days, immigration directly from India is on the rise. Newer immigrants tend to come as engineers or medical professionals. British-born Indians are interspersed throughout Britain, but those who have immigrated tend to cluster in cities along the M1 corridor - places like Leicester and Milton Keynesand in the London Brent area.
Thank you to Rani Joshi for providing these facts and figures from the 2021 census and her own extensive knowledge and personal experience.
HOW TO PRAY FOR
Pray for Christians in India
For protection from violence for believers as persecution continues to rise.
That church leaders would be bold and fearless as they guide their people through particularly challenging times.
That Christians, and especially church leaders would be bold and strong in their proclamation of the gospel.
That new Christians would be resilient in the face of opposition, sometimes violent, from family and community. Pray that churches would generously embrace those who are rejected by family because of their faith.
That Christians would show God’s love across traditional caste barriers.
Due to persecution, numbers of house churches have risen significantly. Pray for exponential growth, and for protection from persecution.
That church leaders who have been imprisioned would be released without harm.
Pray for the Indian diaspora in the UK
That both indigenous British churches and South Asian churches would have effective and sensitive ministry to Indians across cultural differences.
That Hindus would meet Jesus while also staying connected to their families and communities.
That South Asian churches would have unity and collaboration.
That young people would encounter Jesus and lives would be transformed.
For genuine friendships to be developed with Christians, resulting in softened hearts and salvation for the lost.
India
Pray for unreached peoples in India
That hearts will be changed and they will confess Jesus as the one true God and accept his love for them.
For greater access to aid and education, regardless of caste, class or socio-economic group.
That the hearts of those in power would be softened and that freedom of religion would be a reality.
That Hindu nationalism would fade and people of all faiths would be allowed to express their faith without fear.
That a sense of ‘freedom to persuade’ would prevail so that respectful gospel proclamation would not only be allowed but valued as a right.
That more workers, national and international, would be called into gospel ministry so that the 1 billion unreached people in India would have access to the gospel of Christ.
in.thegospelcoalition.org operationworld.org indiago.org prayercast.com
R A D AT THE CROSS
AMANDA A, EDITOR OF REACH, IN CONVERSATION WITH FRED D, ASSOCIATE INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR FOR ASIA
Hi Fred, It’s great to finally meet you! Let’s start with an easy one: tell me a bit about yourself.
Thank you so much for reaching out to me. My name is Fred, and I am from Ghana and married to Evelyn, who is also a Ghanaian. Together we have four children – three young ladies, and a young man, our youngest. He just finished 11 years of school here in Chiang Mai, Thailand, this beautiful city that we now call home.
Before Thailand we served in Ghana and were involved in sharing the gospel, discipling new believers, planting churches, mobilising new workers, serving in raising leaders and church partners for a growing, indigenous African mission movement. I served as Mobilisation Base Director for Pioneers Africa from 2009 to 2014 and then Associate International Director of Pioneers with oversight for our global internationalisation-related priorities in 2014. I now serve as one of four Associate International Directors but with specific oversight for leaders and ministries in a number of countries in Asia. We have a leadership community called the Kenosis Antioch Table, which also includes a number of Pioneers’
Mobilisation Gateway Directors, and I am privileged to be serving these leaders and our international movement as a whole.
What’s your favourite thing about your role?
Nine out of the twelve countries where I serve have, together, nearly 75% of the world’s unreached peoples. This is the context in which the Lord has placed me. I’m not sure I’m the right person to be in this role, but I’m here anyway, by his grace and mercy. And I am motivated and inspired by the truth that this wonderful, powerful, and glorious gospel of Jesus Christ is still the greatest message in the history of the world. It excites me and is a great motivation. For my role, I get to be a witness of God’s story that Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, is bringing redemption and deliverance to the nations of the world. And my role entails the stewarding of this mission of God, shepherding the hearts of the men and women and families through whom God is accomplishing his work, and serving as their servant. Simply put, washing the feet of other servants towards ministry fruitfulness and effectiveness by God’s grace. That is the best part of my role.
As I understand it, the Pioneers ‘world’ is split into three Antioch Tables, each covering a ‘slice’ of the globe. Tell me more about the Kenosis Antioch Table and its purpose.
The Kenosis Antioch Table covers ministry in Central, South and South East Asia. It’s a community of the field and mobilisation’spheres of our operational life as an organisation – both field leaders and mobilisation gateway representatives sit on the table. Taking the gospel to unreached peoples and communities is our key priority but more than that, is our desire to discern what the Lord is doing in Asia and lean into his eternal work. In the light of the significant change in the missions landscape, we don’t have an option but to open our leadership spaces up so that we can connect some necessary dots - for us to link arms together with every segment of the body of Christ for gospel advance. Some of that is part of our current experience, but there’s a bit of it that is an aspiration, so we have to keep trusting the Lord.
You mentioned ‘connecting the dots’. What are the dots that need to be connected?
Wow! That’s a big question. There’s no doubt that in missions today, the landscape is not the same as it was in 1910 or 1940. The Lord of the harvest is at work, and we are all experiencing the significant shifts that are taking place in the demographic,
geographic and cultural expressions of the church, globally. We are seeing the rise and growing influence of missional movements around the world that are shaping and influencing the breadth and scope of global missions.
At the same time, we also have, for want of a better expression, ‘traditional’ mission agencies that God, in his wisdom and sovereignty, has used to accomplish his purposes through the ages. There is a certain arm of Pioneers that will say they are 46 years old. But there are other movements or streams that are part of this family called Pioneers that were founded more than a century ago. So the seeds that were sown years ago in places like Africa, the Pacific, Latin America, and Asia, I believe, by God’s grace, are bearing fruit today in the growth of the church around the world. I like to think that whatever is happening in terms of that extraordinary growth is part of Pioneers’ story by God’s grace.
But there’s a disconnect, you know? And I think that we have a challenge as to how to adjust - how to respond to what the Lord is doing in ways that integrate brothers and sisters from these emerging missional movements, churches and ministries into our Pioneers family so that together, in one accord, we can press forward in gospel advance. It’s a journey, and I guess this is what perhaps gave rise to concepts like internationalisation - asking questions like, ‘How do we respond to what God is doing? How do we receive well? How do we integrate well?’
‘We are seeing the rise and growing influence of missional movements around the world that are shaping and influencing the breadth and scope of global missions.’
What exactly is internationalisation?
There are two sides to the internationalisation coin: one is receiving well. Receiving people, receiving gospel workers that the Lord of the harvest is raising for his harvest fields. But it’s not just receiving ‘them’ to ‘us’. There’s also the aspect of what the Lord has endowed or poured into these parts of the body of Christthe gifts they have been given for his work. How do we create space and receive fellow brothers and sisters and their gifts well?
‘To say that we have members from ... 50 or more countries is significant, but if we are not leveraging the gifts of the members from all these countries, then something is not right.’
The answer to that question has implications for participation. It has implications for what ‘invitation’ means, what ‘welcome’ means, what ‘community’ means, what a thriving, flourishing and enabling environment might look like in reality. Issues like inclusion, diversity, and belonging are very key. But also, instead of just saying, ‘Come and join us’, there’s also the need for us to join what God is doing through them.
It may help to go into the history of internationalisation from a global missions perspective and then see how that rolls into Pioneers. There were studies done between 1975 and 1989 that identified, and began to quantify and make predictions about, the growth that was happening in missions outside of traditional Western sending countries. At that time some people began to see that something marvellous was taking place. Churches in the Global South and East were sending out their own missionaries. The response of Western mission agencies came to be known as the internationalisation of missions.
So internationalisation is the process of Western mission agencies seeking to incorporate the global church into mission activity. The initial
expression of internationalisation was a focus on the makeup of personnel – but this did not necessarily mean an experience of inclusion. The two are not the same. You asked me earlier about connecting dots. This is one of the dots that needs continuous reflection and evaluation to make sure that we keep the dots connected. To say that we have members from, let’s say, 50 or more countries is significant, but if we are not leveraging the gifts of the members from all these countries, then something is not right. It helps me to look at internationalisation as a learning process or a journey.
The two key features of internationalisation are diverse cultures and different approaches to accomplishing the resourcing, governing, planning,
and organising of missions. But as soon as you say, ‘different approaches,’ there is some discomfort or unrest. That’s where we have some of the tensions. But I feel that internalisation also invites us into the tensions. It invites us into the complexities. It invites us into the ambiguities of multicultural or intercultural living. The willingness to learn from one another is always a challenge, because sometimes it means that we have to be willing to unlearn some things that we have learned in order to be able to receive from another person, or from another context. And that’s the challenge. We hold tightly to our thoughts, our worldviews, our backgrounds, and say, ‘No, this is the way I’ve always known or done this.’ Having a learning posture is a challenge.
It’s been 50 years since the concept of internationalisation started ringing out in mission agency circles and it’s important to note, my dear sister, that as wonderful as the idea sounds, most agencies are still struggling today with how to adjust and find themselves locked in old structural paradigms and policy directions that allow for little flexibility in responding to the opportunities and challenges of today. Again, this gives you another idea of the dots that need to be connected.
Pioneers International embraced the concept of internationalisation back in 1994 when the Pioneers USA branch agreed not to build franchises in the nations of the world. Rather, they chose to be a part of a fellowship of sending entities around the world, which launched us into the path of internationalisation. It is important that we, as a mission family, recognise that much has been accomplished, and that much more remains to be done. It’s going to take a dying to self, a dying to some paradigms and models that we tightly hold on to for the kind of breakthroughs that we are aiming for.
The missionary statesman, Samuel Escober of blessed memory, once said, ‘The world to come at the end of history will be a world without the national barriers that divide people today. It will be a glorious and rich mosaic of peoples, languages, and cultures around the Lamb of God. Missionary internationalisation is a
clear step in that direction. A sign of the kingdom. The promise of things to come.’
It’s a compelling and enpowering vision. I don’t know what else can describe a family better than the inspiration of this biblical vision. By applying a biblical perspective to our internationalisation, mission organisations can demonstrate the power, the wonder, the glory of the gospel as they reflect the inclusive nature of the church in their membership. We live in a broken and troubled world, and what a witness when our internationalisation reflects these ideals, these hopes!
It’s a wonderful vision! But the day-to-day reality of shifting toward that vision of true, biblical internationalisation will surely be challenging.
Like I mentioned at the beginning, we see the astonishing growth and vitality of movements in the world, things that are happening by the grace and power of God - and we have the opportunity to build momentum in partnering with these ever-growing missional movements. However, while we are good at mobilising to the nations, we need to ask ourselves whether the same can be said about our progress in becoming an integral part of these global missional movements and how we are doing in linking arms in strategic ways with leaders, churches, and ministries around the world in serving the unreached of the world with the gospel -
even if that means serving under local leadership. So these are some of the dots that need to be connected.
Sometimes we are tempted to accept the invitation to a movement based on our terms only, which makes it difficult for us to appropriate the opportunities that partnerships and networks and alliances offer. The truth is, we need to wrestle with what ‘radical internationalisation’ might look like for gospel advance today, with the kind of cooperation that could enable us to use the strength of our diversity, working with like-minded partners, to reach where we historically have not been able to reach. Fostering organisational inclusion might include radical changes in both structure and culture. I honestly believe that Pioneers is at that kind of crossroad – structure, culture, policies, practice, and issues related to the skills and styles of our leaders.
know that our African brothers and sisters are gifted in prayer - persistence in prayer, energy in prayer - and also in worship - overflowing, energetic worship. But what are some of the other gifts that you have seen coming from our Global South and East brothers and sisters in Pioneers that you think are the key gifts that could create more balance within Pioneers’ kingdom ministry?
God in his wisdom, chose to birth us from different parts of his wonderful world. People are coming from contexts in which all they have known is civil strife, persecution, war, poverty, famineand they’ve learned the art and science of thriving and flourishing from those contexts. We have people who are coming with a vibrancy of faith in God, no matter what. It is not passive. People are coming with gifts of actually knowing how to say ‘Hello’, simple things like that. Knowing how to greet and not to bypass anybody without saying, ‘Good morning, good afternoon, good evening.’ They know how to create open spaces for relationships. They come from collectivist contexts where people generally look out for the other. They bring gifts of harmony. They bring gifts of what it means to invite. They bring gifts of what it means to welcome. They bring gifts of what it means to listen - to listen and withhold judgment. Some of them are coming with an alertness for the honouring of all peoples. They are inter-generational people who respect their elders. I don’t know where I’d be without the elders that sat me down, that discipled me, that looked into my eyes and said, ‘Fred, why are you being so stupid?’ Elders have that right. They help you and you receive their blessings. This kind of upbringing prepares people for mutual submission and respect.
You’ve mentioned a couple of times about the gifts that people coming from missional movements have that, maybe, aren’t being called upon as much as they could be. I think I understand a little bit of what you mean. For instance, we
Some of these folks are coming from hard places and have learned how to thrive and flourish in difficulty. They have an experience of evangelism and gospel proclamation. Yes, there’s a place for people to come to the field and learn that, but it’s also a big deal to be someone who already has a track record of sharing the gospel, of knowing what it means when people stop you in your tracks and ask you difficult questions of faith.
Some of them are coming with leadership insights and need to take their rightful places in our circles of leadership and decisionmaking to help enrich our deliberations and discernment about the things of God. Some come as teachers of the Bible, and they help open our eyes to see Scripture with a different lens. And all that helps to grow and enrich us. And we grow into spiritual maturity. And … the list could be endless.
To me, it sounds like you’re saying that internationalisation is vital for the continuation of global missions. Is that a fair statement?
Let me share and honour one of my mentors whose words of wisdom speak to your question. He says, ‘The global missionary enterprise is at a crossroads today. Every Christian mission agency must step back for a moment of reflection and face itself squarely. Will we listen to what the Spirit of God is seeking to do in this present dispensation, or will we insist on business as usual? If, indeed, we are truly focused on Jesus and his glory rather than our various corporate images and mission philosophies, then we cannot but embrace koinonia. This great term encapsulates the idea of genuine Christian fellowship, and an avowed commitment to the concept of the one body, with specialised paths which work together to benefit the whole.’
‘Will we listen to what the Spirit of God is seeking to do in this present dispensation, or will we insist on business as usual?’
the harvest that he is cultivating from every part of his body, and mission agencies, and everyone else will need to die to self. This is at the heart of the matter. We need to die to self and create space for the participation of others in God’s mission. We need to think through roles and contributions that might best align with what he is doing. What might keeping a pioneering edge look like in the world of our day? It’s going to take a dying to some paradigms and models that we tightly hold on to for breakthroughs in the challenges that we face today. And I believe that is why the biblical concept of koinonia, which carries the rich multidimensional meaning of fellowship, sharing, contribution, participation, and partnership, has become so popular in our organisation. The radical change in the geographic, demographic, and cultural composition of the Church is continuing, and the family of Christ is growing unstoppably, meaning global mission is now increasingly strengthened by movements and churches in the majority world. How may we seize this extraordinary moment for gospel advance? How may we grow, deepen, and leverage our multicultural communities for faithfulness in living out the good news of hope among ourselves and in the eyes of the world, particularly among unreached people groups and communities around the world?
Why is internationalisation so vital for the continuation of global missions ? It’s a question we all have to ponder on. The key thing for each of us to wrestle with is, ‘What is God doing, and how may we join in what he’s doing?’ Our father is raising workers for
Yes, of course there are challenges, but the future of missions, praise God, is as bright and hopeful as the promises of God. It is the Lord who is at work; it is the Lord who is on the move. I want to end with Psalm 22:27, ‘All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.’ This is God’s promise. This is why, for me, the future of missions is as bright and hopeful as anything … because it’s our Father who is at work. So we need not to hold tightly to human things. Our eyes had better be on God. Internationalisation, or globalisation, or koinonia is the way of the cross. This should be the headline: the laying down of ourselves and our name, and even our reputation and future like Jesus, our servant leader and Lord. He modelled for us a willingness to make crucified-life sacrifices. That’s what it’s going to take. What’s our response?
A Godly Harmony
PARTNERSHIP WITH INDIAN CHURCH PLANTING AGENCIES
BY MRS SHOBANA NELSON, INDIAN EVANGELICAL MISSION
“T“The perfect harmony within the men and women created in the image of God is a proclamation that partnership is a fundamental purpose in God’s creation. We know that God can fulfil His mission without our involvement and contribution. But God always lowers himself to such an extent that we can grasp his purpose and partner with him in his mission at our level with our inadequacies and shortcomings. Further, the Bible talks about the perfect harmony within the Trinity: Father, the Creator, Son, the Redeemer and Holy Spirit, the Sustainer. Therefore, we are encouraged to work in partnership in every sphere of life.”
- Rt. Rev Dr Pradeep Kumar Samantaroy, Former Bishop, Church of North India, Amritsar Diocese, for OUTREACH1 magazine
The truth of this statement is indisputable. The core principle of partnership originates from our Divine Creator himself. Our God is inherently relational. The Triune God provides an exemplary model for partnerships. When the same Triune God has given us a global mandate for each church and individual, how can we fulfil it without partnerships?
India, now the world’s most populous country and the only nation with a wide diversity of languages and peoples, aims to lead in education, technology, healthcare, and infrastructure. Despite significant progress amidst numerous challenges, issues like poverty, unemployment, corruption, and other interconnected problems remain widespread. Amid these issues, the country also leans towards a majoritarian, macho mindset, aiming to define itself as the only Hindu nation.
The Indian Church, at such a pivotal juncture, endeavours to serve as the salt and light of the world but confronts numerous challenges that hinder its substantial impact. It is burdened by escalating community and societal demands, struggles to support its past and current workers, and faces difficulties in engaging the Next-Gen. Issues including biblical illiteracy, inadequate instruction on sound doctrines, insufficient funds and expertise, a lack of godly and strong leadership, and the inculcation of secular values plague the church. Consequently, these issues have cultivated a closed-minded attitude, thereby marginalising the significance of global missions.
It is no exaggeration to acknowledge that the Indian missionary enterprise has thrived through partnerships formed both within India and internationally. Recently, however, the landscape has
begun to shift. Initiatives by Christian organisations now demand careful and deliberate consideration due to ongoing political and societal challenges, as illustrated below.
‘Members of an Indian Christian organisation and a foreign entity discussed a clear goal and a cutting-edge mission to support the underprivileged in India. The foreign entity expected the process to proceed smoothly, potentially providing medical care to thousands. It was a golden opportunity, but gaining acceptance in the receptor country, especially from its leadership, proved challenging. The result: the mission was ultimately abandoned.’ 2
This incident is just one of the many occurring in India today, but it offers an overview of the current mission scene. The country’s diverse needs are unique and undeniably challenging; the scale of addressing them alone is impossible without partnerships from both within and outside. However, executing the same is another story, especially with international collaborations!
Nevertheless, God has not overlooked the Indian Church and its role in fulfilling the biblical mandate of global missions. He has established and continues to found indigenous missions and churches in the country that align with and promote the global mission mandate. In addition to advancing global missions, this engagement has prompted Indian churches to recognise the importance of obeying the global mandate, encouraging collaboration with indigenous and international parachurch organisations.
Take the example of the Indian Evangelical Mission (IEM), an indigenous mission established in 1965 to serve the vast unevangelised populations within and outside India. ‘In the same year, when they were celebrating their 100th anniversary, the Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF), formerly the China Inland Mission founded by Hudson Taylor, decided to become an international
fellowship admitting missionaries from other racial and national backgrounds as well as those from the west, Since then, OMF councils have sprung up in various countries of Asia, with national initiative and leadership, to recruit and support Asian missionaries who are appointed to work with the OMF. In India the IEM cooperates with the OMF on a partnership basis.’ 3
The expansion of the Overseas Missionary Fellowship’s policy in 1965, coincided with the founding of IEM. The move became a divinely inspired directive guiding IEM to focus on the global mandate through partnerships. Since then, the word ‘partnership’ has become a household word for IEM, both in establishing and inviting collaborations, locally and internationally.
Thus, IEM has served various people groups across Asian, African, Oceania, and European countries such as Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Afghanistan, the Gulf nations, the Philippines, England, Sudan, Ghana, and Malawi through partnerships with OMF, BMMF (now Interserve), Society for International Ministries (SIM), APCM now Pioneers Australia, and a few more. It has also gratefully received expertise in training, shaped its principles and practices, gained linguistic skills, established short-term Bible schools, and explored many other ways to advance its church
‘God has not overlooked the Indian Church and its role in fulfilling the biblical mandate of global missions.’
planting efforts from partnership agencies, thanks to Wycliffe Bible Translators, along with others mentioned previously.
Partnerships with indigenous organisations mutually benefit both parties and support the global mission. They assist candidates through processing, training, supervision, and placement, while strengthening prayer support and outreach. Such collaborations can enhance media coverage of missionary work, facilitate resource sharing at conventions and workshops, and develop tailored training programmes for different peoples and languages and projects for specific needs. 4
An indigenous agency would have a deeper understanding of local realities, native religions, their underlying philosophies, and way of life than its foreign counterparts. It would be better equipped to address linguistic and cultural challenges specific to India, reduce living costs associated with non-indigenous personnel, and foster greater acceptance among the local population.
Furthermore, it would contribute to minimising the probability of false accusations and misunderstandings in the name of conversion, associated with people coming to Christ. An indigenous agency faces fewer challenges integrating into local communities, as emotional and logistical strains, such as healthcare, member care, home assignments, and children’s education, if at the home base, are significantly reduced for its workers. 5
It also enables better mission awareness and local support within the country. However, the road may not be smooth without hardships. Challenges may arise in aligning with indigenous missions, work ethics, and legal frameworks. While outsiders may
lack the nuanced understanding locals possess, collaboration can bridge gaps and enhance overall impact.
For international agencies seeking to serve Hindu populations, collaborating with Indian organisations operating within the country is deemed optimal, as India is the birthplace of Hinduism and has the majority of its population practising the religion. This partnership will facilitate meaningful engagement with the subject matter, scholars, and existing systems.
Given limited opportunities for international agencies in countries like India, collaborating with indigenous bodies is both appropriate and practical. Public hostility, restrictive policies, and persecution persist, but since the gospel remains the key transformative agent, partnering with Indian organisations to reach Hindus would effectively spread the gospel among diverse groups. For the global church, investing in Indian partnerships is crucial to fulfilling the Great Commission.
1 OUTREACH, the official organ of the Indian Evangelical Mission (IEM)
2 Discussion shared by a colleague
3 IEM Outreach, July 1968, p.4
Mrs Shobana Nelson served as a church planter and Bible translator in North India and is now the Editor of OUTREACH magazine of the Indian Evangelical Mission, based in Hosur, Tamil Nadu.
4 Ministry to different countries – IEM beyond the Borders Rev. Dr. E.D. Raja Singh Elias
5 Ministry to different countries – IEM beyond the Borders Rev. Dr. E.D. Raja Singh Elias
When mobilisation hits a snag...
THE HAZARDS OF CROSS-CULTURAL MOBILISATION
BY CHEE W, PIONEERS MISSION MENTOR
Contextualisation is key for missionaries. It means sharing the gospel in a manner that is appropriate to the people receiving it. It is not one size (method) fits all. What is less obvious is that contextualisation is also key for mobilisation. Mobilising people to be missionaries to reach the unreached must also be done in a manner that is appropriate to the person, and their church.
A typical journey in mobilising someone in the UK goes like this: Robin approaches a Pioneers stand at a Christian event. He is interested in exploring becoming a missionary. Pioneers gets his contact information and proceeds to journey with him, encouraging to speak with his church leaders. After a year, Robin takes the step to be a missionary and applies. Early in the process, Pioneers starts communicating with Robin’s church leaders. The church is happy for Robin and hopes the best for him.
Now, swap Robin for Wong, a 2nd generation Chinese born in the UK, attending a Chinese church in the UK. He goes through the same process as Robin and when it comes to application, it hits a snag. The pastor is upset that Wong had not discussed his calling with the church earlier. The pastor is also not happy that Pioneers had not discussed this with the church themselves before starting to journey with Wong. Wong’s actions of following his calling without guidance from church leaders doesn’t sit well with the church leadership, to say the least. Wong’s mobilisation comes to a premature end.
In UK white British society, individualism is a key value.
Conversely, in many diaspora churches from the Global South (South Asians, East Asians, Africans, and Latin Americans), community and hierarchy are key values. While it is culturally fine for Robin, as an individual, to decide by himself and start speaking with Pioneers without consultating his church beforehand, it is not for Wong. The context of both churches is very different. Furthermore, even though Wong may identify more with British culture, he still partly has his ethnic culture within him. His church’s unwillingness to send him hits him hard and he takes it as a ‘no’ from God. How unfortunate that a cultural snag has caused one less missionary when workers are few, but the harvest is wide.
This is just a simplified example to show why contextualisation is necessary in mobilising, particularly in a diverse church landscape such as the UK. There are many other contextual issues that pose as snags for mobilisation: the relationship between Pioneers and the church, missionary pre-field preparation, support raising, and managing expectations, among others. To mobilise effectively, with a good partnership with the sending church, it must be done in a manner appropriate to the potential missionary and their sending church.
Originally from Malaysia, and with mission experience in Asia, North Africa and Europe, Chee serves as one of Pioneers’ Mission Mentors, focusing on mobilising Asian diaspora Christians in the UK and Ireland.
REFLECTING God’s Heart for India
BY DAVID B, PIONEERS’ AREA LEADER FOR MID-ENGLAND AND WALES
Though Christians are in the minority in India, I was very fortunate to have had a Christian upbringing. I am a third generation Christian and my parents were active in Christian ministry. I surrendered to Jesus myself when I was in my late teenage years, and from the moment I received him into my life, I’ve had a love for God’s word - to understand it, to study it, to really dig deep into it. As a young man, I attended a missions conference in India and there felt that the Lord was calling me into full-time ministry. My wife and I travelled to the UK in the late 1980s
to attend Bible college at All Nations Christian College near London, where we spent our weekends helping a pastor friend serving amongst the South Asian community there. It was during that time that the Lord placed a burden in our hearts for diaspora ministry.
1n 1990, my wife and I returned to India, where we served for 18 years doing a whole lot of different things - church planting, church leadership, pastoral ministry, youth ministry, and teaching in a Bible college as well.
Then, in 2008, as a family, we moved to the Middle East where I pastored an international church for five years. In 2012 we were invited back to the UK to join a project led by a partnership of eight churches who were trying to reach out to the South Asian diaspora community in Cardiff. The project didn't have the ability to sponsor foreign workers, so they reached out to various agencies, and Pioneers agreed to sponsor us and to second us to the project.
Thirteen years later, we are still with Pioneers, still in Cardiff, and still reaching out to the South Asian diaspora community here. I now serve as Pioneers’ Area Leader for Mid-England and Wales, supporting seven Pioneers field teams and specifically their team leaders. The teams are all involved in church planting amongst unreached people groups, and my role is to come alongside the team leaders, offering support, resources, prayer, and encouragement, and helping them to strategise as to how they can grow their teams and their ministries, partner with local churches, and be involved in church planting amongst unreached people groups.
So that’s my primary responsibilisty, but my wife and I are also involved in local ministry. I work with international students in partnership with our local church. I also partner with four diaspora churches in Cardiff - Arabic, Iranian, Indian, and Pakistani - helping them in practical ways like preaching, training and supporting their leaders. I love being available to encourage them in the faith but also to help them be evangelists in their own communities, reaching their people, partnering with local churches, and also passing on the vision for reaching the unreached to local British churches. We volunteer at the local refugee centre, helping with practical needs, hearing their stories, counselling them, teaching English, and studying the Bible with any who are interested.
share their challenges, pray and cry with one another and share resources.
One of my big dreams is to see new teams of church planters start ministry in target cities, and top of the list is Leicester, where I would love to see a Pioneers team form to reach the Hindu community. A year or two after stepping into the Area Leader role and visiting the teams in different locations around the Midlands and Wales, it struck me that most of the teams are working amongst Muslims. Muslims in the UK are, of course, an unreached people group. They need to hear the gospel, and they are in large numbers, not only in the Mid-England and Wales Area, but in the whole of the UK. Many of them have come from
‘...walking past temples and Indian restaurants; Hindu flags everywhere. It was like being back in India.’
countries that are closed to the gospel, where they will have had little to no opportunity to hear the gospel or read the Bible or meet with a Christian.
My wife also works with children and adults with special needs, and runs a support group in our home for the mothers of children with special needs. It’s a safe place for them to come together,
As I was visiting the teams I support during those first couple of years, it became apparent that there are other diaspora groups who shouldn’t be forgotten - and among those are my own people, the Indian people. My Indianness and my background of serving in India and growing up in a Hindu country kicked in, and I discovered that there are large numbers of Hindus in all of the UK’s major cities, and in particular, in my Area. Soon I learned about the huge Hindu community in Leicester and made a trip over there for the first time to get a feel for what it is like - living and walking in Hindu communities and bumping into people from a Hindu background, walking past temples and Indian restaurants; Hindu flags everywhere. It was like being back in India.
I began to do more research and realised that while there is work going on to reach them, it's nowhere near what is needed. We need so much more. And then, as I began to do more research and talk to people in Pioneers, I discovered that there is no Pioneers team dedicated to reaching Hindu people in the UK or Europe! That came as a real shocker to me. So over the years, I’ve been trying to get connected with local churches in Leicester, trying to hear their heart for mission and evangelism - are they sensing a call to reach out to Hindus? If not, why not? If so, what are they doing to reach them?
I’ve spent lots of time walking the streets of Leicester, praying, connecting with people in the parks, in the restaurants, getting to know where they’re coming from and what it is to be a Hindu in the UK. It’s so different from being a Hindu in India.
Interestingly, most Indians in Leicester have come to the UK via Kenya or Uganda. Many young Indians would consider Kenya or Uganda their home. Thay may not have even visited India. They would call themselves Hindus but would never have been to the holy sites in India. This adds another layer to their identity. Obviously, when parents or grandparents moved from India to Africa, their expression of faith and their practices would have changed. They had to adapt. Then they will have had to adapt again when they came to the UK. So being a Hindu in the UK often means being quite a mix of cultures.
different perspective. Hindus aren’t oppressed or persecuted in the UK. They have all the freedoms that they need. But there’s an awareness that they’re a minority and that brings different layers of how you express your faith, how confident you are in it. In most cases, this results in a community that tends to be quite close-knit. There is a sense of belonging and security when they’re together. In India, communities are not as tight-knit. But
‘Being Hindu in the UK often means being quite a mix of cultures.’
Being Hindu in the UK also means being a minority, compared to being Hindu in India. Just living in that space gives a whole
in the cities in the UK, many Hindus keep to themselves. They live in Hindu neighbourhoods, they hang around with Hindu friends. Life revolves around the temple.
This brings challenges for outsiders, when we think of trying to enter into such a close-knit community - especially when you’re trying to not just build relationships and friendships, but when you seek to bring the gospel into the community. I’ve been making the need for more work amongst Hindus known to the
wider Pioneers family for a few years now, and praying that God would bring together a Pioneers team to work amongst Hindus in Leicester specifically.
There is always a need for more workers, and this is something we’ve been praying about for a long time. We’d love to see God raise up a couple, preferably from India and with church planting experience, to pioneer this work amongst Hindus. Unfortunately, the challenge we face is support raising. For an Indian family to come to the UK, the amount of support they would have to raise would be a huge mountain for them to climb. But I have to keep reminding myself and my friends that if God really has called someone, he will provide. My wife and I are testimonies of that. So we keep praying.
Of course, we live in a nation full of missionaries - every Christian in the UK is called to share Jesus’ love with the people around them. In the past, the British church sent so many missionaries to my part of the world. My ancestors came to faith as a result of the labour of British missionaries. The church in the UK has given a lot to the people of India and we praise God for that.
I know some churches who are hesitant - they’re fearful of taking the first step of connecting with people who are so different to themselves. But there’s also a sense of ignorance. We just don’t know about other religions - Hinduism or Buddhism or Islam - so we can’t understand where they’re coming from. And there’s a sense in which we have become too comfortable in the way we do church. We don’t want to step our of our comfort zone, out of the box, and rethink ways to do church that would be more welcoming and inclusive of people who don’t speak English as their first language, or sing the same songs we do. We need to be more flexible and willing to change.
People aren’t going to come to our midweek Bible study or prayer meeting. Instead, what are the things that we, as a church, could offer them that would help us to engage with them? An English conversation class or a sewing class...?
Every church has its challenges of resources and personnel, but I think that’s where we, as a Pioneers team, at least in Cardiffand, I suspect, all over the UK and Ireland - would like to come alongside churches and help them understand other cultures or
Make disciples of all nations...
Matthew 28: 19
But with immigration on the increase, mission has now come to our doorstep. Many of these people have come from countries that are closed to the gospel. But here they are in our neighbourhoods, living in the square mile around the church. The church has a great opportunity to engage with these people. Some churches still look at mission as being across the sea in far away places like Africa and Asia. There needs to be a change in that mindset. It’s not an accident that these people are in our neighbourhoods and on our street. God brought them here for a reason.
other religions. We could even offer ourselves to come to your church, use your facilities, and run an outreach - and you could partner with us, even if you’re ‘just’ making teas and coffees in the background. We could be engaging with people, and slowly you could grow in confidence and come alongside us.
We would be happy to help your church. And we would love for you to help us too. And together we can show the love of Jesus to the Indians and other unreached peoples the Lord has brought to the UK and Ireland so that they, too, may hear.
Legacy: M AURICE & DILYS COTTOM
BY MARK C, PIONEERS’ PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR
Many of the former missionaries to Nigeria in our big Pioneers family will fondly remember Maurice and Dilys Cottom who were such rocks within our movement and within the church family they served later on their return to England.
Setting sail from Liverpool in January 1954, Maurice went to teach Geography and Dilys, English in the Boys’ Secondary School in Gindiri. Gindiri proved to be a wonderful, close community to
work in and both would say that the friendships they formed with their colleagues there were the closest they had all their lives. Even in their final years in the UK, Nigerian friends, whom they had known as students in the school, came to visit and share memories together.
One vivid memory was a night in 1967 when 26 Igbo students crowded into their living room to pray before setting off on a
hazardous trip in a 14-seater minibus driven by Maurice and John Dean to safety in Jos, central Nigeria, at the beginning of the terrible Biafran War. God miraculously protected and provided on that journey.
Maurice became Principle of the school in 1960, while Dilys focused on caring for their five children and welcoming many guests to the family home. In due course, they returned to teaching jobs in North Wales in 1969 writing, ‘During the past 15 years we have seen many answers to prayer, and have learned a great deal about the ways of God. We are grateful for what He has taught us. We have seen many young people coming to Christ… and now we know they are serving Him where God has placed them. We have known the love of Christ in action, breaking down barriers of race and background and prejudice. We will never cease to be grateful to God.’
Upon retirement, Maurice and Dilys moved to be nearer their children in Surrey, becoming very active members of New Malden Baptist Church while maintaining their passions of classical music and Maurice’s love of running an allotment!
Dilys passed away in 2018 and Maurice in 2023 leaving a gift in their Wills to continue the work of Pioneers, especially in Nigeria where we support Grace and Light’s vital HIV/AIDS initiatives. We give thanks to God for such people as dear Maurice and Dilys who wanted to see the gospel continue to be spread after their natural lifetime by leaving a legacy.
Find out more about leaving a legacy at: www.pioneers.org.uk/give-to-missions/ leave-a-legacy-to-missions or get in touch with Mark at MarkC@pioneers.org.uk
Would you like to play your part in global mission to unreached people groups and unreached places?
Would you like to be part of a dynamic and developing mission agency?
WE’RE LOOKING FOR NEW TRUSTEES!
We are currently seeking new trustees to provide fresh insight as we fulfil our governance and strategic leadership responsibilities.
Pioneers mobilises cross-cultural mission workers from the UK and Ireland to the rest of the world, including the UK and Ireland. We currently support over 150 workers in some of the world’s most difficult areas. We also encourage the church in the UK and Ireland to pray for and support global mission.
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
For a complete role description and to find out how to apply, visit www.pioneers.org.uk/new-trustees
