India

In 1891 Mary Thompson was the first Australian missionary with Australian Churches of Christ. Many other missionaries followed and served the Churches of Christ in Western India (CCCWI).

The responsibility for the leadership of CCCWI was handed over to local leadership in a process begun in 1958 and completed in 1971. The last full time and longest serving missionaries were Hazel Skuce (1949-1992) and Edna Vawser (1926 – 1994)!

Profile

Population: 1.1 Billion (UN, 2007)
Language: Hindi (national language), English and 21 other official languages,
Literacy: Male 73.4%, Female 47.8%.
Average life expectancy: around 65 years (UN).
Major religions: Hinduism (81%), Islam (13%), Christianity (2%), Sikhism (2%), Buddhism (1%), and others such as Jainism and Zoroastrianism.

India is the world’s largest democracy and the second most populous country. The Indian subcontinent covers a diverse geographical area from the Himalayas, to the jungles of Burma and in the south close to Sri Lanka. It includes deserts, river flood plains and cooler mountainous regions. In area India is less than half the size of Australia.

The border region with Pakistan is quite unstable and there are continuing tensions with regard to the actions of religious militant fundamentalists in Orissa and north western India. Tensions exist between Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and Hindu. This continues to be a crisis for the Christian communities in Orissa.

India is a country of contrasts. This is very obvious when it comes to talking in terms of economic development. It has a growing upper and middle class, and many millions of people who have not benefited from India’s development. The gap between the rich and poor is vast. India is becoming known for its growing technology and manufacturing industries.

The Hindu caste system still undergirds Indian society. Access to clean water, basics health and employment is still not a reality for millions of people. Growing problems such as over population, environmental degradation, limited health and education services and extensive poverty are some of the challenges to be faced in coming years.

Churches of Christ in Western India

In 1891 Mary Thompson was the first Australian missionary with Australian Churches of Christ. She was supported by the newly formed Foreign Christian Missionary Society and served alongside American missionaries in Harda, India.

In 1905 Mr and Mrs Henry Strutton arrived in Baramati, the first Westerners to live in the town. They bought 1.2 ha of land on the edge of town and pitched a tent under a large tree. There were no Indian Christians there at that time. Mr Strutton conducted a survey and began evangelistic work accompanied by an Indian evangelist recruited from another mission. Mrs Strutton commenced sewing classes for women. She later held daily educational classes for the women and children, first at Baramati and then at Shrigonda.

The first baptismal service was held twelve months later with one of the five candidates going on to pastor the church at Baramati. The first congregation for the Baramati Church of Christ was constituted on 7 October 1906.

The initial people group reached were from the lowest caste group, the Dalits.

Many other missionaries followed and served the Churches of Christ in Western India. By 1923 there were fifteen missionaries (many of whom served for several decades in India), 26 Indian staff, three churches, 10 outstations and 124 members. Two years later the Baramati congregation began its own ‘home mission’ when it started an outreach in the village of Bori. In 1927 the four main congregations established in western India formed the Conference of Churches of Christ in Western India (CCCWI).

The responsibility for the leadership of CCCWI was handed over to local leadership in a process begun in 1958 and completed in 1971. The last full time and longest serving missionaries were Hazel Skuce (1949-1992) and Edna Vawser (1926 – 1994)!

(A more complete history can be found in PARTNERS 100 years of Mission Overseas by Churches of Christ in Australia.)

Current Ministries

The Bombay Christian Centre

The Bombay Christian Centre is a multi-level building providing a home for young men from rural areas who have come to the city for work. An active church meets on one level and another is used for community activities including a medical clinic.

Programmes are conducted in Mumbai to meet the needs of the immediate community, particularly those living in the slums. Currently there are five churches and seven Church of Christ fellowships meeting in the slums.

Ashwood Memorial Hospital

Ashwood Memorial Hospital (AMH), established in 1927 in Daund, is a 50 bed rural hospital providing affordable medical care to the poorest and most vulnerable in the community. AMH offered medical treatment when others turned them away because they could not afford the full health care costs.

Dr Philemon Pawar, Superintendent of AMH, has given more than 25 years of faithful, dedicated service to providing quality Christian ministry at AMH. He has overseen significant developments in the treatment of HIV/AIDS patients and offering family counselling and support.

In 2006 a new accommodation block was built for staff including short-term overseas practitioners. Currently AMH is upgrading their facilities to provide the best care for diabetic patients, another increasing problem in India.

Community health programmes extend into the village areas including Bhigwan and Shrigonda.

Baramati and Shrigonda Children’s Homes

Shrigonda Girls’ Home and Baramati Boy’s Home were established in response to repeated crises including famine, cholera and influenza epidemics that left countless children orphaned and destitute. Today the children cared for at the homes are there for a variety of reasons. Many have only one parent. Some have parents with leprosy, TB or HIV/AIDS.

Many have been admitted through the Juvenile Court having been declared “destitute” or “in moral danger”. All are needy. Some government funding is given for those who are admitted from the courts. Most income is provided by Australian churches, individuals and groups who support these children.

From these homes have come a number of remarkable Christian leaders and workers.

Robert Gaikwad has been director of Baramati Boys' Home since 1996 and since 2004 has oversight of Shrigonda Girls' Home as well.

Hosanna Ministries /Ankoor Home

Kiron Gaikwad was brought up in Churches of Christ in Baramati with his grandfather being the housemaster of the Baramati Boys’ Home. The early missionaries from Australia also played an important role in shaping his spiritual life. Kiron went on to train at the Union Biblical Seminary and often visited neighbouring villages for evangelistic outreach. There he witnessed the extreme poverty and also the receptivity of the tribal people around Yavatmal in central India. God laid on his heart a vision for reaching the Kolam people for Christ.

Kiron commenced ministry among the tribal people of Yavatmal in 1985 along with his wife Nalini. Nalini is a trained nurse. She provided medical assistance and taught hygiene and nutrition.

In 2002, Kiron established Ankoor Home, a boarding school, for village children who would not otherwise have the opportunity to attend school and be educated in a community where literacy is just 2%.

Reaching Hand Society

Dr R.A.C. Paul felt a deep call of God to reach the largely unreached people of Malkangiri, Orissa, a call which he faithfully obeyed and gave his life to from January 1967. He was joined by his wife, Iris, in 1972 who continued on the ministry after he went to be with the Lord in September 1986. Their son Ragland Remo Paul, along with his wife Susan, leads a team of dedicated national missionaries now serving under the banner of Reaching Hand Society (RHS).

The aim of RHS is to minister and reach people spiritually and physically. Today there are regular Bible Studies and worship services in 30 villages with trained evangelists and Bible teachers. Literacy work continues in 170 villages where the literacy rate has now risen from 0.4% to 40%.

A trained doctor, Iris has always held clinics to treat those with medical needs. Treatments and medicines are subsidised and sometimes given free to the many patients who otherwise couldn’t afford health care. Nutrition and child care programmes, prison ministries and water resource management are part of the complete health care offered from Reaching Hand Society.

Prayer Points

• For the ministries of Churches of Christ in Western India, Ashwood Memorial Hospital, Baramati & Shrigonda Homes, Ankoor Home and Reaching Hand Society.
• For Christians in Orissa currently undergoing serious persecution for their faith.

Sources: BBC Country Profile, World Convention website, World Fact Book 2008, Partners.