DAWN Fridayfax 1997 #49

DAWN News from India

We devote this Friday Fax to India, "the world's largest democracy" with 1 billion inhabitants, in which elections are again scheduled as in the last two years. "This country is again a land of many people but no leader, independence but still no true freedom, massive foreign aid but eaten up by corruption, 1 billion inhabitants but geopolitically almost meaningless," wrote the weekly "India Today".

According to government figures, only some 3% of the population are Christians. Insiders estimate the number much higher, partly due to the flood of so-called 'secret Christians' who are not baptised because of the massive social disadvantages attached to public Christianity. In early December 1997, the Indian evangelist Sadhu Chellappa witnessed a public event in Bombay in which only 2 of 300 ex-Hindus officially registered their conversion to Christianity. The 260 million Dalits (members of repressed classes), to which the Indian president and friend of the church Narayanan belongs, are increasingly dissatisfied with their registration as Hindus and want a collective change of religion; Christianity is one of the most popular alternatives. We are receiving a steady stream of positive reports of how God is moving from both southern and northern India. Middle India, including the states Madhya Pradesh (MP) and Orissa, is often overlooked. The following three reports could change that.

Ex-military cook invents new service model

A simple military cook watched one of India's many healing preachers and thought to himself "what he can do, I can do too." He now makes his services available in Jesus' name every Sunday from 9 am to 5pm in a large tent in the countryside. He offers an all-round service from which people can choose like a buffet: he preaches, teaches, prays for the sick, and drives out demons, and the people can come and go as they please. It fits in well with the Indian village culture; it is impossible to arrive too late, because there is no official start or end. Many Hindus come, listen for a while, leave to fetch some friends, return, leave again and drop in again at the end. The "Indian-style church for the unchurched" regularly has an attendance of between 400 and 500. The ex-cook deals with demons quickly, saying "Oh, a demon! Down on your knees, don't even dare to stand in the presence of a servant of God. Come and crawl before me!" Then he prays in Jesus' name and the person is set free. The church which lent him the tent is now irritated by the 'new competition' "that is clearly breaking the Sunday peace. We want our tent back!" The local Bible Society has now made an open field available to the ex-cook.
Source: Dr. Victor Choudhrie, PO Padhar, Betul, MP 460 005

Saved from Kali: from human sacrifice to church planter

Lalit from Orissa state was, as he describes himself, "a worldly singer" before contracting a fatal illness. He lay on his death bed for 3 months before seeing a vision of Jesus at around noon one day. "Jesus was carrying something like a rod in his hand, and touched me on my bed. I was healed. I have been serving him since then!", he says. To start with, he became a preacher and tract-distributor with Every Home Crusade. One day, his leader sent him to distribute tracts near Kulpani, which Lalit describes as having many fanatical Hindus. One of the villages to which he was sent was infamous for its Kali-Mandal, a temple to the goddess Kali, to whom human sacrifices are still made today. He hadn't been there long before people started warning him "Babapriest, the head priest, is already searching for you. They want to sacrifice you to Kali. Run away quickly!" Too late - 500 armed men captured the small team, beat them and dragged them to the Kali temple, where the priest was waiting with a large sword. "Deny Jesus and turn to Kali, or Kali will drink your blood today!" They gave Lalit cow dung mixed with water to drink, but he said to his Lord "If I die, I am with you. If I live, I will continue to serve you. My life is in your hand." The priest lifted his sword, but was interrupted by a woman shouting "Let him go. We don't want to see that any more." Other women took up the cry, and Lalit could escape. Today, he is a modern David: when he plays his flute (the 'rod' he saw in Jesus' hand in his vision), people are healed and demons driven out. He and his team of 25 have planted 110 churches since 1992, and have baptised almost 3000 people. Smiling broadly, he says "There are now 3 churches with a total of some 150 members in the Kali-Mandal village now."
Source: Lalit Kumar Nayak, At P.O. Barakhama, Dist. Phulbani (Khandhamala), Orissa 762110, Tel. (+91)-6846-97428

The Holy Spirit in the kitchen

Erich Reber, a Swiss prophet, was in a rural part of Madhya Pradesh at the end of November 1997. "I was just ministering," he says, "when the Holy Spirit came on the whole congregation. 70 meters to one side, 5 women were in the kitchen preparing food for the conference attendees. All 5 fell to the floor and started ecstatically praying to Jesus." The meeting had been advertised on heavenly TV: the wife of a local pastor had seen a vision three months previously in which "a man from Switzerland will come to you". She was also given a description of the man, which fit Erich Reber exactly. The report did not mention how the meal which the women were preparing tasted.

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