Sunday Celebration in Bangalore, India
First, on a personal note, I awoke to my cell phone ringing about midnight Saturday night. It was my wife telling me the US immigration approval document for the adoption of our son arrived in the mail on Saturday back in Memphis! (For those of you who don’t know, we are in the process of adopting a 2 year old little boy from China…but that’s another story altogether.) We have been waiting several months for this document and now our process can continue…that’s the best reason I’ve ever been interrupted via phone in the middle of the night!
Now about Sunday here in India, to say it is hard to describe would be an understatement. I arrived on the OM campus about 9:00AM, three tents had been erected, one being the main tent for the service and two tents (men’s and women’s) for candidates to change clothes after being baptized. The atmosphere was a mixture of carnival and worship festival as anticipation grew, the crowd began to swell, and dozens scurried around making final preparations for the big event.
One of the dignitaries to arrive was “Alfie.” I had met him three years ago in Hyderabad. He is known as the father of Operation Mobilization in India and he is a wise, highly respected Christian leader throughout the nation. We stood off to the side to observe all of the activity and he marveled that he would have never dreamed we would be having a public baptism celebration of this magnitude in the state of Karnataka. He told me stories of their first coming to this state 37 years ago in trucks. They would stop in an area, preach from the back of the truck, counsel with people and distribute literature until the Hindu extremists began pelting them with rocks and threatening them with bodily harm…Then they would move on to the next place.
While OM’s tactics have matured over the decades, so has the movement they began…now seeing events like this. Over 800 believers were gathering in this tent from across the region to worship God and welcome many new followers of Christ into the family. The sign hanging over the stage in the main tent properly labeled the gathering a “Mega Baptism Celebration.”
The celebration was scheduled to begin at 10:30 AM, but we received word many of the attendees were stuck in transportation issues of various sorts but were still on their way. So, the service began with an extended set of worship songs, then introductions of special guests…many of whom find this to be their opportunity for a short sermon (I’m seeing a trend in this regard here in India)!
The guest of honor was John Gilman, President & Founder of Dayspring International, who distributes the film “Daya Sagar” throughout the villages of India. This is essentially the Indian version of the “Jesus Film” and is responsible for countless Indians coming to faith in Christ. Many of those being baptized on Sunday said the film was instrumental in their own decision to follow Christ.
After his message, we all filed outside to a huge baptism tank as those who had come to publicly profess their faith in Christ began to line up…189 of them! The first few were baptized one by one so everyone could hear the questions being asked of each candidate, both to ensure they had truly placed their faith in Christ and to ensure they had not been “coerced” into their profession of faith which is the claim of many Hindu radicals throughout India and the topic of aggressive “anti-conversion” laws in the nation. Once everything got rolling however, they were baptizing a dozen at a time, the tank being completely filled with pastors and new believers in waves. After each set of baptisms, the crowd that pressed around the in-ground tank would burst into singing and clapping. It put a whole new light on the passage that there is “rejoicing in heaven” each time someone turns to Christ.
After the baptisms, we all returned to the big tent where we saw the crucifixion scene from Daya Sagar and then celebrated the Lord’s Supper together. Now, in case you’ve lost sense of time in this so far, we began arriving about 9 AM, started the service at 10:30, and now broke for “lunch” at 4:30 in the afternoon! But we weren’t finished yet…
We resumed at 5:30 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the 50 bicycles Dayspring had provided for the pastors so they don’t have to walk from village to village. They needed a few more hands, so I wound up joining in the ribbon cutting and prayer of consecration over about 10 of the bikes…ministry is always unique in India! The crowd that was still present then moved back to the tank in order to baptize another dozen or so who had been caught in major transportation issues, but refused to give up…so they arrived late in the day but were still able to publicly profess their faith in Christ via baptism.
Throughout the day, the pastors I knew from my years of leading conferences here would find me and introduce me to their church members who were being baptized or just made the journey to the event. Many of those in attendance traveled via bus all night to get to the event and would return home the same way as soon as it was over. It was my privilege to pray for many of them at their request, and many of the parents specifically wanted me to pray for their children.
I have dozens of photos and video clips of the event for those of you who would like a glimpse when I return home. What an honor to be a part of this great day! Finally, at 7 PM, Anand (the leader for these pastors throughout southern India) offered to take me back to my lodging. However, all of the vehicles were being used to shuttle the participants back to the bus and train stations, so I experienced my first (and hopefully last!) ride on the back of a motorcycle in India. Thankfully, late on Sunday evening isn’t exactly rush hour outside Bangalore.
As for the rest, you just had to be there. Thanks for your continued prayers. On Tuesday and Wednesday I will be teaching leadership to the OM South India ministry leaders and then begin my travel back home early Thursday morning.
Blessings! Matthew
PS: I've also received word Truett and Joe have arrived back home in Georgia safely.
Now about Sunday here in India, to say it is hard to describe would be an understatement. I arrived on the OM campus about 9:00AM, three tents had been erected, one being the main tent for the service and two tents (men’s and women’s) for candidates to change clothes after being baptized. The atmosphere was a mixture of carnival and worship festival as anticipation grew, the crowd began to swell, and dozens scurried around making final preparations for the big event.
One of the dignitaries to arrive was “Alfie.” I had met him three years ago in Hyderabad. He is known as the father of Operation Mobilization in India and he is a wise, highly respected Christian leader throughout the nation. We stood off to the side to observe all of the activity and he marveled that he would have never dreamed we would be having a public baptism celebration of this magnitude in the state of Karnataka. He told me stories of their first coming to this state 37 years ago in trucks. They would stop in an area, preach from the back of the truck, counsel with people and distribute literature until the Hindu extremists began pelting them with rocks and threatening them with bodily harm…Then they would move on to the next place.
While OM’s tactics have matured over the decades, so has the movement they began…now seeing events like this. Over 800 believers were gathering in this tent from across the region to worship God and welcome many new followers of Christ into the family. The sign hanging over the stage in the main tent properly labeled the gathering a “Mega Baptism Celebration.”
The celebration was scheduled to begin at 10:30 AM, but we received word many of the attendees were stuck in transportation issues of various sorts but were still on their way. So, the service began with an extended set of worship songs, then introductions of special guests…many of whom find this to be their opportunity for a short sermon (I’m seeing a trend in this regard here in India)!
The guest of honor was John Gilman, President & Founder of Dayspring International, who distributes the film “Daya Sagar” throughout the villages of India. This is essentially the Indian version of the “Jesus Film” and is responsible for countless Indians coming to faith in Christ. Many of those being baptized on Sunday said the film was instrumental in their own decision to follow Christ.
After his message, we all filed outside to a huge baptism tank as those who had come to publicly profess their faith in Christ began to line up…189 of them! The first few were baptized one by one so everyone could hear the questions being asked of each candidate, both to ensure they had truly placed their faith in Christ and to ensure they had not been “coerced” into their profession of faith which is the claim of many Hindu radicals throughout India and the topic of aggressive “anti-conversion” laws in the nation. Once everything got rolling however, they were baptizing a dozen at a time, the tank being completely filled with pastors and new believers in waves. After each set of baptisms, the crowd that pressed around the in-ground tank would burst into singing and clapping. It put a whole new light on the passage that there is “rejoicing in heaven” each time someone turns to Christ.
After the baptisms, we all returned to the big tent where we saw the crucifixion scene from Daya Sagar and then celebrated the Lord’s Supper together. Now, in case you’ve lost sense of time in this so far, we began arriving about 9 AM, started the service at 10:30, and now broke for “lunch” at 4:30 in the afternoon! But we weren’t finished yet…
We resumed at 5:30 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the 50 bicycles Dayspring had provided for the pastors so they don’t have to walk from village to village. They needed a few more hands, so I wound up joining in the ribbon cutting and prayer of consecration over about 10 of the bikes…ministry is always unique in India! The crowd that was still present then moved back to the tank in order to baptize another dozen or so who had been caught in major transportation issues, but refused to give up…so they arrived late in the day but were still able to publicly profess their faith in Christ via baptism.
Throughout the day, the pastors I knew from my years of leading conferences here would find me and introduce me to their church members who were being baptized or just made the journey to the event. Many of those in attendance traveled via bus all night to get to the event and would return home the same way as soon as it was over. It was my privilege to pray for many of them at their request, and many of the parents specifically wanted me to pray for their children.
I have dozens of photos and video clips of the event for those of you who would like a glimpse when I return home. What an honor to be a part of this great day! Finally, at 7 PM, Anand (the leader for these pastors throughout southern India) offered to take me back to my lodging. However, all of the vehicles were being used to shuttle the participants back to the bus and train stations, so I experienced my first (and hopefully last!) ride on the back of a motorcycle in India. Thankfully, late on Sunday evening isn’t exactly rush hour outside Bangalore.
As for the rest, you just had to be there. Thanks for your continued prayers. On Tuesday and Wednesday I will be teaching leadership to the OM South India ministry leaders and then begin my travel back home early Thursday morning.
Blessings! Matthew
PS: I've also received word Truett and Joe have arrived back home in Georgia safely.
posted by CUMC Team | 9:40 PM
<< Home