Virginians Cross India with the Gospel

by Brian Smith                                                                                      Vol. VII, No. 7, September 1994

Pioneer missionary William Carey arrived in Calcutta, India in 1793. Although he had no way of knowing it at the time, he was destined to become known as the father of the modern missionary movement. The 32-year old Carey spent the remaining 41 years of his life working to evangelize the Indian people, following his motto to "expect great things from God, attempt great things for God."

With the same missionary spirit, 13 Virginia residents were among 210 Southern Baptist volunteers who participated in "Cross over India,', a partnership evangelism project November 3-9. More than 4,000 Indians made professions of faith as the volunteers, who were teamed with local Baptist churches, ministered through house-to-house witnessing and nightly revival meetings.

Representing Virginia were Howard Baldwin of Richmond, Bobby and Joyce Blevins of Marion, Toye Ann Creel of Richmond, Terry Harper of Colonial Heights, Thomas Jones of Pamplin, Emily Lenz of Richmond, David Lindsey of Midlothian, Bob McEachem of Midlothian, Rena Mitchell of Hopewell, Amos Morrison of Stuart, Thomas White of Newport News, and Terri Willis of Richmond.

The first impression the volunteers had was of the seemingly unending poverty. As the group made its way through the crowd at the Bombay airport after clearing customs, many small children elbowed their way among them, tugging on the volunteers' shirttails, asking for handouts. "Rupee, rupee" was their plea as they begged for money.

On the ride from the airport to the hotel for the orientation session, mile after mile of shanties passed by the bus windows. What appeared to be laundry spread out on the roof to dry actually was the roof. Anything that could be fabricated into a shelter-tin sheets, corrugated fiberglass panels, canvas, plastic - was. Trenches filled with open sewage ran alongside the road, while people rummaged through the nearby garbage piles and trash heaps. Dysentery is one of India's leading killers, and it's easy to see why.

With that as an introduction, the volunteers fanned out across the Indian subcontinent to their assigned churches. The neighborhoods where they ministered were unlike anything back home in Virginia. Many of the homes had only one room. Dirt floors were often more common than electricity or running water.

"India is overwhelming," Howard Baldwin said. "There are so many people and so much need. The poverty is magnified because it's such a contrast from what we're used to."

It wasn't the poverty that Terry Harper remembers about several of the homes in Bangalore that he visited. He and his interpreter, Raj, were witnessing to a woman in her home during one morning's visitation. "She was just about to receive Christ when her son, an older teenager, came stomping in with a scowl on his face," Harper recalled. "Raj told me that he said he didn't like all these things we were telling his mother. I asked Raj to tell him that if he didn't want us there we would leave."

After taking a few moments to finish their presentation of the gospel, and with the woman's son still looking quite angry, Harper asked Raj to tell the boy that Jesus loved him, and because of that they cared about him too. "At that, his countenance kind of changed," Harper said. "He told us that he knew we said Jesus was God and that he respected that, but to please leave and not come back."

The teenager was a member of the Rashtra Swayamsevk Sangh (RSS), a militant nationalist group known throughout India for persecuting Christians, destroying Bibles, and firebombing churches. "He told us that if his friends saw us at his house he would be in big trouble with them," Harper said. "If they had been there, he might have been under some pressure to do something to us."

A few days later, as Harper was sharing the gospel with a young man in another home, he noticed that Raj seemed nervous. "The man's eyes were bloodshot, like he had been drinking, so I thought that's why Raj was on edge," Harper said. "There was also another man, dressed very nicely, who kept coming in and going out."

After carefully presenting the entire plan of salvation, Harper asked the man if there had ever been a time in his life when he made the decision to invite Christ into his life. "He smiled a little bit and said a few words, so I asked Raj what he said. Raj told me we just needed to have a prayer and go, which was very unusual."

Not fully understanding Raj's intentions, Harper stood and prayed a prayer of blessing on the home. As they left, the well-dressed man stopped them and spoke a few words to Raj before he and Harper got in the car. "As we drove away, Raj told me he couldn't believe that we were in that home," Harper said.

"I recognized those two men," Raj told Harper. "They were two of the top national leaders of the RSS. I can't believe we even left with our lives."

"Raj said he didn't know why they listened to us or why they even let us leave," Harper said. "I'm glad I didn't know the situation while I was there. One thing about it, those two men heard the gospel!"