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Pray for Joy

Several of the last posts have been from an interview with a couple from India, YM and Joy, both church planters, who are facing considerable challenges because of the stand they are taking for the Lord. They have been charged with "converting" people to Christianity.  In their state, if you offer someone enticement to convert (like eternal life) you can be found guilty. 

I just received the following email from YM:

"Dear brother and sister

Greetings

Thanks for email and for prayers.Tomorrow Joy goes to court for her bail.Please pray that she would be granted bail on the same day.If judge rejects her bail then she will end up going to jail for a month which of course will be unbearable for her.Pray that God will bring grace to us and work in the heart of Judge.Pray that Lord will supply all the bail needs too.

Thanks again.

YM with  prayers"

We in the West know little of this kind of suffering for the Lord.  Let's stand with them in prayer.

Trends

Every couple of weeks, I get on the phone with a few good friends for an hour or so of conversation.  We come from all across the nation from the west coast to the east coast, from the very north of the country to here in Texas.  We try to discuss things of relevance each time.  This past week we looked at different trends that we see occurring across the nation that are of relevance within the Kingdom and/or that affect simple churches.

We came up with 10 or so trends that between us we can see occurring.  I will mention a few during this blog and post the remainder in a few days.  What I am interested to know is if any of you are noticing the same things.  That would confirm what we are sensing.  I also find that hearing about these things raises my faith level and gives me an expectation that we will see more.

Here are the first six--in no particular order of priority:

1. There is an increase in the number of healings. We are hearing stories of regular "no-name" people praying, and remarkable healings occurring.  These stories include healing from things like cancer, major abdominal problems etc.  Those praying are not those with a healing ministry, but just a group of ordinary Christians praying for someone with a physical or emotional problem.  Sometimes they are occurring out in the marketplace.
2. There is an increased hunger to hear about simple church.  Many people are asking questions, searching for answers.  Many leaders within various denominations have become open to these concepts.
3. Churches are being planted cross-culturally, both within different nationalities such as Afghan, Cuban etc and across cultural boundaries such as with the homeless.
4. Simple churches are becoming more missional.  We are hearing stories of simple churches that started with people who left legacy churches now turning outwards and reaching out into their communities.  It's as though some have needed a period of time so they can experience some personal healing, but now that has been accomplished, they have become very Kingdom minded and outreach focused.
5. More women are engaged in church planting.  We heard of one example of a group being formed for women who are planting churches.
6. There are some great books out there that are becoming catalysts for conversation.  This includes books such as Frank Viola's Pagan Christianity (incidentally there is a hilarious spoof commercial for that book at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hslswIal9u4) and The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch.

Don't forget, we would love to hear from you if you are experiencing any of the same sort of trends.  Are there books that you feel fit in that same category?  Do you know of examples of healings, simple churches being planted cross-culturally and so on.  Encourage us all!

 

Further conversation: the role of women

This blog continues the conversation with Indian church planters, YM and Joy  who are currently experiencing a church planting movement in their region of India.  They have much wisdom and insight to give us.  You may view previous sections of the interview with them in the archives.

 

FD: What about the role of women—what can they do? 

Joy: Since this is an oral culture, we train women who are married. In general we find that those aged 25-45 are best because they have good access to the people. Women are not limited—they can do anything. The women baptize other women. In terms of authority, a woman can do anything. They can baptize, pray for the sick or plant a church. A woman will spread the good news to her relatives and to the community. 

YM: In our movement, Joy was the first one to demonstrate that women can baptize. She baptized 29 in a single day. Now she does not baptize people because she has trained others to do so. She passes that authority on to new church planters too. She has trained 305 women leaders. 

Joy: YM has trained over 3,000 men in a seven year period. 

One of the major advantages a woman has is that in our culture, a man cannot talk to a woman, so a man has limited access to a household. The women have unlimited access so they are more free than a man to plant a church. They are also more successful. The majority of women work on the farms and in the fields. In the morning they see to their livestock. At noon, when the sun is overhead and people are resting, this is the time when our ladies catch them. 

We have different strategies that we follow. For the first five weeks of church planting we just try to create a relationship. We let the people know we are here to pray. We prayer walk the area. Then for 3-6 months we concentrate on the relationships. When we have created a relationship we pray for people and tell stories of the things God has done for us.We have a story for every need. Usually at around the six month point, people are ready to become a Christian. In general, it takes us around 6 months to start a church. 

In Hinduism there is no concept of sin. They are justified by their work and karma. We use chronological story telling so that people realize they are a sinner who needs a savior. We teach repentance and salvation and baptize people, then give them the authority to do the same and make disciples. We tell them, “You know Christ and you are saved. You are a disciple. Now do the same for others. We teach them, “Be one and bring one. Bring an unbeliever with you to the training for new Christians.”