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INDIA–Prayer points for Hindu pilgrims at the Kumbh Mela

1. Millions of Hindu pilgrims are making their way to Haridwar, India, all hoping to wash away their sins by bathing in the Ganges River during this “auspicious” time. Please pray for the salvation of Hindus celebrating the Kumbh Mela now through April 28.
2. Authorities limit direct Christian witnessing during the Kumbh Mela, but Christians will be on site in Haridwar, praying for Hindu pilgrims and ready to pray with anyone who desires prayer. Please ask the Lord to protect physically and spiritually every Christian attending this year’s mela.
3. During every Kumbh Mela, Hindu pilgrims die. They drown in the rivers; illnesses overcome them; human stampedes crush them. During a 1986 Kumbh Mela in Haridwar, about 50 people died when a bridge collapsed. Please pray for the safety and well-being of Hindu pilgrims attending this year’s Kumbh Mela.
4. While the main Kumbh Mela event takes place in Haridwar, the city of Ujjain hosts a smaller or half Kumbh Mela. As you lift up before the living God the Hindus on pilgrimage in Haridwar, please also intercede on behalf of those seeking inner peace in Ujjain, Allahabad and Nasik.
5. As Hindu pilgrims prepare to return home from the Kumbh Mela, please pray that they will grasp that they leave with the same emptiness and uncertainty they had when they arrived. Ask that they in turn will search for truth and will find it in Jesus, the Water of Life.

Download a 60-day prayer guide that focuses on Hindu pilgrims traveling to this year’s Kumbh Mela at http://www.go2southasia.org/all-features/kumbh-mela-pilgrims/.

Find ongoing prayer requests at www.imb.org/compassionnet. Search requests by “strategic ministries” and scroll down to the “South Asian Hindu Festivals” tab.

South Asia Insights Prayer Guides will help you pray for Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, and Jains. View or download them at http://www.go2southasia.org/resource/printables/.

Tracts and other helpful resources for sharing the Good News with Hindus are available at http://www.go2southasia.org/resource/evangelism/ and http://www.4truth.net/site/c.hiKXLbPNLrF/b.2904151/k.D116/Hinduism.htm.

Hindus hope to have their sins forgiven at India’s Kumbh Mela festivals

By Dara Fullerton*

DELHI, India–Hoping to have their sins washed away, millions of Hindus go on pilgrimage to the four cities of the Kumbh Mela to bathe in their holy rivers when the planets are auspiciously aligned, making the Kumbh Mela the largest religious gathering in the world.

Every third year, Hindus make pilgrimages to one of four Indian cities that rotate hosting the Kumbh Mela — Haridwar in the state of Uttarakhand, Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh, Nasik in Maharashtra, and Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh.

This year, the Kumbh Mela in Haridwar began Jan. 14 and continues through April 28.

South Asia has the greatest concentration of lostness in the world. Of 1.5 billion people, 969 million South Asians — including 80 percent of India’s population — still worship Hindu idols made by the hands of men.

Ten million people gathered April 14, 1998, for a ritual bath in the Ganges River during the last Kumbh Mela in Haridwar. Indian officials anticipate 50 million pilgrims will visit Haridwar during the months of this year’s Kumbh Mela, the Hindustan Times reported.

The lostness that is in Haridwar day-to-day and that congregates in Haridwar by the millions every 12th year is virtually untouched.

“As the Hindu people look for spiritual significance during the Kumbh Mela, please pray that their eyes will be opened to the truth of the Gospel,” Southern Baptist representative Kailey Isard* said.

Hindus believe that when their gods and demons battled over a jar, or kumbh, containing the nectar of everlasting life, a drop of its contents spilled in each of the four Kumbh Mela cities. As a result, Hindus have credited the cities with a mystical power.

Hindus have faith that bathing in the rivers in these cities on certain dates during Kumbh Melas will wash away their sins and give them everlasting life. Astrology determines the best dates to bathe.

March 15 and April 14 are the next main bathing dates in Haridwar this year, according to travel Web sites.

Haridwar means “gateway to god.” Hindus consider it one of their holiest places. The most sacred ghat, or flight of steps leading down to the river, in Haridwar is where Hindus believe the nectar of everlasting life fell. Millions flock to this location to bathe in the Ganges River. Another popular destination in Haridwar is the Maya Devi Temple. A cable-car ride from the temple provides a view of the entire city.

All four of the Kumbh Mela cities have some significance in the Hindu stories about gods and goddesses.

The largest of the Kumbh Melas takes place in Allahabad and will happen next in 2013.

“Pray for the millions of people gathering at the convergence of the Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers for the celebration of the Kumbh Mela festival,” Southern Baptist representative Daniele Gramby* said.

Allahabad is a city of 1.5 million people, but during the mela its population swells tremendously. Time magazine reported in February 2001 that 50 million people attended the last Maha Kumbh Mela in Allahabad. Other media reported that as many as 70 million attended.

Allahabad means “city of god.” Hindus believe Brahma, the Hindu god of creation, made his first sacrifice here after creating the world. In Allahabad, three rivers that Hindus consider holy meet, including the invisible vertical Saraswati River.

“This place is called a sangam,” Southern Baptist representative Brendan Strizek* said. “The Hindus believe this is where the gods come to bathe, so it is the holiest place. Therefore, people travel from all over India and from all over the world to come to this location to bathe and purify themselves in the sangam.”

Ujjain will host the Kumbh Mela in 2016. Ujjain has served as the zero line of longitude for Hindu geographers since the fourth century B.C. Hindus believe Ujjain was one of the sacred homes of Shiva, the Hindu destroyer god, so it has a famous temple dedicated to Shiva. Hindus treat Shiva, often depicted in meditation poses, as the supreme god.

“Pray that Ujjain, which literally means ‘city of victory,’ would experience victory found in Jesus alone,” Southern Baptist representative Darcy Meachum* said.

The last Kumbh Mela of this decade will be in Nasik in 2019. About 110 miles northwest of Mumbai, Nasik is known as India’s wine capital. Hindus believe Rama, an esteemed Hindu deity, spent 14 years in exile in Nasik for the sake of his father’s honor — a legend that makes Nasik a popular Hindu tourist destination.

Christians have been sharing the Gospel with Hindus in Nasik for several years, and some Hindus have surrendered their lives to Christ, Southern Baptist representative Crawford Kaser* said.

“Even with this, there remains no daily church-planting activity occurring there to our knowledge,” he said. “Those people who are coming to faith are traditionally absorbed into the existing churches instead of starting new ones, thus preventing cutting-edge church planting from happening.”

As the Kumbh Mela takes place in one of the cities, a “mini mela” can occur in the other three cities, Southern Baptist representative Johnny Kron* said.

This year, Ujjain will host a smaller mela, sometimes referred to as a half Kumbh. During the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad in 2013, there will be a smaller one in Nasik. During the 2016 Kumbh Mela in Ujjain, some Hindus will be celebrating again in Haridwar.

Southern Baptist representative Bonita Kron* described one of the smaller melas that took place in January 2009 in Allahabad.

“The vastness of the crowd is unbelievable; the heaviness of the oppression is inexplicable,” she said. “Watching men, women, young, old, rich, poor — all attempting to attain salvation through the polluted murky water — is heartbreaking.

“Because of things that had occurred days before our visit, the police had made clear they would not tolerate ‘those attempting conversions to Western religion,’” Bonita Kron said. “Therefore, we were not able to openly share the Truth. We did, however, pray with broken hearts for the millions who do not know ‘What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!’”

With so many religious activities regularly taking place in each Kumbh Mela city, opportunities to reach the lost with the Good News about Jesus’ love are plentiful. Yet, even with such potential, carrying out the task is not easy.

“An Indian believer decided to break the law and passed out tracts; he was arrested,” Johnny Kron said about an incident that occurred in Allahabad.

While limits on direct Christian witnessing may appear to cast a bleak shadow on bringing hope to the lost in the Kumbh Mela cities, prayer sets the foundation for bringing salvation.

Southern Baptist volunteer teams visiting the cities go to the rivers to pray for those who use the rivers for their regular laundry and bathing and for those who come during the Kumbh Melas in hopes of washing away their sins.

“It’s a very emotional time for [the volunteers],” Johnny Kron said. “They can sense the darkness. God really uses that to help them get a heart for India.”

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*Name changed.

Dara Fullerton served as a writer among South Asian peoples while a journeyman with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board.

Millions seek cleansing at Hindu festival

UJJAIN, India (BP)–Dawn came almost unnoticed to the sacred river Shipra. Even the waking sun seemed overwhelmed by the scene unfolding at the water’s edge:

Hours before, drum-led processions of Hindu monks and mystics had arrived in the sweltering darkness, zealously guarding their right to lead throngs of pilgrims to the river for a “holy dip” during Kumbh Mela — Hinduism’s biggest, grandest festival.

Naga sadhus (holy men) — their wild hair matted and dreadlocked, their naked bodies smeared with ash to show their abandonment of all things worldly — rushed in first, waving swords and tridents. Then came white-bearded saints and swamis from far-flung monasteries, followed by their shaven-headed novice disciples and an array of other swamis and gurus.

As first light approached, thousands of nervous riot police finally allowed the masses of common pilgrims to descend the long steps of Ram Ghat to the river, where Hindus have sought spiritual cleansing for millennia.

They came in their waves — families, solitary pilgrims, the young, the old, the middle-aged, the poor, the rich — all mingled together in temporary suspension of caste, class and social differences. Women modestly entered the water in their saris, gathering in groups to laugh and bob up and down together. Elderly gentlemen and shouting boys abandoned all but loincloths for the dip. A crying toddler tugged against his mother, who pulled him toward the water. A teen wearing dark shades, hands stuffed in his designer jeans, tried to maintain his cool as the rest of his family heedlessly rushed toward the river.

Nearby, a bathing pilgrim chanted in ecstasy as he raised handfuls of water. He flung them toward the sky, clasping his hands in prayer as the glistening droplets fell back into the tide.

Some offered floating candles and armfuls of flowers to the sacred river. Others filled small metal containers to take home a portion of liquid mercy. The holy water will never smell or lose its purity, the faithful believe.

“This is my first time,” said G.L. Agarwal, looking out over the river with a beatific smile. He came by train from faraway Madras with his wife, who was on her fourth Kumbh Mela pilgrimage. “When I take a dip in the Shipra, I have become the holiest man in my village.”

As the sun rose higher, the police whistles, the worshipers’ mantras, the ranting loudspeakers mounted to a hypnotic crescendo that floated back and forth across the river.

VISIBLE FROM SPACE

The anticipated crowd for this day alone, one of the “royal” bathing dates of the festival held earlier this year — was 1.5 million. Four million had come a few days before. Up to 30 million pilgrims were expected to flood the holy city of Ujjain, in central India, over the course of the month-long event.

That total fell short of the 60 million people who were claimed to have attended the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad in 2001, the first Kumbh of the new millennium. A one-day crowd that year — 20 million — was declared the largest religious gathering in history by Guinness World Records.

But the masses this year were more than enough to overwhelm ancient Ujjain (normal population: about 1.3 million) — and appeared as shadows on satellite photos taken hundreds of miles up.

Indians converged on Ujjain from every direction and by every conceivable conveyance: planes, trains, busses, cars, auto-rickshaws, horse-drawn carts, on foot. Using an intricate system of roadblocks and openings, fences and brigades of police, authorities steered the crowds in concentric circles into and out of the bathing areas.

The goal: to give each group of pilgrims an average of 12 precious minutes in the water before yielding in the next throng.

The challenge of it all seemed to settle on one frustrated policeman near the river, who stopped to mop his brow for a moment before pushing another unruly group along.

“The Indian population!” he shouted with a rueful grin. “They don’t listen!”

Crowd control is a deadly serious business at the Kumbh Mela, which rotates between Ujjain and three other sacred Indian cities in three-year intervals. Fifty people died in a stampede at the 1986 festival in Haridwar. Some 800 died in Allahabad in 1954.

Sheer numbers aren’t the only threat. In the past, competing sects and sadhus have violently attacked authorities — and each other — in disputes over bathing order or camp locations.

ANCIENT TRADITION

What’s all the commotion about?

The Kumbh Mela (translation: Pitcher Festival) stretches far back into Indian history and mythology. Hindu legends recount an epic 12-year battle during which the gods and demons fought over an “amrit kumbh” — a pitcher or urn containing the nectar of immortality recovered from the churning of the ocean. In the struggle, drops of nectar spilled on Ujjain and the other three Kumbh Mela sites (Haridwar, Nasik and Prayag near Allahahbad). The four drops of nectar became the sacred Ganges, Yamuna, Godavari and Shipra rivers.

The stars and heavenly bodies align auspiciously once every 12 years at each of the four holy sites, marking the month when the Kumbh Mela is to be held and in which location. Hindus believe that pilgrims who come for the “holy dip” at such times will be absolved of all past sins, receive countless blessings — and attain salvation.

Prayag, where three sacred rivers converge, is perhaps the most revered site for the festival. But Ujjain has no shortage of sacred significance. For Hindus, this place, not Rome, is the “eternal city,” the place beyond time. It has been inhabited — and visited by pilgrims and sages — since at least 600 B.C. Many regard it as the cultic capital of Hindu India. It is the home of innumerable temples, including the Temple of Mahakal, the “god of ages.” Mahakal is a manifestation of Shiva the Destroyer, one of Hinduism’s three chief gods. The Shiva idol at this temple is said to be “born of itself,” not made by human hands, and to derive power from itself, not from ritual or worship.

Myth holds that Lord Krishna himself came to Ujjain long ago to study at the ashram of a renowned guru.

“It is a town fallen from heaven to bring heaven on earth,” declares one tribute. “The holy city Ujjain bestows blessings on pilgrims, elevates them to the realm of divinity and purifies their mind and body.”

Little wonder that they come by the millions during the Kumbh Mela. Some stay only for a one-day dip, but many camp in the vast tent city that springs up near the river during the Kumbh Mela. Gurus of every description hold forth in their ashrams, competing over loudspeakers with other chanting swamis for the devotion of the faithful.

It’s part revival camp meeting, part state fair, part family reunion, part bazaar, part Woodstock.

MARKETERS AND SEEKERS

Like everything else in the advertising age, the Kumbh Mela has fallen victim to hype. It’s now the “World Cup of religion,” scoffed India Today magazine in an article headlined “Quick Dip in Spirituality.”

This year’s festival “has been a revelation — not of anything particularly spiritual but of the hold media, money and marketing have over the purveyors of spirituality,” reported Neeraj Mishra. “There are any number of swamis … heavily advertising for attention, and half-a-dozen television channels carrying their paid messages…. The newly built air-conditioned halls in Ujjain invite devotees to listen to a ‘maharaj.’ Elaborately decorated tents with all conceivable five-star amenities pronounce the power of a guru and his authority in the material world.”

That may be so. But millions of pilgrims who came to Ujjain were utterly sincere in their spiritual search — for cleansing from sins, enlightenment, release from the cycle of death and rebirth, union with the divine.

“We believe this in India,” said Ruchita, a young woman staying with her extended family at one of the festival’s temporary ashrams. “Coming from the water, we get peace and purity.”

Who will tell her about the rivers of Living Water?

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Posted on Dec 8, 2004, by Erich Bridges, a senior writer for the Southern Baptist International Mission Board.

FIRST-PERSON: Hindus — like everyone else — search for God

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)–”By the grace of God I am a Christian, by my deeds a great sinner, and by my calling a homeless wanderer, roaming from place to place.”

So begins the 19th-century spiritual classic “The Way of a Pilgrim.”

The words were written by an anonymous Russian peasant who strove to learn to pray without ceasing. But they accurately describe any follower of Christ with an honest view of self, a healthy disdain for the world and a true hunger for God.

Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah and other faithful servants of old were “strangers and pilgrims on the earth,” Hebrews 11:13 recounts. The Apostle Peter likewise urged the redeemed “as strangers and pilgrims” to abstain from fleshly desires (1 Peter 2:11).

Pilgrimage can become an unholy end in itself, however. “Those who go on many pilgrimages are seldom made perfect and holy by them,” Thomas a’ Kempis warned five centuries ago in “The Imitation of Christ” as the Roman Catholic Church was sinking under the weight of superstition, idolatry and shrine worship. Yet he appealed to the true believer to “keep yourself as a pilgrim and a stranger here in this world, as one to whom the world’s business counts but little.”

The urge to go on pilgrimage — in search of holiness, revelation, wisdom, cleansing or divine favor — is as old as mankind. There are countless inspirational (or irrational) destinations, from the birthplace of the Buddha to the tomb of Elvis. Seekers go to holy mountains, rivers and temples. Penitents walk or crawl great distances in hopes of gaining redemption. One holy man recently rolled sideways 1,500 miles across India to worship at a sacred site. Jews long for Jerusalem. Muslims take the hajj to Mecca. Hindus go the Kumbh Mela and other festivals.

At such events, Hindus believe physical time and space rendezvous with the spiritual and the eternal. “To them, going on a pilgrimage means going to heaven,” says one observer.

“There are thousands of holy sites in India,” a student of Hinduism adds. “Each day millions of Hindus are on pilgrimages. A pilgrimage may be a day trip to a holy banyan tree by a wife seeking the prosperity of her husband, or it may be the long journey to Varanasi to die in Hinduism’s holiest place.” By bathing in holy rivers during the Kumbh Mela festival, they believe they will be “absolved of sin, receive bountiful blessings and attain salvation.”

In one sense, the Kumbh Mela captures Hinduism in a single time and place. Seekers come to worship any of a staggering variety of gods, to “make puja” (show reverence to some aspect of divinity through prayers and rituals), to seek power and purity, to attain release from the endless toil of the world.

“Pilgrims, not only from India but from around the world … pour in, wave after wave, from every walk of life, caste and sub-caste…. Brahmin and untouchable, male and female ascetics, religious leaders and gurus of countless sects,” writes Cambridge University religion scholar Julius Lipner. “The journey itself to the site is a pilgrimage, gaining merit and expending sin and bad karma for the pilgrim.”

If conditions are just right, pilgrims believe, they may even attain “moksha” — liberation from the cycle of rebirth.

There are nearly 840 million Hindus in India, and 40 million more in neighboring countries of South Asia. Faithful Hindus long to worship. God desires faithful worshipers. Can they be united to Him in spirit and truth? Yes, if they see that Jesus Christ offers true liberation, that He is the true Incarnation of God — unique and absolute.

“May the Ganges River become known as the place where Indians go to be baptized in the name of Jesus,” a follower of Christ in India prays. “From the Himalaya Mountains to the tropical islands of the Maldives, may the glory of the Lord cover South Asia as the waters cover the sea. Dear brothers and sisters, I urge you, pray, pray, pray!”

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Posted on Dec 8, 2004 | by Erich Bridges, senior writer for the Southern Baptist International Mission Board.

Southern Baptist journeymen experience Indian culture firsthand in Haridwar

Editor’s note: Soon after their arrival, Southern Baptist representatives new to South Asia often spend a day in an unfamiliar city as part of their cultural orientation. They go to learn culture, prayerwalk and share Bible stories about Jesus as the Lord leads them. Below are the stories of three Southern Baptist journeymen who spent a day in Haridwar, India. We hope their first-person accounts give you insight about how to pray for those who live in and make pilgrimages to Haridwar, the site of the current Hindu Kumbh Mela festival that began Jan. 14 and continues through April 28.

A dip in the Ganga and other randomness

The last few days have been packed full of activities. I have traveled all around Delhi visiting various religious sites and cultural destinations including Muslim, Hindu and Sikh places of worship. Each is unique and interesting. On Saturday, our group went to Haridwar. This entailed a four-hour train ride north of Delhi. Upon arriving, we split into several groups and explored the city as we completed several tasks. There were point values attached to each activity to make a sort of competition out of it, even though winning was not the priority. Our group learned many things while having a really fun time. This city is important to Hindus. It is the first major city the Ganga (the Ganges River) runs through. The river is thought to be holy and pure. Many of you have probably heard of how dirty and polluted it is in reality. However, in Haridwar it is pretty clean because of how far north it is. Therefore, I and two of the guys decided to swim in it and go completely under water. This ensured us the full point value we could earn. Our group ended up winning the competition by two points, so the swim in the Ganga was worth it. It has been a few days since then and none of us has gotten sick, so that’s a good thing. Anyway, it was a good day, and we were able to encounter and engage many locals. — Harry Laing*

Haridwar and the holy river

Feeling as excited as an elementary school girl going on a field trip, I boarded the train. With my face glued to the window, I watched the scenery and observed the daily life of the villagers as we rode past. They served tea, snacks and breakfast with the hospitality that is a part of every facet of life here. Once I arrived at the destination, my group went on a scavenger hunt-type mission. Each group was handed a simple instruction sheet. Then we were left on our own to navigate in a new city where we did not speak the language. We immediately found an auto rickshaw and asked the driver to take us to the riverbank. With great confidence, he assured us that he knew just the place. Seven kilometers (4.35 miles) later, after driving down a narrow dirt road dodging cows and bikes and wheelbarrows in the road, he stopped at a statue, and we got out. We walked hesitantly to the riverbank. It looked like a canal with rocks, and children were fishing. We thought, “People travel from all over the world to see this?” For a brief moment, we thought we were not at the right place, but we dismissed it and began trying to interview people. Then we decided to walk the 7 kilometers back to the train station. We felt like movie stars as the three of us walked down this narrow path through the village. Curious onlookers stared unashamedly, and some of the bolder ones snapped pictures on their camera phones and giggled as we passed. We smiled and greeted them with the few words that we knew, but any other conversation was impossible. Along the way, we found a girl who spoke English at a beauty salon, so we were able to share stories with her while my friend had her eyebrows threaded (an Indian method for shaping eyebrows). When we met back with our friends at the end of the day, we began comparing pictures — then we realized that we had been in the wrong place the whole time! They laughed hysterically when we showed them our pictures of what we have affectionately termed the “holy brook.” We were slightly disappointed that we missed out on seeing the holy river, but I would not have traded our adventures for anything! It also is very motivating for me to learn the language so that I do not get dropped off in some remote village the next time I jump in an auto. — Kacee Dallion*

The spiritual city of Haridwar

On Jan. 20, we went to Haridwar, which is a spiritual city located on the Ganges River. We have learned a number of stories from the Word that we were to tell others at this city. I felt so burdened. I honestly didn’t even want to share with anyone — I was intimidated. Only after talking to the Father and walking in faith was He able to break these chains and burdens from my back. By the end of the trip, we were able to share the Truth with a national English tutor for about two hours! It was amazing! I cannot say that he was fertile soil, but we were obedient. I pray that Adjur’s eyes will be open to the falseness of his faith and that the truth of Jesus will break through the darkness that surrounded us. — Tristan Yeager*

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*Name changed.

INTERNATIONAL DIGEST: Orissa Christians still destitute

Posted on Feb 12, 2010 | by Staff

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–Thousands of Christians in India’s Orissa state still live in makeshift shanties along roadsides and in forests a full 18 months after Hindu extremists forced them from their homes in a spasm of violence that claimed more than 100 lives and destroyed nearly 4,900 homes and church buildings.

Government officials have failed to provide promised assistance to more than 10,000 families driven from their homes after Christians were falsely accused of killing a Hindu leader in August 2008, Raphael Cheenath, a Roman Catholic archbishop, told Compass Direct Feb. 6.

“The block officers have been playing with the facts, indulging in corrupt practices and cosmetic exercises whenever political and other dignitaries come to visit or inspect,” Cheenath said in a statement. “Innocent people are coerced into giving a false picture … This is a national calamity.”

Cheenath’s comments came the day after a European Union delegation concluded a visit to Orissa that Hindu nationalist leader Jual Oram called “interference into internal affairs of a sovereign independent member state under the U.N.,” Compass Direct reported. EU representative Gabriele Annis said the delegation was able to hold “open and frank” discussions with officials during the visit.

Christian leaders in the area said district authorities attempted to hide the plight of Christians by evacuating nearly 100 people from one village prior to the EU delegation’s visit.

Of 3,232 complaints filed with police after the 2008 violence, only 832 cases were formally registered, Cheenath said. Of that number, only 123 cases have been transferred to courts. Of 71 cases tried to date, convictions have been handed down in 25 cases. Nine of 10 murders have been closed without any conviction.

“Who will bring justice in the case of the nine murder cases?” Cheenath asked.

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Compiled by Baptist Press assistant editor Mark Kelly.

http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=32281

Former Muslim shares Gospel amid Toronto’s ethnic diversity

Posted on Feb 9, 2010

by Carol Pipes

TORONTO, Ontario (BP)–A former Muslim, North American Mission Board missionary Nadeem Qazi’s conversion to Christianity set his life on a path of sharing his faith no matter the cost.

Born to Muslim parents in Pakistan, Qazi was raised like most Muslim children in the upper caste. By age 8, he had studied the entire Quran and learned how to follow the practices of Islam.

Qazi left Pakistan to pursue a Ph.D. in Europe when he was 25. When he met a group of Christian students in Denmark who told him about a loving God who meets people’s needs, Qazi heard the message at a time when he felt utterly hopeless, and he gave his life to Christ.

It took him awhile before he found the courage to write to his family in Pakistan about his new life. His father became angry and didn’t accept Qazi as a Christian.

“My family said I was dead to them and to never come back home,” Qazi recalled. “But I have no regrets. Praise God, He took me from there and gave me love I never knew.”

Eventually, God sent Qazi back to Pakistan to share the Gospel with his people and help start churches.

“There was so much joy going back with a different mandate and challenge.” Qazi said. “The people there are very hard, disappointed and disoriented, but you love them and that makes the whole difference.

“We had a tremendous opportunity to share the Gospel.” He saw many people convert to Christianity, even his own sister.

In addition to starting churches, Qazi helped start schools for Pakistani Christian children living on the streets with no means of getting an education.

After many years of ministry in Pakistan, Qazi began to receive letters from the Pakistani government warning him to leave the country because his life was in danger. He and his wife Jamila escaped to Canada, where they found “such a freedom here we never knew.”

Nadeem and Jamila were surprised that a neighborhood of Toronto named Brampton seemed so much like Pakistan and southern Asia.

“There were more people with the turban and Pakistani and Indian dress who spoke the same language,” Qazi said. “We started building friendships and sharing God’s Word with them.”

Toronto is one of North America’s most ethnically diverse cities. More than 50 percent of the population was born outside of Canada, according to Jeff Christopherson, NAMB missionary and church planting strategist for southern Ontario. Christopherson is always on the lookout for indigenous leaders from people groups around the world who have a heart to reach their people. When he met Nadeem and Jamil he asked if they would help reach south Asians in Toronto and eventually start a church.

The invitation resonated, with Jamila noting, “I knew God had a different plan for us in this city.”

Many Pakistanis and other south Asians use public transportation to get to and from work, so the Qazis began traveling the city by bus looking for people who speak one of the nine languages they speak.

“We sit next to them and start talking,” Qazi said. “We get their names and addresses so we can visit them. It’s a good way to reach out.”

Because they speak so many languages, the Qazis are able to connect with many people groups.

“God’s words will speak to their heart in their own language,” Jamila said. “It has much deeper meaning and value than any other language. It’s much sweeter to them.”

When immigrants first arrive in Toronto they are in culture shock and “lonely and desperate,” Qazi said, so he and his wife help them find apartments, furniture, even jobs as they adapt to their new surroundings.

The Qazis have been working primarily among Hindu, Sikh and Muslim groups. They have started a couple of Bible studies in Brampton that they hope will grow into a church. Many of these people would never be in the same room in their home countries. One meets in the home of a Sikh family who accepted Jesus two years ago.

“We have a such a passion for these people,” Jamila said. “We see them struggling in the same way as they struggle in Pakistan. Our heart breaks because they are not free in this country. So we really want to share God’s love with them that they may understand all this freedom in Christ.”

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Carol Pipes is a writer for the North American Mission Board. To view a video about Nadeem Qazi and other missionary and chaplain ministries through NAMB and its state partners, visit www.namb.net and click on the “Missionary Focus” gallery. Pray for the more than 3,000 contacts Nadeem and Jamila Qazi have made in Toronto that they will come to know the Lord.

http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=32254

WORLDVIEW: The year of living dangerously

by Erich Bridges

Posted on Feb 11, 2010

Visit “WorldView Conversation,” the blog related to this column, at http://worldviewconversation.blogspot.com/. Listen to an audio version at http://media1.imbresources.org/files/106/10631/10631-56748.mp3.

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)–What do you think about when you look back on the past year of your life?

Family joys and heartaches, perhaps. Victories and defeats on the job or at school. Sickness and health. Events in the lives of close friends. Odds are, you aren’t remembering the physical beatings you took for Christ.

Rasheed* and Farooq* are.

I’ve written several times about Rasheed and Farooq, two Muslims in India who have become committed followers of Jesus Christ. They lead a growing movement of Muslim-background believers in Mumbai, India’s largest city. The urban giant’s 20 million people include some 2 million Muslims — a large but often marginalized minority that is showing increasing openness to the Gospel.

Last time we checked in with Rasheed, he was lying in a hospital bed with a head wound, broken rib and internal injuries suffered during a brutal attack at the hands of people angered by his stand for Jesus. He had led two Muslim men to faith in Christ. One of them went home and told family members. Enraged, they found Rasheed, pushed him down and beat him with a cricket bat until others rescued him. He was hospitalized for nearly a month.

“Rasheed is almost fully recovered now,” says a Christian worker who keeps in touch with him. “He is looking for work again while continuing to teach six leaders of jama’ats” — indigenous worship groups composed of Muslim-background followers of Jesus — and leading five jama’ats himself.

“While he was recovering, three more Muslims gave their lives to Christ through the faithful witness of believers in his groups.”

Farooq, meanwhile, has stayed busy with more than 70 Shi’ite Muslim “seeker groups” investigating the Gospel. Spiritual seekers in the groups now probably surpass 1,000.

“The Muslims they speak with are incredulous,” reports the worker. “They say, ‘This is the first time we have heard this truth.’”

The year 2009, the worker adds, was a “very good year — and a difficult year ” for both Farooq and Rasheed.”

A selected chronology of the year’s events in their lives and ministries:

– Rasheed begins a jama’at in his hometown and four more elsewhere.

– Farooq is framed, arrested and beaten for sharing his faith with Muslim seekers. He loses his possessions and sustains painful leg injuries. “I did nothing wrong,” he declares. “I know that God was with me in jail and through the whole ordeal. I can trust Him for anything!”

– Exonerated and released from jail, Farooq promptly restarts the seeker meeting that was the source of his persecution.

– Nawab* becomes a believer in Farooq’s native place. He begins two jama’ats and currently conducts a weekly seeker meeting.

– Many women’s seeker meetings begin. More than 50 women now attend three jama’ats.

– Thirty new leaders are trained to launch seeker meetings following extensive evangelistic outreach during an annual Muslim festival.

– During Ramadan outreach efforts, two leaders are beaten for sharing Jesus. One lies in a coma for several days. Both recover.

– At least 52 new jama’ats are begun during the year, bringing Farooq’s total to more than 100. It’s getting harder to count them, he reports.

“It wasn’t an easy year, but God has done amazing things in the hearts of Farooq and Rasheed, as well as in the hearts of the Muslim-background believers whose faith and fearlessness have grown in ways we never could have imagined,” reflects the Christian worker.

Next time somebody tells you the Gospel will never penetrate the Muslim world, or that Muslims aren’t interested in knowing about Jesus Christ, remember Rasheed, Farooq and many others like them.

They beg to differ — and they put their lives on the line daily to prove otherwise.

–30–

*Names changed.

Erich Bridges is global correspondent for the International Mission Board (imb.org).

http://www.bpnews.net/BPFirstPerson.asp?ID=32271

INTERNATIONAL DIGEST: IPCC report called ‘climate evangelism’

Posted on Feb 12, 2010 | by Staff

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)– Global activists promoting the “global warming” cause suffered a serious setback Feb. 4 when the government of India announced it would form its own panel to study the impact of climate change on the country.

The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which is headed by an Indian scientist, R.K Pachauri, has faced growing criticism over the credibility of its work. Pachauri’s most recent climate change assessment falsely claimed most of India’s Himalayan glaciers would disappear by 2035, the Telegraph newspaper reported. Other scientists, however, say that while some glaciers appear to be melting, others are advancing and at current rates it could take more than 300 years for India’s glaciers to disappear.

“There is a fine line between climate science and climate evangelism. I am for climate science. I think people misused [the] IPCC report, [the] IPCC doesn’t do the original research which is one of the weaknesses … they just take published literature and then they derive assessments, so we had goof-ups on Amazon forest, glaciers, snow peaks,” said India’s environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, according to the Telegraph. “I respect the IPCC but India is a very large country and cannot depend only on [the] IPCC and so we have launched the Indian Network on Comprehensive Climate Change Assessment.”

The UN panel’s claim that glaciers would disappear by 2035 “was clearly out of place and didn’t have any scientific basis,” Ramesh added.

The day after India’s announcement, news services reported the Netherlands asked the UN climate change panel to explain an inaccurate 2007 claim that more than half the country was below sea level, when in fact only 26 percent of the country is below sea level. IPCC experts apparently reached that figure by adding the area below sea level — 26 percent — to the area threatened by river flooding — 29 percent, a spokesman for the Dutch environment ministry told reporters.

On the basis of that 938-page IPCC report, politicians around the world vowed to take dramatic action to reverse “global warming.” The false claim about India’s glaciers and labeling river flood plains as below sea level provide new ammunition for critics who contend the entire “global warming” campaign is a political ruse to enrich advocates of green technology, with devastating consequences for the world’s poor.

–30–

Compiled by Baptist Press assistant editor Mark Kelly.

http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=32281

WORLDVIEW: The year of living dangerously

WORLDVIEW: The year of living dangerously

by Erich Bridges

Posted on Feb 11, 2010

Visit “WorldView Conversation,” the blog related to this column, at http://worldviewconversation.blogspot.com/. Listen to an audio version at http://media1.imbresources.org/files/106/10631/10631-56748.mp3.
 
RICHMOND, Va. (BP)–What do you think about when you look back on the past year of your life?
 
Family joys and heartaches, perhaps. Victories and defeats on the job or at school. Sickness and health. Events in the lives of close friends. Odds are, you aren’t remembering the physical beatings you took for Christ.
 
Rasheed* and Farooq* are.
 
I’ve written several times about Rasheed and Farooq, two Muslims in India who have become committed followers of Jesus Christ. They lead a growing movement of Muslim-background believers in Mumbai, India’s largest city. The urban giant’s 20 million people include some 2 million Muslims — a large but often marginalized minority that is showing increasing openness to the Gospel.
  
Last time we checked in with Rasheed, he was lying in a hospital bed with a head wound, broken rib and internal injuries suffered during a brutal attack at the hands of people angered by his stand for Jesus. He had led two Muslim men to faith in Christ. One of them went home and told family members. Enraged, they found Rasheed, pushed him down and beat him with a cricket bat until others rescued him. He was hospitalized for nearly a month.
 
“Rasheed is almost fully recovered now,” says a Christian worker who keeps in touch with him. “He is looking for work again while continuing to teach six leaders of jama’ats” — indigenous worship groups composed of Muslim-background followers of Jesus — and leading five jama’ats himself.
 
“While he was recovering, three more Muslims gave their lives to Christ through the faithful witness of believers in his groups.”
 
Farooq, meanwhile, has stayed busy with more than 70 Shi’ite Muslim “seeker groups” investigating the Gospel. Spiritual seekers in the groups now probably surpass 1,000.
 
“The Muslims they speak with are incredulous,” reports the worker. “They say, ‘This is the first time we have heard this truth.’”
 
The year 2009, the worker adds, was a “very good year — and a difficult year ” for both Farooq and Rasheed.”
 
A selected chronology of the year’s events in their lives and ministries:
 
– Rasheed begins a jama’at in his hometown and four more elsewhere.
 
– Farooq is framed, arrested and beaten for sharing his faith with Muslim seekers. He loses his possessions and sustains painful leg injuries. “I did nothing wrong,” he declares. “I know that God was with me in jail and through the whole ordeal. I can trust Him for anything!”
 
– Exonerated and released from jail, Farooq promptly restarts the seeker meeting that was the source of his persecution.
 
– Nawab* becomes a believer in Farooq’s native place. He begins two jama’ats and currently conducts a weekly seeker meeting.
 
– Many women’s seeker meetings begin. More than 50 women now attend three jama’ats.
 
– Thirty new leaders are trained to launch seeker meetings following extensive evangelistic outreach during an annual Muslim festival.
 
– During Ramadan outreach efforts, two leaders are beaten for sharing Jesus. One lies in a coma for several days. Both recover.
 
– At least 52 new jama’ats are begun during the year, bringing Farooq’s total to more than 100. It’s getting harder to count them, he reports.
 
“It wasn’t an easy year, but God has done amazing things in the hearts of Farooq and Rasheed, as well as in the hearts of the Muslim-background believers whose faith and fearlessness have grown in ways we never could have imagined,” reflects the Christian worker.
 
Next time somebody tells you the Gospel will never penetrate the Muslim world, or that Muslims aren’t interested in knowing about Jesus Christ, remember Rasheed, Farooq and many others like them.
 
They beg to differ — and they put their lives on the line daily to prove otherwise.
 
–30–

http://www.bpnews.net/BPFirstPerson.asp?ID=32271
  
*Names changed.
 
Erich Bridges is global correspondent for the International Mission Board (imb.org).

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