MISSIONS SUNDAY PROGRAMME
4TH NOVEMBER 2012
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This Sunday’s programme was a special service in which the EBCC sponsored missionary John Jamlianmang Singsit shared his evangelical experiences in Punjab’s Batala field. Since 2010 our church has partnered the Friends Missionary Prayer Band to sponsor a missionary in the mission fields of Punjab.
Brother John has been associated with FMPB for the last four years and since 2011 has been working in Batala. In his short but interesting sharing he spoke of the various demographics of Punjab and how in particular the economically and politically disempowered Majbi group of Punjabi society has been very responsive to the call of God. He pointed out that unlike other non-believer groups in other parts of India; the Majbis have been attracted to Christianity not because for financial gain but rather to fill a socio-political vacuum. Punjab is known as the “granary of India” and is the most agriculturally abundant state. The people among whom he is working to spread the Gospel are financially secure but have for long been denied any political or social identity and rights by the more affluent sections of the Punjabi society. Christianity empowers these people with a new identity and feeling of importance and self-worth.
He however lamented and remarked on how despite the entry of Christianity since the British rule in Punjab there has been no progressive growth of the Christian population in the state. Brother John attributes this to the short-sightedness of the early British missionaries who did not endeavour to sustain the spiritual growth of the early converts. The absence of a systematic and visionary pedagogy to nurture the needs of the first Christians is clearly visible in present day Punjab. He talked of how there were no Sunday Schools or proper elementary Mission schools which could have been the foundation to build and nurture Christianity in Punjab.
There are 4 sub centres in the Batala field in which regular Sunday services are conducted. Regular night meetings are held in 40 villages. The first convert of his evangelical work: Brother Vicky Massey also gave a brief testimony of how he encountered and experienced the handiwork of God. His entire family have now become Christians ever since his ill son (with limited mobility) was cured by the sustained prayers of Brother John. This is one of the reasons why the Majbis are attracted to the Gospel: they seek God in search of miracles. Their spiritual landscape is dominated by witch doctors, self styled god men and evil possessions. Brother John shared a video clip of a demon possessed woman and her daughter and how their primary work is to cast out evil spirits in the name of Christ. He narrated hilarious anecdotes of how these people are extremely loud and gregarious by nature and hence Christian evangelism has to borrow certain elements of Sikh worship practices on a day to day basis. Organising satsangs (fellowships) is one such method where the norm is to continually sing songs of praise accompanied with blaring loudspeakers, musical instruments and the energetic Punjabi dance Bhangra. The louder the merrier being the principle. The standard phrase of greeting is a long and winded ‘Ha-lle-lui-ah’ on the lines of the Sikh greeting Jo Bole so Nihal!
Brother John summed up his sharing with a brief comparison of early North-East tribal converts and the present day Punjabis. He believed that our forefathers who embraced the word of God did so because they were convinced of the teachings of the Bible: the Living Word. They longed not for the earthly rewards but of eternal spiritual fulfilment. The Punjabis, however, look for miracles and cures to their ailments both physical and psychological. They want to see and acquire the immediate earthly rewards of a Christian life. This he reiterated was the biggest challenge which impeded the deep rooted propagation of Christianity in Punjab.
By- Grace Siamlianvung
Media Team
