A wonderful welcome at Chennai airport today.
This evening we met up with Paul and Ginny Weston, and then with Revd Dr Paul Gnanadurai at Wesley Church who has written a biography of Lesslie Newbigin. He is also working on biographies of others such at Martin Luther and John Calvin, to act as windows as to God's wider work.
He knew Bishop Lesslie when a child. We spoke of his legacy: his godly and disciplined life, the formation of the Church of South india in 1947; of the Bishop as someone focused on mission, not always being popular for this; of how he challenged secular agendas; of how the church has grown 400% since 1947, of the on average 8000 per year coming to faith.
Church growth at Paul's church is very much through home visits, of teaching children from a young age, that they trust in Jesus for themselves, of teaching adults. He has visited 600 homes in 3 years and is about to repeat the pattern. There is a weekly prayer meeting of one hour on Tuesday evenings at 7
Present challenges include CSI not having that much contact with Roman Catholics, or other Protestant or Pentecostal denominations. There is also the challenge of fundamentalism. His writings provide a resource for thinking the issues through.
On the way to meet Paul we visited the school where Ramilla teaches and enjoyed meeting the head of school Mrs Inba Kumari. A Diocesan School of around 1500 it was founded in the mid 19th century to provide education for girls. It continues in that work today, especially for those from poorer backgrounds. Children come from Chennai and surrounding villages. The majority are Hindu or Muslim. Funding for salaries is from the state, for the buildings by the church. Additional funding comes from churches. Pastors recommend children for the school. Churches then sponsor the children.
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