Indian church-planting missionary Elavatta Abraham has an extraordinary experience of how God has worked in his life.
He told his story exclusively to Evangelicals Now during a brief trip to the UK to attend the Cambridge Leaders Network conference.
en: How did you become a Christian?
EA: In 1979, aged 18, I was in a bad way. I wanted to commit suicide and looked for some paper on which to write a suicide note. I found some sheets under a Bible, but as I moved it aside a voice distinctly said ‘open it and read it’. I ignored it but it spoke the same words again. I opened it at random, at Ecclesiastes 7: 16-18 ‘why destroy yourself … why die before your time’ – at which point the room was filled with bright light
en: What happened then?
EA: After a period with Operation Mobilisation (OM) I attended Bethel Bible Institute, Tamil Nadu. There I was challenged to go to Bihar, in northern India, which was known as the ‘graveyard of missionaries’, perhaps because it is the birthplace of both Buddhism and Sikhism and had no Christian population at all.
I arrived in Bihar in 1984 and the work was very hard. Once I even ran away to the next-door state of Uttar Pradesh, but God in his mercy called me back. My mission strategy was to begin by starting a school with about 150 children. This gave me great opportunities to reach out to the local community. But only three people accepted Christ in my first ten years there.
Then we set up Bible classes, where we saw miracles and healings, which led to baptisms, house fellowships and churches being started; eventually we were able to buy and rent our own church buildings. Nearly 40 years on, 25,000 people worship at 58 church buildings and at literally hundreds of Bible fellowships. We also run six schools with 3,500 children and a Bible college with 16 satellite ministries.
en: How is the church organised?
EA: The ministry is called Hope India Mission and we have three key purposes, our three ‘Es’. They are to Equip through leadership training; Enlarge through community-centred ministry and Establish hotspots of community learning. I supervise seven co-ordinators who are responsible for many hundreds of committed volunteers. Although the ministry itself is non-denominational, I am an ordained bishop in the National Church of India, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion, as this enhances my credibility with the Indian Government when I advocate for Christians.
en: Is the church facing much persecution from militant Hindus and perhaps others?
EA: I have direct experience of this as extremists tried to kidnap my daughter when she was only 13. Over the past few years the hostility we face has significantly worsened. Only last Sunday one of our pastors was accused of trying to lead others to Christ. He was badly beaten and cash and belongings were stolen from his house.
en: How do you respond to that?
EA: It is real challenge to us all. We fast and pray and perhaps go to the police. Sometimes they try to help us; more often they do not.
en: How do you hope the ministry will grow in future?
EA: We hope to hold many missions and we would like to build a cathedral in the state capital, Patna, so we can reach higher-caste people. At present the church comprises mainly lower-caste Dalits. We would like to build a Bible College and guesthouse in Rathir, a local Buddhist centre. And we have already bought land earmarked for a community college in Chattisgarh, in central India, but we need God’s provision to build it.
en: How is God moving in India right now?
EA: We see the Lord moving in so many ways. We face much persecution, but we know that is how God strengthens and multiplies His church. We urgently need more prayer partners and missionaries so this work may continue and urge UK Christians to pray for India, to partner with Indian churches, visit them as tourists, and to give generously to enable them to grow.
