Creating a Holistic Church out of a Colonial Past

Arthur Thangiah

Bombay, India

Bombay Baptist Church was established in 1869 for British worshippers.   After independence, elite people worshipped there. During the 1980s, God moved and the church has begun to work and reach out to the communities of Bombay.

 More than 60% of Bombay are the working poor who live in the slums.  Bombay Baptist Church started planting churches in the slums.  But there are the absolute destitutes- ex-prisoners, prostitutes, street children and lepers.  In order to reach out and meet the needs of these people, in 1994, Bombay Baptist church started a charitable organization called Sahaara which means help, refuge, and support in Hindi.  The aim of this organization is love in action.  Sahaara seeks to reach out to the needy communities with Jesus Christ’s compassion in the following projects:

Projects 

-         Reay Road- 35 children gather daily-

§         10 children passed on from RR to regular schools and then tutored afterschool

-         Dharevi- day center for 45 children- songs, story telling, writing.

§         Provides the kids with mail

-         Vasai Rd- 45-50 kids cared for

                                Dist. Clothes

                                Med. Need, grocery

-         Sunday afternoon -70 kids near the railroad cared for

-         Mahimah children’s home- focus is to take children who have been abandoned by parents or with parents with terminal disease.  Right now have 6 boys – to help them integrate into communities. They go to schools.

-         Prison min. – medical care, share gospel

-         Medical camp- 500 children given treatment for scabies

-         Lepers- every Sunday afternoon provide lunch for 30 lepers

-         Med. Aid is given and then worship and teaching

-         Alpha Academy- 1994- a playschool, now it is nursery, Lower KG, higher KG and primary 1.  Most revenue for SAHAARA comes from this school

-         Teacher’s training

-    Adult literacy- 30 students teaching English and Hindi, to school drop outs.

-         Prostitute ministries

-         30 churches. As they grow they are encouraged to own a part of the projects

We want to:

1.  Make all member of the church to be active in community. Train them to be able

2.  All churches own the ministries

3.  Seek to integrate the work of all the churches together

4.  Seek to build a model of financial self-sufficiency

-  Running expenses will be covered by the school and church members to give additional tithe (1/3) for the community projects

Questions:

John:  How did you transition the church from elite to the community?

-         We were not satisfied and wanted to feel the fullness of the presence of the Lord- that led to people to see what they had not seen before- the needs around them- different people got different visions for ministries.

Jean-Luc: Are most of the ministries that have been developed- where are the leaders from and how are they trained?

-         middle class leadership as well as working poor.  The capacity is being built by motivating the people to not be satisfied where they are- for wholistic development of the person not just meet immediate needs

Pedro: Do you have people who are opposed to the ministry at the church?  Are there people who are telling you to look for richer people who can fund more?  These are things that I’ve heard while in my ministry. 

Chonabelle: Children’s programs- are they free?

• -         Slum project, platform kids ministries are free

• -         Alpha School- from all economic backgrounds poor kids pay almost nothing

• -         This is a early childhood school- after this most kids go on for further education

© Viv Grigg & Urban Leadership Foundationand other materials © by various contributors & Urban Leadership Foundation,  for The Encarnacao Training Commission.  Last modified: July 2010