Various members of the team visited a number of different churches both morning and evening along with a Remembrance Sunday service in the centre of Kolkata.
Churches visited included a traditional English Baptist church with Baptist hymnbooks, a westernised charismatic fellowship with PowerPoint choruses and a Bengali communion service.
Three of the team had an opportunity to preach and these were some of their reflections on the different services.
“It was impressive to see some of the plaques around the church dating back to 1818 showing the sacrifices made by previous missionaries.”
“The Remembrance Sunday event was less of a church service and more of a little bit of old England in the middle of Kolkata. It felt amusing to be talking with the deputy high commissioner’s wife!”
“This modern church was heavily westernised and lacked some of the beauty of Bengali culture.”
08/11/2009
Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God. William Carey
Kolkata has a rich heritage.
After a short visit to St Paul’s cathedral, the team visited the Victoria Memorial museum (pictured right).
It contained a wealth of history including William Carey’s influence through using the printing press.
There were photographs of a Bengali dictionary that he produced and credits to his work as a botanist and horticulturalist.
No visit would be complete without buying presents from the “new market”.
Bartering is essential and surprisingly most people left believing they had a bargain! Some were very impressed that Indian dresses were made by the afternoon.
Others hoped that their jewellery was “authentic” silver and pearl.
It quickly became apparent that God was doing something very special with these young and new Hindu converts. There were stories of persecution, sacrifice, miraculous conversions and everyone gave God the glory for his power in mission.
Then the team were taken to a house church in Chanditala near New Alipur, a strong Hindu area that had previously been known for its high crime rate. Around 20 people were sat under a tarpaulin, all expectant and ready for a time of worship.
What followed was like something out of a first century church. The Holy Spirit inspired a spontaneous time of prayer, testimony, biblical preaching, intercession and singing.
Click here to watch a video of this. One of the team, Rev Geoff Cook of Faversham Baptist Church said, “Since the beginning of my ministry I’ve been committed to the idea of “every member a minister” and becoming a missionary congregation. Today I’ve finally seen what it looks like. This is Acts 2 lived out in front of us. Simple effective, total faith in God, turning lives downside up.”
Rev Peter Carr of Buckhaven Baptist Church said, “These were people living by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor 5). Rev Francisco Rivers preached with enthusiasm, encouraging them to find joy in Jesus.
The team invited the church to ask them questions. One man asked what they would advise to avoid nominal Christianity? Many of the team felt that this was a bigger problem for Christians in the UK than in India. They possibly had more to learn from these young believers in this respect than other UK Christians.
Rev Gareth Wilde shared how he had been privileged to walk with Jesus for exactly 40 years to the month. He prayed that this young fellowship would continue to serve God with this enthusiasm into their old age, like an 85 year-old Caleb.