I n d i a 2 0 0 3
Barry left the US on January 7 for 28 days in India to work with Pastor
Chandrasekar Eda, (Fundamental Baptist Ministries - India), and with Matthew
Thomas in Kerala State. He arrived safely in Mumbai, India, and was met at the
airport by Pastor Shekar. He spent Thursday through Sunday preaching at the
Calvary Baptist Bible College daily, and holding nightly meetings in two
churches that Pastor Shekar has started in the city of Mumbai.
On Monday, Barry flew to Vishakapatnam, a city on the east coast of India in
the state of Andra Pradesh. It is located on the Bay of Bengal. From there he
traveled by jeep to Kakinada, four hours further south. From Monday through
Thursday nights Barry preached twice a day, in a different place or village each
time. At the beginning of this week something happened elsewhere that
affected the rest of the trip. In the south Indian state of Kerala, an American
preacher was attacked by a band of Hindu fanatics. He was on his way back to
his vehicle after an open air evangelistic meeting. This ignited a firestorm of
debate in the country over whether foreign preachers should be allowed to
preach in India. Each day the newspapers were full of follow up stories. When
the preacher was released from the hospital, he was deported! Articles
appeared in the national papers that the Hindu leaders knew of some fifty other
foreign preachers in India at the time. (Including Barry!)
The Hindu officials were
compiling a list of these preachers, and were going to hunt them down and
have the authorities remove them! This, of course, caused concern for Barry
among the believers with whom he was ministering. He was not worried about it
while he was with Pastor Shekar. Barry and Pastor Shekar moved around so
much that officials would not have located them before they were gone. It did,
however, change the way they conducted meetings. Instead of large meetings
in public places, they had smaller ones on church properties. Then lost folks
who came were coming onto "church turf". It was also a more direct help to the
individual churches. Frankly, they even saw more souls saved that way! On
Friday they returned to Hyderabad for more services. There were two services a
day on Friday and Saturday in various places. Travel between these meetings
averaged over two hours of jeep travel on rough roads. On Sunday, Barry
preached four times in four churches in seven hours!
The following Monday Barry flew to Kerala State to hold a week of meetings for
Brother Matthew Thomas. This was the state where the preacher was attacked,
and Barry was only ninety miles away. The concerned believers took
precautions to protect him, and to minimize conflict in the area. They had three
nights of meetings in the town of Vengoor, about and hour and a half from where
Barry was staying. Each night, a van load of believers would rendezvous at the
house, and escort him to the meetings. They arranged to arrive at the service
after it had started. They parked inside the church compound walls. After the
service was over, they immediately loaded Barry in the jeep and, with the escort,
returned him to the house.
Thursday through Sunday Barry preached at a newly
planted church beside the house where he stayed. In 1999 he and his father had
the privilege of helping to start this church when they preached public
evangelistic meetings in the town. The church met in a house then. Now they
have a beautiful building. Barry met a man who was saved in their meetings in
1999. He is now a deacon of the church, and has won many to Christ! Praise
God for this fruit that remains! Instead of the usual publicity announcing an
American preacher the banners for this meeting only mentioned a special
speaker. The affect of increased persecution was apparent here. There were
fewer unsaved at these meetings. But, despite the intimidation, there were still a
number of souls saved.
On the last week of the trip, Barry again joined Pastor Shekar. This time they
traveled to the north Indian state of Sikkim. A graduate of Shekar�s college is
planting a church in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains at the town of
Namchi, (which means "top of the sky") You can understand the name when you
from the town you are look down on the clouds. They flew to West Bengal, and
had a four hour jeep drive to Namchi where they held three days of evangelistic
meetings. It rained for the first day of services and was very cold. This hindered
the attendance. But, for the other two days, the weather was nicer and the
crowds good. A number of souls trusted Christ in the meetings, and the church
was encouraged. These were the first evangelistic meetings they had tried in
Namchi. They later baptized nine people. On Barry's last day in Sikkim, he
visited the foremost Budhist temple in the world, and witnessed a religious ritual
there. Barry returned to Mumbai that weekend, and spent his last Sunday
preaching at the two churches where he started his trip. As his aircraft lifted off
of the runway a day later, Barry was filled with mixed emotions. He was thankful
to leave India safely, without any personal persecution, but he felt for his Indian
brothers and sisters in Christ who are facing increased future persecution.
Please pray for these believers that are standing faithfully for the Lord in India.
Barry left the US on January 7 for 28 days in India to work with Pastor
Chandrasekar Eda, (Fundamental Baptist Ministries - India), and with Matthew
Thomas in Kerala State. He arrived safely in Mumbai, India, and was met at the
airport by Pastor Shekar. He spent Thursday through Sunday preaching at the
Calvary Baptist Bible College daily, and holding nightly meetings in two
churches that Pastor Shekar has started in the city of Mumbai.On Monday, Barry flew to Vishakapatnam, a city on the east coast of India in
the state of Andra Pradesh. It is located on the Bay of Bengal. From there he
traveled by jeep to Kakinada, four hours further south. From Monday through
Thursday nights Barry preached twice a day, in a different place or village each
time. At the beginning of this week something happened elsewhere that
affected the rest of the trip. In the south Indian state of Kerala, an American
preacher was attacked by a band of Hindu fanatics. He was on his way back to
his vehicle after an open air evangelistic meeting. This ignited a firestorm of
debate in the country over whether foreign preachers should be allowed to
preach in India. Each day the newspapers were full of follow up stories. When
the preacher was released from the hospital, he was deported! Articles
appeared in the national papers that the Hindu leaders knew of some fifty other
foreign preachers in India at the time. (Including Barry!)The Hindu officials were
compiling a list of these preachers, and were going to hunt them down and
have the authorities remove them! This, of course, caused concern for Barry
among the believers with whom he was ministering. He was not worried about it
while he was with Pastor Shekar. Barry and Pastor Shekar moved around so
much that officials would not have located them before they were gone. It did,
however, change the way they conducted meetings. Instead of large meetings
in public places, they had smaller ones on church properties. Then lost folks
who came were coming onto "church turf". It was also a more direct help to the
individual churches. Frankly, they even saw more souls saved that way! On
Friday they returned to Hyderabad for more services. There were two services a
day on Friday and Saturday in various places. Travel between these meetings
averaged over two hours of jeep travel on rough roads. On Sunday, Barry
preached four times in four churches in seven hours!The following Monday Barry flew to Kerala State to hold a week of meetings for
Brother Matthew Thomas. This was the state where the preacher was attacked,
and Barry was only ninety miles away. The concerned believers took
precautions to protect him, and to minimize conflict in the area. They had three
nights of meetings in the town of Vengoor, about and hour and a half from where
Barry was staying. Each night, a van load of believers would rendezvous at the
house, and escort him to the meetings. They arranged to arrive at the service
after it had started. They parked inside the church compound walls. After the
service was over, they immediately loaded Barry in the jeep and, with the escort,
returned him to the house.Thursday through Sunday Barry preached at a newly
planted church beside the house where he stayed. In 1999 he and his father had
the privilege of helping to start this church when they preached public
evangelistic meetings in the town. The church met in a house then. Now they
have a beautiful building. Barry met a man who was saved in their meetings in
1999. He is now a deacon of the church, and has won many to Christ! Praise
God for this fruit that remains! Instead of the usual publicity announcing an
American preacher the banners for this meeting only mentioned a special
speaker. The affect of increased persecution was apparent here. There were
fewer unsaved at these meetings. But, despite the intimidation, there were still a
number of souls saved.On the last week of the trip, Barry again joined Pastor Shekar. This time they
traveled to the north Indian state of Sikkim. A graduate of Shekar�s college is
planting a church in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains at the town of
Namchi, (which means "top of the sky") You can understand the name when you
from the town you are look down on the clouds. They flew to West Bengal, and
had a four hour jeep drive to Namchi where they held three days of evangelistic
meetings. It rained for the first day of services and was very cold. This hindered
the attendance. But, for the other two days, the weather was nicer and the
crowds good. A number of souls trusted Christ in the meetings, and the church
was encouraged. These were the first evangelistic meetings they had tried in
Namchi. They later baptized nine people. On Barry's last day in Sikkim, he
visited the foremost Budhist temple in the world, and witnessed a religious ritual
there. Barry returned to Mumbai that weekend, and spent his last Sunday
preaching at the two churches where he started his trip. As his aircraft lifted off
of the runway a day later, Barry was filled with mixed emotions. He was thankful
to leave India safely, without any personal persecution, but he felt for his Indian
brothers and sisters in Christ who are facing increased future persecution.
Please pray for these believers that are standing faithfully for the Lord in India.site design by setlinc.com