108
edits
Changes
From BrethrenPedia
Multiple additions
''1. Who Are The Indian Brethren:'' Indian Brethren are a group of New Testament Pattern separatists whom the Lord raised indigenously through the ministries of certain non-brethren Indian revival preachers. In doctrine and practice they are quite similar to the group commonly called Plymouth Brethren. Thus the Indian Brethren are not averse to the title Plymouth Brethren when it is applied to them symbolically.However, the Indian Brethren movement is not an offshoot of the Plymouth Brethren.
''2. Why Do You Call Yourself Brethren, Aren't All Of Us Brothers:'' The Brethren emphasize the brotherhood of all believers in Christ, and this name does not exclude others. Actually the group today known as the Brethren NEVER took this name upon themselves. On the contrary, this name was imposed upon this group the same way the name Christians was imposed in Antioch. Others gave this name to this group when they saw the unusual brotherhood, and the name has stuck so nobody can undo it. At the same time most people belonging to these Brethren churches do not like to use this as a denominational name, and therefore a large number of their churches go by names like Gospel Hall, Bible Chapel, Prayer Hall, etc. This is sufficient to show that the Brethren do no generally use this name to exclude others or as a denominational identity.In India they are also called Verpadukaar, which means "The Separated Ones". This name was given by others when the Brethren left their denominational churches to form autonomous local assemblies.
''3. What Is The Need For A FAQ:'' The Brethren movement in India has been a vigorous, fast-growing, and evangelism-centered movement that has found theological and practical bonds with the Plymouth Brethren movement. Today there are in excess of 2200 3000 assemblies in India, and more than 100 (an estimated) 200 assemblies overseas of Indian origin. The total number of Indian evangelists is greater than the combined number of evangelists sent overseas by the assemblies in UK, USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Yet these things are known to only few Indian Brethren, let alone the non Indian Brethren. Ignorance enslaves while knowledge liberates, and that is why publishing this FAQ has become necessary.
''4. Is The Brethren Movement In India The Daughter Of The Plymouth Brethren Assemblies:'' Because Indian Brethren often used the title Plymouth Brethren they are often erroneously identified as the fruits of people from Plymouth who laboured in India. What is more, western Christians were quick to claim the Indian assemblies as the fruit of their labours. This is a false identification. The Brethren movement in India came up quite independently of the movement in Plymouth, and both movements recognized each other as a counterpart mainly because of identical doctrines and practices and not because one gave birth to the other.
''5. Then What Was The Origin Of Brethren Assemblies In India:'' A substantial Christian witness existed in the southernmost state of Kerala for 2000 years (since the arrival of St. Thomas). This group experienced a number of revivals and reformations over these millennia. The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were a period of unusual revival and great reformation among these people. At this time the Lord raised many from the nominal churches here to study the word, discover biblical truths and preach it to their people. Some German missionaries, such as V. Nagal(a Basel mission missionary), also helped them in this discovery. Finally the forthright preaching of repentance and salvation by Tamil David(official name, VD David), and an Indian, resulted in a large number of conversions. A few of these converts were baptized by a priest who had abandoned his ecclesiastical position. And that was the beginning of the Indian Brethren Assemblies in 1897.
''6. Who Were The People Who Came Out And From Where:'' At that time Kerala had three main Christian groups: Eastern Orthodox Church (now split up into at least three groups), Mar Thoma Church, and Roman Catholics, in addition to the smaller Chaldean Syrian Church. Together they had close to 2000 churches in Kerala. The first batch of Brethren Believers came out from them. Most of them had to pay a heavy cost for their faith as they were excommunicated from church, society, and their families. Many of them were mercilessly beaten and humiliated throughout their life. Others were thrown out of their houses when too young to take up a job, but they all persevered. There are no known cases at that time of people going back to what they abandoned -- though many of them were invited back to positions of comfort in their ancestral families and churches.
''23. What Was The Role Of Foreign Missionaries In Nurturing The Early Brethren Movement:'' Once the indigenous Brethren movement began to grow explosively, many foreign missionaries from the Assemblies outside came to India and began working in supportive ministries. The majority of rendered great assistance to the infant church, helping this movement to grow, consolidate, and become self-sustaining in everything. A minority of them, however, sowed seeds of discord, indulged in politicking, and imposed their imperial attitude on the local population. This resulted in some notable problems and damages, but can be written off as human frailty in the light of the quantity and quality of the great service they rendered to the Indian church. Names like V. Nagal, E. H. Noel, and Handly Bird are household names among Indian Brethren even today.
24. What Has Been The Role Of Foreign Missionaries In The Mature Brethren Movement: Assemblies in India would not have been what they are today were it not for the contributions of the first generation of foreign missionaries who often suffered great hardships and spent all what they had to nurture the new believers. However, things began to change with the arrival of the second generation of foreign missionaries (after about three decades). Once the assemblies in India became mature and self- sustaining (post 1940) there was a curious change in the ratio of what can be called benevolent versus self-serving missionaries. The number of men and women who came to India not to serve, but to make people serve them began to increase. Much damage was done to Indian assemblies by some of these people in the last quarter of the twentieth century, but their declining numbers and government's refusal to give them entry into the country saved the Assemblies from more serious damages. Since people often see all foreigners through the same glasses, these people have caused much damage to those non-Indians who till the last moment of their ministry here, and even after that, were benevolent to Indians.
25. What Role Is Played By Foreign Itinerant Preachers Among Indian Assemblies: it varies. A number of them have a very acceptable ministry of teaching and exhortation. They have contributed much to the edification of Indian believers. For the Brethren Centenary Meeting in 1997 one of them was even invited to and paid his air-fare to come to India and be one of the main speakers. However, a number of itinerant preachers, especially from the UK, have caused much damage to the Indian church by indulging in church-politics, especially by using large amounts of money which is used in India without transparency. Rather than handing it over to a group of men to handle, this money is handed over to individuals who toe their line, creating much internal rift and rivalry. One of these non India itinerant missionary even published a book depicting a lot of work done by Indian pioneers as his own. Fortunately many have started exposing these people and it is expected that sooner of later they will have to refrain from manipulating Indians against fellow Indians.
26. What Is The Contribution Of Non Indian Brethren Missionary Agencies: Several Non Indian Brethren agencies have shown an ongoing interest in financially helping the Lord's work and people in India, and they have been doing a commendable job. Perhaps because of the plurality of their leadership (which is the New Testament pattern) they have been quite objective in assessing the needs, liberal in funding, and do not indulge in any kind of manipulation in India. Also, rather that giving away money to individuals, they prefer to entrust these to Indian agencies that are controlled by plural leadership. This includes agencies like MSC, CMML, Laing Trust, and many others. Several ministries in India, even today, are sent a good share of their support by non Indian trusts and these trusts also have taken a non-interference attitude after entrusting the money to committees made up of leaders of Integrity. The Lord's work in India would not have been what it is without their timely and ongoing help and support.
27. What Are The Burning Issues Among The Indian Assemblies: Since the Indian assemblies are functioning in the real world, and since they are not isolated from the world, many of the popular ideologies, issues, movements, and fads have been (through people) placing many kinds of demands upon the Assemblies. These have given rise to many issues on which more or less animated discussion is going on, and as yet no consensus seems to be near. This is to be expected in a system that is not bound by rigid ecclesiastical systems. Some of the issues discussed right now are:
