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USA, April 7, 2004: We thank an HPI reader for bringing this article on a Christian evangelist website to our attention. It is rather old, apparently posted in 1999, but still useful. We found it revealing of methods and heartening in that it was so hard to convert a Hindu, for the reason that he was innately too tolerant to accept a path which claim to be the “only means” of salvation. It is so hard to convert a Hindu that one minister says in the article it will happen only if God does something “absolutely miraculous.”



Article follows:



Note posted by website at top of page:



Missionary activity among Hindus is not limited to India. Hindu communities have existed outside of India for generations. The article below describes missionary activity in a Hindu community in Chicago. The approach is positive community service.



Title:



Chicago church tackles challenge of outreach to Hindu community



By Tim Ellsworth



EDITORS’ NOTE (of the original publisher): Due to the sensitive nature of ministry among Hindu people, the specific name of this ministry and the name of its director are being withheld.



A Hindu restaurant owner’s equipment broke down a few months back. His business was already struggling and the new wave of problems almost broke him. But a ministry of Chicago’s Uptown Baptist Church stepped in and helped him with his equipment and his restaurant. Through that relationship, “the Lord opened his heart and he came to Christ,” the ministry’s director said. The store owner was baptized at Uptown, and “he’s being salt and light in his little neighborhood,” the director said.



That’s just one example of the needs of Hindus and Indians this ministry is helping to meet. Uptown started the ministry about a year ago to reach the nearly 5,000 Indians in a community just north of the church. The director’s salary is partially provided by Illinois Baptists’ state missions offering. Eighty percent of the Indian community in this part of Chicago is Hindu, which creates a number of barriers the ministry must overcome if it is to be successful in reaching people for Christ.



One major problem with Hinduism is its belief that all paths lead to God. “So, it is enormously difficult for a Hindu to accept that Christ is the only way and that his salvation is unique,” the director said. “The inevitable thing is they find a home for Jesus in their Hindu worldview. They just make him another god in the Hindu pantheon.” For Uptown’s ministry, this means more subtle ways of sharing the gospel are needed.



“If you come into their community and you say, ‘I’m an evangelist’ or ‘I’m a missionary’ or ‘I want to plant a church,’ it’s absurd,” the director said. “They’ll never give you the time of day. You’ll never be able to get into an authentic relationship with people. … You have to have an avenue to love and serve them and cultivate spiritual relationships with them.”



So, the Uptown ministry does just that by providing services to Indian immigrants and helping to meet needs in the community. For example, the people involved in the Hindu ministry might help new immigrants find an apartment, teach them about using public transportation or show them how to open a checking account. One middle-aged woman in the community was taking a college class but didn’t know how to use a library for research. So, those involved with the ministry taught her how. Because of these services, the Uptown ministry is well-respected in the community. “Once we’re in a relationship with them, we can get in a Bible study with them and share the gospel,” the director said.



The ministry also goes about sharing Christ in other subtle ways. On Good Friday, volunteers handed out 200 copies of the Gospel of John and a pamphlet, “What’s so good about Good Friday?” Last Christmas, the ministry gave away the “Jesus” film to 80 Hindu and Sikh business owners in their own language as Christmas presents. “They loved it,” the director said. “We had great response. Some watched it three times.” That small gift opened the door for new relationships with people, some of whom are now involved in Bible study.



“It’s no picnic working with Hindus,” he said. “Their whole way of looking at the world is radically different from the Christian worldview. It’s very hard for a Hindu to come to Christ. … It’s not even an option for them to become a Christian in their way of thinking.” Thus, getting a Hindu involved in a Bible study is a major accomplishment. “We need to get into a Bible study relationship with them where we can establish some of the essential things that are necessary before a person can come to Christ,” the director said. So far, besides the restaurant owner, several other Hindus have made a profession of faith in Christ. The director said he would appreciate “fasting and serious intercessory prayer for these people. They’re not going to come to Christ unless God does something absolutely miraculous.”

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