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A Vision Fulfilled,
continued from page 7
All of the sessions were translated
into Hindi and Telugu, the two primary
languages spoken in India among our
churches.
The significant contributions made
by Hobert and Marguerite Howard
took center stage in an emotional
ceremony in which Indian conference
leaders felicitated their beloved
“auntie” and “uncle.” Each conference
superintendent and his wife presented
this dedicated couple with accolades
and gifts. In an earlier session, Russell
Board had challenged the pastors to
follow the example set by the Howards
and other heroes of the faith God has
raised up in their midst.
As an affirmation of the conference
theme, “Onward to Our Destiny,”
delegates adopted an official statement
known as the Agra Proclamation. This
document articulated the church’s
national vision and challenge for
ministers and members of the IPHC in
India.It outlined the church’s Mission
2020 evangelism goals with a threefold
mandate: God is calling us to be
(1) a unique evangelizing instrument
in our mother country, (2) a learning
community of believers, and (3) wise
stewards of His every blessing to us as
a church. The paper concluded with
Meet the
Missionaries
8 IPHC Experience | February 2007
the following motivational statement:
“Response to this threefold call will
assure the fulfillment of our vision,
guaranteeing the seizing of our moment
and our destiny.”
The conferences reported that
churches have been planted now in 16 of
the major metropolitan areas (population
of over one million) of India.
The program concluded appropriately
with a licensing and ordination
service officiated by Presiding Bishop
James D. Leggett. “This is an answer
to the prayer Jesus told us to pray,”
Leggett told the 39 candidates for ministerial
license and the 34 preachers
awaiting ordination. “Jesus urged us to
pray for God to thrust forth laborers
into His harvest.” Then the Bishop laid
his hands on each candidate for ordination
and charged him or her to preach
the Word of God faithfully with power
and clarity.
“This is a significant occasion for
the church in India,” said Leggett. “You
will look back to this day as a defining
moment in your ministry as well as for
the church in India.”
Three women were among the
candidates for ministerial license.
In addition to these, two females
were ordained. These were the first
women to receive ordination in the
IPHC in India.
Bob & Carol Cave
Bob and Carol Cave have been part of the International Pentecostal Holiness
Church most of their lives. After attending Southwestern College in Oklahoma
City, they began a business in their home city of Vancouver, Canada. In 1986,
they made themselves available for full-time mission service. The International
Pentecostal Holiness Church assigned them to Haiti, where God seasoned and
challenged them to trust Him for the next nine years. During that time, over 40
churches were pioneered in Haiti, and a Christian school program was established
in 24 churches.
In August 2001, World Missions Ministries appointed Bob as overseas ministry
coordinator for Europe and the Middle East. “Carol and I are honored to serve
in our newest mission field. We are excited to facilitate taking the gospel to the
Middle East and back to Europe, a continent that has slipped far from God,” says
Bob. Training nationals and partnering with these leaders has become a highlight
for them.
The week’s activities also included
a tour of the magnificent Taj Mahal,
located in Agra. Most of the Indian
pastors had never had the privilege of
visiting this world-renowned landmark.
Speakers referred often throughout
the week to the solid foundation laid
in India by pioneer missionaries such
as John and Olivia Turner, Thomas
and Leila Robertson, Marvin and Alma
Parrish, Kenneth and Joan Donald, and
others. Moses Kumar, superintendent
of the South India Conference,
described the hardships and successes
of these visionaries in his book, Setting
Stones: An Interpretive History of the
International Pentecostal Holiness
Church in India. 2 Kumar completed
the volume in time for distribution at
the 85th Anniversary Celebration in
Agra and as a tribute to the many men
and women who sacrificed to launch
the church in India. What they saw only
in vision we are seeing fulfilled today.
ENDNOTES
1. Marguerite Howard, “India,” unpublished
Research aiding Centennial Publication of IPHC
World Missions Ministries, 2005, p. 1, quoted in
Setting Stones, by B. S. Moses Kumar (LifeSprings
Resources, 2006), pp. 11, 12.
2. You may order a copy of the book, Setting Stones:
An Interpretive History of the International Pentecostal
Holiness Church in India, by B. S. Moses Kumar,
from LifeSprings Resources, P.O. Box 9, Franklin
Springs, Georgia, 30639-0009, 1-800-541-1376.
Bob and Carol Cave