a contextual missiology of the spirit - eTheses Repository ...

illustrates this fact. 15 Although there have been measures in recent years to
increase the number of faculty members from north India, more concrete effort to
bridge the gap is needed. The common explanation for the absence of north Indian
staff has been the lack of capable north Indian theologians. ‘That is why we send
north Indian students for higher studies,’ said an FBC official. For example,
Santiram Sulya from MP was sent to Gospel for Asia Bible Seminary (GFABS),
Kerala, for his MDiv and then for his MTh to South Asia Institute of Advanced
Christian Studies (SAIACS), Bangalore, and he is currently serving as a faculty
member at FBC. Besides Solanki, two MDiv graduates of FBC, Anand Khuntia
and Sarat Nayak (both from the state of Orissa) were also selected as faculty
members very recently. However, there is not a single Rajasthani graduate of FBC
who has successfully completed a BTh or higher degree, even after more than
twenty five years of its history, although many have completed Certificate and
Diploma programmes. On the other hand, it is important to note that there is a
lack of educational opportunities as well as a lack of interest and motivation for
education in the villages of Rajasthan.
5.2. Denominationalism
The rise in the number of denominations and the subsequent inter-denominational
issues is another significant concern for Pentecostals in Rajasthan. They too, like
many other churches, struggle to explain various church-related issues like sheep
stealing, shepherd stealing and division. One characteristic of Pentecostalism is
that as the movement grows, divisions arise within the churches. This is not
15
See Appendix 6, which shows the south and north Indian representation of faculty members of
FBC.
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