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

greater presence of Christians. Many Pentecostal ministers who began with the
vision of reaching north Rajasthan have moved southwards over the years.
Although every church claims to have a vision for reaching the unreached, in
reality most work in south Rajasthan, the most reached region in the state. Many
of them give the same explanation that the Holy Spirit asked them to move
towards the south. While talking to the leaders of two large churches about the
reason why they shifted their headquarters to the south, they replied that they
moved in response to the guidance of the Spirit of God.
As mentioned earlier, breakaway churches, sheep stealing and shepherd stealing
are common issues disturbing Pentecostal growth in Rajasthan. However, some
see this as a reason for growth, as the breakaway group works with more vigour
and competence, and subsequently brings growth. At the same time, such
competition creates tensions and rivalry within the community and that invites
opposition from militant groups. Although most churches become united when
there is persecution, there have been cases of accusation against one another. A
victim of an attack by Hindu militants in 1996 said that he still believes that a
pastor, who left the victim’s organization some years ago, was the reason behind
this attack. He said that he had enough reason to suggest that the other pastor
might have given information of the meetings and asked the militant groups to
attack him, and that is why he was the only focus of the attack, and no other
individual from the congregation was touched. 20
20 Rajesh (pseudonym), interview by author, Udaipur, Rajasthan, 06 May 2006.
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