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

It [church] is not in control of mission. Another is in control, and his [Spirit’s]
fresh works will repeatedly surprise the church, compelling it to stop talking and
to listen. Because the Spirit himself is sovereign over the mission, the church can
only be the attentive servant…. The church’s witness is secondary and derivative.
The church is witness insofar as it follows obediently where the Spirit leads. 128
6.2.3. Reflection from the Pentecostal Community
The current study shows that like the early Christian community in Acts, the Spirit
experiences of the Pentecostal community in Rajasthan played a role in the
theological process. Pentecostals in Rajasthan had encounters with the Spirit in
their mission similar to the Acts community, and these experiences had a
significant role in formulating and reformulating their mission theology and
practice.
Like the Acts community, there were Spirit interventions in the life of
Pentecostals in Rajasthan during episodes of persecution. The testimony of
Geetha 129 shows that the Spirit empowers people to boldly witness Christ in times
of persecution just as with Stephen in Acts. 130 The Hindutva militants threatened
to cut her into pieces after she became a Christian. She testified that while she was
being beaten and dragged by the militants before the village chief, she
courageously said, ‘even if you cut me into one hundred pieces I will not deny
Christ.’ She said that the Holy Spirit gave her power to defend her faith. 131 The
128 Newbigin, Open Secret, 61.
129 Pseudonym.
130 Although Geetha was brutally persecuted, she was not killed like Stephen.
131 When Geetha gave this testimony in the church the following Sunday after this incident, in May
2004, I was present at the meeting. She is a full time member of a Pentecostal church at Kherwara.
304