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

to Bhim’s house to pray for his wife who was seriously ill with heart disease. She
was healed through his prayer. Consequently, Bhim and his family became
Christians, receiving baptism from the hands of Kaman. 135 The story of Bhanu
Bhai shows that the Spirit sometimes allowed Pentecostals to undergo persecution
as Paul was told that he had to suffer in Jerusalem. Although many people asked
Bhanu Bhai to leave his village when he was threatened by the Hindu militants he
stayed back, saying that he was told by the Spirit to pay the price by undergoing
hardship if he wanted much fruit in his village Karanpur. 136 He was later assaulted
by the Hindutva militants and put a garland of sandals on him, and paraded
through the village. However, he did not give up his Christian faith, and within
two years he saw many people came to the Lord, and now he is leading a growing
congregation at Karanpur. 137
The Spirit intervened to deal with inter-cultural issues in the Pentecostal
community in Rajasthan as in the Acts community. As Peter was transformed by
the Spirit from his cultural bigotry, both the south Indians and Rajasthanis
overcame their cultural prejudices by their Spirit experiences. As discussed in
chapter three, the jewellery issue caused intercultural tension among the early
Pentecostals in Rajasthan. In the same incident mentioned in chapter three, 138
Pastor Daniel said that he was grieved in his heart for not giving baptism to the
lady with the jewellery and for all that followed. He heard a ‘voice of the Spirit
(athma ki avas) that the Lord looks at the heart not outward appearance,’ and as a
135
Kaman Masih (pseudonym), interview by author, Udaipur, Rajasthan, 4 May 2006.
136
Kanpur (pseudonym) is a village in the Udaipur District.
137
Bhanu Bhai (pseudonym), interview, 24 April 2006.
138
See pp.239-40.
306