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and personal religion.’ 170 Even in the post-colonial era, many para-church
organizations like Operation Mobilization (OM) and India Every Home Crusade
(IEHC) made vigorous evangelistic efforts, but until recently were not interested
in the establishment of churches. McGee suggests that this earnest passion by
indigenous believers to ‘increase the number of conversions’ was a major
contributing factor in the indigenous spiritual awakening in India since 1905. 171
S. Burgess observes that western missionaries in north India began to set up
institutions such as orphanages, schools and mission stations because of intense
opposition. 172 The establishment of Pentecostal centres, 173 churches 174 and Bible
Institutes 175 clearly shows the role of missionaries in the institutionalization of
Indian Pentecostalism. Some of the established Pentecostal churches, such as the
AoG and CoG, were brought to India through western missionaries. Although
many early Pentecostal ministers from the West came to India as independent
missionaries, sooner or later they joined the established churches. Mary Weems
Chapman was the first AoG missionary to south India, but the work of AoG was
established in India through Cook, from when he became affiliated to the AoG in
1919 until he left them in 1929. Some indigenous Pentecostal churches together
formed the ‘South India Full Gospel Church’ (SIFGC) under the leadership of
Cook. 176 Later SIFGC joined together with the newly formed indigenous church,
170
Surya Prakash, ‘Contribution of Sadhu Sundar Singh to the Indigenous Christian Movement in
India,’ in Christianity is Indian, 121.
171
McGee, ‘Later Rain,’ 649.
172
Burgess, ‘Pentecostalism in India,’ 91-92.
173
For details of Pentecostal centres in north India, see Anderson, Spreading Fires, 91-95.
174
For more details, see Pulikottil, ‘Emergence of Indian Pentecostalism,’ 47-58.
175
For more information on Pentecostal Bible Institutes in India, see Burgess, ‘Pentecostalism in
India,’ 91-92; George, Trailblazers for God, 297-330; McGee and Burgess, ‘India,’ 122.
176
This denomination included many churches. See Abraham, IPC Praaramba Varshangal, 86.
89