News Archives - The Christian Observer

tconews_editorJuly 13, 2020

This June, a giant cross was discovered in the remote mountain areas of northern Pakistan, overlooking the river Indus, by a team of researchers from the University of Baltistan in Skardu. Carved out of marble stone, weighing three or four tonnes, and approximately seven feet in height, the cross is believed to be the largest one of its kind found in the Subcontinent.

The discovery has generated global interest since it sheds new light on the religious history of the Subcontinent. While the precise era to which the cross belonged is yet to be ascertained through carbon dating, initial analysis reveals that it is a ‘Nestorian cross’, that dates between 900-1200 years ago. Nestorianism is believed to be the earliest sect of Christianity in the East, that originated in Asia Minor and Syria.

Further, experts examining the cross have also noted the Buddhist influences on it and called attention to the fact that it probably dates back to the time when Buddhism was on the decline in the region and was in active engagement with newer Christian influences.

“This is a typical Thomanian cross, which is plus-shaped. Thomanian Christians are those who trace their origins to the proselytising activities of St. Thomas, who was one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ. Later, Thomanian Christians intermixed with Nestorian Christians. Northern Pakistan had several Nestorian Christian settlements,” says Wajid Bhatti, research scholar of Pakistan studies at Quaid-i-Azam University, in a telephonic conversation with Indianexpress.com.

The researchers say the discovery of the cross established important information on the presence of Christianity in northern Pakistan, before the advent of the colonial forces. “The discovery of cross in Himalayan-Karakoram mountain ranges of Skardu valley in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, will help boost the self-confidence, self-recognition and mainstreaming of Pakistani Christians and give them deeper historic identity in Pakistan,” says Dr. Muhammad Naeem Khan, Vice-Chancellor of University of Baltistan, and one among the team of researchers who discovered the cross.

At present, Christians are one of the two largest religious minorities in Pakistan along with Hindus. A majority of them live in the province of Punjab. “Discovery of the cross will help diversify Pakistan’s cultural ties with Europe and the Middle East, the birth-place of Christianity. The discovery of the cross in Baltistan may open new avenues of academic collaboration and cooperation between researchers of Pakistan and the Western world,” says Khan, explaining the significance of the discovery.

Christianity in Northern Pakistan

The birth of Christianity in Northern Pakistan is intrinsically linked to the trading activities that took place along the Silk Road between the second century BCE and the 18th century CE. The highlands of Skardu, where the cross has been found, fell on the Silk road. The name of the road is derived from the importance of silk as a product of trade between the ‘Middle kingdom’ of China, and India, Persia, West Asia and Southern Europe. However, apart from silk, several other products were also traded across the Silk Road, and it had in the course of the 2000 years become one of the most important means of connection between the East and the West.

Trade and commerce played a decisive role in maintaining this connection. “But together with traders and merchants, political envoys and soldiers, monks and missionaries of the great world religions (Buddhism, Manichaeism and Christianity) also trod the paths of the Silk route,” write religious history scholars Ian Gillman and Hans-Joachim Klimkeit in their book, ‘Christians in Asia Before 1500’.

Travel and trade along the Silk Road had a significant impact on the religious traditions of the people existing along the route. From the first century CE, Christianity too started transforming rapidly into a proselytising religion and spread both east and westwards through the efforts of Christian apostles.

The form of Christianity found along the Silk route was Nestorianism, founded along the teachings of Nestorius, a fifth-century patriarch of Constantinople whose unorthodox views had outraged the Roman and Byzantine worlds. Nestorianism spread along the Silk Road to Persia, India and China.

However, going by Bhatti’s analysis, the cross predates the beginnings of Nestorian Christianity. The third century Biblical text, ‘Acts of Thomas’ and the Gospel of Thomas, both give evidence of Christianity being brought to India by St. Thomas as early as the first century of the Christian era. Although historians are skeptical about the factual accuracy of Biblical texts, the reference to King Gondophares, who was the founder of the Indo-Parthian kingdom in the first century CE, gives it an appearance of truth.

Source:- Indian Express July 9, 2020

Post Views: 440

TCONEWS ADMINJuly 27, 2018

The Bombay Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) in its recently held 141^st Annual General Meeting nominated and unanimously elected its new President to the YWCA Board of Management along with a set of office bearers who will function as the officially elected members of the Board to provide governance to the YWCA of Bombay. Mrs. Priyadarsini John, Professor with the Dr. D.Y.Patil University and a long time Navi Mumbaikar has taken this role. Mrs Priya John is the wife of Dr.Pearl John, Consulting Director with CEB, a member based Advisory Organisation and the mother of Miss.Divya John. Mrs. Priyadarsini John called fondly as Priya is a multi-faceted personality; a talented singer, gifted musician, ardent social activist, an exemplary teacher, a devoted wife and a dedicated mother. She dons the multiple hats she wears with considerable ease and gives her best to every role she is required to take. She hails from Trivandrum, lived most of her life in Bengaluru, studied in CMC Vellore and currently lives in Navi Mumbai. A committed Christian she espouses a deep rooted faith in Christ and sees her mission as giving Christ His due within the YWCA framework. Stree reproduces the Presidential Address delivered by Mrs. Priya John on June 25, 2016 at the 141^st AGM of the Bombay YWCA.

In the words of Mrs. Priyadarsini Joh:-

“Greeting to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I am humbled as I stand before you this afternoon in awe of God’s grace and delighted by the confidence posited by you to elect me to this key portfolio of the Bombay YWCA.

As I reminiscence on my journey within the Y, I have so much to be grateful for. I entered the Y world as a young 26 year old, the warmth I experienced here was palpable. The senior members ensured I felt at home and soon was integrated into the ‘Y’s committees and activities. I cannot thank enough the spirit of camaraderie and support that exists within the ‘Y” organization. The senior members have provided leadership and direction to the organization with practical wisdom and a service mindset. Let me use this opportunity to thank all the past presidents and members of the board for the unwavering focus, active engagement and sacrificed service. Further I would like to thank the staff of the Y for your strong commitment, sincere efforts and excellent work ethic.

I am blessed to be part of such a group of dedicated, immensely talented, fully committed members of the Y to serve this great organization and together achieve the vision espoused by the Y.

As we progress the baton we would do well to focus on the following priorities for the ‘Y’ during 2016-17.

Existing Members: Leverage the skills, capabilities and time of the senior members of the Y to advance the organizational goals and objectives.
New Memberships: Enhance the memberships particularly infuse young members into the Y and strengthen the Y-Deepa such that the rich heritage of the senior members of the Y is effectively passed on to the younger generation in shaping the community at large.
Social Action: Enhance our relevance to the society by the following specific segments:
- Target and campaign against drug trafficking by concerted efforts of the diverse constituents of Y
- Focus on Justice beyond borders and ensure we activate and contribute to a society that is founded on earnestness, equality and equanimity where principle of justice becomes the bedrock of every action of every enterprise

The task at hand is large and time to deliver is minimal. I count on your continued support, consistent efforts and constant engagement that we be the beacon that we are called to be in this dark world and bring the light of Jesus to our every touch point. Thank You.”

We at The Christian Observer wish Mrs.Priyadarsini John the very best in her efforts at the YWCA.- Dr.Jayakar Ellis, Editor

Post Views: 710

TCONEWS ADMINJuly 20, 2018

The Ryan International Group of Institutions was recently recognized for its efforts for charity by the Guinness Book of World Records.

The Group’s school in Sharjah received this accolade for participating in the world’s largest charity donation for the poor. The students collected over 205,122 items of clothing for donation. This was verified by the authorities of Guinness World Records and was declared as a record.
Speaking on this achievement, Ryan International Group of Institutions Managing Director Grace Pinto said, “We are grateful for the vision that Lord Jesus Christ has given us to nurture responsible and compassionate future citizens of the world.”

Ryan Schools are well-known for providing holistic education to students and undertaking large scale initiatives to reach out to the underprivileged to build social responsibility amongst them.
Chairman Dr. A. F. Pinto, CEO Ryan Pinto and others celebrated the feat with the students of the school.

Post Views: 419

TCONEWS ADMINJuly 20, 2018

“We want to be honest with you, there is very little hope.”

So wrote Compassion International to its 130,000 sponsors of Indian children this past Friday.

One week after sharing the good news of four nations no longer needing child sponsors due to the passion of millennials, the ministry shared the bad news of another nation that will probably not need child sponsors due to government interference.

A little more than a year after the Indian government told Compassion that it could no longer receive funding from outside the subcontinent, the humanitarian organization will likely be closing its last operations there.

“Since we can no longer distribute funds to our field offices, we have just had to notify our India country staff that we must formally close our field offices in India by March 15,” Compassion told sponsors by email. “Should nothing change, that means an end to our sponsorship program in India in the next 60 days.”

Compassion, which has been working in India for more than 48 years, said it has tried everything in the last 10 months to stay afloat. The email listed its efforts, which include:

Seeking the advice of legal experts in both the US and India
Leveraging influential relationships, including US representatives and senators, the former US Secretary of State, the former and current ambassadors to India and the White House Office of Faith-based Affairs, as well as members of Parliament in the United Kingdom
Asking Compassion sponsors to pray and to write Congress (more than 35,000 letters were sent)
Testifying in front of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee
Leveraging personal relationships within the US and India

Compassion’s 580 Indian-staffed development centers care for more than 145,000 children. That’s only about 8 percent of the 1.9 million children assisted by Compassion worldwide, but also more than any other of the 25 countries where it works.

The Indian government objects to Compassion’s Christianity, according to the ministry’s testimony to US lawmakers. Hindu nationalists have put increasing pressure on Christians in India since the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014. The subcontinent has been steadily moving up Open Doors’ list of places where it’s hardest to be a Christian, from No. 28 in 2014 to No. 15 this year, the highest rank it has ever held.

“An average of 40 incidents were reported per month, including pastors beaten, churches burned and Christians harassed,” stated Open Doors. “Of the 64 million Christians in India, approximately 39 million experience direct persecution.”

There doesn’t appear to be a government plan to pick up Compassion’s care for Indian children. More than 1 in 3 of India’s 1.2 billion people are children, yet India spends less on health and education than comparable emerging economies.

Of India’s roughly 472 million children, 33 million are child laborers, 80 million are out of school, and 97 million are undernourished, according to a recent petition asking Modi’s administration to spend more on children.

But while the government may not have a plan in place, that doesn’t mean the children will be abandoned entirely, said Compassion spokesperson Becca Bishop.

“[The children] may have lost Compassion’s support, but they haven’t lost the support of their local church,” she said. “Those churches, if they have the funds, may still be able to carry out a lot of the services.”

World Vision, which sponsors more than 245,000 children in India (about 6 percent of its global total), also partners with local churches, though not exclusively, spokesperson Amy Parodi told CT. So far, World Vision isn’t having problems getting foreign funding into the country, she said.

CT covered Compassion’s cash crunch in December, including how the Indian government squeezed off its foreign funding. With no way to pay for materials or staff, the organization began paring down programs last summer.

“Our staff in the India field offices have stretched every last penny beyond what we thought possible to extend the programs for our children, while we in parallel explored alternative delivery methods to provide funds, yet a solution has not been discovered within the needed timeframe,” stated Compassion’s email to donors.

The news comes on the heels of Compassion’s largest surge of sponsorships, when students attending the 2017 Passion Conference eliminated the list of children waiting for sponsors in four countries.

Post Views: 296

TCONEWS ADMINJuly 20, 2018

India may be the world’s largest democracy, but the government often falls short when it comes to protecting Christians and other minorities from attack by militant Hindus.

In 2017, Christians experienced almost as many attacks against them during the first half of the year than during all of 2016. So far this year, there are no signs that the religious intolerance and persecution is letting up.

Just within this past week, two major incidents occurred: one in Tamil Nadu state, and another in Jammu Kashmir.

Last Saturday, parishoners of Maknayeem Church near Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu attempted to enter their church for a prayer and fasting meeting. When they arrived, they discovered the church gate was locked.
After unlocking the gate, they entered the church and found 43-year old Pastor Gideon Perisyaswamy hanging form the rafters of the church.

According to Wilson Chowdhry of the British Asian Christian Association, when police arrived on the scene they appeared “whimsical” and failed to initiate an investigation of the crime scene. Instead, they labeled the pastor’s death a suicide.

Chowdhry says the church members suspected foul play because a gold ring was missing from the pastor’s finger and there were signs of welts, bruising and torture on Pastor Gideon’s body.

“This was a particularly special day in which a large number of the church were about to attend for prayer an fasting. It would seem very unusual for a man to commit suicide before that without leaving a note,” he said.

According to Chowdhry, the church and pastor had received several death threats from militant Hindus who were angry about the church evangelizing and converting Hindus to Christianity. Pastor Gideon had reported the threats to local police.

On January 16, 2018 in Jammu Kashmir, a Hindu mob burned Sehal Christ Church of Seri Panchayat. Several Christian businesses were also set ablaze.

Chowdhry says the militants were upset because a former Hindu was given a Christian burial.

The woman, Seema Devi had converted to Christianity before she became ill and died. Her parents wanted her body to be cremated which is the Hindu custom, but her husband wanted the Christian ceremony because his wife was Christian.

The parents accused Rinku Kumar of murdering his wife Seema, but Chowdhry says Kumar actually prayed regularly for her healing.

Many Christians from Sehal Christ Church have fled into the woods because Hindus are forcibly re-converting many of them to Hinduism. Chowdhry says his organization has helped the pastor find refuge in a safe house about 200 miles away from the village.

Post Views: 345

TCONEWS ADMINJuly 20, 2018

Panaji: The Catholic Church in Goa on Jan 29 issued an advisory to citizens, urging them not to have a casual and careless approach towards their moral duty of voting, saying the “quality of seeds sown during elections determines the quality of legislations and policies in governance that will follow”.
The advisory also cautioned citizens to be aware of the reality that any “oppressive, discriminatory and destructive legislations proposed at the national level require the collaboration of state governments for enactment and their cooperation for implementation… One cannot be blind to the larger thrust that is being placed in recent times at the national level to undo the Sovereign, Socialist, Secular and Democratic fabric of our nation as enshrined in our Constitution.”

“The undue intrusion and interference of governments in the judiciary or educational and financial institutions cannot be a sign of good governance,” the statement issued by the Centre for Social Justice and Peace read, adding that “the terror unleashed by state and non-state actors to silence dissent or diverse opinions about governance by labelling them as anti-national or unpatriotic cannot be ignored by responsible citizens.”

The church also took a dig at the government’s recent push towards digitisation saying “the shift from the social policy of ‘roti, kapdaaurmakan’ for uplifting the poor sections of the society to an emphasis on digital and cashless policy involving smart phones, ATM cards and apps as the basic requirement for every citizen to avail of government benefits and purchase their basic needs is a worrisome phenomenon.”

With about 26 per cent of the population in Goa following the Christian faith, the church has, for years, been instrumental in guiding its voters before the election, especially in South Goa, which has a strong catholic presence. Goa goes to polls on 4 February and will see the BJP fighting to retain power in a three-way contest with Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party.

Post Views: 287

TCONEWS ADMINJuly 20, 2018

One of the key metrics of financial giving in a church is per member giving: What is the average giving per member or per attendee? Per member giving is often masked by fluctuations in attendance and membership. The most effective measure is to calculate the average giving per member.

Churches with increased giving per member have seven dominant characteristics. These seven traits are becoming even more important as Millennials enter in our churches in greater numbers.

1. Increased emphasis on belonging to a group.

Those members in a group, such as a small group or Sunday school class, give as much as six times more than those attending worship services alone. Take time to absorb the previous sentence. It’s a huge issue!

2. Multiple giving venues.

Per member giving increases as churches offer more giving venues. I recommend all churches provide these four venues at a minimum: offertory giving in the worship services; online giving; mailed offering envelopes to all members and givers; and automatic deductions from members’ bank accounts. I also recommend churches strongly consider kiosk giving and offertories in groups. I will elaborate more on these issues in a later post.

3. Meaningful and motivating goals.

Church members give more if they see the church has a goal that will make a meaningful difference. “Increasing total gifts by 10%” is not a meaningful goal. “Giving 10% more to advance the gospel in the 37201 zip code” is more meaningful.

4. Explaining biblical giving in the new members’ class.

New member classes should be an entry point for both information on and expectations of biblical church membership. Biblical giving should be a clear and unapologetic expectation of church membership.

5. Willingness of leadership to talk about money.

In the 1980s and 1990s, some pundits did surveys of unchurched persons that indicated they did not go to church because “all they talk about is money.” As a consequence, many church leaders stopped talking about money altogether. While it is possible to communicate financial stewardship in an overbearing manner, it is inexcusable for leaders to be silent about financial stewardship by Christians.

6. Meaningful financial reporting.

Many churches provide financial reporting that only a CPA or a CFO can understand. Church members need to be able to understand clearly how funds are given or spent.

7. Transparent financial reporting.

If church members sense that pertinent financial information is being withheld, they tend to give less or nothing at all. While that does not mean every financial statement provides endless details, it does indicate that church members will have a clear idea of how funds are given and spent.

There are reasons for optimism in church giving. Many churches are experiencing increases in both total giving as well as per member giving. And most of those churches exhibit the seven characteristics noted above.

Post Views: 82

TCONEWS ADMINJuly 19, 2018

Vatican City: Sister Rani Maria, Franciscan Clarist nun who was assassinated in central India 22 years ago, has been cleared for beatification by the Vatican on Mar 23.

Beatification is the penultimate stage in the four-phased canonization process in the Catholic Church. Rani Maria’s cause of canonization began in 2003 and she was declared a Servant of God four years later.

Rani Maria was 41 when Samandar Singh stabbed her inside a bus on February 25, 1995. Singh was hired by some landlords who were upset with the nun’s fighting for just wages and other rights of the laborers.

She was attacked while travelling to Indore on her way to her native place in Kerala. The attacker followed her when she ran out of the crowded bus and continued to stab her. She died of 54 stab wounds on the roadside at Nachanbore Hill near Indore.

She was buried at Udaingar in Dewas district where she had worked among poor landless agricultural laborers.

As part of her beatification process, on November 18, 2016 Bishop Chacko Thottumarikal of Indore supervised the opening of the slain nun’s tomb and shifted the mortal remains to a church.

Rani Maria was born on January 29, 1954, as the second of seven children of Paily and Eliswa Vattalil at Pulluvazhy, a small village near Kochi. She made her first profession on May 1, 1974, as Franciscan Clarist nun and chose the name Rani Maria. She began her mission in northern India in Bijnore in 1975 and came to Udainagar in 1992.

The slain nun’s family made international headlines when it accepted Singh as a member after forgiving him. Rani Maria’s younger sister Selmy Paul, also a member of the same congregation, accepted Singh as her brother by tying “rakhi” on Rakshabandan. Sister Paul’s gesture helped Singh to regret his action. He now leads an exemplary life in his village in central India after serving his life term.

A documentary, “The Heart of a Murderer,” which depicts the murder and subsequent repentance of Singh, won an award at the World Interfaith Harmony Film Festival in 2013.

The congregation’s website says the saintly nun’s courageous sacrifice and martyrdom has helped sow “the seed of love and justice and brotherhood in many hearts.”

It also says the nun, during her initial years in the mission, showed keen interest in educating children through formal and non-formal methods. “This slowly gave way to a much wider field of development of the poor, the oppressed and the marginalized,” the website says.
Her developmental programs among poor tribals went against the vested interests of unscrupulous moneylenders and social exploiters, it explains.

The congregation hails Rani Maria’s martyrdom as “the most glorious event in the history of Udainagar as well as of Amala Province.”

Post Views: 279