Chennai, India (or Greater Chennai) is a sprawling metropolis of interconnected towns. It is full of life. It has everything from luxury apartments to despairing slums and everything in between.
Roads are dominated by mopeds, motorbikes, and yellow ‘autos’ weaving through busses and car traffic. The city is crowded, and every street is full of people and shops.
The amount of traffic leads to a thick, heavy fog of exhaust fumes. Pollution levels are “unacceptable” and dangerous. Families share motorbikes – needed to get to school and work. At night, bus stops host the homeless. Trains and buses are crowded. Without regular rain, the roads are dusty, and most streets do not have a ‘pavement’. Cows, dogs and goats roam freely through the streets, mixing with people and traffic.
Chennai is located in Tamil Nadu – the southernmost state of India on the east coast. Here, Hindus and Christians have lived peacefully for centuries. The Apostle Thomas travelled and ministered here, meeting his death at the hand of a local priest. St Thomas Mount is a pilgrimage site for many.
Our visit to Chennai focused on several areas:
- Christian Missions Charitable Trust (CMCT) a missionary NGO.
- Connecting with National Leadership at The Apostolic Church, Vepry.
- Pearl Foundation Children’s home.
- Village Ministry
Christian Missions Charitable Trust
CMCT (https://christianmissionsindia.org/) was established by New Zealander Colleen Reddit in 1964. Her work amongst the poorest and vulnerable in Chennai has grown into a ministry that has reached thousands of people.
Recent changes to Indian law prohibit the preaching of the Gospel, yet the light of the Christian witness continues to shine in the many programmes it runs:
- Handicraft Workshop
- Children’s Hostel and School
- Hospital
- Work with HIV infected and affected
- A leprosy mission
- Child Sponsorship
- Soup Kitchens in Slum Areas
– plus others.
The mission is financed through private sponsorship, proceeds from the sale of handicrafts, and receives no government funding.
CMCT used to conduct children’s camps and rallies. Government restrictions have curtailed these activities. Nevertheless, the organisation continues to shine the light of Christian kindness. All staff gather each day for chapel worship and a word.
On Friday, 20 October, I took the opportunity to encourage them from Isaiah 60 to continue to shine their light as a lighthouse, and telling of the collaborative nature of projects such as the Turning in the UK. With each person doing their part, there is nothing stopping them passing contacts to local churches, where evangelists can do the work the NGO staff are prohibited from carrying out.
The Pearl Foundation Children’s Home
Suresh Kumar and his wife, Nimi, run the Pearl Foundation. Sundari knows Nimi from school years. The home is located in Salamangalam, Paddapai, just outside of Chennai.
The home hosts 14 children, girls, the majority of which have no parents. The two whose mothers are still alive come from a broken home. From here they go to school and eventually to college, when they can find the funding.
Suresh and Nimi are like parents to these children. They all go to a local church and get involved in regular prayer meetings and Bible studies.
Suresh and Nimi have two children of their own, Abigail and Tziporah. The younger plays guitar and leads worship. The older preaches at church. They often lead worship with the girls.
We provided them with a semi-acoustic guitar, amp and spare strings. When they spontaneously burst into worship, you can feel the worship of God deep in your soul.
Village Ministry
Suresh and Nimi are part of village outreach. The villages in this instance are small settlements of downcast tribal peoples who once hunted snakes. Now they do menial labour jobs.
Over a number of years, they have worked to provide clothes for the children, taught the young girls proper hygiene, and supported the villages with tarpaulin during the rainy season. During covid we provided enough funds monthly to support these villages with food when casual labour was non-existent.
Another NGO provides 200 rupees a month for each child in these villages to save. Below you see the children signing for their monthly payment, whilst Sundari kept them entertained with children’s gospel songs. We took this opportunity to pray for the sick.
Today, that support goes to village pastors. This small group of pastor work among the tribal peoples. Some of their churches are crumbling and in disrepair, but they have steady congregations. They split our monthly contribution between five pastors. It provides for church building rent, familial support and in some cases, payment for medicine for the pastor or family.
One evening I sat with them and encouraged them, also from Isaiah 60, to continue to be a light in their community. Christian communities around the world echo their troubles, but it is their gentle work that shines in a dark world.
TAC Veppry
Sunday is not Sunday without coming home to worship at The Apostolic Church.
We met with Pastor Viji, the national leader of the Apostolic Church in India, to convey our greetings and discuss the changes in the missionary work in ACUK.
Report by Anthony and Sundari Sheehy
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