The journey to Visakhapatnam (Vizag), Andhra Pradesh, India with Pastor Koshy to visit Pr Sujith began with the application of an e-visa. Filling in the e-visa took me a few attempts, as I did not understand some of the questions asked, and did not have certain required information available. Nonetheless, with God’s help, I managed to complete the application and submitted it 8 days before the scheduled date of departure. Praise the Lord, the approval of my e-visa came (most appropriately!) while we were at our weekly church prayer meeting. As I thank God for the e-visa, I also prayed for smooth immigration clearance upon arrival in India, and sought God’s blessings for our ministries there.
Pastor was there for the main purpose of conducting a 2-day Pastors’ Conference – with the theme "Preaching the Word" – while my task was to exhort the brethren with a short devotion at the beginning of the conference each day. There were altogether 2 devotions and 8 theme messages.
Pastor and I left Singapore on a Tuesday afternoon, scheduled to arrive in India at 2125h (local time). But due to delays in both our flights from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur and from KL to Vizag, we landed some 3 hours behind schedule. Thankfully, we cleared immigration smoothly, and proceeded to the moneychanger to convert the dollars we had brought to Indian rupees. While changing currencies, we caught a glimpse of Pr Sujith waiting outside. Though tired after a long day of travelling, we felt invigorated upon the sight of our dear missionary!
Finally, we walked out of the airport and were warmly received by Pr Sujith, and Pastors Nischal and James. They brought us to a "food-court" beside the bus terminal for some dosai and tea. They then sent us to the hotel and Pr Sujith helped us with the check-in. Truly, we thank God for journey mercies and safety, as well as a good night’s rest to refresh our tired bodies!
Pr Sujith came over to the hotel, and brought us to his office, where the conference was held. According to the register, we had 78 attendees (not including our GBI students and church members who had come to help out in the conference). As most of them speak Telugu, Pastor Samuel (a friend of our GBI students) interpreted the messages and devotions.
I preached from Acts 3:12-13, highlighting 2 things that Peter did. He turned the focus of the crowd on John and himself to God, and witnessed to the crowd the great truth that God had sent Jesus, who is the Christ!
Pastor spoke on the theme "Preaching the Word." He started with 1 Timothy 4:6 and defined what makes a pastor a good minister of God. He stressed that a pastor without proper nourishment from God’s Word will not be able to feed the flock of God. Furthermore, he emphasised the importance of biblical doctrines to the attendees, as many of these pastors do not have proper theological training.
After the conference, we went back to the hotel to rest before dinner. We met at the office with Pr Sujith and Pastor Nischal, where we talked about the Gospel work in India for an hour or so, over a snack of "shawarma" (something like kebab) before heading out for dinner.
On the 2nd day, we had 70 registered attendees for the conference. I continued with Acts 3:14-20, sharing 3 observations from this passage, urging the hearers to follow Peter’s example. Firstly, Peter confronted the crowd with their sins. Secondly, Peter "comforted" the crowd regarding them doing so out of ignorance. Thirdly, Peter counseled the crowd to repent from their sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins.
Pastor spoke from 2 Timothy 4:5, and reiterated to the pastors of their God-given duty to preach the Word. He lamented that many pastors today have allowed the worship services of their churches to include many unbiblical activities, and thus have toned down the preaching of the Word of God. He encouraged the pastors (many of whom were Baptists and Pentecostals who were rooted in many unbiblical doctrines influenced by the Charismatic movement) to study God’s Word in depth, and assured them that they would never lack any truth to preach to their congregations!
Not surprisingly, some of them openly disagreed with the points taught by Pastor Koshy. This led to an unofficial question-and-answer session. Those pastors who disagreed quoted 2 Samuel 6:14 to sanction dancing during the worship service in the church. Pastor took the opportunity to correct their misconception / misinterpretation of the Scriptures. He explained to them the context in which David danced, and pointed out that it was done out in the open – not in the tabernacle of God – and hence it was not part of the public worship of God’s people. May we pray for these pastors, that they will understand the verity of God’s Word that had been taught, and be convicted in their hearts regarding the paramount importance of preaching God’s Word to the people, rather than focusing on unbiblical dances and songs!
In the evening, we had the company of Elder Ravi (from the Free Presbyterian Church) for dinner. He brought us to an air-conditioned food-court by the sea, where we had a wonderful time of fellowship with him and Pr Sujith.
With the help of Pr Sujith and Bro. Samuel Rakesh (a staff of Gethsemane Media), Pastor and I checked out of the hotel. All 4 of us squeezed into an auto-rickshaw, and went to the office.
The GBI students, Pastor Devakumar, Pastor James, Pastor David and Bro. Murali, were waiting for us. As most of them were Baptists, they had some questions for Pastor Koshy regarding water baptism. We had a lively time of discussion and studying relevant passages, such as Romans 6:3-6, Colossians 2:12, Acts 8:35-39, etc. Pastor took time to explain to the students that these passages do not prove the mode of baptism as immersion. Furthermore, he taught them that the word "baptise" does not mean immersion all the time. It has to be understood in the context in which it was written.
Thereafter, Pastor James invited us to his church and home for lunch, where we were treated to a delicious meal of coconut rice with assam fish, fried chicken and bananas. That last afternoon in Vizag, Pastor spent some time discussing matters pertaining to the ministry with Pr Sujith. In the evening, we went searching for a laptop for Pr Sujith, and managed to get him a Hewlett Packard before heading to the airport.
Pastors Nischal and James, together with Pr Sujith, sent us off at the airport. After parting ways, Pastor and I cleared immigration without much trouble. We boarded the plane on time, and our flight was on schedule. We landed in Singapore safely on the 6th of July. Soli Deo Gloria!