Randall Murphree
AFA Journal editor
October 2010 – “If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me before it hated you. ... if they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. But they will do all these things to you on account of My name, because they don’t know the One who sent Me” (John 15:18, 20-21).
In a rare opportunity provided by Gospel for Asia, I found myself worshiping one recent Sunday morning with a small cadre of North American journalists and a host of Indian believers at St. Thomas Cathedral in Kerala, India.
Dr. K. P. Yohannan, founder of GFA, preached on “What it Means to be the Community of Christ” and his text was John 15:12-21. He cited all the warm, fuzzy platitudes we Western believers think of as essential to life in the body of Christ – serving each other; laughing, sharing and praying together; being honest and accountable; encouraging each other.
He cited some broader needs for body life. It must be Christ-centered, a quality Dr. Yohannan thinks we may need to work on, given the fact that there are 28,000 denominations in the world. He also said a true community of Christ will have a shared culture. And, in the body, love needs to be spoken. So far, so good. Nothing too challenging.
But then he came to these hard-hitting, heart-rending elements: Being a true community of Christ requires one to live in humility, submit to authority and embrace the cross.
Humility? Maybe. Submission? Not easy. Embrace the cross? In the West, we don’t even know what that means. The danger of that concept welled up in my heart as I realized that a great number of the congregation that morning were young men and women from a seminary. They are preparing to offer their lives to further Christ’s kingdom in India. Even if it brings persecution, poverty or martyrdom, they will live fully for Him until their last breath.
When a man graduates from a GFA-supported Bible college and prepares to pastor or start a new work, he first goes to the village God calls him to and picks out his burial site. Not so different to what we do, you say? Maybe. But for the pastor in India, this is a symbolic part of his entry into ministry because he knows his life will likely be shorter than that of his peers. Frankly, that’s more than I can fully comprehend.
My comfortable Western version of Christian faith is radically removed from that experienced by our brothers and sisters in India. I am changed, challenged by meeting them, worshiping with them, rubbing shoulders with them. Their faces beam with their love for Jesus and their commitment to serve Him, whatever the cost.
One leader told us he has had nine pastors murdered in his district over the last three years. No platitudes or easy faith in India. These believers know what it means to embrace the cross.
In the next issue of AFA Journal, we will have a feature story highlighting the ministry of GFA (www.gfa.org) and suggest ways we can partner with them to reach India for Christ. 
