A Mission in India

A Mission in India Boyd H. Wilson Introduction The history of Christianity in India and the history of missions in India are not coterminous. Unlike some regions of the world to which Christianity was first introduced by Western missionaries, India has a history of Christian presence that extends beyond the limits of missionary activity. Although Christianity did not originate on the sub-continent of India, as the religions of the Buddhists, the Jains, and the Sikhs, neither was it imported by Western missionaries. Even the earliest Western visitors report the existence of Chris tian congregations in India. 1 When Western missionaries came to India, they found that Christianity already existed in some parts of this remote land. Whereas Christianity was surely encouraged and advanced by the missionaries, it was not introduced by them. Tradition attributes the introduction of Christianity to India to St. Thomas the Apostle, ~ ~i.lt the Western scholar is reluctant to treat this tradition seriously. To the Indian Christian, however, this tradition provides the basis for the self-understanding of the church as an Indian institution. This may be a small matter to the Western observer but to the Indian Christian it is a significant point; to deny Indians th~ history which stretches back to the first century is to deprive them of a sense of history with Christianity and ownership in its presence in India. Whereas Stephen Neill can be objective when he concludes, ''there is really no evidence in favor of the foundation of Indian Christianity by Thomas except the persistent strength of the tradition," Indian scholars have a greater investment in the tradition to which he refers. 2 It is necessary for them to be more assertive when stating, ''the fact that St. Thomas lived . in Madras has been easily accepted and believed .. these are not myths as there are ample evidences to prove that in its purest form Christianity was present here," and "independent evidence also supports the authenticity of the Indian tradition. All early Christian writers are agreed that Thomas is the Apostle of India." 3 This factor must be considered when assessing the work that the Re formed Church in America undertook in India. It would be an insult to the con sciousness of the Indian Christian church to presuppose the necessity of missionary activity to the existence of the Christian community in India. There is a long and rich history of Christianity in India, and the Reformed Church in America, while occupying an important place, assumes only a minor role in the 35 whole pageant. Even if the Thomas tradition is not accepted, there is strong evidence that there was a Christian church in India as early as the second half of the first century. The testimonies to the continued existence of this Christian witness and presence, although not ample, are constant: there are references and records dating from the sixth, the thirteenth, the fourteenth, and the fifteenth centuries. In the sixteenth century we meet the first missionary to India from the church at Rome, Francis Xavier, followed only a half century later by Robert deNobili in 1606. Not long after this, near the middle and end of the seven teenth century, Anglican and Reformed chaplains came to India to minister to representatives of the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company. The beginning of the eighteenth century (1706) marks the presence of the first two Lutheran missionaries in India and the end of the eighteenth century (1793) sees the first Baptist missionary, William Carey, on the shores of India. Not long after this, in 1819, John Scudder, representing the Reformed Church in America, arrived in Calcutta under the aegis of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. He was diverted to Ceylon for seventeen years due to the policy of the British East India Company which implemented noninterference with the religion of the Indians, especially from missionaries. The contributions of the Reformed Church in America did not begin on the subcontinent of India until 1836. It established its own mission station in 1853 and its own mission board in 1857. 4 Although quite early, it is surely not the first mission in India. When the greater landscape of the history of missions in India is surveyed, the role played by the Reformed Church in America may appear to be rather small and limited. Although several books have been written on the history of the Reformed Church in America's efforts in India, these are mainly "in house" publications. 5 In general surveys of the history of Christian missions in India, the Reformed Church in America often gets little mention; if it were not for Ida Scudder's work in the formation and foundation of the Christian Medical College, many books would overlook the Reformed Church in America and the American Arcot Mission entirely. 6 On the one hand, this could imply that the mission of the Reformed Church in America was insignificant and unappreci ated; on the other hand, it more likely gives testimony to what is undoubtedly true: the Reformed Church in America is a small denomination with limited resources, both human and financial. Bearing this fact in mind, we see the scenario change dramatically. The work of the Reformed Church in America takes on a dimension of significance and importance that is surprisingly disproportionate to the size and importance of the denomination itself. 7 Just as it would be a gross overstatement to say that the Reformed Church in America brought Christianity to India, so would it be a grievous understate ment to say that it did not play an important role and make a lasting contribu tion to the history of the Christian church in India. 36 This short essay attempts to reflect the Indian viewpoint as it outlines some of the contributions of the Reformed Church in America to the Christian church in India, assesses the current state of affairs in the church in India, reports reflections on the work of missionaries, and observes the state of Christianity in India. I was asked to contribute this essay because I recently retumed from a brief sojoum in the old American Arcot Mission district. Although I cannot enter the Indian mind and see through Indian eyes, I draw heavily on my interviews with Indian Christians as well as Hindus as I attempt to project the Indian perspective. 8 Contributions of the Reformed Church in America to the Church of South India Although a small denomination, the Reformed Church in America has had a long history of meaningful contributions to the Christian church in India and to the people and society of this subcontinent. 9 Perhaps the first notewor thy contribution is the fact that it was a pathfinder in the field of missions in India. John Scudder was one of the first missionaries to venture to India from the United States of America, leading the way for many others. Not only was he among the first missionaries from America, but he was also the first medical missionary sent from any country. 10 As late as 1857 there were only six medical missionaries in the whole Indian subcontinent; three of these doctors were from the Scudder family and represented the Reformed Church in America. 11 The American Arcot Mission of the Reformed Church in America was also one of the leaders in the movement toward church union that culminated in the Church of South India in 1947. The first move toward any union among missions and churches in all India was undertaken by the American Arcot Mission and two Presbyterian churches in 1902. 12 The contributions of the Reformed Church in America in the field of medicine are the most widely recognized. The Christian Medical College and Hospital in Vellore is famous throughout South Asia and even though its growth was mainly as a union institution, it was founded by the missionaries of the American Arcot Mission. The same can be said of the Sanatorium in Arogyavaram, not to mention the many smaller hospitals and clinics that served the Indian people for years before the foundation of the larger institutions. But the establishment of medical institutions alone is not what has left an impres sion on the Indian people; it was the spirit of the missionary and the example ., of commitment and dedication shown by his or her life that are long remem bered. 13 The involvement of the Reformed Church in America in the establish ment and development of educational institutions in South India is also a lasting contribution.14 It has been said that the American Arcot Mission set the example in education, and the government followed. The missionaries of the 37 Arcot Mission were able to concentrate on just a few well-organized central schools as the government recognized more and more of its responsibility to undertake the education of the rural villages. Education of the people with whom they came in contact had been one of the original goals of the earliest missionaries from the Reformed Church in America and this goal obtained over the years. 15 Education, however, was not an end in itself: its aim was the development of an educated and equipped cadre of Indian leaders who could serve the church. The leadership training undertaken by the American Arcot Mission continues to bear fruit even today. Those who had been educated in Arcot Mission institutions were prepared to face the challenges of self- government and self-determination that the foundation of the Church of South India afforded them. This was not a policy developed by the Arcot Mission to meet the leadership needs of a new situation; rather it was possibly a result of the policy of leadership training that brought about the new situation.

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