Unity; is that not the heart of what Christ prayed for right before He laid down His life (John 17)? How much effort have we put into praying for and seeking to build unity among the various branches of the body of Christ?
Unity is what hundreds of pastors in Nellore are fervently working to build. They have discovered what should be an obvious truth, but is so often missed in our micro-focused agendas: we can better represent Christ and advance the gospel when we work together than when we are split apart. As a unified front, we can 1) protect and strengthen one another, and 2) take the offensive rather than just the defensive position to bring the Kingdom of God to the earth.
Remember the movie Gladiator? I’ve only seen it once, so excuse any errors :)
In Gladiator there is a scene where the few dozen gladiators are in the arena with only their hand weapons, and facing an absolutely unfair opponent of charioteers with advanced weaponry. They realize that by fighting as individuals, in a matter of minutes they will all be cut down, destroyed, in bloody and lifeless heaps; all their strength will be for naught. So, in a desperate move of ingenuity, they circle up, use their shields for group protection, and are able to resist all the attacks of the previously overwhelming foe. But they don’t stop there. Next, with their unified shield in place, they begin to strike out strategically, taking down one enemy at a time until they gain possession of the enemies’ weapons and completely destroy all opposition in the arena.
What a picture for our own church bodies to consider.
In every possible area of our churches, let us seek to work in unity with the churches around us so that we can better see how we can help one another, and so that the communities around will see one church body, unified and powerful. Personally, rather than having people decide which amputated limb of the body of Christ they are going to identify with, I’d rather that people face the all-consuming decision of whether they will have life in the Body or death outside the Body, and then spend their lives learning how to be like Christ.
(Some of the Nellore Pastors after the Run; standing in unity, singing and praying)
In Nellore, pastors from multiple denominations have formed a governmentally recognized group called the United Pastors Fellowship of Nellore. These pastors are working together to protect one another from opposition in the Hindu and Muslim religious groups. They share resources and work together to host events or promote one another’s events in their churches. Every week, the leadership meets (of which our host, Pastor David Dayasagar, serves as secretary and a main catalyst in organizing and advancing the group’s agendas), and every month the fellowship as a whole gathers. This past week we took part in two united events put on by the fellowship: United Holy Communion on Maundy Thursday (see a previous post), and RUN FOR JESUS, an Easter-related celebratory jog to proclaim the good news of Christ’s resurrection to the city.
RUN FOR JESUS – Jai Ho! He Is Risen Indeed!
Organized by ARADANA TV, located in Hyderabad and a major broadcaster for the whole Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, there were runs taking place in cities and villages all over the western-central part of India. In the biggest cities, runs were as long as 10-Kilometers (just over 6 miles); our local run was not quite this long.
The runners/walkers/bikers/etc. gathered by 6am on Saturday, April 23rd, to don their caps, signs, flags and banners. Chelsea was not feeling well that early in the morning so I, Bethany, went without my faithful companion. :( Our host, Pastor David, was the coordinator for the local Nellore run and so he and I, along with his son, Havilash, and niece and nephew, Chandana and Rohith, arrived with all the supplies (which also included a small, portable, microphone system).
Before going on much further, I must justify my lack of participation in the actual run (else I may suffer demeaning remarks from loving friends who would question if I’m getting fat and lazy here :). At 5:30am the temperature has usually dropped to a balmy 82-85 degrees Fahrenheit (on the computer weather forecaster, it usually says lows will be 75, but evidence is against that). By 8am the sun is already heating up the earth and air and will bring the high to a healthy 90-95 degrees by afternoon. Throw in some humidity and my body cannot handle a good jog even at peak strength unless I trained for a year.
(Taping the Run while riding on the back of Pastor Jerome's cycle)
But, my better justification is that they wanted two camera people to record the jogging parade; and between the equipment I’ve been blessed with, my all-American news anchor appearance that day, and space on the back of a friend’s motorcycle, I was able to perfectly fill that need. The TV station has requested that people mail in their recordings of their “Run For Jesus” celebrations for broadcasting over the next several weeks. I am glad that between the Downie Baptist Church member and me, we can send excellent footage of people in Nellore proclaiming Christ’s resurrection and the hope we have therein; a message which was proclaimed loudly to Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, and others (including Christians who needed encouraging).
Returning to our story: As I said earlier, our host, David, was the coordinator for the Nellore run. He did an excellent job leading the program, ensuring that all the churches and pastors were given microphone time to speak, shout, sing, or pray. Here’s David giving a stirring start-up message to the ready runners:
Christians of all ages participated in this run. Women wearing saris, children waving flags while they ran, men in suits or running gear, girls in Punjabis, old folks as well, people on bicycles, motorcycles, riding in autos or cars, wearing caps, waving flags, holding banners — —all singing and shouting as they jogged or rode down the crowded streets, between sellers carts and traveling vehicles. What a crazy, exuberant, celebration they were.
From now on, whenever I sing or read about the people of God dancing in the streets and praising the Lord at the return of Jesus, I will think of this sight. “And we will dance on the streets that are golden; the glorious Bride, and the Great Son of Man; from every tribe and tongue and nation we’ll join in the song of the Lamb!”
Here are a few more of the hundreds of pictures from the event:
Finally, concluding the celebration, everyone gathered in the courtyard of one of the churches for tea and to share their thoughts and experiences about the run. Yours Truly and the other faithful videotaper recorded these joyful testimonies. Here is part of the crowd looking at me as David thanks the two of us taking video:
I was also given a moment to wish the city of Nellore and all of Andhra Pradesh a “Happy Easter” and proclaim the joy that “Christ is risen indeed!”
“What a privilege from You, my Lord, that I am able to proclaim You publicly to large groups of people; please teach me to be faithful in proclaiming You daily and at every opportunity, whether it is big or small in my eyes—day in and day out, moment by moment, person to person.”
At the closing of the event, after everyone else had departed, the pastors gathered around for a time of praying, singing, and affirming their unity. In all of this, their goal is to give glory to the Lord and to successfully work as one Body, among themselves and among their congregations.
Praise the Lord for this example, and pray with us that this would be a lasting fellowship, holding together in spirit and truth long after all paperwork has deteriorated or been destroyed.
Until Next Time,
Andariki Vandenalu
(Thank you so much for listening/reading)
(Thank you so much for listening/reading)
Wow! Great pictures, Bethany. I look forward to seeing the video when you return!
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