The fellowship on the roof
What happened when South Asian believers opened their home to serve their community?
Photo: Above the cramped back streets in one South Asian city, local believers are quietly creating community (Andreas Weise)
We go with a CMS mission partner in Asia to a steadily growing church within a marginalised community.
So much rice-snack was prepared that all the space in the small kitchen and the next room was taken up – all chopped on boards, arranged in pots, and served onto plates, along with other snacks and drinks.
An hour later, it had all gone. The rice-snack ran out – and that was a good thing.
In these cramped back streets, the flat roof terrace is normally quiet. Amy (name changed) hangs out washing in the mornings; the clothes are dry before noon, and the roof is again empty and quiet – except for the noise of horns and engines from the main road into the city, only a couple of blocks away, and the sound of children playing in the street.
Tutorials on the terrace
Yet, on some afternoons Amy’s house is suddenly noisy. Recently, Amy started inviting children for tuitions and other activities. There is huge demand for after-school tuitions, to help children do better in their exams. In this community, many of the parents never went through school themselves. So, there is no way they can help their children with homework. And tuitions are not something the families in these streets could afford.
But Amy did get an education. And, since she began to follow Jesus, she has been wanting to make a difference. So, with her husband’s agreement, she started offering free tuitions. In the afternoons, many of the parents are still working, but with their parents’ permission these local children happily come on their own, or with siblings and friends.
Christmas for the community
Last Christmas, Amy wanted to do something special for the season, so she mentioned this to her fellowship. She is part of a new local-language fellowship, made up of people who have only recently begun to follow Jesus; and their fellowship is connected with an English-speaking fellowship which has been running for several years.
So, one special afternoon, people from both of these fellowships turned up with all the ingredients for enough rice-snack for dozens of people. They prepared rice-snack, cold drinks and tea, sitting on the floor to chop vegetables.
Soon, there were two dozen excited children on the terrace, enjoying stories, games, singing, dancing and, of course, the food. Adults joined too; some lingered to chat over tea. Unexpectedly, that vast quantity of rice-snack actually ran out – and that was a good thing.
Church at the edges
After Christmas, Amy carried on with tuitions at her home. Week by week, friends from her fellowship have helped provide snacks – on a smaller scale! In this region, some small churches and groups of new believers have experienced hostility, aggression and claims that it is illegal for them to meet (unless they are properly registered). But it is a blessing that this small, new fellowship has started out with some good relationships with the wider communities around them.
Local Christians have been supportive. The English-speaking sister fellowship provides prayer, encouragement, volunteers – and the helpful status of being part of an officially-registered organisation. The local-language fellowship has been able to meet early on Sunday mornings because another local church – believers who have migrated here from another region – has let them use their building for a very low rent. That church had been praying about outreach to local people, but were not sure how to make connections. This collaboration has been an encouraging answer to prayer for both the local-language fellowship and the migrant church.
And yet traditional Sunday services are not necessarily the most important meetings. More people are comfortable coming to people’s homes on weekday evenings for Bible study and prayer. So “house-church” meetings may well be the way forward for this growing fellowship – including meetings in Amy’s house. Being part of this movement has given Amy a new confidence to take initiative, both within the local-language fellowship and in making her home a centre for community connection.
CMS partners making it possible
These healthy connections between Christians of different communities cannot be taken for granted. Behind this fellowship, there is a background of prayer, outreach and collaboration over many years.
The fellowship started through the initiative of local CMS partners Philip and Lyla (names changed). I got to know Philip when I was teaching him five years ago – before they started this local-language fellowship. He is from a small town in a neighbouring region, born into a Roman Catholic family. Lyla is from the local community, born into a family of another faith; and her family became followers of Jesus when she was a teenager. By the time they married, he had studied theology, become involved in various ministries and moved to this city. She had worked for a Christian NGO in various locations. Together, they felt called to train and encourage young people, especially young pastors. Through this training and support, they have played an important part in planting 20 new churches – including Amy’s fellowship.
What I find encouraging about this fellowship is the infectious enthusiasm of those who have chosen to follow Jesus. Amy is used to running her home; but now, supported and encouraged by others around her, she is using her gifts in new ways and having an impact on many people – especially the local children and their families.
It helps that this fellowship does not depend on one authority figure; rather, they are encouraging people to get involved and developing a team of leaders with different gifts and roles.
As the fellowship grows in numbers, it is a challenge to work out how best to organise themselves. They could try to copy existing churches, with their kinds of services and meetings and structures, but moves in that direction have not been comfortable for them. At least for now, what seems to work best is small meetings in people’s houses. Jesus used to do a lot of ministry that way. It seems like he still does.
