One of SydAng's Motor Mission bloggers, Nathan Brown, is returning to India, taking half the evening congregation of his church with him.
Nathan and his team from Glenbrook Anglican Church leave on December 14 to spend 10 days over the Christmas period in Hyderabad, partnering with "Vadu Sangham' (Bride of Christ) church as they take advantage of a celebration that passes most Indians by.
"This church has a vibrant Christmas ministry, using Christmas " which is a distant western concept to many in Hyderabad " as a platform to really preach the message of the gospel," Nathan says.
The team will be part of a "roadshow' which travels to villages and puts on dramas, songs and a gospel message.
The team will also "carol Indian style', visiting the homes of everyone in the church congregation so they can invite their neighbours in to hear the gospel.
Nathan spent 10 days with the church at Christmas in 2005, on his motor mission, which saw him ride a motorbike through countries such as India, Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt with his friend Julian Price.
"They were the most hectic 10 days of my life," he recalls.
"Christmas Day is just like any other working day in India, so people at this church take 10 days off to preach the gospel hardcore, to the early hours of the morning."
India on the heart
He says he made the decision to go back to Hyderabad at the beginning of the year, when he decided we wanted to take a team back to one of the places he had visited in his travels.
"It's on my heart to go back and this place stood out in my mind because it is a church that is really exciting to be around, with a clear focus on the gospel," he says.
When he made an announcement to the evening congregation at Glenbrook Anglican Church, and held an information night, close to half the congregation put up their hands to go with him.
Learning how not to be a burden
Nathan expects the mission to be a significant "learning curve' for himself and the 24-member team.
"I think what we will learn and how God will grow us from this experience will be far greater than anything we propose to give!" he says.
Stories of mission teams who have been a burden to the church they were visiting because they were unprepared have motivated Nathan, his wife Carla, brother Aaron and friends Laki and Emily to prepare their team thoughtfully for the trip.
"In the good stories, the teams had spent time learning to get on with each other, thinking of what ministry in another culture might be like, and recognising dependencies in their own culture," he says.
Nathan says he and his fellow leaders have introduced a "ministry toolkit', equipping team members in six areas: music ministry, drama, children's ministry, personal sharing of faith, preaching and building.
Getting the team used to doing ministry and living together as a team, and doing ministry and living in another culture are key goals in this preparation, Nathan says
The team went on a surprise outing which saw them spend a day at Auburn's multicultural festival, talking to people about their culture, under the guidance of WEC.
A weekend away in Braidwood gave the team a taste of what it would be like to "live in close quarters' and even use a squat toilet.
"The team has been encouraged to see themselves going in as learners, and to make sure they preach the gospel, not Western culture," he says.
"And to be prepared that things that are different are not necessarily wrong, just different."
Nathan says those at Glenwood Anglican Church who are not going to Hyderabad are strongly supporting the mission through prayer, finances and organising fundraising and information events.
"Above and through all our prep, we see prayer and reliance on the good Lord as the key " despite how tidy our prep is, if the Lord is not backing it up, we know it will flop!"
