With the largest Sydney migrant group in the past 12 months being people from South Asia, this begs the question: How do we share the gospel with subcontinentals? Evangelism and New Churches is working alongside St John’s Cathedral in Parramatta to find an answer and help others reach the Sri Lankans, Nepalis, Indians, Pakistanis and more that are flocking to our city. 

“One of the reasons for focusing attention on this group is we have not done very much in the past,” explains the director of Evangelism and New Churches, the Rev Bruce Hall. “There is a high proportion of folk from South Asia in Parramatta and St John’s is developing a good ministry to them.”  

Held in early August, the first Subcontinental Ministry Conference aimed to raise the profile of this ministry. “Churches in the Diocese will need to increasingly take this ministry into their consideration,” Mr Hall says. “We want to show who and what is already being done, gain prayer support for existing ministries and encourage and train those who came to do this ministry.”  

The Rev Tom Harricks, assistant minister at St John’s Cathedral, has served the subcontinental community for several years in a ministry that began as a result of the changing demographics of the Parramatta area. He says the ministry comes with several challenges.

“Talking about subcontinental ministry is like talking about ‘European ministry’,” he says. “When we say we are running an event for ‘Indians’, folk are more likely going to feel distanced and disenfranchised than engaged and welcomed. To facilitate subcontinental ministry, one must identify where a particular person is on the spectrum of readiness for integration before running effective groups/events.”

As a result, specific programs run for people from the subcontinent were developed by asking what they would attend – and working out how to develop Christian maturity.

“We ran a ‘learn to swim’ course for men who worked in IT at Woolworths, a Bible study course using The God Who Saves material, a ‘How to write a resumé’ evening, and ‘How to cook a Parramatta meal’ – an event where we interviewed two Christians (Chinese and Sri Lankan) as they cooked and also heard a gospel story,” Mr Harricks says. 

The Subcontinental Bible Ministry at St Andrew’s, Strathfield is also reaching out in its community. “Nine per cent of [people in] our area come from the subcontinent,” says Clive Buultjens, who heads up the ministry. “They are tightly knit to their cultural group. That makes it hard for them to hear the gospel.”

His congregation continues to use personal networks, along with cold evangelism, ESL and refugee work in order to evangelise.

Reflecting on the work, Mr Harricks adds that “fruit is seen in the change that occurs with the folks who come to church [who] then, down the track, have a deep conviction of what God has done for them in Jesus.

“We see this over and over again: people more engaged in studying God’s word, in prayer, in reaching their Hindu friends in a way that they have never previously attempted.”