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Meanwhile lets just say that we are proud Suneel Shivdasani contributed a whooping 72 entries.
Intentional outreach, creative writing and music – Kuldip Raj, SLIC Since attending its launch, we’ve watched with interest the work of SAC develop and, at times, partnered with them in encouraging outreach among the South Asians in the UK and with other projects. The work of Raju and Catherine in India has been a great […]
The Pakistan Partnership Initiative (PPI) is dedicated to creating sustainable, Christ-centred transformation across Pakistan. With a strong network of 38 direct partners and over 80 partners in total, PPI is fostering nationwide impact across five key areas: Leadership Development, Organisational Development, Youth and Children, Business and Livelihood, and Strengthening Church Capacities. Women in Leadership: A […]
It was a regular day at the newly started Head & Neck Oncology OPD of Kachhwa Christian Hospital (KCH). Dr. Honeysh George our Head & Neck Oncology Consultant was seeing patients as usual when Mr. Jayprakash turned up. Jayprakash was at his wits end: he had been journeying to different parts of the country for […]
“There has been lots of rain and we’re having flooding again this year!” writes Nawaz, one of the leaders of Pakistan Bible Correspondence School (PBCS). “The cotton, rice and sugarcane crops of the areas there have been damaged by the water. There are need for food, rations, mosquito nets and medicines. In these areas, students, […]
William Masih leads the Oasis Church Asian Fellowship in SW London. He also trains and equips believers to reach out to Muslims. Twelve years ago, we started a prayer meeting in our home and God blessed and multiplied that small prayer meeting. One day we had so many people in our living room, and we […]
The 125-year anniversary celebration of Kachhwa Christian Hospital, on 17th February 2024, was a time of great rejoicing, writes Shankar Ramachandran, Managing Director. Staff, current and past, along with friends from various EHA units and other well-wishers gathered together to celebrate God’s goodness and steadfast faithfulness. The planning and preparation had begun 6 months earlier […]
Astrology pervades every aspect of Indian life. And not just Indian – all over the world people search their future through their star sign, their daily horoscope or having their palm read in the market. What lies behind it all and can we trust it? Is our story written in the stars? Do cosmic influences […]
The School of Biblical Teaching is a movement that started 23 years ago. Rev Devender Verma, the Director, based in Delhi, shares its vision and challenges. Our vision: the planting and growth of healthy local churches that are reproducing and continuing to multiply. These are the agents of God’s kingdom who transform the communities around […]
Sugandh first opened its doors in October 1997, to support children working in a local market. Since then it has continued its grassroots outreach and community work in some of Delhi’s poorest communities. But now it faces new challenges with a change of leadership. At the end of last year, the team said goodbye to […]
At the end of November Suneel Shivdasani visited Belgium on a follow-up trip for the research that Thomas Hieber and he did last August. A church leader in Gent had asked me to teach his church a prayer tool that I’d shown him, but was also willing to visit the local Gurudwara and Mosque. So […]
“I’ve always believed in the power of stories to change lives. So, it’s such a privilege to be a part of an organisation that is changing lives in Pakistan through telling God’s story and the stories of his people,” writes Accad Emmanuel in Lahore, Pakistan. Christians make up a tiny minority of the huge population […]
Paul & Su East have been friends of Daniel & Phebe over many years, when they were leading a church in Saharanpur, Western UP. Here they share the vision that has led them to a neighbourhood of Chandigarh, where they are working to uplift their community and raise leaders for long term sustainable ministry. Short-term […]
Kachhwa Christian Hospital (KCH) is the oldest unit of the Emmanuel Hospital Association group of hospitals and may well be among the 4 oldest hospitals in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Shankar Ramachandran, the Managing Director, describes the 125 year anniversary celebrations. God’s ways are mysterious, unfathomable to human minds. Who would have imagined Kachhwa, […]
Many churches used to celebrate July 3rd as St. Thomas Day, to commemorate the apostle Thomas who arrived in India in 52 AD and was martyred in 72 AD near Chennai. There was a feeling that the celebration should be extended, specifically to include the many followers of Jesus in India who are not Christians. […]
Pakistan has been facing multiple challenges – first COVID, then the flooding of 2022 and now political upheaval. These have impacted the lives of millions of people. Inflation and prices of household items have sky rocketed. Ashraf Mall shares how the partners of Pakistan Partnership Initiative (PPI) have come together in this difficult time. The […]
Suneel Shivdasani and Thomas Hieber visited Portugal as part of their two year project to research South Asians in Belgium, Netherlands and Portugal. We visited Lisbon, Porto and different places across the Algarve. We were able to take local Christians, church leaders and missionaries for their first visit to a mosque, gurudwara and the Lisbon […]
Every migration story is different: Amelia Jacob’s story shows how culture can both change and not change Amelia was brought up in a traditional family in 50s and 60s Pakistan – very different from Pakistan today. Three generations lived together in a joint family with siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles. Life was filled with cooking, […]
The Indian diaspora is now 60 million (10 million when SAC began). It is the second largest, after China (65 million) but the most dispersed. ‘The sun never sets on the Indian diaspora’, said Sam George (Director, Global Diaspora Institute, Wheaton College, and Catalyst for Diasporas for the Lausanne Movement), at a recent seminar in […]
Paul & Su East have been travelling in India to visit old friends It’s been a pleasure to spend time with Pastor Daniel & Phebe (with their son Dominic) who have just bought a property outside Chandigarh to develop a Training and Retreat Centre for pastors (Shepherds) and their families as well as young people. […]
I write this in the middle of Losar, the Tibetan New Year, the biggest and most important festival of the Tibetan year. It’s a time of family and visiting, a time of preparing the home and one’s self for the new year, spiritually and physically. In the Tibetan homelands (Tibet, India, Nepal) Losar is a […]
1 in 30 people can be considered a migrant – from people huddled in small boats to transnational millionaires to international students to Russians escaping military service to settled third generation families…. People are on the move, all over the world. Suneel Shivdasani reports on SAC’s recent research and engagement with South Asian communities in […]
Ram Prasad reports: “25 Nepali-speaking churches across the UK have formed a consortium called Nepali Christian Council UK. Recently, the six North Regional churches met together in Rochdale Hebron Nepali Church. I was asked to preach at the fellowship.” They continue local outreach through their weekly booktable and recently also opened a bookshop in the […]
About 300 British Gujaratis follow Jesus and identify as Christians. Usha Reifsnider researched the impact of their change of faith. For most the overwhelming impact was on their families, both for those who ‘left’ and for their families who ‘lost’ them. Another major effect was the ‘muting’ of their culture as they tried to assimilate […]
Ramjit Singh’s picture appeared recently on the front cover of India Today, a leading weekly magazine. He is a Sikh background pastor who is part of a movement in Punjab, NW India. Some aspects of the movement raise concerns, such as undue promising of healing and prosperity. In February 2021 Ramjit had approached SBT, seeking […]
5:17 Prayer is one of the ways in which we encourage prayer for South Asian people, wherever they are, and for the range of ministries among them. We meet regularly, online and face to face. Richard Todd reports on the online session last October. Our October online prayer event started with reading the end of […]
Ram’s new book was launched in Delhi with chief guest Ramola Bachchan (please see Concern, July 2022; and go to BBC iPlayer Sunday Morning Live at 10.30am on 25 September 2022 to hear Ram’s short and powerful testimony – it is at 33.5 minutes into the programme).’ £25 (Hardback) Order from: pipparannbooks.com/book/my-silk-road-theadventures-and-struggles-of-a-british-asian-refugee/
Manoj Raithatha was formerly National Co-ordinator of the South Asian Forum and is now Chair of the Board of the Evangelical Alliance and pastor of Pinner Baptist Church. His best selling story has now been revised and updated. It’s not just a gripping story of how God intervened in his life, through his search for […]
The needs continue and many groups are involved in response (see southasianconcern.org/pakistan-flood-relief-appeal for details). We have received around £10,000 so far, which we are sending to partners on the ground. They write: “What we are doing now: * providing $30 worth of food and rations and mosquito nets for as many families as possible; * […]
The School of Biblical Teaching is a network of churches and organisations that is helping to build the emerging church in North India and Nepal. Its vision is to see the planting and growth of churches that are healthy, reproducing and continuing to multiply. It trains church planters to apply and teach God’s word effectively […]
“Suneel, this lady wants us to pray for her…” We were just about to leave the Gurudwara in Barcelona, when one of our group brought us someone she’d started chatting to. But why were we there? Suneel Shivdasani explains the diaspora research that he and Thomas Hieber are doing. In 2017 South Asian Concern produced […]
First stage response to Pakistan floods We have all seen recent news of the devastating flooding across Pakistan with the misery it has caused. Over 30 million affected, over 1,000 dead, including hundreds of children since the monsoon rains started in June. Homes made of mud or unbaked bricks have dissolved; summer crops have been […]
Tuberculosis is one of India’s major health issues. According to WHO, in 2020 India accounted for 26% of the total TB cases across the globe with an incidence rate of 192 cases per 100,000 of population. This disease is closely linked to socio-economic factors and Uttar Pradesh, the largest state in India, bears the significant […]
Jason Roach and Jessamin Birdsall, The Good Book Company (2022) Paperback – £7.64 Order now from: www.thegoodbook.co.uk/healing-the-divides Jason Roach is British, with family origins in Barbados. Jessamin Birdsall is a white American who has spent a number of years in India. Together they have produced a clear, simple and deeply insightful introduction to issues of racial […]
Ram Gidoomal, Pippa Rann Books (2022) Hardback – £25 Order now from: www.pipparannbooks.com/book/my-silk-road-the-adventures-and-struggles-of-a-british-asian-refuge Ram Gidoomal’s new book is due to be published in August/September. Readers of Concern may know much of Ram’s story but will be fascinated by this rich account of the many facets of his life and how they are woven together. For […]
The scenes unfolding from the economic crisis in Sri Lanka, the country where my family originate, have taken me a while to process, says Dayalan Mahesan. The country shaped like a teardrop has seen many tears shed in recent decades for several reasons, including the recent civil war and the 2004 tsunami. A stunningly beautiful […]
A clear and interesting prayer guide to help you pray for Sikh people while exploring their faith, their culture, and their needs and concerns. Learn about them and practise the love of Christ through prayer for Sikh people by taking five days to pray for them: 10-14 April 2022 (during Vaisakhi). It is an excellent […]
New Life Suwarta Sangat, (www.nlss.org.uk) is a church community seeking to live out and proclaim the good news of Jesus in ways that bless and resonate culturally in the diverse, multi-faith neighbourhoods of Harrow and Brent, NW London. Many of us come from Gujarati Hindu and Jain or other South Asian cultural backgrounds. What’s been […]
Rahil Patel is the author of ‘Found by Love’ (Instant Apostle, 2016) www.instantapostle.com/books/found-by-loveHe continues to write and speak on this topic. One of the groups with whom I am in touch is Patel followers of Jesus around the world. In October last year I was honoured to mediate our first global gathering of Patel believers, […]
“On a Saturday in late Spring 1989 (13th May to be precise), 53 people gathered in a West London church, to pray and seek God’s direction for ministry among South Asians around the world. This was the first of a series of meetings that eventually led to the formation of South Asian Concern.” Concern, July […]
Thanks to the Internet we can be in touch with India and our contacts/partners there on a regular basis, in fact, almost daily. That is such a blessing. However it isn’t the same as being there in person so we do hope that we can go again in 2022. That is our prayer. Companions of […]
