Meet John

John lives in the rural village where he was born, about 70 km. south of Chennai. He was raised Hindu and became a priest. He was also bright, learned English, left the village, and had a good job in a bank in Chennai when he was bothered for a year or so with an incapacitating illness. Someone suggested it might be tuberculosis, but a TB specialist put him through extensive tests and could not tell him what the sickness was, only that it was not TB. He went from specialist to specialist with the same result. Desparate for help, he stumbled across a Christian magazine which talked about faith healing. He wrote the editor a letter describing his plight, who replied that if he had faith in Jesus Christ he could be healed. Within three days his symptoms disappeared and did not return.This got his attention, and he decided he had to learn something about this Jesus Christ. He got a picture of Jesus, placed it in the Hindu shrine in his house, and started praying to the picture. As he went from church to church, each told him a different story. He did not give up. Eventually he enrolled in a theological seminary and for two years studied for the ministry. He felt called to return to his native village and bring Christ, which about 20% accepted. He found he could not affiliate with any of the local denominations (some of the main ones here are Church of Southern India (CSI), Church of Northern India (CNI), Roman Catholic (RC), Assembly of God (AG), Seventh Day Adventist (SDA)) because none of them taught what he believed the Bible taught, so he called his church The Church of Jesus Christ. Non-affiliation presents some hardships, as there is no source for teaching aids, manuals, or handbooks. He had to rely on the Bible alone.