Despite tough circumstances and persecution, the Church of Jesus Christ in India is on the march. One incredible ministry, Children’s Camps International (CCI), is reaching hundreds of thousands of children each year through Christian training programs — all with virtually no foreign money.
CHENNAI — India, with its mostly Hindu population and a sizeable Islamic minority, is considered one of the most persecuted nations in the world for Christians and the Church — worse than Saudi Arabia, according to Open Doors. Right before we arrived, a top government official with the ruling party promised the death penalty for Christians who convert Hindus.
And yet, as my son and I saw firsthand when we were there this month, God is doing incredible things amid difficult circumstances. The Church is on the march!
One ministry in particular, Children’s Camps International, is working with thousands of churches across India and beyond. For literally just a few dollars per child — with about ¾ of that raised from churches in India — the ministry is reaching hundreds of thousands of children each year with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and an incredible discipleship program. What we witnessed was nothing short of miraculous.
First, some background: A wonderful and generous donor asked if I would be willing to go to India to see what the Lord was doing there through CCI. After praying about it and talking with the family, my oldest son and I decided we would go and see for ourselves. We did not have any idea what to expect beyond what we had heard about the ministry and read about India.
Our visa application was rejected multiple times. Apparently, the government, led by a “Hindu nationalist” prime minister, has become increasingly hostile to Christians and especially missionaries coming into the country. We were not there as missionaries. But the process was more difficult than all of the visas I have ever applied for in my life—combined!
Many months and hundreds of dollars later, we finally received government permission. Our journey began at the end of March. We arrived at the airport in Chennai in the state of Tamil Nadu without knowing what to expect on April 1. I grew up in the Third World, mostly in Latin America, and I also lived in Africa for some time. I’ve been to more rough places than most. But nothing could have prepared me for India.
Our guide was Antony Samy, co-founder and Indian leader of CCI. His life story is so interesting it should probably be made into a book and a movie. As a young child, he was on the verge of death. His Catholic parents were told to dig a hole to put his body in. And yet, they begged God to give the boy another chance at life, promising to dedicate their son to Him if he survived. Not only did he survive; over the years he became a passionate follower of Jesus.
Eventually, Antony joined a Roman Catholic seminary to become a priest. But when his superiors ordered him to stop preaching the Good News to the gardeners and landscaping staff, he knew it was time for something else. When he withdrew, his parents disowned him, even saying he’d be better off dead. But God had other plans. Eventually, Antony moved to Nepal as a missionary to reach the Hindu population there with the Gospel.
After working at a Christian camp in Canada, Antony decided to go to Bible school. There, he learned theology, ministry, and more. He also met some wonderful saints who joined forces with him to create Children’s Camps International. For more than 20 years now, the ministry has been discipling children — over 4 million so far — through incredible summer camps that are fun, exciting, and designed to deepen their relationship with Christ.
It was obvious that Antony was deeply respected by the Christian community in Southern India. Despite his incredible humility, everywhere we went, he was celebrated as a hero. This is despite the fact that the churches partnering with CCI are always told up front that they will not be getting money — just help to run the camps to reach and disciple children for Jesus.
Our trip:
Our very first day, after just a few hours of sleep, we all attended an incredible pastors’ meeting. Over 600 pastors from across Chennai were gathered to pray for the upcoming training programs and camps. They were all so kind, passionate, and dedicated to the ministry, it was almost surreal. Their love for the Lord was so obvious.
After honoring Antony, my son, and me and allowing us to share a few words and verses, we heard a delightful sermon (in Tamil) preached out of Nehemiah. The pastor was urging his fellow pastors to build a wall of protection around their families, their lives, and their ministries. Smiles were all around as the pastors discussed how to reach ever larger numbers of people for God.
As Antony explained to us, to participate in the program, each pastor and church that chooses to get involved selects five leaders. These carefully selected leaders — men and women — then receive training through CCI. They learn how to run the camps, how to teach the children, how to sing the songs written by CCI to help the children remember key facts from the Bible, and much more.
The next day, we went to our first training program for these leaders in Chennai. They were on FIRE for the Lord. The ubiquitous smiles and joy were so encouraging. After being honored by the leaders and sharing some words from the Scriptures with them, we all worshipped together. Watching these beautiful saints prepare for the arrival of hundreds of thousands of children for thousands of summer camps just this year was extraordinary.
At this first training program, we were also shown the materials used by the ministry to teach children. Each child gets a cup with an encouraging message on it, a little book teaching them critical information from the Bible, a piece of candy, some water, and lunch each day of the camp.
Again, unlike so many other ministries, the vast majority of the funding for this comes from the local churches, with just a fraction coming from donors in the United States and Canada. The churches also prepare the food for the children. For the especially impoverished congregations, Antony and his small team of staff get wealthier Indian congregations to help.
Trichy (Tiruchirappalli):
After the training program in Chennai (formerly known as Madras) and a good night’s sleep at our hotel, we took a plane to Trichy, a few hundred kilometers south. The next morning, we went to yet another training program. It was just like the previous one we attended but with an entirely new group of leaders. Again, their joy and passion for reaching the children for Christ was incredible.
While we did not have time for much “sightseeing,” we were able to stop briefly at one of the biggest pagan temples in the world. The millennium-old Sri Ranganatha Swamy Temple, which sits on over 150 acres, is dedicated to some of the 300 million + deities worshiped by Hindus. The more we learned about paganism, the more passionate I became about sharing God’s Word with these precious people — and preventing the re-paganization of the West.
One book I read before going to India by an Indian-born Christian, Vishal Mangalwadi, had given me some sense of what Hinduism is. Titled The Book That Made Your World, the work is a powerful masterpiece highlighting the incredible benefits of living in a society with a biblical heritage — fruit that so many believers and unbelievers alike take for granted today.
Madurai:
For instance, Mangalwadi explains how, before the arrival of Christian missionaries in India, there was not a single school, hospital, or orphanage. Life was hardly considered important, much less sacred. In fact, people were reluctant to even help dying, helpless babies left outside by parents, thinking that “karma” and the “gods” must be paying the children back for some misdeed in a previous life. (I interviewed Mangalwadi on The Sentinel Report a few years ago on the subject of education here.)
After Trichy, we left for Madurai, another city in Tamil Nadu. It was a pleasant drive through the Indian countryside, filled with beautiful coconut farms, holy cows, and pagan temples everywhere. En route, we also stopped at CCI’s humble offices, where Antony keeps records to satisfy curious (and sometimes hostile) bureaucrats. Unfortunately, national authorities are becoming increasingly antagonistic toward Christian ministries.
Again, the next day, we were privileged to be able to watch another incredible training program teaching these godly leaders how to run the children’s camps. We watched, worshipped with them, shared some encouragement from God’s Word, and let them know their brothers and sisters in America were praying for them.
Some expressed surprise after I told them someday they may need to send missionaries to America. But unfortunately, I was not kidding. Coming from the West, the passion for God and the children was both surprising and encouraging — it was unusual to see this kind of enthusiasm for the Gospel in my country. These mostly young people were truly on fire for God and His Kingdom.
After Madurai, we were able to take a brief trip into the mountains for Kodaikanal, a small mountain village. It was an incredible and wild drive filled with waterfalls, monkeys, sharp curves, steep cliffs, and astounding vistas. We also got to eat at a small local restaurant on the side of the road — and praise the Lord, we did not get sick! Aside from awful nausea from the drive and ending up in the middle of a drunken Hindu festival, it was perfect.
In addition to some sightseeing and relaxation, we were able to visit a beautiful facility on the mountain where leaders, churches, and others come to learn and grow closer to the Lord. While there, we spoke with a group of young men who were preparing to join the ministry full-time as pastors, missionaries, evangelists, and leaders. What a joy to meet future shepherds engaged in the same mission as us: to disciple the nations!
Christianity, Paganism, and India:
Less than 3 percent of Indians are Christian, even though Hindus recognize “Jesus” as one of the countless deities in their pantheon. In Tamil Nadu, where we were, about 10 percent of the population is Christian. As Open Doors explains on its website, though, India is number 11 on the list of most-persecuted nations behind, North Korea and just below Iran and Afghanistan.
Despite the impression given by Hindu fundamentalists, Christianity is not new or alien to India. In fact, almost 2,000 years ago, Thomas, one of Jesus’ 12 disciples, landed on the Western shores of the subcontinent, apparently taken there by Jewish traders. He planted churches in the Kerala region that are still active today. He eventually walked to the Eastern coast of the subcontinent, where we spent most of our time.
In Chennai, the evidence for this journey is everywhere. We were able to visit the beautiful church where Thomas was reportedly buried. Antony and our delightful driver Armuham (“Six Faces,” a Hindu name) also took us to the mountain in the city where Thomas was martyred for the faith. There are monuments, churches, crosses, and more all over the hill. And despite efforts by the military and Hindu radicals to take the hill — they murdered the Christian man in charge of protecting it less than two decades ago — it is still in Christian hands today.
There is so much more to say, but we will save that for another day. For now, I thank you for reading, and I thank God for allowing me to see (and share) some of what He is doing with His Church in India. It was an experience I will forever cherish, and I praise God for raising up leaders like Antony to disciple the nations regardless of the cost.
God has called on all Christians to disciple the nations. As Christ says in Matthew 28:19-20: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
If you are interested in learning more about CCI, you can check out their website here. As the donor who asked us to go explained, there are not many ministries in the world doing so much to advance the Kingdom of Heaven with so few resources. It’s obvious that God’s hand is on this incredible work.
Be encouraged, Americans. While many bemoan the decline of Christianity in the Western world, we know the gates of hell will never prevail against the Church of Jesus Christ. What is happening in India is proof of that.
