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Baptist Declaration adopted in the India Mission Summit
India Mission
Summit Baptist Declaration
Benjamin Chan
March 6, 2015
The International Ministries (IM) co-sponsored India Mission Summit was held in Kohima, Nagaland from October 2 to 5, 2014. The Summit was well attended by 1,200 Baptist delegates from Bengal-Orissa-Bihar, Northeast and South India. (Refer to my journal about the event and to a related three-minute video prepared by the India Baptist Convention.)
At the close of the India Mission Summit, the delegates adopted a visionary Baptist Declaration calling for the formation of commissions to address the critical issues of human trafficking and religious liberty, as well as forums for women and youth issues and leadership development. Reid Trulson, executive director of IM, added his affirmation, “The Declaration holds promises of historic proportions. Christianity is a minority faith in India. The majority of IM’s partners are vulnerable to political, social, economic and religious oppression. Christians and other people of good will must work together to fulfill the rights of all people to freely profess, practice and propagate their faith as guaranteed by Indian Constitutions.”
A follow-up task group, the India Mission Coordination Committee, was formed to lead the implementation of the Declaration. The team held its first meeting on December 9-10, 2014, in Imphal, Manipur, and made several strategic decisions, including:
- The printing and distribution of the Baptist Declaration flyer in English and in various Indian languages and dialects.
- The publication of the India Mission Summit sermons and workshop papers with a study guide.
- The expansion of the current India Mission Summit website to promote the Baptist Declaration.
- The formation of task groups to lead the two commissions and two forums.
- An India Mission Leaders Meeting in Guwahati on March 23-25 to enable the heads, women and youth leaders of the 13 member organizations of the India Mission Summit to develop concrete steps to implement the Declaration.
Members of the India Mission Coordination Committee include: Samaresh Nayak (convener) from the Bengal-Orissa-Bihar area, Solomon Rongpi from Northeast India, Victor Emmanuel from South India and Taku Longkumer and Benjamin Chan representing IM. Please pray for the Committee, asking God to give us the wisdom and strength to bring holistic transformation to India.