Home In India, A Review
By Bob Small
Almost every Saturday Night around 11:30 p.m. (9 a.m. Indian time the following day), we find ourselves going to Epiphany’s Church Service, in English (Cuttack,India), via Zoom. One of the most inspiring pastors is Rev. Moumita Biswas of the Church of Scotland.
Rev. Biswas is featured Andrew Mills’ book Home in India, which can be ordered at https://www.andrewmillsbooks.com/
This weekly schedule is not due to any great religious fervor, but rather relationships formed by my wife while she was in India previously, that were recently re-established.
This was many years and one husband ago.
Part of the story of Andy Mills in India is his role as in India as a Lay Missionary.
The Andy Mills we know is from his work in Witness for Peace. Witness for Peace was founded in 1983 and campaigns for “peace, justice, and sustainable economies in Latin America”.
Andrew Mills connects both these topics and more; He has been a Chairperson of Witness for Peace (1994-2012). Previously, he went to India , in a dual role as a consulting groundwater hydrologist/programmer and a lay Missionary under the UCBWM (United Church Board for World Ministries). This was from 1956-61, and 1967-71.
This book introduced me to a part of Andy that I never knew, the Missionary. He felt he was in India to help with both bodies and souls.
He talks honestly of the dichotomies between his views as a Christian Westerner, and both the Christian Indians and Hindu Indians. Along the way, there are also the differing views within the Christian Missionary Community.
One vital point he makes is the notion that he should live simply, in the same way that the Indians live. This adjustment was not easy for him as an American.
He also explained that the different groupings had much to learn from each other when they chose to listen.
Recently, when I looked up the current status of CNI, the Church of Northern India, I discovered that some of the same concerns that he wrote about were still in the process of being resolved.
The book is divided into sections covering his dual activities in India, and three epilogues, honoring both British and Indian Christians he worked with.
