Christianity in Delhi/India

There are more Christians than Sikhs in India. Ok, so there are only 1.9% of the population who are sikh and 2.3% christian but from a population of 1.2 billion that makes for 27 million Christians. The biggest religious group is the Hindus with 81% and then Muslim with 12%.

Whilst we are here we have been attending a church called the Delhi International Christian Fellowship. This is a church of about 150 people of all nationalities which mainly serves the expatriate community and americans in particular, as they form the biggest group here on that basis. They are evangelical by nature but quite conservative in operation as they do have to cater to a wide range of christian persuasions.

My mum found the church for us and the second day we were here, we all trotted off. Due to a double booking at their normal location (the British School in New Delhi), they had to take over a conference suite at the Hyatt Regency Hotel (5 star if you please). We were mightily impressed. They have these beautifully covered chairs here and the place looked like it was set up for a wedding. The service is simple and they have an active kids group with about 60 kids every Sunday.

The coffees and biscuits (courtesy of the Hyatt) were simply the best I have ever tasted. There were pastries of every description, doughnuts and cookies. As many as you could eat. In typical British "holiday maker abroad" mode, I even took a couple home with me. After all, as a nation, we still haven't got used to the "all you can eat" concept (which is in every restaurant in the US) so we can't get over how lucky we are when we see endless food on offer. I always have to take an extra one for later. I blame my mum. She always used to take an extra couple of sugar cubes when we were kids, if any restaurant or cafe was silly enough to leave more than 2 on the table. I'm sure it had something to do with rationing in the war. What generally happens, as it did on this occasion, was that we take an extra something but by the time you want to eat them they have gone off. Julie would always take an extra apple or banana from the breakfast buffet for that "just in case" moment but they would always end up in the bin. When will we learn that there is always enough and we do not have to squirrel stuff away?

The following week we met in the theatre of the British School. At the moment the church in suffering from not having a full time pastor but they now think they have found the right man after looking for nearly a year. In the meantime there have been visiting ministers and pastors which has been great from the point of view of getting alot of different views and styles but doesn't really work for continuity, direction and leadership.

My sister and husband do not go to church but we have been taking my sister's boys (Daniel 10 and Michael 8) with us each week. This has been an increasingly difficult task as the weeks progressed. Although they were baptised in St. Paul's Cathedral, London, along with our children, I don't think they have been to church since (excluding the odd wedding). So after initially being quite content to hang out with their cousins, they are now reluctant participants and I am sure that we will not be able to persuade them in the coming weeks. The problem has also been that this attitude has been rubbing off on our boys and Julian in particular is now "why do we have to go to church when they don't have to?"

Last week we were treated to perhaps our most amazing Sunday morning church service ever. Every year the Chief Executive Officer of Group 4 Security India hosts the service in the grounds of his substantial farmland style property on the outskirts of the city. The service with over 150 of us was in the garden under this amazing tented canopy and with (again) these beautifully covered chairs. Since he employs 1,000s of security personnel in India (including the 2 who guard my sister's house) there were many helpers and guards in attendance. We all got into a hired bus and were driven the 15 miles to the house. We were met by scores of Group 4 guards, directing us up to drive and into the house. We could have been arriving for the oscars.

When we went around the corner of the tented entrance we were stunned. Julie was speechless. An event, not organised by her, that was executed to an exceptional standard and with no detail left undone. For her it simply was the best church event she has ever been to. The food and drink were glorious and the swimming pool (the biggest private pool I have ever seen) was thoroughly enjoyed by the boys. In fact I think the only reason the boy's cousins came with us this week was that they thought they might be in for more of the same.

Sadly they weren't and we were back at the British School this week for palm Sunday (with real fresh cut palm leaves). However, as we know it is not the church that makes the difference, it's the people in it and their relationship with God that counts.