In recent months, as I’ve been meeting more South Asian believers who have come from other faiths, I questioned if we really understand the cost of following Jesus and what discipleship looks like for those who have come from a different faith. Especially from a ministry context.
Over 5.5million people in the UK are from a South Asian background and do not know Jesus. If mission and evangelism is at the heart of what you are doing, then it’s important to understand how to help people transition well, remain in their communities and culture (if they feel called to).
It wasn’t until recently as we’ve been thinking as a group of people who minister to or are from a South Asian background, that we realised the gap in our churches when it comes to discipleship. Discipleship is not a one-size-fits-all. Following Jesus may seem easy. However, as many of us know, it can be challenging. It stretches us to think about how others operate at a human level, why they might think the way they do, why they are different and, dare I say, maybe we are not always right, and there are other ways of doing life, other than what we know of, in our own culture.
The adventure of discipleship in a risk-locked society
When was the last time you heard the hymn ‘To be a Pilgrim’ by John Bunyan, or how about ‘Onward, …