A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

lso arrived in 1915, was placed in charge of the medical work at Deverakonda. Among the mission stations transferred by the American Baptists to the Mennonite Brethren in 1910 was the one at Kalvakurty as well. Various missionaries served intermittently in Kalvakurty, but due to a shortage of staff it was impossible to have a resident missionary in this field for a number of years. In a miraculous manner God met this need in 1935 by bringing the J. J. Dicks from Russia to India. 6 Escaping from persecution in Communist Russia, the Dicks and their small daughter had followed a tortuous route across the deserts of Central Asia and through dangerous mountain passes into India. Although they had intended to go to relatives in Canada, they decided to stay when they saw the whitened harvest fields of India. The borders of the field were again substantially enlarged in 1937, MENNONITE BRETHREN AROUND THE WORLD 403 when the Mennonite Brethren assumed responsibility for Gadwal and Mahbubnagar. The American Baptist Mission offered these fields, bordering the M. B. field, because of a shortage of personnel. A good foundation had been laid in both fields by the Baptist missionaries. The J. A. Wiebes provided leadership in Mahbubnagar and the A. A. Unruhs at Gadwal for many years. Church growth in Gadwal has been more rapid than in any other area of the M.B. mission in India. With the acquisition of the mission at Naryanpet-Mukthal in 1954 (again adjacent to the M.B. field) from an independent missionary, Mr. Billington, the M.B. mission had extended its borders to the present limits. These nine stations, plus the Jadcherla medical center, now comprise the Mennonite Brethren field in India. Building the Church The Lord has used various channels and agencies to build the church in India. Early Mennonite Brethren missionaries emphasized the primacy of evangelism and spent a good part of their time in touring the villages preaching the gospel. As the work progressed and administrative responsibilities increased, a major share of the evangelistic work was assumed by the nationals. According to J. H. Lohrenz, longtime missionary to India, the "native evangelist preacher, who is faithful and true to his Lord, holds the key to successful evangelism in rural India." 7 In the earlier period all the converts came from the outcaste community, although the claims of the gospel were also presented to the caste people. This fact made it more difficult to find adequate national leadership for the growing congregations. However, in the last few decades a number of high caste Hindus have accepted Christ and taken an active part in evangelism, education, and church administration. From the beginning missionaries realized the importance of institutional work as an integral part of evangelism and church extension. An indigenous, self-governing and self-propagating church requires a literate membership. Schools were