Recently, Susan & I went to Vietnam for our 3-monthly visa trip, & while there made a ‘pilgrimage’ to a Christian site called Phat Diem. It’s a cluster of old churches built in 1875 that remain in good condition despite the passing of time & bombardment during the Vietnam war.

I should explain by way of background info that this is of interest to me because, during my 15 years of missionary work in the Indian subcontinent, I once read a book about why Christianity wasn’t more successful in India. Lots of missionaries went & evangelized, as they did in Africa & elsewhere but, (apart from from small enclaves like Goa & the tiny north eastern states), the results were limited. India’s Christians as a percentage of the overall population are only 2% — very few compared with the Philippines or African countries? Why is this?

The book presented a whole study on the subject & the conclusion was basically this: local people becoming Christian in 18th or 19th century India meant also adopting Western customs & in a sense, betraying a lot of their cultural traditions. New converts would spend more time with white people, eat at a table with a knife & fork, start to wear western-style clothes & learn to speak English.

It was good that they gave up Hinduism but the problem is that they gave up a lot of their lifestyle as well. New Christians became friends with the colonialists & this alienated them from mainstream Indians.

Similarly, new converts had to go to churches that were almost carbon copies of churches in England, Holland & elsewhere. Such buildings looked very un-Indian & so further served to keep the majority away. There wasn’t a way to become Christian without becoming Western at the same time. Once this pattern was established, it became difficult to change: Christians became a self-contained community that didn’t interact much with or win others.

That’s why these churches in Vietnam are so interesting! They completely broke with the mold & made Asian-style churches that looked much more like places of worship that the locals could relate to! As a result, this part of Vietnam has more Christians than most other parts of the country. Obviously, there are lots of good lessons on making our outreach & message relatable to the people we are reaching out to….

I remember for example one incident that stood out to me because it was so rare: in the 80s, while on a road trip with my Canadian friend Marc to a very small town in the middle of India, we visited a Christian area to offer our gospel materials. We met someone that looked like a typical Indian holy man, known in India as ‘sadhus’, with a long beard & dressed in an orange robe. Sadhus are a common sight in India & they are usually Hindus that have forsaken their normal lives to travel around & visit holy places, meditate & support themselves by begging. We were greatly surprised to learn that this particular sadhu was a Christian priest! The Lord had led him to dress as a sadhu so that he could easily witness to small groups of people all around the state. He shared with us that because of his appearance, he received instant respect & people were much more ready to listen to a Christian message.

That also brings to mind the true story of Sadhu Sundar Singh that came from a very orthodox Sikh family, but then had a dramatic conversion & became a Christian missionary in the late 1800s. As Sundar grew in faith, God showed him to put on the robes of a sadhu & to preach the gospel in the Indian Himalayas & Tibet. Even now, almost a century after his death, he is still regarded as one of India’s greatest Christian saints.

We may not have exactly the same calling but it’s worth looking at whether we are doing all we can to make our message relatable to those around us.
Matt 5:16 Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works & glorify your Father which is in Heaven
1 Corinthians 9:22 I have become all things to all people so that by all means I might save some