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“Contents

Living and Working

CONE GEM. 4... cael ek, Ms ol ieee TOZ

’ The Urban Church

|

Building

ReoftopSin Nafayanguda, Hyderabad.

Vili

Copyright © 2013 Paul D. Wiebe and David A. Wiebe

All rights reserved. With the exception of brief excerpts for reviews, no part of
this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted,
in whole or in part, in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photo-
copying, recording, or otherwise without written permission by Paul Wiebe.

Published simultaneously by Kindred Productions, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3M 3Z6
and Kindred Productions, Goessel, Kansas 67053

Cover Design by Hillsboro Free Press
Printed in United States of America by Free Press Books, Hillsboro, Kansas

Cover photo: Some of the children of the MB church in Mullamalla.
All photo and art credits are as noted in our Preface.

International Standard Book Number:
978-1-894791-36-6

Visit our website: kindredproductions.com

KINDRED

PRODUCTIGN S$

o

eee
a eS :

a i

FOREWORD

Rev. Dr. P. B. Arnold, M.B.B.S., M.S., President
Governing Council of the MB Church of India

This book, The Colors of the Mennonites in Andhra Pradesh, is presented by my friends and colleagues in the work
of the Church, twin brothers Drs. David and Paul Wiebe (an orthopedic surgeon and a social anthropologist, re-
spectively). David’s and Paul’s earlier book In Another Day of the Lord,
which was published in 2010, is an excellent record of the early history of
the Mennonite Brethren Church of India. This book, an all-color picture
book, gives us most helpful and meaningful glimpses into the lives and
churches of the Mennonites in Andhra Pradesh today. 1 congratulate my
friends David and Paul for their fine work in the preparation and publica-
tion of both of these books.

I joined the MB mission boarding school on the mission compound at
Wanaparthy when I was five or six years of age. It was then that I first
came to see white missionaries face to face. My impressions at that time,
and subsequently for a few years, were that the missionaries came to us di-
rectly from heaven and were sent to us by God. My concept of heaven at
that time was that it was a place called “America.” When I heard about “resurrection” I thought that believers at the
time of the resurrection of their bodies would become white skinned and go to America.

Dr. PB. Arnold

Again, when the missionaries back then went to the hills for relief during the hot season, I thought they went to an
intermediary place between heaven and earth. And when they went on furlough between their terms of service, I
thought they went to God to learn new things to teach us.

My ancestors became Christian through the ministry of David’s and Paul’s grandparents, missionaries D. F. and
Anna Bergthold, who were stationed in Nagarkurnool through most of the first half of the twentieth century. My
mother’s grandfather was the first convert in the nearby village Naganool. My grandparents on my father’s side were
converts back about that same time, also in Naganool. I am a fourth generation Christian on my mother’s side, a
third generation Christian on my father’s side.

In turn, my father-in-law, my wife Sharada’s father K. Enock, was an orphan boy picked up by Rev. Bergthold in
Thelkapalli village, then brought up and educated on the mission compound in Nagarkurnool. My mother-in-law,
Sharada’s mother Krupamma, was one of the Bergtholds’ favorite teachers over the years she taught in the mission
school in Nagarkurnool.

My parents P. B. Benjamin and Sharamma were preachets in the village Gollapalli near Wanaparthy over all of the
years of their ministry, that is, over a period of roughly sixty years.

Up to 150 years ago my ancestors on my father’s side were sculptors of the idols of the chief deities in the Hindu
temples of the area in which they lived. As legend has it, after sculpting the body of an idol, a sculptor would carve
in its eyes, and, having done so, the spirit of the deity residing already in the body of the sculptor would enter the
idol through its eyes, from his eyes, and therein remain.

In addition to sculpting, my Perumalla ancestors were also involved in the consecration of idols by performing rit-
uals appropriate in making them fit for worship.

Everything has changed since the time my people were the sculptors of idols, even since the times of my parents
and grandparents. Most of the scenes of village life pictured in David’s and Paul’s book In Another Day of the Lord
have disappeared. The “missionary era” in the MB Church of India came to an end in the early 1970s. The MB
Church of India has grown into the largest of all MB Churches, by membership, and, appropriately, has assumed a
leadership position among the MBs around the world. India, since Independence, has grown from a position of so
called backwardness, into a position of prominence among the nations of the world.

I too of course have changed over the years. I have worked as a doctor in our MB Medical Center in Jadcherla ever
since graduating in medicine in 1966. Over the years since the early 1950s we in our medical center in Jadcherla
have treated more than 500,000 patients for every type of ailment and trained for service both in India and in
other countries around the world great numbers of nurses and doctors—including Dr. Mohan Reddy, nephew of
former President of India N. Sanjeeva Reddy, and Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, former Chief Minister of Andhra
Pradesh.

It has also been my privilege over the years to serve the MB Chutch of
India in many official and other responsibilities, including, for more
than thirty five years now, as President of its Governing Council. And in
catrying out my various responsibilities I have had the opportunity to
travel to many destinations in all parts of the world and to meet and
learn with people of every kind of background.

At one point, when Sharada and I were invited by then President of
India N. Sanjeeva Reddy to be his guests in Rashtrapati Bhavan, in
Delhi, we were put up in the suite at one time occupied by the first
President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad.

Most importantly, amidst all of the other changes that have occurred
over the course of my lifetime, I have grown also in spirit and in truth,
and now in my seventy-fifth year have come to rely fully on the pres-
ence, power and saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and upon God’s eter-
nal faithfulness towards those who are called according to his purpose.

Mrs. Sharada and
Dr. PB. Arnold

One of Sharada’s and my favorite passages in the Bible is the passage in I Peter 2: 9-10, which reads as follows:

~ But you ate a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the
praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you
are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

This book cannot and does not try to portray all of the aspects of the Church of Jesus Christ among the Mennon-
ite Brethren of Andhra Pradesh. But it shows enough, and in bright colors at that, to prove beyond the shadow of
a doubt that the church here too has been called fully into, and stands prayerfully under, God’s wonderful light.

PREFACE

The Mennonites and their church in Andhra Pradesh, in India, are the focus of our attention in this book.
This means that the Mennonite Brethren and their church in Andhra Pradesh focus our attention here, as
all but a handful of the Mennonites in Andhra Pradesh are Mennonite Brethren.

The Mennonite Brethren (MB) Church of India traces its roots back to 1899 when the first conference-ap-
pointed MB missionaries from North America arrived. MB missionaries had come earlier, in 1889, directly
from the Ukraine. But working alongside the American Baptists as these earlier missionaries had done,
rather than in an area identifiable specifically with their own endeavors in mission, the churches they helped
bring about became part of the Baptist conference in the area, not part of the MB Church of India.

The MB Church of India today extends its reach into districts in Andhra Pradesh in addition to the dis-
tricts (see our map on page vi) in which it was first es-
tablished. It extends its reach also into neighboring
districts of two of the states adjoining Andhra Pradesh, Ss
Karnataka and Maharashtra; following its diaspora, into ) ‘a
the great cities Mumbai and Delhi; into the states of
Punjab and Haryana in North India. And it will no
doubt extend its reach also into the years ahead into
other parts of India, and other countries. In 2012 the
MB Church of India (MBCT) counted more than
230,000 baptized members in some 1,000 congregations,
more than a million (including dependents and extended
family members, as well as baptized members) in the
more general “community” it comprised.

We might have put together a comprehensive pictorial
survey of the MBCI in all of its colorful and remarkably
different settings in India. Or we might have put to-
gether a pictorial survey of all of this church’s programs,
say in the building of churches, in any one of its set-
tings, say in its background setting in Andhra Pradesh.
And both such (and other) surveys would no doubt be
helpful in the understanding of this Church in India.

A doorway in Adoni.

Instead, in collaboration with our good friend and col-
league Rufus Gurugulla, a leader in the MB Church of
India and a world-class photographer, we have chosen to do our best to capture both in spirit and in truth
the colorful essence of the Mennonites and their churches within theit background setting in Andhra
Pradesh . . . that is, to capture in pictures at least some of the reflections of how the “love of God” mani-
fests itself among these our brothers and sisters here . . . and we trust that as you go through the pages that
follow you will be able to agree that this has been possible.

| Bek of Rufus s Phe it eaphs in this book is identified with his initials (RG). All of the paintings v we present are oy
oA David A. Wiebe, all of the photographs, other than the photographs by Rufus, the photograph on this page and

the as at the top of page 120 (both of which were taken by a church photographer in Iza), and the com- |
: posite photograph at the ©
bottom of page 58 are by —
Paul D. Wiebe. All of the —
photographs included
were taken between 2006
and 2013. Wherever we |
refer to church partici-
pants, church activities or
the church, unless other-
wise indicated, we are re-
ferring to the Mennonite
Brethren and their insti-
tutions and programs in
Andhra Pradesh.

Those interested in com-
parisons and contrasts
over the years can find
photographs of the early
days of the MB Church
of India in our book, In
another Day of the Lord:
the Mission Days of the
Mennonite Brethren
Church of India in Pie-
tures (2010: Kindred Pro-
ductions, Winnipeg).
Words, descriptions, case
studies and analyses
aplenty to accompany
both this earlier book of
_ ours, and this book, can be found in Paul D. Wiebe, Heirs and Joint Heirs: Mission to Church among the Mennonite
Brethren of Andhra Pradesh (2010: Kindred Productions, Winnipeg).

* | We are most grateful to Dr. P. B. Arnold, leader of the MB Church of India for close to four decades now, for our =
_ Foreword. We are most grateful to Joel Klaassen, Publisher, and Shelley Plett, Designer/Columnist of the Hills-

Pathe boro Free Press for their careful attention, good humor, promptness and expertise in the production of this book.

ee Finally, this is a book of our hearts and minds and prayers as well as a book of our understandings and 1 imagina- x
_ tions for we too ate “Mennonites of Andhra Pradesh’...both in the work, teachings, love, identifications and com-—

eeeie: mitments of our parents, grandparents and siblings in India, and our own.

— Paul D. Wiebe and David ~ Wiebe

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Left: Prayerfully
waiting for the sun
to rise On an Easter
morning on the
hillock “Dever-
agutta,” near
Akuthotapalli (RG).

Above: Anticipation
(RG.) Right: In the
light of a new day
(RG).

= -

Fo c= & =

. a a Sine oe < at a _ is ory

" ee (Fa " ‘nt +3 22e"- a . w
‘a z -

er en te eR

A

Top: Ready and waiting for bap-
tism in Akuthotapalli (RG).
Middle: Nathan is baptized by
Pastor William Booth in Jad-
cherla. Below: Bethany Church
Chair G.Y. Prabhudas leads in a
baptism service in Shamshabad.

Right: Alekhya is baptized by Pas-
tor A. Rajanandam in Akuthota-
palli (RG).

var -

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an oe
- Pe Pe as
pa} He: . a FS Ft: a gear

—_ al ——

Top: Prayers in preparation for “communion” services in their home churches (RG). Below:
Children watch as pareparations for the serving of “communion” are underway in the vil-
lage Gattumallepalli, beyond Deverakonda.

The serving of “communion” in Bijavaram (RG).

10

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we

Top: Rene Anweshi’s parents and other relatives and friends apply tumeric paste in her
“nulugu” preparations before her wedding day (RG). Below: Musicians in a village signal
that a wedding ceremony is about to begin, and a bride’s niece and nephew are dressed
smartly for her wedding in Shamshabad.

Right Top: Raju and Satyamma marry in the village Kurumurthy, their godparents R.S. and
Hemalatha Lemuel alongside. Be/ow: Bala Murali and Srawanthi marry in Hyderabad (RG).

wee nt

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Padi abe diea tet ahte nt septs Sal i
Nien Tas marinade oe ree ee ee aR
. a Se tape p hops er, Swe ei a

ee eee

Top down: Stuthi Prasanna (far
right) and members of her family
stop at the Eravalli Crossroads east
of Gadwal for a cup of tea on their
way to her observance of preg-
nancy celebrations in her husband
S. Moses’s native village, Chin-
natandrapadu. They arrive at his
family home. Sweets, savories and
fruit are placed ready for all in at-
tendance. One of the ceremony’s

guests.

Top and Middle: K. Anand and
Shoba Sohasini at the naming,
then the cradling ceremony, of
their infant son, Felix, in
Shamshabad. Below: Proud
grandpa Prabhudas with one of
his grandchildren.

Gathering in front of their church for an evening celebration in Chinnatandrapadu.

Right: A rock formation with the markings of Hindu veneration not far from Edutla.

14

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Family and friends commemorate the death of K. Chandraiah at his grave in Akuthotapally (RG).

18

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a Owar dp Shara oh poet nbu c co apalli.

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Above: Building the church’s tower higher in Chinnachintakunta, leaders G. G. Paul
and G. Moses in the middle foreground.

Right Top: Some of the Chinnachintakunta church’s youngsters preparing for a spe-
cial celebration. Below: Looking from the top of Pastor Isaac’s house in Chinnachin-
takunta toward the mosque across the way.

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service in
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church’s veranda. Below

mal enclosure in Kolluru.

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Top: G. Ross at the drums. Middle
Left: Ramayya and his cell phone.
Middle Right: Esther at her sales
place at the corner in Bignapalli.
Below: M.A. Solomon (second from
right) and some of his friends in
Dindichintapalli.

Top: Pastor Narava John looking over
one of the kitchen gardens he has
enouraged in the village Elthooru.
Middle Left: Jaya Raju and Pastor K.V.
Purushotam in Nagarkurnool. Mid-
dle Right: Pastor Vijayabushanam and _
his wife Margaret Rani in front of
their home in Jadcheria. Below: Pas-
tor R.L. Jacob, his wife Jayamma and
their children in their home in
(Alampur) Singaram.

Background: The view from the
front of the church on its hilltop in
Alapadu.

Top: A drummer boy in his village
Undyalu. Middle: The church in
Undyalu. Below: Carroms players
nearby.

.

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Top: Meeting before groundbreak-
ing in the old church in Urkonda.
Middle: Ties that bind, both into
the past and into the future. Below:
Gathered, ready to get underway.

The churches and members of their congregations in Kalwakole (above)

and Mullamalla (below).

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ace
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Oe a ee i te le ee I te egrre egee y en ree y | See 4 ry \ :
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The church in Dindichintapalli.

30

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a SOA te

The new church, at present “only big enough for children,” in Chandrabanda.

31

32

Top: A street scene in Tulasipuram. Below: Leaving church (background) after a service in Tulasipuram.

Right: Members of the congregation in Mandoddi awaiting the start of a late afternoon service (RG).

;
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Left: The old and the new in
combination along the streets
of Amarachinta.

Right Top: Dr. R.S. Lemuel
speaking to an audience mostly
of young people in Amarach-
inta. Middle: Leaders (Pastor
Happy Paul, front left, and J.A.
Luther, front right) planning
for an extension of their church
here. Below: Ready for food
after an afternoon service in
the Amarachinta church.

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The new church building (right) alongside the old, in Kota Kota.

Right top: Two farmers in the Gadwal area. Below: Along a village lane after a late afternoon rain in Kolluru.

36

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Top: Heading for a church service in
Rechintala. Middle: Rechintala lead-
ers (headman Balakistaiah, to the
left) welcome the construction of a
new church building in their village.
Below: Women and children in front

of their old church building in Rech-
intala.

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Top: Fathers, both farmers in Rechintala,
David (to the left) and Rajaratinam (to
the right), alongside their sons, who are
studying in programs in Delhi and Nag-
pur, respectively, for their post-graduate
degrees in engineering. Middle: A grand-
father with his granddaughter in Rechin-
tala. Below: Meeting on the side of the
new church in Rechintala, now under
construction.

Top: The village center in Peddatandra-
padu. Middle: E.D. Solomon (center,
trouses and white shirt), recently fin-
ished with his PhD research studies
here, stands with some of his friends in
front of the Peddtandrapadu church.
Below: A good measure of the joy in
the Peddatandrapadu church.

Right Top: Shankar, a poet and song-
writer in the village Velgomula, near
Kalvakurty, sings a song he has written
accompanied by his drummer friend,
Prashant, in the church in Velgomula.
Below: Three mothers with their new-
borns stand in front of the congrega-
tion in Upandapuram to have their
newborns named.

gark ows receive >
ceurtesy of the Nagarl

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) Backer Wie? Old saris border
a field. near Makthal; keeping
—cfrows and goats at attention.

lop Left: The MB Church in
Achampet, Below: The MB.
Churth.in. (Nar ayANPEY) iba eae
ety : x:

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Rice Fields in a Semi-Arid Land.

406

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a ae | a hs bd valine Wins

m_ =—" —<m a = * ii a oe PL Te ag ee

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Drummers escort special guests Drs. Pimpold (largely ~ v

hidden, center) and R.S. Lemuel to a @@RMBory functio’

in Bijavaram (RG) 4 =

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Inset: Dr. Arnold, center, opening tl

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“the mutton curry to taste just right. ala mm.
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Itoy sNorerele) ae Fra WOVEN 9 ne aod :
Below; Girls: TUbenyo) ier ear: he oneof the
Ket in Sn ee = es

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Gh’ » SS

Top Left: Holding candles
aloft in the Centenary Church
Jadcherla in calling for
women’s rights as equals in
the Church. Below: Lining up
for lunch thereafter.

Above: Hannah Joseph, a
leader, particularly among the
women, of the MB Church of
India. Below: A. Chandralee-
lamma

\
\

Dancers from Adilabad dance a (tribal) Gondu dance (RG).

Left: Burrakatta performers (left to right) Babu Rao, Vignesh and Raju tell a story from the Bible at MB Cente-
nary Bible College, Shamshabad.

57

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pe wel ee foe ae a cere
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Top: Commissioner D.J. Samson at work at
his desk in Hyderabad. Middle: G. Steven
(right) and his partner M. Murali in their
fixtures an@appliances store in Hyder-

eC 124617 eae DU led in Jadcherla.

Jothi Dan Arnold dancing
the Bharatanatyam at an
inter-faith Christmas get-to-
gether organized by Rufus
Gurugulla in Shamshabad
(RG).

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.

Right Top: Women dance a
village dance at the same
inner-faith get-together
(RG), while (below) at the
same get-together, Hindu
leaders of political parties
with very different persua-
sions mix with Muslim and
Christian leaders, and their
visitors, in a show of mutual
respect and appreciation
(RG).

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Water buffalo esonnt’s off paadane ear the day ina
pond near Garlapardu.-- ——_ oe ee

= — -_ ee

Left Top: Pastor S. Samuel Prasad and Chair G.Y. Prabhu-_-
das of the Bethany MB Chufch in Shamshabaé pray as ~
they consecrate Shivaraj’s (not pictured) and his wife
Jayamma’s (pictured) new motorcycle for effective and
ie safe service. Below: Students preparing MB Centenary
es Bible College’s new vehicle.for-its conseeration for effec-
| tive and safe service. 2s

——

a

lav f ae
ee NEI lalate 1
: ~ ’ Se | i

sé

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ae

A

A feast at an annual harvest festival function organized by Bethany Church, Shamshabad.

65

Top down: Youngsters along the road
between Sipuram and Kalwal. Kabadi
players, at the moment at rest, in
Mahbubnagar. Three young women
of the Malakpet Church, Hyderabad.
Commissioner D.J. Samson and his
wife Suvarna at the “coming of age
ceremony” honoring their daughter
Sharon.

Right top down: Children ready to
eat after a special service in their
church in Soudapuram. John and
Mary Sankara Rao, with their son
Daniel and daughter Tabitha, stand-
ing to their right, and Mary’s mother,
to their left, holding their grandchild,
Tabitha’s firstborn, in their home in
Kukatpalli, Hyderabad. Youngsters on
their way home after a day of classes
at St. Savio’s School, Shamshabad.

67

Mahatma Gandhi and Indira Gandhi
enacted anew (RG).

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Leet

Right: Vacation Bible School obser-
vances in Siddanti. (RG).

‘ sue} “y au > 7
aE oa i . ; of > ay
cals HSIN ate tects oniital cae ote = ;
uN : ace hek ree . cH
ther as soe geen ¢
: ar $n -
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= «

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ih: ‘

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sul a

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= Ps Ph

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f

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A prayer meeting at MBCBC, Shamshabad, after a stormy passage.

70

The Old and The New in Kandukur.

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ge i ae we he ree
eat tn ta innit tile Oe .

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itty ti, a ily

hg itp in iy iy . , . ee . ie
i an ennai - Aw ty ee
Se ew em + er ewaytles a ee?
a a Nc : é ore :
Po. ben ated “ re Rr
=

oe a a

A farmyard in Anugonda.

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A household alongside the church in Amarachinta

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Muggu designers at work (RG).

Left: A doorway in Amrabad.

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TARE

Lorries and tractors move in.

Left top: Plowing in a way now fast receding (RG). Below: Now disappearing, the ox cart, a
once ubiquitous means of transportation in Andra Pradesh.

a2

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re 7 3 : a
| peas ;
. §
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. -

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ff,

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"es os P 4
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Safety (RG).

Left, top down: In Bijawaram, a cobbler at work, a woman at a well, at rest at the end of the day (RG).

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Tess

Above: A cobbler at work in Makthal. Below: Secretarial services on demand in Nawabpet, near Jadcherla.

Left: Fishermen (RG).

83

Above Top: D. Jaya Raju, founder and director of the social service program “At Your Services,” based in Na-

garkurnool, talking with village women about child care and nutrition. Below: Some of his coworkers in the
programs for village women in which he is involved.

Left Top: Rajaji Prasad, choir director for the Employee's Prayer Fellowship, Hyderabad, weaving thread (RG).
Below: The children of migrant workers under the care of the social service program, “At Your Services,”
ready for their noonday meal at one of the program’s centers near Nagarkurnool.

85

Left: Vegetable sellers at the Satur-
day market in Deverakonda.

Right: Lambadi shoppers at the
Saturday market in Deverakonda
(top picture by RG).

Ch M

&

i‘ > wa
- | ya - « s
pe wy , oe - aent ae J
Kt cerca = ta OE Fm ne te
uA ns Ch. i Se eee Eo | GN
, 2 “a om . eat .

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Women headed for a day’s work in the fields, their tiffin carriers on their heads (RG).

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Caring for her water buffalo (RG).

Right

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Top: Fruit for sale near the Char Minar in Hyderabad (RG). Below: Bhajjis for sale in Shamshabad.

Right: Hand painted pots for sale along a roadside near Kukatpalli, Hyderabad.

92

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A toddy tapper at work
(RG).

Right Top: A woman
and her children at her
cooking place in Jad-
cherla. Below: Prepar-
ing tea for her
co-laborers at her
workplace nearby

(RG).

The hands of a master craftsman ats wor:
Fo > =e me

Inset: A craftsman-at work inti e" millage Atmé ik

a tee ae |

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Homeward bound.

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MB Centenary Bible College (MBCBC) Principal I.P Asheervadam addressing students during their mid-
morning tea break, Registrar C.S. Joel to the right.

Right Top: MBCBC students at tea break. Below: Students in a residence hall at MBCBC.

108

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Looking across at the Hiebert Yoru Sieg
Bo ire : — ; x oe :. wa , e
BibleGollege-from tite Colles re
Sauehirislesis ocorehic lt MBCBC.

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SARA. EE ey.

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(QHUMATL STORES

Pi al saga file iS LED

Left top: The en-
trance to the MB Jun-
ior College off the
main road in Mah-
bubnagar. Left
below: Welcome for
a visitor upon enter-
ing the MB Junior
College compound,
the college’s main
building in the back-
ground.

Top: MB Junior Col-
lege Principal Abra-
ham Prakash talking
with visitors. Middle:
A classroom in ses-
sion. Below: Vice
Principal Andrew
Elias working with
students at MB Jun-
ior College.

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ei

nd: Theit hands colo aa fun “mye Ls
ate eles ew toe roy fot holidays. Inse

b = Ses oo end of a school yoo B
ic exe 7 K ents in the “nurse p: ae tate)
seers program at see College attending a lecture in their study/dining ie

Y o
ite . ——
ee the mr Le OrT 4 ai AUTEM iTineeypip 47 6. ny me,

Top down: A herder with his
charges near Vattem. Catch-
ing a ride (RG). Tea along
the way.

Right Top: Rice, an egg, dal
and vegetables at a roadside
stop between Addakula and
Musapet. Below: A quiet
corner in the city of Hyder-

abad.

wt

a = i> coer Se ee

=.
ee

ae peers ay
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&

2O.0 GR.

+

Why As

wae wl %

po a a
ire ts) ~ :
STM ae.

Above: Water, at times in very short supply in Iza (RG).
Right: Iza men listening to a storyteller (RG).

Left Top: A new church starts to take shape in Iza, a
large market center in the Gadwal area (RG).
Below: Cyclerickshaws and their drivers in Iza.

Sn SESS aD

gear 80

Above Top: One of the main streets in the Christian colony in Yemmiganur. Be/ow: Pastor Asheervadam
in his pulpit in Yemmiganur.

Right: Part of the (inside) congregation in the MB Church in Yemmiganur. Inset: Christmas lighting on
the church in Yemmiganur.

122

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gahsmaniy Ceples BTC Bus S08 |

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a yi * “a 3 . RSLS & oes
, : "a , OP es ie Oh i ry
4 hve ae re si 5 ties a ae
e he Bi Oty o Ao%-
Lat we ae *

Top: Enou
gh toh
SEneS KGL. old one’s attention, until rice is served
rved. Below: A lin
: € of shops nea
r the bus stand i
in

Left: Ne y .
gS

125

126

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we | * Pp ;
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a *

ope et tT ee a
| = ENARAYA eh ied 0) Bi p>.

Top: Once the raja’s palace in
Wanaparty, now a college
building. Below: Dr. N.I. Liv-
ingston in front of his well
known, and most deservedly
so, hospital and clinic in
Wanaparty.

Right: The tower rising above
the MB church in Gadwal.
Inset: Pastor Paranjothi’s fam-
ily heading home after a
morning service at the church
in Gadwal.

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ae al

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cal —*. 5 ms
a on oe ee |

J : : oe hoe a. poe ol
ior ce os eee ieee ee et oor,
ance : |

Top: Some of the members of the so-called “pallim” church in Deverakonda. Below: Pastor
Sridar Sharma (right) and council member M. Titus in front of the large MB church, its par-
sonage in the background, in Deverakonda.

128

Top: Bethany MB Church, Shamshabad, on a quiet weekday afternoon. Below: Bethany Church
Pastor Samuel Prasad and his family, in Shamshabad.

129

Background: Looking out over the town of Mahbubnagar from the top of the hillock Calvarykonda, where
one of the Mahbubnagar Calvary MB Church’s satellite churches is located. Inset: The Calvary MB Church in

Mahbubnagar with its extension wings for the overflow numbers that gather on a Sunday morning and for
special meetings.

Right Top: “Serve the Lord with Gladness,” as placed above the altar of the Calvary MB Church, Mahbubna-
gar, by missionaries in Mahbubnagar, John and Viola Wiebe, in 1956. Below: Pastor Vara Prasad (second from
_ right) of the Calvary MB Church and three of his church committee members.

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Jadcherla’s new Bethany MB Church.

132

Top: Pastor of the Bethany
MB Church, K. William
Booth and his wife
Shobarani, on the veranda
of their parsonage. Middle:
A new bride’s hands
readied for her wedding in
Jadcherla. Below: Women
in prayer in the Jadcherla
church.

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Left: Construction worker colonies in
Shamshabad (above) and (below, RG)
Ibrahimpatnam.

Top down: Mariamma (right) with her
daughter-builders of a new India, living
now in a construction workers colony
in Shamshabad—and her grandson.
Home away from home in the same
construction colony in Shamshabad
(RG). A temporary settlement area for
laborers and their families in Narayan-
guda, Hyderabad. Along a main road-
way in Kukatpalli, Hyderabad.

140

a

Top: Meeting for the time being in the below ground parking garage of their
new church, now under construction, in Malakpet, Hyderabad. Below: Pastors
N.P James and P. Menno Joel of the Malakpet MB Church.

Right: The new MB church in Malakpet under construction, from across the
roadway.

77 Oe
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et deel y inet

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GAWD Pid BACAR ENA

hia eu Ly

Pee 7. od

oe Cnr a a Baal

The functions area, parking space of the new
MB church, now under construction, in
Hughestown, Hyderabad. /nset: An architect’s
rendition of how this new church will look
when it is completed.

. a"
- . ae a
eS a

D>
_—e

Fes a ae .
Pie. SS a a
me ae ® We et 5
Se ee a tee

Clockwise from top left: Starting with a new church building in Waddeman. Childcare near the site of an-
other new church building in Thotapalli, not far from Kalvakurty. Pastor Sudarshanam (center right with
Bible) with members of his congregation in Alapadu, near Dharur. Some of the elderly in Kolluru.

144

Clockwise from top left: Building a new church in Takaseela, near Gadwal. Sandals outside a temporary

thatch church building in Sipuram, near Kalwal. Pastors Yesu and John with church members in Kuchinerla,
near Nandinne, in front of one of their houses. A child and her friend at play in Kolluru.

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145

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~yByramnkonda. Inset above. Breaking ground forthe™,

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Clockwise from top left: Fetching water (RG). At
play (RG). Taking care of her little sister (RG). On
the veranda of the “Operation of Mercy India,
Good Shepherd School” set up primarily for Dalit
children in the village, Kaukuntla (just across
from the litthe MB church here): a show of hands
in reponse to the question, “How many of you
would like to be doctors someday?”

152

Clockwise from top left: Four children in Jan-
gareddipalli show clear evidence of the pres-
ence of the “kingdom of God” here. At
attention in Akkuthotapalli. A recitation of
Philippians 4:6 by the pastor’s son upon his fa-
ther’s request, his arms folded “properly,” in
the village Muchintala. At play along a roadside
(RG.)

15D

Sunset on the Deccan (RG).

Inset: Headed home (RG).

7 eras ;
Le "
8

ie

156

Young boys playing kbo kho along the street leading to the MB church (the thatch building in the back-
ground) in Kurnool.

Left Top: A new church beginning to take shape (under the pandal in the background) in Vaddevati, the

pastor’s and his wife’s cooking area in the foreground. Left below: Pastor John and his wife in front of their
house in Vaddevati.

157

158

Left:The street leading to the Nayapul
Bethany MB Church (its entrance on the
left, between the two white columns.)

Top: The entrance to the Nayapul Bethany
MB Church. Right: Sandals in the entryway.

159

. 4
1; =" m

8
tJ P a -
Sse Ri abet terete Lets Py ema Sethe a ae ey ah it

malkapur.

Above: The extensive garbage and plastics dumping
area behind the wholesale vegetables market in
Gudimalkapur, Hyderabad. Left: Pastor Sudir Daniel
leading singing in the new little (15’x25’) church in
Gudimalkapur. Below: Part of the congregation
here.

Right: The street along which the new little church
is located (on the first floor, on the right), in Gudi-

ee

M. B MPa TUNE CHURE

}
Hi

Se

ws Se ode oe wo — " i>

—

Top: The MB churches in Jagadgirigutta and Chandrayangutta, Hyderabad, respectively. Below: Members in
front of their house churches in Adoni (left) and Kollapur (right.)

162

Epilogue

Youth group members of the Deverakonda MB church over the past twenty-five years, and almost without a miss,
have made weekly visits to surrounding villages and settlements in ministry. The MB development organization in
collaboration with various church, NGO and other organizations, including government organizations, has facili-
tated development activities in settings across
the MB church area. The story of the health
care and medical services provided to persons
of all backgrounds, and especially the poor, by
the Conference of the MB Church of India is
truly exceptional. So is the story of the Con-
ference’s record in developing and maintaining
programs in education. So are the stories of
the various kinds of businesses the MBs have
entered, the different professions they have
served, the rivalries they have endured, the
emergencies with which they have had to con-
tend, their successes and their failures.

More than half of the MB congregations in
Andhra Pradesh have no church building in
which to gather, and gather instead in homes
of entryways or under a pandal or tree. Serv-
ices among the smaller congregations, particu-
larly those not served by a pastor, can be most
irregular. Services among the larger congregations, particularly those in larger centers, are routinely and very well
organized and attended.

Whereas most of the smaller congrega-
tions are in a position to exercise little,
if any, corporate influence in their vil-
lage settings, most of the larger congre-
gations can, and do.

Some congregations are problemati-
cally challenged in their communities
by members of other religious group-
ings. Most are fully settled and at peace
in their local settings.

The large MB church in Iza organized
vacation Bible school classes for some
5000 children in and around Iza during
the summer of 2012. The large MB
church in Amarachinta also during the
summer of 2012 organized vacation
Bible school classes for another 1000
local children.

Top: Five of the youngsters in the Adoni MB Church. Below: Women at a well in the village Bijawaram.

163

And so on.

That is, we have barely gained a glimpse
into all that we might have pictured in a
book like this.

However, we have pictured enough to
know fully well all over again, or for the
first time, if we didn’t know already, that
the colors of the Mennonites in their
most colorful setting in Andhra Pradesh
are wonderfully bright: bright in their
combinations and blends and bright in
their striking contrasts, bright in what
they show us about the strength, love, re-
silience and joy of the church in Andhra
Pradesh, bright also in how they reflect
for all of us, and all over again, the good-
ness of the Lord.

Devuni Prema?

Idhbigo!

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ss . e 1 if . 3 be Pia eel ot si = «
x , = i bb eas “% - 7
P ; at a ‘ a
44 ie - r al +
Ping F a : oh ellie. = ya! ea n ’
' — h ? a Piette ae Ne tal ae Lm, — om
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. ss : >
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Top: Children doing what children do. Below: Of such is the Kingdom of Heaven in Chinnachintakunta.

164

SS
—_ SE
———

——— < —

“ns

The view to the southwest from atop the a
fort in Koilkonda, Mahbubnagar District.

r

Rufus Gurugulla and his family—his wife
Prashastha and their daughters Lisa, Nissi
and Zaillah—live in Shamshabad, Andhra
Pradesh. He teaches photography and video
technology at the Andhra Pradesh Agricul-
ture University, Hyderabad, and has worked
on various occasions as the official photogra-
pher during the visits of the heads of state
of other countries to India and the visits of
the presidents and prime ministers of India
to Hyderabad. He is a leader among the
Mennonite Brethren, particularly among the
church's young people, and is active in pro-
moting inter-religious dialogue, understand-
ing and cooperation wherever possible.

Twins David and Paul Wiebe are the sons of
Mennonite Brethren (MB) missionaries to
India John A. and Viola C. Wiebe, the grand-
sons of MB missionaries to India Daniel F. and
Anna Bergthold. David, a retired orthopedic
surgeon, and his wife Lorma live now in
Kearney, Nebraska. Paul, a retired social an-
thropologist, and his wife Donna Beth live
now in lowa City, lowa. Both David and Paul
have served extensively internationally, Paul
most particularly in India, where he continues
to serve in retirement in liaison between the
Mennonite Brethren church conferences in
the United States and Canada and the Men-
nonite Brethren church conference in India.

The Telugu language G42 (2X0 of in Roman script reads “Devuni prema idhigo,” which
translates into English as “Behold the love of God.” And precisely this, this book asks us to do in
pictures of the Mennonites and their lives and churches in the colorful Deccan area in and just to
the south of Hyderabad, the capitol of Andhra Pradesh, India.

In turn the “behold,” the idhigo, as it is used here, is used in the sense “here it is,” this love of God,
right here among us in the “colors” and combinations of our everyday lives and worship, wherever
else it is also to be found, for those with the “eyes” to see it

*

“ : 2 at :
i z ‘
aig ths
“wa. B=
:

e ¥,

oe
or

; | -,
P; 00k, In Another Dai) Stine Lord: the -
Mission Days oF the Mennonite Brethren Church of India i i
oe ( Kiqgred a pio. is an excellent beng record oe

ISBN-13: 978-1-894791-3b-L

tage aimee es the ya live imbibe bhigthesd

of 90000
the Mennonites in Andhra Pradesh today. | congra tula fC eel
friends David and Paul for their work in the prep. ration a |

publication of both of these books.” ¥

~ From the Foreword by Dr. P. B. Arnold, President of the
Governing Council of the Mennonite Brethren Church of India 9 °781894°791366