Empower Board members David and Sarah Nutter conducted the New Man, New Woman, New Life seminar in Guwahati, (pronounced Go-hauti) India last month.
The trip had numerous challenges, (including the loss of a cell phone) but was fruitful nonetheless.
About fourteen participants from the northeastern states of India attended, a smaller number than expected. David noted that the turnout (they’d expected 30 or 40 participants): “was disappointing to our organizers, but we assured them that those who were really supposed to be there were there. We are sure that the big earthquake in Imphal that happened hours before we checked in for our flight in Washington, DC may have had something to do with the low attendance. We learned later that people were knocked out of their beds in Guwahati from the earthquake.”
India as a whole is about 80 percent Hindu, and only about 2 percent Christian. Surprisingly, the northeastern states of India are about 95 percent Christian.
However, David said, “the air quality in both Delhi where we spent a night, and in Guwahati was the worst that we have ever encountered and that includes Beijing and Shanghai. The environmental damage everywhere was oppressive.” (According to the World Health Organization, Delhi has the worst air quality of any major city.)
David and Sarah met a young woman at the seminar, a newlywed who attended with her husband. She was quite receptive to the message of equality, perhaps because she and her husband have an untraditional marriage. She is working and he isn’t, and she has more of a potential for making money than her husband as a result of their respective vocational decisions. They reside in Anarunchal Pradesh which is located in the Himalayas east of Bhutan. She told David and Sarah that she already knew which people in her church would approve of the Empower teaching and those whom would be bitterly opposed.
“At the end of the seminar, the participants were all enthusiastic and were excited to share these new insights with their churches,” David reports. “They were surprised by the usual things: the woman not being cursed; the man who was with her; the fact that we are equals without hierarchy; that we are all submitting to each other; and that the woman is not property. I cautioned them, however, because I know that these are all things that Satan hates and that the traditions of the Church are often at odds with the true Gospel by his design. When we learn the truth, we are often met with suspicion and anger. So, be encouraged and do not fear!”
David’s phone, which had numerous photos of the trip on it, was stolen at an airport security checkpoint in Budapest, where the Nutters traveled on their way home. Thankfully, he posted some photos on Facebook so that we could retrieve them. (also, click here for a video of “typical” transportation in India.) Despite the challenges, we believe the investment of time and effort there will bear fruit in India.
