Christianity
in Pakistan is mainly considered as a Western or foreign religion, as British
colony there were many churches which were left in the hands of local people
after the World War II when British government left this Subcontinent. These
local Church leaders ran them in the same fashion as British without, making much
change. As a result there were no indigenous churches as such in Pakistan.
Brother Bakht Singh pioneered in this area and brought a deep and lasting
change in the history of church planting by establishing Brethren assemblies in
Pakistan before partition which continued even after the partition.
LIFE
Bakht
Singh was born in Joiya near Manwal, Punjab which is now part of Pakistan on 6th
June 1903, in a Hindu family who were devotees of Sikhism.
He
was also a staunch Sikh and even though he studied in Presbyterian mission
school at Gujranwala, near Lahore city (now part of Pakistan). When he passed
intermediate level of education he received bible as a gift but he torn the
bible. He got married in 1915 when he was young boy. He went to England to
study agricultural engineering in 1926, there he adapted the modern life style
of his time, but he was not happy with his life. (Koshy T.E, ‘Brother Bakht Singh of India)
While
he was in England Lord has started working in his life, he experienced the
presence of Jesus Christ during his travel on a ship in 1928. When he was
staying in Canada for holidays with a Christian family they engaged him in
family devotions every night. There he came to know more about Christ and later
accepted Him as his personal Lord and Savior in Dec 16, 1929. He was baptized
in 1932 and returned to Bombay in April 1933. At that time, India was not divided.
He had ministry not only in Pakistan but in many other countries. Bakht Singh
died on 17th September 2000. (Koshy
T.E , ‘Brother Bakht Singh of India)
MINISTRY
After
his conversion there was a drastic change in his life he arrived in Pakistan in
1933 and he went to Karachi. He started his Evangelistic ministry by working
among the sweepers and lepers. His ministry was in different areas in Pakistan in
the regions of Sindh, he also worked in Quetta city in Baluchistan and in
Punjab: Lahore, Sialkot, Multan, Faisalabad, Martinpur, Youngsonabad, Sangla
Hill, Shantinagar, Kala Pathana, 92 Chak (Village name), Rawalpindi, Sargodha
and other remote villiages.
T
E Koshy in his book “Brother
Bakht Singh of India”
gives the strategy of his ministry:
“The Lord accepted
him for his ministry on three conditions:
1. Do not join any
organizations— serve all equally.
2. Do not make your own
plan. Let me guide you and lead you every step of the way.
3. Do not make your needs
known to any human being. Ask me only and I shall provide for your needs.”
First
he worked with different denominations but later he felt the need and started
indigenous Brethren Assemblies with unique features. He was the man of prayer, a
teacher, itinerary preacher (preacher traveling place to place), evangelist,
healer and church planter. The Lord raised up several Brethren Assemblies during
1942 – 1960 based on New Testament Principles,
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to
the
fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer”Acts
2:42 (Koshy T.E ,
‘Brother Bakht Singh of India)
His
burden was to see people receive Christ as their Savior and Lord and live in
obedience to the will of God. He shared the Gospel boldly; his ministry was
among nominal Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims. His ministry was so
fruitful that soon many churches were planted in the province of Sindh and
Punjab.
(Koshy T.E ,
‘Brother Bakht Singh of India)
Western
scholars asked him how he knew so much about the Bible and he replied that he
meditates on the Bible on his knees. He did his ministry with fasting and
prayer, his ministry was always extraordinary with great impact and life
changing.
The impact on the church in Pakistan
A.
Indigenous
churches
Due
to a British colony there were churches planted by overseas missionaries. Bakht
Singh planted Indigenous churches with a desire to grow its roots deeper in the
culture and hearts of the people. The local assemblies in Pakistan are known as
“Brethren Churches”.
B.
Unique
structure:
Assemblies
in Pakistan were not brethren as so-called denominational but when the first
leaders were baptized Bakht Singh called them brother. However later some
missionaries joined the work but its structure remains the same until this day.
C.
Unity
All
the Brethren assemblies started by man of God had one pattern and therefore one
national body came into being. In India and other countries, Brethren have
their own separate local churches and missions but in Pakistan, they work in
unity with the Brethren Assemblies related to Bakht Singh with different
dynamics.
The End of his Ministry in Pakistan
He had to leave Pakistan in 1963, when
he was ministering in Shantinagar. Some nominal Christians out of jealousy reported
against Bakhat Singh because of that report without any further enquiry he was
deported from Pakistan, and was never able to come again.
Because of this sudden departure,
Evangelism work in Pakistan and Brethren Assemblies suffered because of the
absence of great leader and man of God. But the work he started continued flourishing
and advancing by the grace of God.
Lessons we can learn from the life and
ministry of this great leader and man of God are:
Simple living
He
did not have any worldly luxuries. He had ministry throughout the subcontinent
however, he did not feel the need of a car, bicycle or even his own
bullock-cart. He traveled by any source available at that time which was most
of the time on foot. He lived a very simple life without any bank balance, for
he loved the Lord more than anything in this world.
Holistic
ministry and Bible Based
Teaching,
preaching, ministers in people’s needs evangelizing mentoring, counseling and
Church planting were all part of his ministry. The churches, he planted were
based in Scriptures. Every single tradition was taken from the Bible. Like
laying hands upon brothers to dedicate them for the work of the Lord, Holy
convocation and the church service everything was Bible based. These
characteristics of his ministry made him a legend in the history indigenous
church in the Indian subcontinent.
Conclusion
Brother
Bakht Singh was great a man of the Lord because he emptied himself and gave up
everything as a sign of total obedience and dependence upon the Lord. He took
the word of God like a lamp to guide his way. That is why even though he had
not much resources, like we have today yet he made a great impact and
significant role in developing indigenous churches in Pakistan. God has chosen
us too. If we follow him and depend upon him totally, He can use us to bring a
great difference in the lives of individuals and the church as a whole.
References: Koshy T.E, ‘Brother Bakht Singh of India’: An Account of 20th
Century Apostolic Revival.OM books. Secunderabad, India. 2003.
