Gurgaon Christian Fellowship Church, Kanhai

Kanhai Village has a population of about 10,000  people. The people are mostly from the scheduled class. They are traditionally cobblers by profession though many are employed in Government Offices and some are engaged in agriculture. Many women work as part time maids and cleaners in houses in the nearby colonies and sectors.

The people of Kanhai are mainly Hindus. However there are a large number of Roman Catholics and some Buddhists converts too. Among the Roman Catholics, either the older people or the previous generation had embraced Catholicism in response to social work done in this village by the Roman Catholic church. According to some of the locals, the people here who have converted to Buddhism are mostly those who have done so in reaction to discrimination they faced due their caste. There was previously no Bible believing church in Kanhai.

GCF had started an out reach meeting here in this village nearly four years ago. Over these years this outreach meeting grew considerably. This outreach started off with just one family. Praise be to God! This meeting grew to about twenty people who were regular attendees. Not only did the number of those who attended increase but we also began to see people making commitments for Christ and growing in their faith.

On April 10th 2005 four members of the family in whose house the meeting was started were baptized. There was now a great potential for GCF to plant a Church in Kanhai. We felt the time was now right for this. The people we intended to reach through this church were all those who were residents of Kanhai, especially those who did not know the Lord and also some who were believers, but were not part of any other church.

By the grace of God GCF had also been able to raise up and mentor a young man named Mukesh from Kanhai village itself who was now ready to shepherd these people. Mukesh is of a Hindu background. He came to know the Lord some years ago. He worked with another Christian organization before he joined GCF.

Through the Kanhai ministry a considerable number of people had been reached who were ready to be churched. There were about twenty people who gathered every Friday evening for a time of fellowship, praise and worship and to hear God’s Word. Besides these people GCF had about fifty contacts in Kanhai who were regularly being visited. Mukesh was ready to shepherd them. The immediate need was mainly a place for worship, some musical instruments, furniture etc. and funds to sustain this ministry till the church grows to a point of financial self sufficiency. It could take two to three years for the church to grow both in numbers and in maturity before it could be in a position to support itself financially.

So on September 4,2005, as a great step of faith for GCF, Gurgaon Christian Fellowship Church, Kanhai was inaugurated. It was the day we had prayed for and dreamed about for a very long time and it was finally here. Gurgaon Christian Fellowship Church, Kanhai is now a reality. Praise God! The Inaugural Worship service was presided over by Pastor David Dayalan. Pastor Markus of Delhi, Mukesh’s previous pastor was the chief invitee. The Delhi Youth for Christ worship team were also present and led in worship. In all there were over a hundred people who attended this service. The service was held in the basement of a newly constructed building GCF had rented. Till today the Sunday worship services and youth meetings etc of GCFC Kanhai are being held there.

We give God all the glory for this.

Other Places we are praying for

South City II
This is another part of Gurgaon from where some of our Church members come and where we are at present reaching out to some other families too who are not yet churched.  These families find it difficult to attend church at South City I as it is quite far away from where they live.  We are praying therefore to plant a church in South City II by the beginning of 2008.

Silokra
This is a small village in Gurgaon where we have a small bible study in Hindi every Thursday. It has the potential for a Hindi Church.

Chakkarpur
This is another small village in Gurgaon where we have some families who come to the Kanhai Church. This village too may have the potential for a Hindi Church.

Bulundshehar
This is a small town in Uttar Pradesh. Mukesh had previously worked there and there are quite a few who came to the Lord through his ministry there who are still not churched. We see a great opportunity to plant a church there.

Bangalore
Bangalore in Karnataka could be one place where we would like to plant an English Church soon. There have been some families who were part of GCFC in Gurgaon who have now moved to Bangalore.