California Baptist University students Amanda May* and Felicia Warner* came to India as student volunteers with the IMB. May and Warner shared the Gospel using henna, a body dye.
By Caroline Anderson
Delhi, INDIA–The temporary tattoo on summer volunteer Amanda May’s* hand told Jyotsna Verma* about Jesus’ birth, life and resurrection.
“I would have never thought that by simply applying henna in story form on my hands, I would get to have seven conversations about the Lord in the market, on the bus and in my English class,” said May who is from Temecula, Calif. and her home church is Calvary Chapel Murrieta in Murrieta, Calif.
May was a member of a student volunteer team from California Baptist University (CBU) in Riverside, Calif., that shared the Gospel through henna in Delhi, India.
Henna is burgundy-colored dye used for body art and hair dye in South Asia. IMB representatives have developed henna designs that incorporate Bible stories. Talking about henna allowed May to share how the design represents Christ’s life and share her testimony with young women like Verma who were students in her class. Verma’s curiosity led her to ask many questions about the Bible.
“She loved the stories and when I asked her about what she believed in, or if she had heard of this before, she had heard about Jesus,” said May, a recent CBU graduate. “She allowed me to try to explain the similarities and differences of what we believed.” While Verma didn’t choose to believe in Jesus, May gave Verma’s contact information to Christian workers in the city.
“A lot of people view India as [an] oppressive [place] because of all the gods and idols, but they [the CBU volunteers] kind of took it on as a challenge to cast down these barriers and pray [with the women] against these gods that people will no longer be serving these idols,” said Kacee Dallion,* an IMB representative.
To help the class learn the story, the CBU volunteers acted out the Bible stories and sang songs about the Bible study. At the end of every Bible lesson, the CBU volunteers encouraged their students to share the stories with families and friends.
The CBU volunteers received invitations to their student’s homes, to share tea and conversation. Fourteen-year-old interpreter Laboni Ganguly* invited CBU sophomore Felicia Warner,* from Temecula, Calif., to her home for dance lessons.
“She taught me how to dance and shared her beliefs and I got to share mine and my testimony,” said Warner. Warner’s home church is Rancho Community Church in Temecula, Calif.
“I was sad to say goodbye to her but am so excited for the growing desire she had for the Lord and how He will use that in her life,” said Warner.
Dallion said for many of the Indian students, it was their first time hearing the name of Jesus.
When the CBU volunteers taught and shared, Dallion had opportunities to share the Gospel that she wouldn’t have had otherwise.
“Volunteers just help you do so much in a small amount of time,” said Dallion. “There is no way we would have been able to reach eight locations in two weeks. Dallion said that the CBU volunteers brought a fresh perspective to a spiritually dark country. Dallion was also pleased that the CBU volunteers were able to pave the way for future volunteer teams to use henna storying throughout India.
“The most memorable part of my trip was knowing that the work we did had real purpose,” said May.
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*Name changed.
California Baptist University has long-term mission partnerships in India with IMB. Caroline Anderson is a journeyman writer, based out of Chiang Mai, Thailand. For more information about and resources for henna storytelling, see http://southasianpeoples.imb.org/resource/evangelism/henna/.