MCC in India - A 50-year partnership

India is the world's seventh largest and second most populous nation with more than 900 million people. The tremendous size and population of India make it inevitable that a small organization like MCC will have limited involvement. Since its beginnings in the province of Bengal, MCC has focussed its work in the eastern region of India, primarily in the present states of West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and the eastern part of Madhya Pradesh. MCC began in this part of India, and the Indian Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches are located within these five states.

In the first two-and-a-half decades of MCC's work in India, its program consisted largely of relief assistance. India's many natural catastrophes, such as cyclones and floods, caused great suffering and the need for relief in the form of food, clothing and housing. The partition of India into Pakistan and India at independence and the Bangladesh war of independence created millions of refugees and displaced persons whom MCC attempted to assist. The overwhelming poverty that MCCers found in Calcutta also motivated them to provide direct assistance in the form of food, clothing and blankets.

Gradually in the late 1960s and 1970s the program shifted toward a development approach with less relief assistance. Education was seen as an important component in helping people to improve their economic and social status. The MCC Global Family program, which provides assistance from North American sponsors to enable poor children to attend school and vocational training programs, began in India and remains a significant part of the MCC program.

Agricultural development through training in poultry raising, livestock improvement, irrigation system construction and seed distribution has been an important element of the program. MCC has shipped large amounts of wheat to India for food-for-work programs. These programs create community infrastructure by mobilizing labour in the seasons when employment and food are scarce.

The MCC approach has evolved from one in which MCC personnel directly implement the program into one which is a partnership with a number of Indian non-governmental organizations, both church-related and secular.

These NGOs work in both rural and urban settings. Community development and particularly women's development are an important focus of most of MCC's partners. Some of the women's groups produce handicrafts which are marketed by MCC's SELFHELP crafts of the World and other alternative trading organizations in North America and Europe. SELFHELP Crafts purchases more handicrafts from India than from any other country.

At present, MCC works in partnership with more than 30 Indian NGOs. MCC not only provides funds and/or material resources to these organizations but also interacts closely with them. MCC staff frequently visit these organizations and usually attend their board meetings. MCC also organizes workshops and seminars for staff of the partner NGOs on various development issues. A process of mutual learning and support marks these partner relationships.

Since its entry into India, MCC has maintained close relationships with the Indian Mennonite, Brethren in Christ and United Missionary churches. In the early years, MCC staff served in hospitals and schools of these church conferences. In 1963, MCC and the various church conferences established the Mennonite Christian Service Fellowship of India (MCSFI) to coordinate Indian Mennonite Churches relief and social service activities. It is the only Indian inter-Mennonite organization that brings together leaders from all the Indian Mennonite and Brethren in Christ conferences. Some of the denominational conferences have also established their own social service and community development organizations. MCC has continued to provide regular support to both MCSFI and the churches' community service and development organizations. Since 1965, a total of 125 young people from these Indian churches have spent a year in North American Mennonite communities through MCC's International Visitor Exchange Program.

India has a wealth of well-trained, committed people. For several decades the Indian government has severely limited the number of visas it will grant foreign Christian workers. These two factors have caused MCC India to develop an experienced group of national staff. Of the nearly 30 Indian staff members, four have worked with MCC for more than 25 years. An additional six have been with MCC for more than 15 years. These dedicated Indian staff, with the leadership of a country representative couple from North America, are the reason that MCC India accomplishes as much as it does and has earned a great deal of respect from similar agencies.

Working in India has been a challenge and a learning process for MCC. MCC's plans and responses have not always been appropriate. Considerable energy has been devoted to cultivating healthy relationships with the Indian Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches and their related agencies.

But, in the words of MCC Executive Secretary John A. Lapp, "These have been learning years of how to relate across cultures and to appreciate a rich variety of spiritual expression." The 1979 MCC Workbook report by MCC India country representative Bert Lobe sums up the best of the MCC India experience as follows: "Our impact has been small, but we believe it is significant. We have developed relationships of trust with partner agencies and the poor they serve. We have been careful that our efforts not become project-oriented to the extend that the process becomes secondary and the task primary. The formation of caring communities of people is our objective and we must speak with love and clarity as we ourselves attempt to live and encourage this spirit."

Ed Martin is the Area Secretary for Central and Southern Asia. He served with MCC in Nepal in the 1970s. He also worked for four years in Sri Lanka in the 1980s. (from MCC Peace Newsletter)

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