India (1903-2000)
Born to a devout Sikh family in India, Bakht Singh’s search for God started at a young age. He
desired to know God, but found truth and peace hard to find. According to Sikkh teaching,
peace cannot be found unless one finds Satguru, the true teacher. He would often ask priests
and his parents “ Who is Satguru? How can I find him?”
When he was 23 years old he went to Canada to study engineering, and had an encounter with
the “Living Christ”. Through reading the New Testament, he was convinced of his sin and that
the Bible was God’s book. He was discipled by his host family in Canada for two years and
began to receive frequent invitations to speak at churches. However, he resisted a call to
ministry, telling God to let him be an engineer, so he could give money to God’s work. God
spoke to him clearly. “I do not want your money, I want you”. In 1932 he surrendered to the call
to ministry and began to prepare to return to India to preach the gospel.
When he returned home, his parents welcomed him on the condition that he keep his faith in
Jesus private. He could not agree to this, so they tearfully left him. He traveled across the nation
proclaiming Jesus Christ as the only Savior and asking people to repent as they heard the Word
of God. As he traveled, there were many answers to prayer and many healings as revival broke
out wherever he spoke .But he was very disappointed by the number of converts who quickly
went back to their former ways of life, without discipleship,. He began to establish Christian
communities with the purpose of discipling people to share the gospel, producing gospel
literature and being a place of refuge for Christians who were rejected by their families or
previous employers for believing in Christ.
Wherever Bakht Singh and his co-workers preached the gospel, new churches began to form.
These churches were fully indigenous, following Indian customs such as sitting on the floor, and
taking off shoes. They also taught in the languages of the people and encouraged using
traditional instruments in worship. By the 1970’s God had used Bakht Singh and his coworkers
to start hundreds of churches, they were among some of the fastest growing churches in India.
Bakht Singh believed that this vision for the church and discipleship was not only for India, but
for the whole world. Eventually he began to preach and teach about God’s glory and the church
internationally, traveling through Europe, North America, Asia and even the Middle East. He
never compromised the principles of prayer, hearing God’s voice, and depending only on God
for provision. He desired to see the global church live by New Testament values and to express
these values in their own culture and language while welcoming everyone regardless of their
background.