Contextualization of the Christian faith in Guyana: using India music as an expression of Hindu culture in mission

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which Hindustani (Indian) music might serve as a bridge between Hindus and Christians to spread the gospel among the Hindustani people in Guyana and enrich their worship experience. Hindus have a strong emotional and cultural connection with Indian music. The music in the church in Guyana, however, is a combination of Western and Caribbean-style (Creole) music. The researcher felt that a good understanding of the Hindus' appreciation of music could help pastors and missionaries in their quest to evangelize Hindus and to enrich the worship experience of the Hindustani people. Using a qualitative approach, 12 Hindus and 12 pastors were surveyed to determine their perceptions of music in the church and how important they felt music could be for attracting Hindus to the gospel. The data from the interviews were utilized to categorize themes and identify the findings of the study. A clear majority of Hindu participants indicated that they would be willing to attend a Christian gathering or place of worship if they knew the church would play Indian instruments or have other expressions of Indian music. Although most of the pastors at first felt that Hindustani music would adulterate the present 'Christian culture' of the church and thus lead to syncretism, many of the pastors who had disapproved of any form of Indian music in the church changed their negative attitudes after seeing videos with Indian music containing Christian lyrics. This study concludes that when pastors understand Hindus' appreciation of Indian music and see evidence of Christian Indian music, through videos, for example, they are more inclined to play Indian music in the church. This in turn, could draw Hindus to the Christian faith and enrich the Hindustani Christian worship experience.