The Face to Face programme in Kolkata, India

On 3 September 2016, 14 of us, from ten different countries around the world, gathered in Kolkata for Indian leg of Face to Face – a seven-week programme of engagement with people in poverty. We were filled with excitement, hope and also apprehension.

For some of us, coming to India was literally a homecoming, for others, it was to be the adventure of a lifetime, and for still others, an experience of cross-cultural learning. The theme for this year’s Face to Face was ‘The Many Poor and the Many Faiths’ – a phrase coined by the Sri Lankan theologian Aloysius Pieris to describe the unique Asian situation.

Our host was Bishop’s College, Kolkata, the Church of North India’s theological college. We have spent four weeks in Kolkata looking at the issues of poverty and will now spend a further two weeks in the Henry Martyn Institute in Hyderabad looking at interfaith issues.

Through field exposure, Bible studies and theological reflections we were encouraged to think critically and make connections between the various aspects of the social reality to which we were exposed. We were also encouraged to think biblically and theologically through these realities…

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This is an extract from the November 2016 edition of Reform.

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