The H.I. Leadership seminar held in the Telugu Baptist Church, Parlakhemundi, was attended by 32 leaders from various places of the Gajapati district of Orissa. This seminar in Gajapati facilitated coverage of a new district in Orissa.

An Unique Target Participants:
This seminar is unique in the sense that the participants were from a very primitive tribal group of Orissa called the “Souras”. Thirty-two senior leaders of Soura Baptist Church Association joined the seminar. The Association has 700 Churches under its administration spread over Orissa, Mumbai, Andhra Pradesh and Assam. The Soura Peoples Movement towards Christianity is a significant history in Orissa Missions Movements where the Canadian Baptist Missionaries worked among them way back in 1920s and today they constitute 80% of the Christian population among the Souras conglomerating in southern part of Orissa bordering Andhra Pradesh.

A Seminar of Different Taste!!
The Souras do not have their own script. They use English phonetics to read their language!! Recently the Bible Society of India has released the Soura Bible after a prolonged research and hard work. Our Seminar was conducted in Oriya which the Souras follows quite satisfactorily. Among the participants were many senior Pastors and Congregation leaders under whom an average of 7-8 Churches with 60-70 families are assigned. In Soura community, the Pastors command a very strong authority and power. They also have thumbing rule. The subjects in the Seminar were a big challenge to them, especially in the context of gender discrimination in their society. Many participants openly testified how the seminar has touched them and removed their blindness. During the sessions, many leaders were learning with tearful eyes.

Some Significant Remarks:

“ I have attended many workshops and seminars before but this seminar with Haggai Institute is a landmark in my life. The subject on Christian Home shook me and Goal Setting was quite challenging.” – Livingstone Gomango, General Secretary, Soura Baptist Association

“ I am a B.Th from Cuttack Theological School. But in this seminar I felt like pursuing M.Th course. The seminar is really a blessing for me. I promise to organize one seminar for the leaders of my area with Haggai Institute.” – Rev.Israel Bardhan, General Secretary, Utkal Baptist Christian Association