Sadhu Sundar Singh Centre for Contextual Studies

About the Centre

Caleb Institute, situated in the Northern part of India, is committed to equipping leaders for the growing Church. Since its inception, Caleb Institute has focused on producing a new generation of influential servant leaders for the Church and the society whose lifestyle is a witness to Biblical holiness. Sadhu Sundar Singh Centre for Contextual Studies at Caleb Institute is an initiation of Sadhu Sundar Singh Global Forum (SSSGF). According to Rev. Dr Richard Howell, Principal, Caleb Institute’ Contextual theology require prominence, and each generation has to relearn and relive the Incarnate Word of God. Rethinking Christianity will introduce the importance of Contextual theology.’ The prime purpose of this Center is to continue the legacy of Sadhu Sundar Singh through academic and missiological research, publication, and projects. Promoting contextual theology becomes the priority as there is an urgent need to incarnate the Gospel in culture because of changing trends. This Centre is also focused on studying the rapid growth of mass movements in India to cater to their spiritual needs. The Centre encourages scholars from all over the world to engage themselves to study contextual theology from the historical, cultural, religious and social points of view to understand Asian as well as South Asian spirituality. The Centre stimulates and organizes various activities to promote contextual theology through paper presentations, certificate courses, research, conferences etc. Further, with the help of Global Forum, it will focus on producing journals, books and other research material to equip the body of Christ.

Sadhu Sundar Singh

Sadhu Sundar Singh, a renowned saint and enigmatic spiritual guru of the twentieth century from India, had a unique encounter with God. He was both deeply Christian and deeply Indian. Born on September 3, 1889 in the village of Rampur in Punjab, Sundar belonged to a devout Sikh family. He gave credit to his mother for introducing him to God. He was deeply attracted by her spiritual life, which instilled in him the idea of a dedicated life. She had a desire that Sundar one day become Sadhu by dedicating his life to God entirely. Since his childhood, he developed a deep desire to know God. He became a truth seeker and devoted his life to reading Hindu scripture, but he was still not satisfied in his spiritual life. He regarded Christianity as an alien religion and a threat to his culture. His perception led him to burn at least part of the New Testament while studying at American Presbyterian School. After much spiritual turmoil one early morning, Sundar had a vision of Jesus Christ in his room, and since then, his journey of becoming Sadhu began. Today he is known as ‘St. Paul of India.’ Persecutor becomes the victim of persecution for the sake of the Gospel and begins his journey with Christ’s experience. His intense bhakti (devotion) for Lord Jesus Christ enabled him to travel over land and sea. U-turn in life gave a new dimension to Indian Christian theology regarding understanding Indian spirituality in the light of ‘Mission, Evangelism, & Spirituality.’ Sadhu Sunder Singh gave a remarkable description of contextualization in the Indian context through his life and work. The phrase ‘the water of life in an Indian cup’ given by Sadhu Sundar Singh speaks volumes.