V. S. Azariah
1874-1945 20th century
Faith that asks for friendship between equals, across borders and ranks.
Who was V. S. Azariah?
Son of a South Indian catechist, an evangelist and then the first Indian Anglican bishop, he refused to be a second-class Christian in a Church dominated by foreign missionaries. At Dornakal he carried a vast movement of conversion among the poor and the untouchables, and trained lay people to proclaim the Gospel themselves. He pleaded tirelessly for equal friendship between Christians of every land.
In their own words
You have given your goods to feed the poor, you have given your bodies to be burned; we ask also for love. Give us friends.