Gulshan & Mema Lal
Missionary Field Coordinator for India
Gulshan was born in Agra, India, the city of the Taj Mahal. He is the 3rd oldest of nine children – 6 boys and 3 girls. Most of his family is still in India. His upbringing was in a nominal Christian/Hindu family, as his grandfather still worshipped Lakshmi, Hindu goddess of money and wealth, but his parents were influenced by a Methodist minister as their children went to a Christian school - the only school in the neighborhood. Gulshan accepted Christ on August 18, 1971 and felt the call of God to serve Him. In the more than 30 years that followed, he has served the Lord with Operation Mobilization (OM teams), Church planting evangelism, as a pastor in India, with Far East Broadcasting as the director of Public/Audience Relations and as a broadcaster. Gulshan was the Senior Pastor in the Chicago, IL, area for seven years and Director of Missions of Browncroft Community Church, Rochester, NY for four years before joining IGM in 2008. All these years the Lord has used him to develop leaders. His experience and knowledge of the cultures of the Indian sub-continent will be helpful in ministry.
Mema was born in Tirunelvelli district of Tamil Nadu state in South India. At the age of 11 days, she was brought to the Dohnavur Fellowship – a ministry started by Amy Carmichael, pioneer Irish missionary to India. Dohnavur Fellowship was started with the purpose of saving baby girls that were thrown into the Hindu temples for the temple priests to be raised as “Deva Daisies” – or in plain words, as entertainers for the male worshipers or as prostitutes. God gave Amy Carmichael the vision and the courage to fight the evil customs of the country. As a result, literally thousands of innocent girls have been rescued from the hands of these 'priests' and have been brought up in a life-changing environment and in the fear of God. Mema professed Christ as Savior at the age of 13 after being convicted through hearing the Word of God.
India is the second most populated nation in the world, with 1.2 billion people who know very little about Jesus Christ. 80% of its people are Hindu, 18% are Muslim and the remaining 2% are Christians. IGM partners with approximately 12 national pastors who actively carry the Gospel to their people. What makes this country so important is that it does all it can to rid itself of any Christian testimony. Christians are beaten and killed regularly for their faith. Gulshan and Mema Lal, are desperately needed for this mission field as IGM Missionary Field Coordinators for India. The nationals need their encouragement and their energies being spent to promote prayer and resources for this lost people group in the 10/40 window.
While the Lals are at home, they have been helping to establish Nepali fellowships for Nepali refugees in the northeastern US.
