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Bakht Singh
Bakht Singh Chabra (1903 - 2000). Indian evangelist, church planter, and Bible teacher born in Joiya, Punjab (now Pakistan), to a devout Sikh family. Educated at Punjab University, he studied agricultural engineering in England (1926-1928) and Canada (1929-1932), embracing a Western lifestyle, including smoking and drinking, while rejecting his Sikh roots by shaving his hair. Initially hostile to Christianity—once tearing a Bible apart—he converted in 1929 in Winnipeg after reading the New Testament, influenced by Christian friends John and Edith Hayward. Returning to India in 1933, he began preaching as an Anglican evangelist, later becoming independent, sparking the 1937 Martinpur revival, a pivotal movement in Indian Christianity. In 1941, after a night of prayer in Chennai, he founded Hebron Ministries, establishing over 10,000 indigenous churches modeled on New Testament principles across India and South Asia. Singh authored books like How I Got Joy Unspeakable and Full of Glory and held annual “Holy Convocations” in Madras, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and Kalimpong, drawing thousands. Married to Rama Bai at age 12 in 1915, little is recorded of their personal life. His contextualized gospel, blending Indian spirituality with biblical truth, earned him the title “Elijah of the 21st Century” in Indian Christendom. Singh’s words, “I have never asked any man for anything, but the Lord is richly supplying all my needs,” reflect his faith-driven ministry. Despite Parkinson’s disease in his final decade, his legacy endures through Hebron’s global network and writings, praised by figures like Ravi Zacharias.
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Bakht Singh preaches about the lessons we learn when God is silent, using Job's experience to illustrate the feeling of unanswered prayers and darkness in our lives. He emphasizes that silence from God does not mean absence, but rather an opportunity to build intimacy and trust. Through silence, our faith is tested as we learn to rely on God without constant guidance, demonstrating our growth and trust in Him.
Unanswered Prayer?
Do you feel like God isn't answering your prayers? Job the patriarch felt the same way: 'I cry out to You, O God, but You do not answer; I stand up, but You merely look at me... When I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, then came darkness.' (Job 30:20; 26) All of us go through times when it feels like God has moved and left no forwarding address. What's He up to? Why doesn't He respond? There are some lessons you only learn when God is silent: (1) Silence isn't absence. An old proverb says, 'Speech is silver, silence is gold!' Sometimes God says to you, 'Be still, and know that I am God.' (Psalm 46:10) You have to be really secure with somebody to just sit quietly with them. Silence takes the emphasis off words and builds a level of intimacy where they're no longer necessary. If you want to be comfortable with God, learn to enter into meditation and silence with Him. (2) Silence tests your faith. How much faith is actually involved when somebody's coaching your every step? It's like a parent running alongside a child who's learning to ride a bike. Right now the child lacks confidence, but they're going to look strange at age twenty if that parent is still trotting along beside them! At some point God takes His hands off the wheel to see how far you've progressed. And for a while it can be a wobbly ride. That's when you demonstrate how far you've come, and where you're placing your trust
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Bakht Singh Chabra (1903 - 2000). Indian evangelist, church planter, and Bible teacher born in Joiya, Punjab (now Pakistan), to a devout Sikh family. Educated at Punjab University, he studied agricultural engineering in England (1926-1928) and Canada (1929-1932), embracing a Western lifestyle, including smoking and drinking, while rejecting his Sikh roots by shaving his hair. Initially hostile to Christianity—once tearing a Bible apart—he converted in 1929 in Winnipeg after reading the New Testament, influenced by Christian friends John and Edith Hayward. Returning to India in 1933, he began preaching as an Anglican evangelist, later becoming independent, sparking the 1937 Martinpur revival, a pivotal movement in Indian Christianity. In 1941, after a night of prayer in Chennai, he founded Hebron Ministries, establishing over 10,000 indigenous churches modeled on New Testament principles across India and South Asia. Singh authored books like How I Got Joy Unspeakable and Full of Glory and held annual “Holy Convocations” in Madras, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and Kalimpong, drawing thousands. Married to Rama Bai at age 12 in 1915, little is recorded of their personal life. His contextualized gospel, blending Indian spirituality with biblical truth, earned him the title “Elijah of the 21st Century” in Indian Christendom. Singh’s words, “I have never asked any man for anything, but the Lord is richly supplying all my needs,” reflect his faith-driven ministry. Despite Parkinson’s disease in his final decade, his legacy endures through Hebron’s global network and writings, praised by figures like Ravi Zacharias.