Touching Lives of People Through the Holistic Mission Work of the Buntains in Calcutta,India

The works of the Buntains in Calcutta, India from the 1950s among the poor, marginalized, sick, hungry, and abandoned represents the Pentecostal holistic approach to Christian mission. With the establishment of hospitals and schools, in addition to the relief programs, their ministries exemplify an important area of Pentecostal mission, along with evangelism and church planting through the emphasis on supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, e.g., healing and miracles. A Pentecostal characteristic of this ministry was prayer and faith as the spiritual foundation of the work, often when faced with financial pressures. In the process, many were converted to Christianity. This type of Pentecostal mission has been widely practiced but with little theological reflection.