Building emerging India THE FRIENDSHIP OF JONES AND MAHATMA GANDHI Naveen Rao
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PLACE OF PEACE Sabarmati, Gandhi’s ashram, continues in operation today.
James Mathews later remained friends with Gandhi’s family for over 50 years.
A CALL AND A COLLAPSE
Friendship with Gandhi helped Jones answer many of his questions about presenting the gospel in India. Despite the lack of a ceremonial farewell by the Methodist mission board, Jones had been joyful and eager as he began his missionary journey on October 13, 1907. After landing on November 13 at Bombay (now Mumbai), he boarded a train to reach his first posting at Lucknow. During the train ride, an educated and intellectual Muslim family traveled in his compartment. Jones began sharing about Christ, hoping the Muslim family would be seeking baptism by the end of the journey; instead they shared about Islam and the goodness of their religion. After they had traveled together
Christian History
GANDHI ASHRAM—PARTHBHATT / [CC BY-SA] WIKIMEDIA
E. STANLEY JONES MET MAHATMA GANDHI for the first time in 1919 at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi. They did not meet again until 1924 in Poona when Gandhi was temporarily0 released from jail to attend to a medical need. But they remained in touch with each other continually; helping, inspiring, and prodding one another on in their mutual quest. On one of Jones’s visits just before he returned to the United States, he asked Gandhi for a message to take back with him to the West as to how we should live this Christian life. Gandhi replied: “Such a message cannot be given by word of mouth; it can only be lived.” Jones often visited Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram and stayed with him, sometimes for several days, to continue his unlearning and new learning about Indians’ pain, struggles, and challenges before presenting Christ to them. Gandhi sent 13 known letters to Stanley Jones, signing five; Mabel Lossing Jones also corresponded with Gandhi for over 25 years on educational subjects for underprivileged communities, particularly the education of girls. Eunice and
