ELKHART, Ind. (Mennonite Mission Network) - Into the volatile climate of interfaith tension in India, a Mennonite pastor dares to breathe a vision of peace. Jai Prakash Masih, a May graduate of Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary here, is laying plans for the construction of a Mennonite ashram.

"In India, there is an atmosphere of religious conflict," Masih said. "The words 'mission' and 'church-planting' are threatening. We need a shift in ideology from traditional ways of doing mission to methods that are more culturally appropriate."

As part of the ancient school system of India, ashrams were traditionally located in the mountains. Kings would send their children to an ashram to learn the wisdom and skills necessary for administration. "Ashrams are also places of meditation, self-learning and shelter for the homeless, much like the biblical cities of refuge," Masih said.

Masih envisages The Indian Anabaptist Center as an ashram where the educational aspect will predominate. "The Anabaptist Center will concentrate on leadership-building and on guiding the church in a missional direction," Masih said. "We will encourage the church to move beyond the status quo and be forward-looking."

Masih is a church leader in the Bharatiya General Conference Mennonite Church that grew out of the former Commission on Overseas Mission's ministries. "Mennonite Mission Network and its predecessor agencies have supported leadership training in the Indian Mennonite church since its inception," said John F. Lapp, director for West Asia and the Middle East.

While pursing his seminary studies, Masih began developing his dream of a Mennonite ashram, a dream that combines the best of both of his worlds.

"There are other Christian ashrams that go along Gandhian lines of nonviolence," Masih said. "Remembering, of course, that non-violence wasn't Mahatma Gandhi's idea. He learned his non-violence from Jesus. Our Indian Anabaptist Center will be more biblical, more Anabaptist in its essence. We need a more proactive peacemaking."

The ashram will seek to serve the six different Mennonite conferences of India in training leaders and organizing seminars for the lay leaders. Masih foresees three institutes under the ashram umbrella. The first institute will emphasize Anabaptist ecclesiology, Mennonite church polity and administration; the second, worship, biblical understanding, preaching skills, computer training and mission strategies.

The third institute of peace and conciliation will be the first of its kind in the newly formed state of Chhattisgarh. This institute will seek to cooperate with other denominations to promote peace education. Masih hopes that a peace curriculum can be developed for use in schools and that some of the materials will be translated from English -- the language of higher education in India -- into the Hindi language to reach a broader audience.

According to Masih, many factors point toward Raipur as an ideal location for The Indian Anabaptist Center. Raipur is centrally located and accessible by public transportation. The city is a regional educational center with a university. Perhaps most importantly, there is a strong Mennonite congregation that enthusiastically supports the vision of a Mennonite ashram. The Raipur Mennonite Fellowship is a flourishing congregation that has volunteered both financial support and personnel to help construct the dream.

The Mennonite Christian Service Fellowship of India, a council that regroups the country's six Mennonite conferences, passed a resolution early this year to accept the proposal for The Indian Anabaptist Center.

"Mennonite Mission Network has been supportive of the dream through its gestational stage and looks forward to helping mobilize inter-church partnership in more concrete ways as the first Mennonite ashram is born," Lapp said.

Mennonite Mission Network, the mission agency of the Mennonite Church USA, exists to lead, mobilize and equip the church to participate in holistic witness to Jesus Christ in a broken world. With offices in Elkhart, Ind.; Newton, Kan.; and Harrisonburg, Va.; the Mission Network supports ministries in 54 countries, 31 U.S. states and six Canadian provinces. Mennonite Mission Network succeeded the Commission on Home Ministries and the Commission on Overseas Mission (General Conference Mennonite Church) and Mennonite Board of Missions (Mennonite Church).