January 1983

A visitation team representing the CLC embarked for India to investigate the field of labor around Nidubrolu, Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh State, India. The team consisted of John Rohrbach and Pastors David Schierenbeck and David Koenig. They held doctrinal discussions with V.S. Benjamin in which it was observed that we were in doctrinal agreement and he was willing to continue to learn with us. David Schierenbeck as chairman of the BoM submitted the report to the president of the Synod.

While the visitation team was in the Guntur area of India, a letter from the far southern tip of India was winging its way to the CLC/USA. Pastor Mohan Bas with his Bharath Evangelical Lutheran Church was looking for a missionary and support for their work. Like the CLCI, they were separate and had left other Lutheran churches. Pastor Bas had found our name in an international directory of Lutheran churches. He did not know of our visitation. Correspondence began with him on the teachings of the Word.