My name is Jerulin Jones Sparks, and I have a difficult name on purpose. When I married the wonderful Andrew Sparks, I decided to keep Jones too. It’s cumbersome for everyone involved, so let me explain why.
A few generations ago, the colonial influence of the British Empire redefined the cultural landscape of South India. According to living memory, my great-grandparents converted to Roman Catholicism under the influence of colonial India, and future generations were given “Christian” names such as Jones.
Saturday nights in a lounge in Merrylands, west of Sydney, changed the trajectory of my family line. While my parents were devout, their beliefs were cultural and unquestionable until they moved from Chennai to Sydney. It was an unlikely encounter with a group of Indian Christians who allowed them to grapple with the Bible themselves. Discipleship, strict Bible teaching, and theological clarity unlocked a relationship with the Lord Jesus.
Where colonization has weakened the Christian witness, the gospel proves even more powerful.
When I discuss my faith with Indian friends, they will often tentatively ask a version of this objection: isn’t Christianity the white man’s religion? This question is correct. Of course, Indian Christianity today is linked to the effects of colonization, but there is much more to it. The legacy of Christianity in India dates back to the death and resurrection of Jesus, after which the apostle Thomas took the gospel to southern India from Kerala to Chennai. Thomas is said to be buried in Santhome, where the Portuguese built St. Thomas Basilica five centuries ago.
Joseph and Leema Jones on their wedding day at St Thomas Basilica, Santhome
It is equally ironic and beautiful that my parents were married in that same church (pictured above). They didn’t know the Lord Jesus yet, but he knew them. Where biblical truth is obscured, the Holy Spirit is powerful to illuminate. Where colonization has weakened the Christian witness, the gospel proves even more powerful.
Reduce the story of Indian Christianity to a simple colonial capitulation, and you will fail to explain the reality I have lived. Twenty years ago, our family found something truer and richer than whitewashed religion when we found Christian Orthodoxy—the way, the truth, and the life. We are connected to a Christian heritage from 2000 years ago, even (and especially) when we eat Dum Biriyani with our hands to celebrate Christmas.
I must confess that I have sometimes been jealous of my Tamil friends with their beautiful, rhythmic surnames. Other times I was relieved to escape the ‘difficult’ Tamil family name on which the English language falters. I was nicknamed “Indiana Jones” for a short time, which I thought was funny on many levels.
I love Jones because it tells me who I am. Jones traces my family line that now carries the miracle of God’s redemption. Jones reflects God’s faithfulness, who begins good work in his people and will surely bring it to completion. Jones is the name of my Indian Christian family.
Jones is the name of my Indian Christian family.
Indian Christian Day is tomorrow, July 3. This celebration raises historical awareness as Indian policies have become increasingly hostile to Christianity, but it is not a modern diversity initiative. Diversity has always been a defining feature of Christianity, which was never a happy coincidence. Jesus sent his Spirit-filled followers, like Thomas, to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8), and he continues to send us to reach people of all nations. If you are one to pray, please join us on July 3 as we welcome more and more Indian migrants to Australia in the coming months.
Let us beg God’s help to see many Indian Christians in the immense and diverse gathering around the throne (Rev 7:9). May the Book of Life by its grace bear countless names such as Kumar, Subramanian, Patel, Arpudharaj, Singh, Jeevan, Sharma, Pillai, Vasant, Kandukuri, Chettiar and Jones.
Jeri Jones Sparks is the Assistant Minister for Outreach at St James Anglican Church Croydon, Sydney, and Director of The Good News Course. Jeri is married to Andrew; she is a Tamil Indian-Australian woman living in the country of Wangal.
