When members of the Marseille, France, church visited the island nation of Mauritius recently, they gave the local congregation a much-needed boost of energy, minister Canden Subarayadu said.

Subarayadu and his wife, Stephanie, trained for ministry in Marseille before returning to their native Mauritius, a volcanic island east of Madagascar, to work with a small congregation.

Nearly half of Mauritius’ 1.3 million inhabitants claim Hinduism as their faith. Another 25 percent claim Catholicism. The island has three Churches of Christ, with a combined membership of less than 40. Evangelism is difficult, Subarayadu said. He and his wife sometimes feel isolated and discouraged.

“It makes us sad to see all the religious festivals ... in our country, with many sacrifices and (people) causing pain to their physical bodies so that people’s sins will be taken away,” Subarayadu said. “But our true God is not honored in that way. He simply tells us, ‘I love you. I won’t retain your sins against you.’”

Missionary Craig Young and the team from Marseille performed a concert of gospel songs and canvassed the community, sharing their faith.

“In contrast to Europe, many of the Maurician homes were wide open to us as we went door-to-door to speak of our faith in Christ,” Young said.

The mission team complimented the Subarayadus’ work, Young said. “Despite facing tremendous spiritual challenges in a predominantly Hindu culture, Canden is a very effective and knowledgeable communicator of the gospel,” he added.

Subarayadu said that the mission team’s visit “made me ‘re-realize’ and rediscover that I am effective in reaching people outside the church,” Subarayadu said, “I love being on the street, talking about Jesus.”