Friday, December 24, 2010

Christian Invasion of India - Case Study of Andhra Pradesh





 V. V. S. Sarma
Bangalore


1. Introduction - A threatening scenario

 BISHOP EZRA SARGUNAM, Evangelical Church of India writes (06/27/2003) with caption  "INDIA- Mass Baptism in Patna" in the web site of his church outfit: I just returned from Patna, India, and am sending this praise note from Calcutta, en route Chennai. "But the spectacular baptismal event that has dwarfed the others took place in Patna, where we had in all two batches of 135 converts baptized in the river Ganges – in the very “Holy river”, where millions of the idol and demon worshipping pagans go every once in awhile to have a holy dip."


                The above statement of Bishop Sargunam, a learned Christian Bishop of Chennai, clearly reflects the attitude typical of Christian clergy towards the followers of Sanathana Dharma, the ancient religion of India popularly referred to as Hinduism, considered "the majority religion" of India. As a Hindu citizen of this great country, my personal hurt, anger and grief at this statement prompted me to undertake the research work whose preliminary findings are reported in this study. See also the praise of Sargunam by another Indian Christian " The churches of India are growing even faster than the churches of South Korea", P.G. Vargis, founder and leader of Indian Evangelical Team (IET) told Christian Aid. India has 10 churches with more than 10,000 members and 30 with more than 3,000 members. As an example of the readiness of India's people to accept Christ, he said that Ezra Sargunam, bishop of the Evangelical Church of India, baptized 2,231 people on a single day in 1999. IET missionaries baptized 11,700 people in 2001. An average of one church is planted every day through IET missionaries. The organization now has 2,088 missionaries, up from just 60 in 1977. Vargis said that in 2000 God gave him a vision to plant 7,777 churches by 2010. If each church started another, that goal would be reached next year. (Christian Aid Mission, November 7, 2002)" - (WHAT IN THE WORLD -INDIA, Issue 2002, Number 11, November 30, 2002)

Some years ago I stayed in YWCA, New Delhi. I saw a poster at the gate "the concern of the church is the poorest of the poor." I saw many well-dressed gentlemen in the robes of high-ranking church officials like Bishops. Many were speaking among themselves in Telugu, accompanied by their women folks in gorgeous Kanchipuram silk saris. I was curious to find out who all these people were. An inquiry at the reception revealed that there are bishops of some churches in A. P. - Cuddapah, Proddutur, Nandyala, and scores of such towns. I wondered how big was this particular church, to have such a galaxy of dignitaries conducting a three day conference in an expensive setting with their foreign funding agencies for serving the poorest of the poor of my home state's population. In July 2003, while walking in my home town Tadepalligudem, I found writings on church walls (Bethel Assembly) quoting their god's teachings, one of them being, "It is sinful to pray idols". Another church a kilometer away proclaimed on a huge hoarding the message "Those who believe in Jesus Christ are saved, and those who do not believe in Jesus Christ are punished". A new housing colony appeared at the outskirts of the town with crosses planted on all street corners. I recalled my childhood in that town that in 1953 or so, when the first church building was opened in that town. Fifty years later, the town has no road or areas left without a church. I was then interested in making a study of the growth of Christianity in A. P. during the half century, 1953-2003. In August 2003, I visited Visakhapatnam and stayed in an expensive hotel with daily room tariff exceeding Rs 2500 per day. I observed a week long training and planning conference arranged by the Seventh Day Adventist Church in the hotel.  The budget of the conference alone easily exceeds Rs 10 lakhs or even much more. What should be the annual budget of this church for Andhra Pradesh alone? The web site of this church revealed that as per 2001 data, they have 618 churches in A. P. area, with starting membership of 246055, and at the end of the year closing membership of 282572. It registered a growth rate of 13% in a year.  As per the 2001 Census of India, AP's population was 7.57 crores, growing at 1.386% per year. How many such churches are operating in A. P. and India (including countries such as Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka)? I embarked on this research study to satisfy my own curiosity.

To the best of my knowledge, no one in A. P. is even conscious of the magnitude of Christian conversions, the size of networks of missionaries, and the international support for these and the implication to the life of Hindus living in the state in the years to come. To the best of my knowledge a lone Hindu scholar by name Sri Prabhakara Uma Maheswara Pandita of Vijayawada had foreseen the impending disaster as early as 1950s. He then toured all over Andhra, without much support and gave lectures to Hindus about the impending dangers to the Hindu society. But his warning was neither recognized nor supported or followed up. May be in a limited way RSS is trying but again we do not see how it can handle the menacing enemy single handedly without human and monetary resources and with concerted opposition from the media, probably benefited by missionary funding. 

2. Situation in India in Missionary Perspective

            As per Liberation ministries web site, India is about one-third in area compared to The United States geographically, yet India is the largest block of unreached people in the world. Only 4% of the 1.3 billion people in India are Christians as in Table 1.

Table 1 Religions of India

Buddhist
0.7%
Christians
4%
Hindus
65%
Indigenous
12%
Muslims
15%
Sikhs
2%
Other
1.3%

The missionary strategy is to show unconverted tribal people as indigenous non-Hindu. In fact, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jaina, Indigenous and others are the native group of religions coming to 81% + basically non-indigenous religions (composed of mostly converts) coming to 19%. Hindus should try for status quo and welfare of this 81% belonging to indigenous religions.  The label HINDU has neither religious meaning nor significance except denoting people of the Sindhu River region in Persian. In actual practice, most S. C. Christians are Hindus as per official records for the sake reservation benefits.  As per one missionary web site, the Spiritual Atmosphere of India is as follows. "India is a country consisting of over 1000 million people. There are approximately 30 million Christians but sadly over 600 million have never heard of Jesus Christ. India is a diversified country with over 1600 languages and dialects and the Bible is printed in only 10% of the Indian languages. Nearly 800 million Hindus worship 33 million so-called gods and goddesses through idol-worship in traditional and sometimes primitive rituals like animal sacrifice. The biggest hurdle is the caste system, which is unique in India, grouping the people into thousands of castes and sub-castes solely by various professions, isolating and restricting people to their own castes and communities. Even marriage outside one's own caste is prohibited and attached with a social stigma."
Every church and missionary group from every country in the world is planning to completely convert India into a Christian country in order that India may be guided and controlled by political and religious forces and churches of those countries. Based on several web sites we give the following information about other states in India and neighbouring countries

TAMILNADU: The state of Tamilnadu represents the Dravidian pride and its cultural heritage goes back to the ancient times. But the despite the common thread of Tamil pride, the Tamil Society is factious and polarized with deep caste based social compartmentalization. The rich-poor gap is considerable and a majority of people lives in poor villages, depending on daily labor to make both ends meet. In Tamilnadu there are 19 missionaries for GIAFI and there are seven churches. Many people are turning to the Lord every other day and 14 people were baptized last month from different parts of Tamilnadu.

Christians are worried that the south Indian State of Kerala may be in danger of joining five other Indian states in passing an anti-conversion law. Jaya Lalitha, the chief minister of neighboring state Tamil Nadu, is a woman fierce in her promotion of Hinduism. After facilitating the passing of an anti-conversion law in Tamilnadu she threatened to visit Kerala to press for a similar law there. Even though she has not yet made the trip, Christians are still worried that such a law could be passed, since similar laws have been passed in five states: Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, and most recently Tamil Nadu.

BIHAR:  BISHOP EZRA SARGUNAM, writes (06/27/2003) - " In Bihar, the last few weeks or so, the Lord has enabled us to baptize several of our recent converts. On 23 April when Dr. J.L. Williams was here to participate in the Gypsy conference, we baptized 157 of Gypsy, Lambadi and Dalits in “defiance” against the recent legislation against conversion here in our state. In the recent years there was a social, political upheaval with a total revolt among the middle caste and the untouchables against the ruling upper caste Brahmins and the Bhoomihars (landlords). Once they were freed from the clutches of the oppressing communities the labor class, mostly the yadava (Shepherd caste) along with the former untouchables became the rulers of the state. There were less and less restrictions from the government against Christian activities. People were somewhat free to choose any religious persuasion."

GUJARAT: Missionaries are a bit worried about the Gujarat government though they are trying their best to malign the present government. Several web sites carried this news item:
New Delhi, Feb. 11: Police chiefs of all districts in Gujarat have been asked to, find out what "type of trickery is being used by the Christian missionaries" in their areas. The 13 specific points seek in information from the police network asking the officers:
" The total population of Christians, places they live in, places missionaries are located, foreign countries encouraging them, foreign grants, use of grants, Population of Christians village-wise, cases of class-wars between Hindus and Christians, number of Christians involved in offenses, type of trickery being used by Christian Missionaries defilement activities, numbers and types of vehicles they possess, licenses for keeping weapons with them, arrangements made for their security, expenses incurred for their security.
It is needless to say that all states need to collect this data to save India from this very real cultural invasion.

ORISSA: Orissa is one state, which offers stiff resistance to the Gospel of Christ. Orissa Government has passed a law that requires the written permission of the District Collector before converting into other religion. There are wide spread attacks on missionaries in Orissa. Yet GIAFI has good mission fields (in fact two of them) there. The state of Orissa has a population of 37,500,000 with approximately 787,500 believers (2.1%). Oriya is the major language and agriculture the predominant occupation (80% of the work force). Hinduism has captured the lives of 94.7% of the people of Orissa. But the tribal peoples are becoming more and more responsive to the Gospel.  The Orissa Congress on Church Development (CONS) has committed to: (1) plant 7200 new churches, (2) target 15,500 unreached villages, (3) place at least one Christian worker in every postal area code (9,398), and (4) mobilize 10,000 people in cell groups to pray daily, all by the year 2000.

KARNATAKA: The situation in Karnataka is in contrast to A. P. Christianity in Karnataka Today:
Current Statistics:
The last census provided the disappointing news that the Christian population, which was 2.9% in 1971, has now declined to 2%. This information should be taken very seriously. For this highlights the fact that the Christian population in this land is not increasing but declining. Even today there are thousands of people in this land who have never heard the gospel, not even once. There are many places where not one single Christian lives, and there are several districts, which do not have a single Church. In Karnataka there are about 1.1 million Christians, with about 300 thousand living in Bangalore. Most of the Christians in Karnataka worship in the Catholic Church. Although most of the headquarters of Christian organizations are situated in Bangalore City, those organizations with a vision of reaching Karnataka are very few. There is hardly any Kannada Missionary organization, which has the vision to reach people with the gospel of Christ. Rather the percentage of Tamils and Malayalee missionaries who learn Kannada to reach Kannadigas is much higher. In Karnataka it is an undisputed fact that the number of Christian Churches that hold services in English, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam, is much higher than the number of those holding services in Kannada.

The strategy increasingly employed now is friendship and love and matrimony evangelism. There is a spurt in increase of marriages where a Christian girl or boy entices an upper caste Hindu boy or girl into love and wedlock with the church intervening to demand that the children be baptized if not the spouse. (Late Rajiv Gandhi's case is of this category, though there were some hush-hush news items regarding baptism of Rajiv Gandhi himself, with a Roberto added to his name). The strong Hindu traditions of Karnataka are vanishing in Bangalore.  There are stories of poor people lured with promises of monitory, educational and health benefits. 

NEPAL: In Nepal, where it is illegal to baptize believers, thousands have been baptized. Christians meet in house churches. One pastor's house has been expanded to enable several hundred to meet for worship and teaching. Baptisms occur in the bathtub.

Malaysia: The following information about Telugu People in Malaysia with plans for conversion by Joshua project web site indicates the reach of Christian Evangelism. This project identifies every nook and corner of India and the whole world and supports missionaries to send evangelists trained in that language for conversion to Christianity:

People Group Information:
Country:
Malaysia
Language Spoken:
Telugu
Population of Telugu Language Speakers in this country of  World:
70,000
Language Code:
TCW00
% Christians of this People in this Country:
0%
# of Evangelicals of this People in this Country:
0
% Evangelicals of this People in this Country:
0%

3. Research Methodology

I wanted to make use of only primary materials available in public domain. The most important resource today is the worldwide web and Internet search engines such as Google. I started a Google search with key words: MISSIONARY EVANGELISM ANDHRA PRADESH. The world the search engine presented before me is mind-boggling. It is humanly impossible for a single person to digest the whole mass of information available. The clash of civilizations is not an empty word. The unfolding of an invasion of an inconceivable magnitude, without any attention of the media or government shocked me. The churches themselves officially describe this invasion as the grand CRUSADE, the Christian equivalent of the well-known "ISLAMIC JIHAD". They write "The State of Andhra Pradesh has been an ignored state till recently, but now is on the path of revolutionary change. On one side of the ledger we have big computers and cyber bank on the other side we have starvation deaths and mindless discrimination against girl children. The rural people are desperately fighting for survival and subversive agencies have emerged to capitalize on the frustrated young minds. Naxal menace is one thing that the Telugu Government fights hard to suppress. These factors highlight how important it is, to reach the state, especially its poor people with the Gospel of Christ. The GIAFI has many churches and mission stations there and has plans to start a Missionary Training Center."

I wanted at least some crude answers to the following questions:

1) What is the total population of Christians in AP now in 2003 (or 2001, coinciding with census years)? What were the numbers in 1801, 1851, 1901, and 1951? What are the growth rates in AP as against other states in India? What is the position of Hinduism in relative terms? Is there a Hindu reaction at all?
2) What are the distributions of Christian populations, if possible, by district, mandal-wise and village-wise, for these years?
3) What are the numbers of Christian missionaries operating in AP and their details? How many are local people, how many are from other states of India and how many are foreigners?
4) Which foreign churches and countries are encouraging and supporting the missionaries?
5) How much amount of grant do they get from which foreign countries? How do they make use of the grants?
6) How many Christians are involved in the religious conversion activity and have done violations of existing laws in the process? How do they circumvent the existing laws? Are they involved in criminal activities in this process?
7) What or the tactics and type of strategies Christian Missionaries are using in their conversion activities? How are they recruiting people? How do they locate target groups vulnerable for conversion and complete the process?
8) How many and what type and numbers of vehicles (transport systems), communication and information systems do they possess for achievement of their objectives?

4. Andhra Pradesh under Siege

4.1 History of Christian Conversions in Andhra Pradesh (1900-1950)

Protestant missions in Andhra Pradesh, like those elsewhere in India, enjoyed their greatest success among scheduled castes and tribes. Mass movements among the Malas and Madigas began before the turn of the century and continued through the 1930's. The 1931 Census estimated that 20 per cent of the depressed classes in West Godavari, 32 per cent in the Krishna and 57 per cent in the Guntur district had converted to Christianity. Beginning around 1906 caste Hindus also began to convert, so that by 1931 there were over 26,000 of them. Missionaries expected that the Christian message could percolate upwards to the higher castes.

Bishop Pickett argued this thesis in his study of the movement Christ'-s Way to India's Heart. He felt that caste Hindus were impressed by the positive changes exhibited by the converts. Pickett supports his argument by giving anecdotal accounts of caste Hindus who were influenced by untouchable converts. He also shows that the bulk of caste conversions occurred in areas where the mass movement among Malas and Madigas was also strong. B.A. Oddie in his later study "Christian Conversion among Non-Brahmans in Andhra Pradesh", supports Pickett's thesis noting that the majority of Sudras converting were of the agricultural castes which had the most contact with Christian converts. Andhra Pradesh is a Telugu speaking area where Sudras, the lowest of the four varnas of caste Hinduism make up the bulk of society. Kshatriyas and Vaisyas are almost unknown, and Brahmans form a small minority. Society then is divided into three major groupings: the few Brahmans at the top constitute the priesthood, Scholarship and bureaucracy; the Sudras, are the large agricultural castes, while the untouchables are relegated the bottom rung and serve the Sudras. The barrier, therefore, between Sudra and outcaste has an even greater significance in this region than in other parts of India. The most numerous "Sudra" conversions reported occurred among the subcastes of the Yannadis, Lambadis, Yerukulas, Waddaras. Telegas. Kammas, Yadowas. and Reddis. Of these the Yannadis and Lambadis were not Sudras at all but tribal people who stood apart from both the caste system and Hindu society in general. The Yerukulas and Waddaras were semi-tribal people in the process of "Sanskritization" who had been reluctantly granted status as Sudras. The Yerukulas were basket weavers who often lived in separate villages and spoke a dialect different from that of other Telugu. The Waddaras were itinerant ditch-diggers and stonecutters. Both groups had a reputation for stealing and in the 1920's were compelled by the Criminal Tribes Act to remain in a fixed location under police surveillance. Many of these people clearly became Christians in order to escape harassment from police and village officials. Admitted one Yerukalas convert:
Owing to the unbearable oppression of the village authorities not only myself but all my kinsfolk have become Christians. In former times when a theft occurred, whoever might be the thief, the village authorities used to arrest us and put us in prison for some days. But since we have become Christians we are free from such troubles. No one is bold enough to touch us without the permission of our pastor. Besides that we are now worshiping the true God.
The Telegas, Kammas, Yadowas and Reddis possessed clear credentials as Sudras. Of these groups, the Kammas converted in the greatest number and the conversion of some of them in the Guntur district is the best documented. The Kammas played a leading role in the non-Brahman movement under the leadership of the Justice Party, which dominated politics in the Madras Presidency during the 1920's. This movement originated as protest against the leadership of the Brahmans in political and social life. The Brahmans had been the first to acquire western education in this area and thereby obtained a near-monopoly on government positions. The Justice Party pressed for a quota system in order to insure representation of all groups. They opposed the nationalist movement since they believed it would only consolidate the dominant position of the Brahmans. Opposition to the Brahmans expressed itself in the religious realm as well. The Smritis, the Puranas and even the Ramayana received criticism for being weighed in favor of the Aryans over the Dravidians and for containing humiliating references to non-Brahmans. In the Guntur and Krishna districts the Brahmans questioned the propriety of the Viswa Brahmanas teaching the Vedas to the Kammas since they regarded both groups as Sudras. The Kammas reacted by training members of their own caste in priest-craft, calling them Kamma-Brahmans. They established schools for this purpose in several areas. The dissatisfaction on the part of the Kammas and other dominant Sudra groups, who in economic terms were part of the ruling class, with the Hindu social system provided a contributing factor which allowed for the conversion of significant numbers of them. While the anti-Brahminical sentiment and growing secularism of the Kammas probably made them more tolerant of conversion than they might otherwise have been, the conversions themselves, came from corners far removed from the political agitation. Before 1940 most of the Sudra converts in the Guntur district were women, often elderly and widowed. These women usually learned Christianity from Bible women, who visited their homes and related Bible stories to them.
Younger women were often exposed to Christianity through the Lutheran hospital where they went to bear their children. These female converts often succeeded in inducing their husbands to convert as well. In one instance where a woman persuaded her husband to become a Christian, the husband, hesitating to seek baptism alone, sought support from the wife's family. Eventually they were all baptized in 1917.

Most of the Christians in their town (Peddavadlapudi) were from the depressed classes and the Kammas, though the only caste Hindus in the community worshiped separately, claiming to be annoyed by the lack of reverence shown by outcaste Christians. This indicates how little outcaste Christians in that town had to do with the caste conversion movement. After this family's conversion, a mission school was opened for caste girls. Within ten years twelve Kamma families had converted, mostly at the urging of the womenfolk.

For the post-independence half-century (1950-2000), the missionaries in Andhra Pradesh had a totally free soft state for their conversion activities. The church became a powerful force in almost all districts acquiring large properties, hundreds and thousands of institutions, an important vendor of medical services indirectly providing for preaching of miracles and pioneered English-medium education. The label of secularism was introduced surreptitiously in the Indian Constitution through one of the many amendments of the constitution. This has succeeded in making Hindus secular (meaning ignorant of their own religion) while keeping minorities well trained in their respective religions to challenge the masses of the majority religion by inducement and blatant lies regarding Hindu religion. Aggressive marketing of Christianity by employing all the tricks of the business management trade, it is being projected as the only TRUE RELIGION, with Jesus declared the most powerful detergent to wash one of the accumulated dirt of his sins.

The change of government at the centre has started to ring bells of caution to the missionaries about the slow understanding of the Hindu society regarding their own status in India. A missionary of "INDIA FOR CHRIST" now writes in 2003 " In Andhra Pradesh State, in particular, the poor who subsist on daily labour are suffering severely for food and clothing. Many destitute people are dying for the lack of proper nourishment and shelter. Even safe drinking water is not available in some places. Due to last year's drought, plus present conditions, many farmers are considering suicide as a way out because of their insoluble problems.
As reported by: Rev. N. K. Rakshana, Indian Director and Pastor - India for Christ
At this time, Christianity in Andhra Pradesh is facing dreadful incidents from the HINDU religious leaders in India. These troubles come from the strong parties within the Hindu coalition government, namely: Vishwa Hindu Parishad (i. e. V.H.P.), R.S.S., and Siva Sena. At present they are not allowing foreign Christian missionaries to preach about religion in the churches or out of doors. This is a new act on the part of government. Foreign missionaries have permission only to visit the social works, which they are sponsoring, and then they must leave and go home. As if all the above is not difficult enough to bare, now, Indian Islamic (Muslim) organizations have decided to kill Americans. They do this everywhere and anywhere in India they find them, because of the war in Iraq. They have already passed a FATWA to kill Americans. A FATWA is a legal decision or ruling made by an Islamic religious leader. These are the kinds of terrible situations that we are presently facing. We, therefore, urgently request your prayers. We believe that these are signs of the soon return of Christ.

1.2  Telugu Bible Printing Budget of One Church per Year

India is DenSu's newest frontier and the Telugu language is about to become the seventh language into which we have published our True Happiness book. The State of Andhra Pradesh's 79 million people, 85% of which speak the Telugu language, is the first people group which we will attempt to reach with the Gospel of Jesus Christ in India. Our ultimate goal is to make the Gospel message of our book and tract, "True Happiness Can Be Yours", available in all major Indian languages to all the people of India, a nation of over one billion people. As I write this newsletter, Brother Mike Korabek, a special partner and representative of DenSu Ministries, is planning to travel from Minnesota to Hyderabad, the capital city of Andhra Pradesh. He is to meet Brother P. J. Kishore, who will be directing the translation, printing and distribution of the Telugu book and tract. We are planning in the Lord to initially print and distribute 200,000 copies of our True Happiness tract and 5,000 copies of the book, both in the Telugu language. While the translation and printing is taking place, Brother Kishore will be developing the distribution net- work among the Body of Christ, which consists of about 1% of the population of the State of Andhra Pradesh. The overall costs of this project are estimated at $10,000 U. S. Dollars.

1.3  Extracts from individual church reports


 1. Baptist Churches of India
India is the second most populous nation on planet earth. One billion people, one-sixth of world population, live in India. The nation consists of 29 states and six union territories. It is 82% Hindu, 12% Muslim and only three percent Christian. The General Baptist churches are located in the state of Andhra Pradesh along the southeastern coast of the Bay of Bengal. Rev. P. Suvarna Raj is the Executive Director of the India Association of General Baptists. With the help of an eight-member executive committee, he oversees the ministry and needs of the work. In 2000, the Association reported 99 churches, 603 baptisms, and approximately 8,000 workers.
Foreign missionary participation: Rev. Glenn Jenkins serves as a regular short-term missionary to India. He spends a minimum of two months in India each year working with Pastor Raj and the leaders of the India church in the further growth and organization of the work. He also continues to collect data from the churches and work on projects for communication, accountability and leadership training.

2. Evangelical Church of India

Again on the 7th of this month, June 2003, I was privileged to baptize 69 converts drawn from Lambadis and Dalits near Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. (Bishop Sargunam, )

3.Report from Andhra Pradesh,  (World Christian Magazine - 6 Aug 2003),

Pastor D, Kerala appeals to world Christians  - " This is one of the least evangelized states in India. People are least educated, literacy being 20%. People are so receptive to the gospel and ready for a change. 60 people responded in each village under a tree with gasoline lamps and no microphones. My heart was really touched by the condition of the people. Many women were possessed and got delivered. When people see the power of God in healing and deliverance they are ready to throw away their idols and witchcraft things. Coveting your prayers and support to find $50 a month to support our full time evangelists.

4. Oasis World Ministries

In March we saw 10,600 souls saved in the Rayalaseema area of Andhra Pradesh, India, with 50% of the crowd hearing the gospel for the very first time. More recently we saw an additional 8,000 Hindus saved at our last crusade in November in the districts of Andhra Pradesh. Our crusades are sprinkled with timeless truths of the Bible and dramas bringing the gospel alive to a dying people. We conduct pastor and leader seminars and host crusades. We build churches and drill fresh water bored-well nearby.
Not only do they receive their need of life giving water, but they also receive spiritually by accepting Christ as their Savior. Our combination of partner involvement, open-air crusades, associates and national evangelists have helped to make this soul count and outreach possible. Joshua would’ve been proud of this vision!

5. New Covenant Church of God

The following are our major associates: 1. Ramabhadrapuram Central Colony (Bishop Vara Prasad), 2. Pravathipuram (Elder Nagabhunsham)' 3. Saluru (Elder Applla Naidu), 4. Vishka (Elder Hanok), 5. Vizag (Elder John Moses), 6. Bombay/Mumbai (Elder Matta Maria Das), 7. Mallipudi (Elder P. Zachariah), 8. Annavaram (Elder S. Sudharsan Rao), 9. Maleswaram (Elder S. Suvarna Raju), 10. Penugonda (Elder Muniyya), 11. Achanta (Elder Dhana Raju), 12. Deva (Elder Ganti Raja Rao) , 13. Subbhannamuddu Pet (Elder Thute John) , 14. Kotheleparru (Elder Myle Chandra Bose) , 15. Iragavaram (Elder Someswara Rao) 16. Kannuru (Elder Nathi Prekesh Kumar), 17. Iragavaram (East) (Elder Gunapadu Dhana Raju), 18. Attili (Elder R. Moses) , 19. Lanka Pet (Elder Chinta Ezra)' 20. Peravali (Elder Sugunna Rao), 21. Jayapur [Orissa State] (Elder Anjan Kumar)  NCCG LOCAL DEPENDENT COLONIES - 22. Manda Pet (East) (Deacon N. D. V. N. Raju) 23. Manda Pet (South) (Deacon Prakesh Babu) 24. Rajolu (Deacon Yesu Das) 25. Rapaddu (Deacon Sagar) 26. Nandhigama (Guntur District) (Deacon Venkata Rao) 27. Konaseema (Deacon Earnest Paul) 28. Vizianagaram Post (Deacon Alli Krishna) 29. Parvathipuram Post (Padha Lanka) (Mr. Srinu Va), 30. Vistnupuram, 31. Padha Lanka , 32. Bobbili (Deacon Naniti Joseph)

6.  2003 World Missions Conference report: WPBC’s Investment in India is Paying Rich Dividends!

Leave the large cities of India, go past the many villages, WADE across the rivers and streams (no roads, bridges or boats) and enter the forests and mountains. This is where tribal groups live, 20 to 30 families per group in small huts a short distance from one another. They have no education (cannot read nor write), medicine or medical care, proper food or clothing. They survive by subsistence farming, hunting, and theft.
These are the forgotten people of India. But GOD has not forgotten them. God is moving among them! This is the mission field of WPBC missionary Victor. Twenty-eight Indian missionaries are taking the gospel to these tribal group people and have planted 225 churches among the 6,915 who accepted Christ in 2002. Seven of the 28 missionaries are supported by WPBC and have seen God deliver 2,795 from their former worship of animals, idols, things in nature (trees, rocks, etc.) in 2002.

Victor and his family work from Hyderabad, in Andhra Pradesh, India’s fifth largest state, which has 23 districts. Each district is divided into five sectors, and each sector is divided into mini-sectors which each contain 30 to 50 villages where the name and gospel of Jesus Christ has NEVER been heard. Early each morning two missionary couples leave the village in their assigned mini-sector that has been selected as the Missionary Center. They visit one of the villages in the mini-sector and from morning ‘till evening go from house-to-house sharing the gospel (15-20 houses each day; 1-2 villages each month). In the evenings they conduct open-air meetings. God is using this process! After 15-20 people in a village receive Christ, baptisms are held, and one leader is chosen for that village. A systematic and in-depth follow-up then proceeds to strengthen and enrich the faith of these new believers and to nurture them in the Word of God. Churches begin in each village meeting under a tree, followed by small hut, leading finally to a tile-roofed church building. Did we fail to mention the danger from snakes (cobras), bears, and fanatical groups that beat the missionaries, take their bicycles and burn their materials, and threaten them with death? And that walking and bicycling are the ONLY way to get from place to place? Missionaries have been deployed in three districts of Andhra Pradesh and are seeing wonderful results as the Lord blesses this ministry with a great harvest of souls – 21,000 so far! BUT, the ministry needs PRAYER support, financial support for the missionaries ($40 per month) and bicycles. What would the Lord have YOU do?

K  Prabhu Dayal and the evangelism in Andhra Pradesh. (South India): Dayal prays as follows:  "Please grant the Telugu missionaries favorable weather. Please send the waterers to water the Gospel-seed planted in these new converts. Please keep them from temptation and strengthen them in the Holy Ghost. -- Amen. Visited Villages - 64 and One Town, Distributed Tracts - 46,000, Bibles - 211,Gospel Pockets - 4,700, New Testaments - 50, (All the materials are in Telugu Language). We have conducted Gospel meetings every night, for about 26 days. In this campaign 649 accepted the LORD JESUS CHRIST as their Savior.

8. India Prophecy Conference
Revival Literature Fellowship organized prophecy meetings for Midnight Call Ministries U.S.A. From the 21st of February, these prophecy meetings were arranged in three different places in the state of Andhra Pradesh in the southern part of India.  Warangal, Kurnool and Tirupathi were the towns chosen for these meetings mainly for the Christian population. The theme chosen for these meetings was "Israel in Bible Prophecy." Arno Froese wonderfully brought out from the Scriptures the role Israel plays in the fulfillment of Bible prophecy in the end times. He also showed from the Scriptures that Jesus is indeed coming back soon. On an average, about 500 people attended these conferences in each of these places. Considering the very small Christian population in these towns, these meetings were well attended.
Warangal : Warangal is a historical place dating back to the 13th century. There are three small towns; Kazipet, Hanamakonda and Warangal, which are joined together with a good Christian population. Baptist is the main denomination among many others.
Kurnool : After a day's break, we traveled by train to the city of Kurnool for our second prophecy conference. The Brethren Assembly along with some other churches took up the responsibility of organizing. The meetings began on a Tuesday evening and concluded on Thursday night. The local organizers did everything in their power to fill the auditorium each meeting. We were greatly encouraged to see the deep spiritual hunger of those who came for these meetings every night and for the Bible study on Wednesday morning. People were seen taking down notes and listening to the messages very attentively.
Tirupathi : The next day we traveled to Tirupathi - our last town for the prophecy conference. Tirupathi is the gateway to Tirumala, which is the most important pilgrimage center for Hindus. On the average, about 50,000 people visit this Temple City every day and the number increases to 200,000 people on important days. Tirumala is situated on seven hills, which is the abode of one of the Hindu gods. This city filled with idol religion was challenged by the Word of God.
Every evening, the hall was filled to capacity and the people came with great spiritual hunger to hear the endtime message. Eager participation was demonstrated by most listeners as they were taking down notes even until the last minute.
On the last day, Mr. Froese spoke on the coming of the Antichrist and applied it to present-day Christians showing how the spirit of Antichrist is already at work in the lives of many Christians. The audience was spellbound to hear such important messages, which were very unique for this city. Brother Ishmael and his co-workers follow their special calling to reach the unreached. The work is difficult and sometimes dangerous but also rewarding when souls given totally to idolatry turn around and accept Jesus as their personal Savior.

The following is a report by John Ishmael relating to the India Prophecy Conference in February of this year: A Five-Year Plan with specific and measurable goals: ADOPT-A-VILLAGE

WHAT IS FG 2000 [Final Goal]: FG 2000 is a vision of planting 2000 churches and sending out 100 dedicated natives missionaries in every district of un-reached, forgotten villages in Andhra Pradesh, South India.
Andhra Every missionary will have a structure of 20 villages map to carry out a 5 year program to cover 2000 un-reached villages. Our missionaries who keep moving from village to village teaching, preaching and nourishing the new babes in Christ in all these villages are held responsible to fulfill this project. The plan includes intensive training for all these missionaries with a heavy emphasis on personal; evangelization and soul winning and plant Churches.1 Missionary in 5 years can reach 20 villages and plant 20 Churches.
1 X 20 = 20
100 Missionaries in 5 years can reach 2000 villages and plant 2000 Churches.
100 X 20 = 2,000.
MY PLEDGE
One Missionary monthly support.
=$ 50.00
To cover 20 Villages

Ten Missionaries monthly support
=$ 500.00
To cover 200 Villages

Fifty Missionaries monthly support
=$ 2500.00
To cover 1,000 Villages

Hundred Missionaries monthly support
=$5000.00
To cover 2,000 Villages

OUR RESPONSIBILITES:
Accountability to God and to our supporters is the top priority and informing the activities and developments of the ministry every month.

9. A. Newsletter From India - MARCH 2002 by Evelyn Splane (NOTE: Evelyn Splane: founder and chairperson of INDIA FOR CHRIST, an indigenous mission, consisting of 50 orphan boys, and several out-reach ministers, in S.E. India.) It was a cool dewy night on December 31, 2001. Yet the whole congregation, 2000 or more strong, assembled in the India for Christ Church in Chilakaluripet for the Watch Night Service.
Seemingly EVERYONE wanted a blessing on that special occasion. I took my place at the exit and laid my hand upon each one who passed through the door and prayed or blessed them. Yes, they are hungry for the blessing of God and are more ardent in their faith than most of us are. Impressed by their fervency, I disregarded my weariness, drew upon the Lord and He poured in His strength. Between Friday, December 21, 2001 and Friday, January 4, 2002, we had nine meetings. On Sunday December 23, 2001, a baptism service was held in which 29 new believers were baptized. .By a rough estimate there must have been 3000 people present. What excitement! Indians love festivals. The believers can no longer participate in the Hindu idolatrous festivals so they make the best of the Christian celebrations. They come to service all bedecked in new, bright colored clothing.
I have now been back in Canada since January 9, 2002. The executive Committee of India for Christ has met. I was overjoyed to see how well funds have been coming in over the past year. God is so faithful. This is, of course, HIS work. Besides the increase in numbers in the Chilakaluripet church, increases in other ministries are also developing. Each evening a group of young men have been gathering for a time of prayer and Bible Teaching, in preparation for outreach to the surrounding areas. They stay and sleep there all night, leaving early in the morning to go to their homes and duties. Later, we will purchase a used jeep and they will go out to evangelize. By your good giving, we have also been able to construct a fine little church in a very remote village called Jami, located the north part of Andhra, not far from the Orissa border. The people of this area have faced much persecution just for being Christians. A generous gift from friends in England has also helped with that building.  While within the Chilakaluripet congregation the moving of God has been tremendous, yet, severe attacks have come from without. Because we are encroaching upon Satan's territory, saving souls from eternal damnation, the Adversary, the Devil is attacking violently. He is using persons we had considered friends. Now, they are traitors, tools of Satan, trying to destroy the work of God. Pastor Rakshana has been the special target for attack, but he is a strong, faithful and prayerful servant of God who has been held up beneath it all by faith. We need your continued prayers for him and for the work of God there. By laying hold by faith to the promises of God, we know the ultimate victory will be ours even though the battles are not yet over.

Evelyn Splane, Missionary, Information on India For Christ Mission:
Founder and Director of India For Christ: (Rev.) Miss Evelyn Splane who spends 6 months annually in each of the following places for God's work. Canadian Director: (Rev. Paul Henderson) India For Christ, 12 Moore Street, Smith Falls, ON. Canada, K7A 2L4.  Indian Administrator: (Rev. N.K, Rakshana) India For Christ, Purushothamapatnam By-pass Rd. Chilakaluripet P.O. 522616, Guntur District, A.P.

B. Newsletter from India - autumn 2002  - Article by Evelyn Splane

I returned to our mission base on August 8, 2002 and was joyously welcomed. I came ready to dig in and pick up my share of the burden so needless to say it did not take long to once again become fully involved. In my second week back I made the long train journey (approximately 10 hours) to our Vishakhapatnam Branch to attend to responsibilities there regarding two of the churches. Last December we built and dedicated a little country church in Jami in Vijayanagaram District. Although services have continued there, work remained undone that we are now trying to complete.
As soon as the pastor sends us a reliable estimate we can supply the necessary funds to complete the job. This will be a nice little church. Another matter of importance had to be addressed at this time as well. One pastor had resigned and we had to appoint a replacement. I am happy to report that this has been done.

STRENGTHENING THE FORCES
Here in the Chilakaluripet congregation there has been increase, both in number and in the maturity of the believers. Two full-time ordained pastors have been appointed as assistants and they are covering many sections of this large town. They hold house meetings almost daily in various places and a group of Bible Women assists them with singing and praying with the people. The Word of God is given, and the sick of the neighbourhood come for healing prayer. If a microphone can be used in these meetings the gospel goes out to the whole neighbourhood and this, of course, is the purpose.
NEW STEPS
During my months of absence from India a new step was taken and a Bible School was started. In attendance, we presently have about twenty young men, some of which have young families and some of which are single. Pastor Rakshana has trained these young men in Bible and Evangelism, preparing them to go out into the surrounding regions to preach the gospel. They have in fact been doing just that, some being transported by bus and some walking to their destinations. For this purpose, upon my return to India, I was able to bring the funding necessary from India for Christ to purchase a used jeep van in good condition. Teams can now go out to hold night meetings in the rural areas and are able to transport the necessary sound equipment, as it is required.
EXPANSION
India for Christ has expanded into many districts in Andhra Pradesh. It now stretches from Prakasam district, which is just southwest of here, and extends up the coast through Guntur District, Krishna District, West and East Godavari Districts and to Vishalapatnam and Vijayanagaram Districts, almost to the Orissa State border. Seven districts with twelve chief congregations and other branch groups are being touched by and ministered to by India for Christ. We support twenty pastors and ten Bible Women and we have a Home Staff of ten members plus the Administrator. Our Children's Home is fifty strong again and all sections are progressing nicely. Many other needy, faithful pastors are working independently but are requesting to join us. We however, can only expand and go into new areas, as your faithful support is made available to us.
Previously I have reported some of the opposition and counter attacks that we have faced and still face. An undercurrent of opposition exists, but there is nothing these enemies can do against the hand of our Lord Jesus Christ. As for the lady, Rita, the one who created so many problems, she finally admitted to her misdeeds. Due to this admission, we have eased her discipline. She is dwelling in a separate place, but her son Benjamin is studying in the Bible College in Bangalore and is doing well.
We are requesting that all of our sponsors and all of the saints in Canada, and anywhere else this letter reaches, to pray about India. India is facing many severe and distressing situations regarding religion and physical survival. These include famine, strong aggregations and hostile incidents between political parties. Signed by: N. K. Rakshana
10. INDIA VILLAGE MINISTRIES
Suresh & Roja Vemulapalli state " Our vision and calling is to reach the unreached millions in India especially the unreached Hindus with the good news of Christ.
Out of India’s billion population, 855 millions live in the rural areas. They do not have the opportunity that other people of the world have to hear about Jesus.  Hence our primary aim is to make Christ known in the villages of India. Our desire and prayer is that because God has given us time in this life, we should do what ever we can for those who are dead spiritually and those who are physically dying, for Jesus' sake.
We achieve our vision by using tracts, movie and video presentations to create interest in spiritual matters, and regularly visiting homes to teach about Jesus Christ and by conducting Gospel outreach meetings. We provide tracts, booklets, Gospels and Bibles for further understanding of the spiritual truths. We conduct group discussion meetings for those who want to know more and Bible study groups for those who accept the Lord, baptism, and fellowship of believers to plant churches. What a great joy to see the spiritually blind Hindus opening their eyes and seeing the love of God. And it is all because of the blood of Jesus. Praise His name!
INDIA VILLAGE MINISTRIES - WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Saved from Hindu families, we were called by God to minister to the unreached ones in India and elsewhere. At present we are ministering in coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh, South India and in Scotland. To fulfill our mission, we are involved in the following strategies: evangelistic crusades, Bible Schools, support of national church planters and evangelists, benevolent ministries to widows and orphans.
You can become a partner in the growing focus on India. The opportunities are limitless. Partner in prayer: Adopt one of the villages of India and pray and give until a church is established there. This is a tremendous opportunity for you/your church to become directly involved with a people group or a village, visiting the area, researching the needs and giving your resources to establish a sister congregation there. Partner in personnel.: Establish a link by personally supporting native missionary in India, supporting them through your resources and your prayers. Partner in advocacy: Only by many working together can we effectively reach India. You can be a help to the Lord's work by telling others about us to add partners to the ministry. Use your influence and whatever forums are available to you to share the needs and invite others to become partners as well. Set up links to your website. This greatly helps inform other Christians of the work going on in India and the needs of our ministry. Partner in sharing resources: Give generously to the various projects and programs within India that are targeting the unreached peoples. You can: Sponsor children project-We are also ministering the children for their salvation as they are the strong pillars of the nation. Provide support for running Children homes. Help transform a child in Jesus' name and begin to change the world. We want to build churches in places where there are no places of worship, for the new converts who have accepted Christ in their lives. Provide transportation for those in the work -- bicycles, motorcycles, vans as needed. Provide support for training the native missionaries. If you feel that you could help us with our vision in any way, please contact us.
India Village Ministries, PO Box 18485, Aberdeen AB24 3XN, Scotland, U. K.
Web-Site: www.indiavillage.org
11. Repalle christian college,  Repalle, A. P., India, A proposal for the college class room building, india rural evangelical fellowship, Mission statement:
India Rural Evangelical Fellowship is an interdenominational evangelical Christian development organization, dedicated to:
1.       Reaching rural villages of Andhra Pradesh, South India, with the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2.       Mobilize Christians in this task
3.       Planting and enabling local churches. There are 65 million people live in 30,000 villages in the state of Andhra Pradesh. More than 10,000 of those villages never heard the name of Jesus Christ. Now IREF has 127 national missionaries working in 350 villages. Since foreign missionaries cannot live in India, IREF is committed equipping national missionaries, pastors and the local church to carry the great commission. It is our responsibility to prepare India Christians as leaders and better equipped messengers of the Gospel to --- know God and make Him known.
4.       Taking care of the orphan, destitute, needy and street children and providing food, housing, education and medical needs. Educating them through John's Schools, Repalle Christian Colleges.
MINISTRY LOCATION: Gospel Fields in Repalle, Andhra Pradesh., South India is the location of Lydia Children's Home with 1000 children and John's High School, serving students through high school, Repalle Christian Junior College with 250 students, Repalle Christian College with over 500 students, St.Peter's Multipurpose Health workers (female) Training Institute with 40 students and Training 50 Pastors and evangelists through IREF School of Evangelism.
Repalle Christian College is established to:
1.       Provide good Christian education to the poor Christian students, who can't afford to get Christian education.
2.       Prepare young men and women for the ministry of rural evangelism.
3.       Teach Biblical truths and basic doctrine.
4.       Present the Wholistic ministry and message of the gospel to the rural poor. Young Indian Christians need good education and training.

TOTAL PROJECT COST = Rs 29,707,660 = $600,000

12. Prayer request with a begging bowl from an Evangelist in Warangal to a Church in Canada

Dear brother,
Greetings in the name of our lord Jesus Christ, I am introducing myself through this letter. My name is Bro. K. Viswanath. I am an  evangelist & secretary of Warangal church of Christ.  I am from India, state of Andhra Pradesh. We are preaching true church of Christ gospel. From last 15 years back in 1986. In our area so many people are Hindu background families. It means dangerous idol worshipers. And we proclaiming gospel in those areas.  In our city near by so many villages are located. We are spreading our church of Christ gospel. After hearing our true church of Christ gospel,  so many people repented and they got baptized and  joined in our church of Christ. So many people are converting from idol worship to Christianity.  So many lost souls we are saving. We have 30 member widows and 25 orphan children.  We don't have any church buildings.  You please come to India and participate in our work and please encourage us. - Bro. K. Viswanath., Evangelist, secretary/correspondent church of Christ 11-25-466, Kothawada,: Warangal -506012


5. Church Strategies for Conversion of Unsuspecting Hindus

5.1 Targeting Hindu Students abroad (Strategy 1)

Dates: May 4, 2003 - September 12, 2003, Hosted by South Asian Inst. Of Training And Resources (SITAR)  Hindu student outreach programmes: Hinduism Training Institute will be "one week of intensive training on Hinduism to begin to understand the Hindu Worldview, learn contextualized ways to communicate the Gospel, and become effective in disciplining Hindus around the globe." This week long training event is designed to equip missionaries, campus workers, tentmakers, church leaders and others seeking to build a bridge to the Hindu world.
This training course is being offered three times this coming summer: May 4-9, August 24-29, 2003 and again September 8-12, 2003 at Palmer Lake near Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. To find out more details about the program see: http://www.sitaronline.org/SITARtraining.


5.2 Caste-wise targeting of upper caste Hindus, by wooing the few of them who convert to the profitable conversion business (Strategy 2)

5.2.1 The Brahmin Community in India and abroad
From the meeting proceedings of Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod Churches and Seminaries in USA:
So this is the time to comfort our Indian Christians and pray for them that the Lord strengthen them with good faith and keep them safe under His wings. Many of my friends (pastors) love to visit our Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod Churches and Seminaries to know more about the pure word of God and true faith, which we kept for centuries.
MINISTRY NEWS: (EVANGELISM)
We visited many places on Devon Avenue to present the Gospel to non-Christians and many have taken New Testaments in English and Hindi. This time our elder Mr. Simon Peters used a different approach to present the Gospel. He explained the Gospel from the experience of a Brahmin convert Rev. Paravasthu Suryanarana Rao in Andhra Pradesh. He found Christ in the Hindu scriptures. The Gospel tract 'How to attain Moksha' raised many questions among the readers. We explained to them the true way to attain 'Mukthi' (freedom) from all our human burdens of this world. Please continue to pray our to Lord that the Holy Spirit may work among them to confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord and Savior. If any one is interested to join with us please call 773-588-4303. We go for evangelism on every Thursday evening.

5.2.2 The Vysya Community
Rev. Dr. Rao is the founder of Progressive Faith Ministries. This Ministry was started in the year of 1994 by Dr. B.V.S.N. Rao & Mrs. B. Shoba Roa at Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh of South India.
Dr. B.V.S.N. Rao was born in 1948 in a strong traditional Hindu family (Vysya by caste). He was a Pharmaceutical Marketing consultant by Profession and a Post-Graduate in Alternative System of Medicine. In an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ he embraced Jesus Christ through the healing miracle of his wife B. Shoba Rao. She was suffering from Heart Disease, Intestinal Perforation, mal-absorption Syndrome, Water Retention and a Spinal Ligament Crack. She was very sick and bed-ridden for 8yrs, with failed Cardiac Surgery attempts. Many Occult & Religious remedies were proved futile. Treatment in the systems of Allopathic & Alternative medicines also failed to cure her. She was bed-ridden waiting for death for over 8 years. At last when she attended a Gospel Healing Campaign on Dec. 11, 88, she was touched by the Word of God and was healed of all the ailments instantaneously against all medical knowledge. The miraculous manifestation of the Holy Spirit through the healing power of the Almighty Jesus Christ made this possible.
Having experienced the power of God, this couple along with the other family members accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord and converted to Christianity. In the initial days of their conversion, they were physically threatened by their cast & religious traditionalists to the extent of physical elimination and were almost declared as outcasts by the native Hindu Society. God's Grace protected them.
As the Lord Jesus commands in Mark 16:15, this couple has dedicated themselves to the Lord's ministry on April 24, 94 and were ordained by many of God's servants and ministers in Vijayawada. Since then Progressive Faith Ministries took it's roots in the Lord. The first step resulted in starting the following self-sponsored programs in The Vijayawada Evening Bible College.

5.3 Recruiting Christian Intellectuals for Gospel Work (Strategy 3)

What I admire most about this leader is his energy. Dr. Vijayam is well into the 70th year of his existence, but the gleam in his eye and excitement in his body language make you forget his age and see only a man consumed by a deep desire to serve the Lord. Over the years he has widely traveled; and taken the Lord with him, every step of the way. Or should that be vice versa? Dr. Vijayam is primarily a geologist of great repute. He has a Ph.D. in Geology and has been a professor of Geology in the Osmania and Andhra University. He did his postdoctoral research as a Fulbright scholar at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA (1965-66). He did research and supervised 24 Ph.D.s in Sedimentology, Petroleum Geology, Geology, Marine Geology and Hydrogeology. He did pioneering research and geological surveys in locating coal in Bihar, oil and gas prospects in Godavari and Cauvery Deltas. He conducted exploration and evaluation of groundwater potential areas in several parts of India, published over 100 professional papers, and was awarded Scientist of the Year in 1995 by Indian National Science Academy.
He is also a social worker. He is the Hon. President and/or Advisor of the following NGO’s: MERIBA, MANNA, ACHOR, FPW, NASA, social organizations, organizing the poorest of the poor in the three regions (Telangana, Rayalaseema and Coastal districts) of Andhra Pradesh. He initiated and has been the Hon. President of PROGRESS (Peoples Research Organization for Grass-root Environmental Scientific Services) since 1982. His heart beats to reach India with the Gospel. The work for which he gives much of his time now is with the ‘Joshua vision’. Joshua vision’s endeavour is to reach the 4000 identified people groups in India. This they are doing by equipping master trainers in the people group approach, and these trainers, in turn, will train several harvesters in the field who will be reaching the various people groups.
JVI (Joshua Vision India) is a project under TENT (Training for Evangelism Needs & Technology), that exists to train the trainers in reaching the un-reached people groups of India. He is also the Hon. Senior Associate for South Asia Partners International, USA. This is an organization that enables indigenous mission agencies in their efforts of evangelism and Church planting to fulfil the Great Commission.
Dr. Vijayam has been a faculty in the H.I. training in Maui and Singapore. He has been teaching on Reaching the Scientific and Secular Mind. He is of the firm opinion that the H.I. India ministry can motivate and challenge professionals in India to be aware of the different people groups especially in the cities and then have the skills and motivation to reach them. He is fully convinced that Haggai Institute has a crucial role to play in the evangelisation of India by reaching targeted people groups. This he sees is happening since the H.I. seminars is attracting the professionals and decision-makers in the Christian community. These are the key people, he feels, who are going to make a difference in the days to come for the Gospel in India.

5.4 Targeting womenfolk and uneducated men in villages (Strategy 4)

v  A number of factors might account for the extraordinary influence of the women in these conversions and the relative lack of opposition, which accompanied them. It seems that Kammas women exercised a great deal more freedom than other Telugu women. She usually retained control over a large portion of her dowry. The immediate family, there being no institutional apparatus to pressure dissident caste members always handled caste violations among the Kammas.
v  In some instances Christians from the scheduled castes did successfully mediate Christianity to Sudra Hindus. When they did so it was by addressing religious paradigms common to all village Hindus. P. Y. Luke and John B. Carman, who conducted research on the relationship between village Christians and the Hindu culture on behalf of the Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society, had the opportunity of observing some of the ways this occurred. During their stay in Kondapuran they noted that a number of Hindus from the Sudra castes were attending worship services of that congregation regularly. They had become interested in Christianity after having attended the camp services conducted by an itinerant healer, Sadhu Joseph. While virulently opposed by the Arya Samajists, most caste Hindus seem to accept Sadhu Joseph in the traditional mode of a holy man in India whose renunciation of the world has rendered his caste status irrelevant. Healing and dreams seem to be the most common ways in which Christianity was mediated to Sudra converts and inquirers.
v  Bible Women training: In the month of April, we had the privilege of training 60 Bible women from the state of Andhra Pradesh. We encourage all missionaries to get their wives involved in the ministry. In villages, the women have good openings to enter the houses and do personal evangelism. (HBI Ministries)

5.5 Turning converts away from Hindu cultural activities (Strategy 5)

Village Hindus often regarded the hearings received in the mission hospitals as evidence of the power of Christ. In the village of Ambajipet, Narayana Gowd, a toddy-tapper, first learned of Jesus in the evangelist's school he attended. Years later, when cholera broke out in his village, he refused to participate in the sacrifices to the cholera goddess although he was under great pressure to do so. That night he dreamed Satan tried to strangle him for not worshiping idols but that Jesus, appearing in white robes. killed Satan and rescued him. Three years later Narayana's wife became seriously ill during her pregnancy. Narayana took her to the mission hospital where she safely delivered a son whom, in gratitude, they named Swamidas (Servant of the Lord). A month later the wife developed severe stomach pains. One night Jesus appeared to her in a dream. He placed his hand where the pain was and put three pills into her mouth. The next morning her pain was gone. As a result of these experiences Narayana and his wife decided to be baptized even though this meant joining a church which was made up entirely of untouchables. Later, the father-in-law, Posha Gowd, developed eye trouble and Narayana took him to the hospital for surgery. The night before surgery Posha saw Jesus in a dream. Though the father-in-law credited the success of the operation to Jesus, after two years he had not yet been baptized. In another family of the same village, a women who had lost three or four children was visited by the Christian teacher who prayed with her for the birth of a son, requesting that should she have one he would be named Devidas (Servant of Goddess) Five years later under the influence of Narayana, this family agreed to be baptized. Another young man, Vittal, a potter was baptized with them although he had received no Christian instruction. During the baptismal service the minister warned the new Christians against participating in the traditional Hindu practices, including the performance of the Ramayana It so happened that both Vittal and Narayana belonged to the drama association which staged those performances. Vittal tried to drop out of the group made up of fifteen Hindus. At first they protested, but finally decided to give up performing the Ramayana and instead decided to adapt the traditional music and dances to Christian themes. Later the leader of the drama association also became a Christian.

5.6 Friendship evangelism and Love Matrimony evangelism for youth (Strategy 6)

More and more across the world, a global youth culture responds to this approach. In AndhraPradesh, India, 56,000 accepted Christ during a November 1998 campaign. Historically, mass evangelism in India has focused heavily on signs and wonders. However, according to YWAM Campaigns, increasing access to television and western influence has lowered the response to this method. Western media such as ESPN influences the Indian youth culture strongly. This created a setting in which the performances by Team XTreme and GXJam were effective

The following real life example shows friendship evangelism in action as early as 1944. This narrates shows how a learned Hindu Kshatriya family got converted to Christianity by one Mr. Daniel a friend.
Sacrifice of Jesus Christ Fulfills the Intent in Hindu Vedas: I Am Forgiven
I am M. N. Paul, former Member (Projects), Andhra Pradesh State Electricity Board, in the Government of Andhra Pradesh between July 1992 to May 1995, retired from State Government Service in the month of May 1995 and presently staying in Hyderabad. My parents were Kshatriyas and our ancestors belonged to the Cavalry in the Kingdom of Chatrapati Shivaji of Maharashtra. When that kingdom deteriorated, the British disbanded the armies of the Maharashtra Kingdom and drove the soldiers out of Maharashtra. Those Kshatriyas settled in different parts of our country. One branch settled in Andhra Pradesh about 250 years ago. My parents are from that branch. The late Sri Muktyala Venkateswara Rao and the late Smt. M. Jaggamma are my parents. My father and mother were very orthodox Hindus. While studying in the PR. College in Kakinada, while in the Intermediate Class, my father came under the influence of Brahma Samaj. Slowly his faith in Hinduism became weakened. The late Sri N. Daniel was a classmate of my father. This gentleman discussed and explained Jesus Christ to my father. My mother’s father had a younger brother who was a learned person but an atheist. He made my father study books written by famous atheists like Ingersoll and others. Mr. Daniel gave books written by Bible scholars replying to the books written by Ingersoll and other atheists. My father was utterly confused by all this and decided to make his own comparative study of religions and find the truth. He studied Hindu scriptures, Quran (English Translation) and the Bible. He spent more than 25 years in his quest for truth and finally found that the answer is Jesus Christ only. My father, mother, my elder brother (aged about 13 years then), myself (about 7 years then) and my younger sister (aged about 3 years then) converted to Christianity on the 27Th of February 1944. My mother, who was a staunch Hindu became a staunch Christian after conversion. She tried to bring us up, her children, to be good Christians. She taught us that idol worship is not acceptable to God and that God wants us to worship with our soul because God is a Spirit. She made us read the Bible and pray at home, attend church and prayer meetings conducted by Christian preachers. But, due to the influence of students in the school, I was not able to decide whether I have to follow in the footsteps of my parents or to follow the other relatives (who are all Hindus even today). During the year 1946, my mother was diagnosed to be suffering with a fibroid tumor in her womb. My maternal uncle’s son (who married my sister later) was studying medicine in the King George Hospital and Medical College at Visakhapatnam. He got my mother examined by Dr. (Mrs.) Lazarus, a very well noted gynecologist in the King George Hospital and Professor of Gynecology. She told my brother-in-law that there was no hope for my mother because all efforts of Dr. Lazarus to treat the anemic condition of my mother did not bear any fruit. So Dr. Lazarus opined that my mother might live for about 6 months only, at best. Fervent prayers of my parents and several Christian friends and saints were answered by God and my mother lived till February 1983—a full 37 years more than the estimated life span according to a noted Doctor. It was a miracle.
Today it is a lot easier for the likes of Mr. Daniel to convert, as Hindus are much less knowledgeable about their scriptures today. They are confused souls! Even at that time Mr. Rao could never confront either the reformist Brahmos or Mr. Daniel or his Bible!

5.7 Strategy 7 Denigrating Hinduism in the Western World getting support and sympathy for evangelism

Hindu bashing has become the common refrain for church supported individuals and groups and at every opportunity try to use this weapon. For example see the recent news item:
FEDERATION OF INDIAN AMERICAN CHRISTIAN ORGANIZATIONS OF NORTH AMERICA., INC. 110 Maryland Ave, NE. Suite 510, Washington, DC. 20002 Phone 202 547 4700 Fax 202 547 6228 PRESS RELEASE August 8, 2003,  Office of The Chairman Governmental Affairs Committee (FIACONA)
Bishop Ezra Sargunam briefs US Officials: The US Government which stands for justice and freedom around the world has been complacent in addressing human rights violations continuing to take place in India. Bishop Ezra Sargunam made this point forcefully in his meetings with officials of the State Department in Washington DC yesterday and today. On behalf of the Social Justice Movement of India he submitted a Memorandum highlighting the resurgence of attacks against the religious minorities, Dalits and the Tribal people. He briefed them on the changing tactics of the ruling BJP party and the Sangh Parivar on the legislative front with laws such as the Anti Conversion Law. He urged the US government to use their influence to counter this dangerous trend. MR. P.D. JOHN, the Chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee of FIACONA, accompanied Bishop Sargunam, former Chairman of the Minorities Commission, of the State of Tamil Nadu and the Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Church of India. They also met officials at the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and on Capitol Hill. In his discussions Bishop Sargunam highlighted the recent arrest of Rev. Suresh Thackaray, by the Gujarat Government on false allegations that he had desecrated a Hindu idol. Bishop Sargunam pointed out another incident in which Fr. Prashant belonging to the Capuchin Order was assaulted recently near Bangalore, where he was performing a routine weekly Mass, by Hindutva activists (supporters of BJP party). According to the All India Christian Council, the Hindutva activists forcibly rubbed ash on the forehead of the priest and asked him to chant Jai Hindutva . Further, he was humiliated and threatened with crucifixion if he returned to their village. Bishop Sargunam expressed his disappointment in the US Administration s reluctance to address these kinds of continuing serious human rights violations with their Indian counterparts. The officials at the USCIRF reminded Mr. P.bD. John that the Government of India had still not permitted their team for an official visit to India. Bishop Sargunam further raised the issue of the conditions of Dalits and other oppressed groups who are being adversely impacted by globalization, which only empowers the already empowered elite and the ruling class in India.

5.8 Encourage Hindu Muslim Communal Tensions and Get benefit (Strategy 8)
India is called the Hindu heartland of the world (representing 79.8% of the population). Hinduism is a religion of mystery and myth, and it fascinates the natives as well as the foreigners. It is filled with idolatry, worshipping 200 million holy cows and a pantheon of 33 million gods. Many of the gods can be devious, destructive, and bring death. Muslims represent 12.5% of the population. There is a Muslim secessionist movement in Kashmir that is in an armed conflict with the government. There is also a rising level of physical violence and persecution by militant Hindus against both Muslims and Christians. Many people live in confusion, poverty and fear. Pray that the strife between Hindus and Muslims would cause disillusionment, leading many to Jesus, the true Prince of Peace. (Acts 4:12) (Global Mapping International ...giving Christian leaders access to mission information
GMI is a Christian inter-denominational missionary research agency. Our highest priority is serving evangelical mission ministry leaders in the developing world. URL: http://www.gmi.org/)

5.9 High Profile Social Service for Secret Conversion (Strategy 9)
On one side, with the West showering awards such as The Nobel prize and millions of dollar funds, and on the other, the state competing with them in arranging state funeral, gifts from public resources, government lands, Mother. Teresa had become a prized symbol of India's secularism. She is basically, a Christian missionary.  The following is an account of her strategy,

Francis Arinze, one of the senior cardinals at the Vatican, confirmed that the primary task of the Roman Catholic Church is to convert. He said recently,  "Has the Church anything else to do? No. Evangelisation is central to the mission of the Church. The task of evangelising all people constitutes the central mission of the Church. The Church has no other assignment." (Mark Pattison, Primary Mission is to Evangelise, The Examiner, Oct 18, 1997.)

Mother Teresa faithfully followed this injunction of Cardinal Arinze in her institute called Missionaries of Charity. In his book, The Missionary Position, Shri Christopher Hitchens quoted from a testimony of Susan Shields, who worked for nine and a half years as a member of Mother Teresa’s order. She says:
“For Mother (Teresa), it was the spiritual well-being of the poor that mattered most. Material aid was a means of reaching their souls, of showing the poor that God loved them. In the homes for the dying, Mother taught the sisters how to secretly baptize those who were dying. Sisters were to ask each person in danger of death if he wanted a ‘ticket to heaven’. An affirmative reply was to mean consent to baptism. The sister was then to pretend she was just cooling the person’s forehead with a wet cloth, while in fact she was baptizing him, saying quietly the necessary words. Secrecy was important so that it would not come to be known that Mother Teresa’s sisters were baptizing Hindus and Moslems.” (Verso, London, p 48.)
5.10 Use of House churches for new converts to subvert anti-conversion laws (Strategy 10)
Between 1984 and 1987, the church in Sri Lanka saw a 75% increase in its house churches among the urban and rural poor. It grew from 420 to 733 house churches. The house church allows new converts from Hinduism and Buddhism to not attract the persecution that would occur from attending a traditional church building. Meeting in a house also allows non-Christians the opportunity to check out Christianity safely. In a more open area like Andhra Pradesh, India, house churches meet for a daily 30-minute Bible study broadcast. There are over 1,000 such house churches. The people work all day, then assemble in a home for the radio teaching. This practice has now spread to Tamilnadu also

6. Letters from Local Pastors Engaged in harvesting Hindu Souls

6.1 Pastor Wilson Chevakula,to a foreign missionary, Sankaraguptam post 533250 East Godavari District, Telephone: 0091- 8862- 253444 E mail: gospelassembly_ind@yahoo.com, Jan 30, 2003
Dear beloved Pastor:  Greetings to you in the name of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I would like to introduce my self to you. I was born in a Hindu family and worshipped idols like stone and wood. I used to sin and lost my way to Heaven and I had no peace in my heart. I read many of our religious Books to find the real God. It happened to me that I attended a gospel meetings and I was touched by the spirit of God and I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour .
When I got converted I met some trouble. Our relatives and friends hated me. My companions mocked at me because of my changed life. But I was not ashamed of them for I have found the real life and truth. I committed my life to the service of God. My ambition is to witness for Jesus to all men. In India millions of souls are last without Christ the saviour. My vision is to reach the unreached with the gospel message, bringing Hope in to lives.  Winning souls for Jesus Christ in a land dominated by Hinduism is not an easy task. The door for the Gospel may be closed at any time in India , and before that happens let us strive hard to bring the Gospel message to every home in India. We need heart burden and compassion supporters for India’s lost and unsaved souls to win them. We have planted two church congregations and orphanage caring destitute children. Also we didn't have financial ability to construct permanent church buildings as well as for the orphanage home. At present we are running the orphanage in a small building, which is inconvenient and unhygienic to the orphan children, and also lack finances to continue orphanage. Our request to you is kindly pray for the need. We need your prayer about the ministries widows and aged , native missionaries, Leprosy people ministry We welcome you to India to see our work here. Weare praying for your ministry. I look forward to hear from you soon. Pray for our annual convention from 4 th to 7 th march 2003. Yours in His service Pastor Wilson Chevakula.

6.2 Josiah Ranji Babu, Andhra Pradesh in South India.
God called me for full time ministry in the 1994 in a youth rally, when I was working in a computer firm. We are praying that God will use us for the expansion of his kingdom in days to come regarding for further ministry. (FROM John's Ministries, Penumudi, A. P.)
Please pray for the gospel crusades, which are going to be conducted from 27th, May to 29th May. I hope that you are praying for the Crusades. I am sending you the propaganda posture of our gospel crusades. Have a look at it and pray for the success of the crusades and that God uses the speakers to glorify His name. Many non-Christians who are interested to hear the gospel will attend these crusades. Pray that most of them will be saved in the name of the Lord. So please pray for the crusades and encourage us and also for our ministry.
Please pray for effectiveness in the work of the gospel among 63 unreached people groups. There are over 2000 villages, where the gospel works through pioneer evangelism, discipleship, Bible study cell and Church Planting is going on.6. Please pray for the need of financial support to send at least another 100 new pioneer church planters and their families who are waiting to be sent in order to reach out to 100 new areas ($50 to $100.00 depending on the areas they will be working), the need of 7 motorcycles (@ 800.00) and need for funds for indigenous gospel literature & training programs like grass root training, Pioneer Church Planters training etc. 7. Please pray that India may be saved as quickly as possible. Pray that God would move powerfully in bringing repentance & faith in our Lord Jesus in & among 1.02 Billion people in my land. We need your fervent prayers and sacrificial partnership in the achieving of this goal.
10. Pray for another worker who is under tremendous threat from the enemies of the gospel. Pray that he will not panic but have courage to stand for God in the midst of fear. Praise God for using him to bring several educated and affluent people in the area to the Lord.
Web site of Christian Exchange International
T., Raju, Orissa border area, Raju is working with Bhaskar Rao along the Orissa/Andhra Pradesh border.
Testimony of T., Raju: "My name is T., Raju, from Kamiseela Village, Vizayanagaram District of Andhra Pradesh. From my forefathers we were idol worshippers. We used to worship all kinds of idols. I never used to like the name of Jesus. If anybody comes to preach about Jesus. I use to scold them and mock them. I was attacked with a disease, and my nose used to run with blood. I suffered a lot through this disease. Once a pastor by the name of Anand Rao visited my village and preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He came to me and shared the love of Jesus Christ. It was the first time I gave attention to the Gospel. He explained why Jesus came to this world and why He died on the cross. I heard the Gospel through him and I accepted Jesus as my personal Lord and Saviour. I stared attending the church regularly. My pastor and all the believers in the church prayed for me and my disease was cured. "In 1993, I took baptism. My parents and family members did not like this. They drove me away from home. I stayed with my pastor and became involved in the Gospel work. In 1995, the Lord spoke to me through His precious word from Isaiah 41:9-10, and called me for His full-time ministry. At this time I met Rev. Victor. He taught me many deeper truths from the Word of God. He also encouraged me a lot in the ministry. Now I am working as a full-time missionary with Grace Gospel Ministries in the Rayagada Sector of Vizayanagaram District with another missionary brother, S., Bahaskar Rao. Please continue to pray for us and for our ministry. And also for my family member's conversion."
S. Chinna Rao and His Family, Srikakulam District : Chinna Rao is working among the tribal groups in the state of Orissa along the very dangerous border with Andhra Pradesh.
Testimony of S., Chinna Rao: "My name is S. Chinna Rao. I am from the Srikakulam District. I was brought up in a Roman Catholic family, and lived according to Roman Catholic traditions. But there was no satisfaction in my life. One day I came across a Protestant pastor named Elia. I heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ through him in 1985. I accepted the Lord Jesus as my personal Saviour, and was baptized in 1986. After my baptism, my parents and my Catholic church members no longer accepted me, so I came out from them and started living for the Lord. Bro. Prabhakar is also working along with me in this area of the Dimili Sector of Srikakulam district, which is near the Orissa border.
B. Prabhakar, Vizayanagaram District: Prabhakar is working with Chinna Rao along the Orissa/Andhra Pradesh border.
Testimony of B., Prabhakar Rao
"My name is B., Prabhakar Rao. I am from Kamorada mandal of Vizayanagaram District of Andhra Pradesh. My father's name is Sanyasi and my monther's name is Sooramma. We were idol worshippers, and our main god was Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy. Besides him we used to worship many other so called gods and goddesses. Once I heard the preaching of a pastor,  and in April 1993, gospel meetings were conducted at Rayagadda. II confessed all my sins and accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Saviour June 7, 1993. I witnessed the Lord in waters of Baptism. During the year 1994 and 1995, I suffered with a horrible disease; The Lord healed me from this disease. Now I am working as full time missionary in the Srikakulam District along the Orissa border area. Please continue to pray for me, my family and for my church."

Missionary Update
"Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry" (Acts 17:16).
India indeed is a country of extreme idolatry. Its people have idols for virtually anything that can be named. And so it was that North American Division stewardship director G. Edward Reid and his wife, Kathy, teamed up with Brunswick, Maine, surgeon Dr. Gaylen Johnson and his wife, Kitty, and headed out to India last March for what turned out to be an exciting adventure in evangelism. The location was Guntur, Andhra Pradesh state, in the southern part of the country. N. D. Samson, president of the South Andhra Section, and P. Wilbert, section ministerial director, prepared the ground by their personal participation and by involving 20 district pastors and Bible workers.
Family Bible Hour broadcasts in English throughout the entire country on Shortwave, and in the Telugu language in the province of Andhra Pradesh (southeast) by medium wave (AM) from Sri Lanka. Our Telugu broadcast has had the largest response of any other single broadcast. India gained its independence from Britain in 1947. India has the greatest diversity and concentration of unreached people. Though the caste system is officially abolished, social patterns continue to be strongly affected by it. In Andhra Pradesh, most of the population is from the two lower castes. This presents challenges in establishing local churches because of lack of literacy and economic resources. Praise God for the growth that is occurring. In Andra Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar, Gujarat and in the northeast states hundreds of new village congregations are being planted by indigenous missionaries and local churches. The widespread impact of Christian radio and evangelism through literature has softened millions to the point of receptivity. Training of Christian leaders is of crucial importance. Syncretism (the attempt to combine elements of different religious systems into a single body of belief and practice) in Catholic, Protestant and evangelical churches is a problem.
An excerpt from a letter from a Family Bible Hour listener in India:
I am the only saved member in my family and have incurred the disapproval of one and all. I derive peace and joy through your program alone. I desire to serve the Lord and engage in theological studies. Kindly pray for me: Prasad
Dateline: 7/30/2003
Through crusades, open-air meetings, youth camps and educational programs, ministries throughout India are reaping a great harvest of souls. The leader of an outreach to remote tribes told Christian Aid that of the 550 Ho tribal people, who attended a jungle camp, 400 gave their hearts to the Lord Jesus. The same ministry also conducted a seeker's conference for those open to the gospel at which 55 accepted Christ. Seventy more were saved at its annual revival conference, attended by 800 people
Dateline: 7/23/2003
Asia covers approximately 25% of the world's land area and is home to more than half the world's population. The population is 25% Muslim, 22% Hindu, 20% non-religious, 10% Buddhist, 10% Chinese and 5% other. Asia is the only continent where Christianity is not the largest religion and thus remains the greatest challenge for world evangelism.
General Baptist International is ministering in partnership with the General Baptist Churches of India, the Philippines, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. GBI also recruits and sponsors ESL teachers in China. Six American units are presently serving as missionaries in these countries.
From Glenn Jinkins, U. S. A.
India is the second most populous nation on planet earth. One billion people, one-sixth of the world's population, live in India. The nation consists of 29 states and six union territories. It is 82% Hindu, 12% Muslim and only three percent Christian. The General Baptist churches are located in the state of Andhra Pradesh along the southeastern coast of the Bay of Bengal. Rev. P. Suvarna Raj is the Executive Director of the India Association of General Baptists. With the help of an eight-member executive committee, he oversees the ministry and needs of the work. In 2000, the Association reported 99 church, 603 baptisms, and approximately 8,000 workers. Rev. Glenn Jenkins serves as a regular short-term missionary to India. He spends a minimum of two months in India each year working with Pastor Raj and the leaders of the India church in the further growth and organization of the work. He also continues to collect data from the churches and work on projects for communication, accountability and leadership training.
In the months of June and July 2000, after seven years of my stay in the U.S., God gave me a chance to visit India and my native villages. These days we read daily news about persecution of Christians in India. Many church buildings were destroyed with bombs and some pastors were killed while they were coming from the worship services. A few rival Hindu communities in India are doing these things. Most of the Hindus are good and they have religious tolerance. They want to know more about Jesus and some of them are worshipping Him as one of their gods. In the last 2000 years we Indian Christians have not had such painful troubles as this. Now the new ruling party belongs to these rival Hindus, so it does not take any serious actions against them. In a city called Bellary, there was a bomb blast in a church on Saturday evening. The people who saw the criminal gave the names and car numbers to the police, but no action was taken. These are examples of what is happening in India today. In these crucial situations India Christians look to God the Father to give them strength to continue in faith. I met many of my colleague pastors and asked them what their feelings are. Even though they are scared, they said if it is God's will to die, we will die. They asked me to ask all Christians to pray for them. One of my friends said one-day India would become a Christian country.
YOUTH MINISTRY: Wesley Church-Chicago installed Mr. Paul Gorre as youth minister among our Telugu community in Chicago. He is going to study some Biblical courses at Concordia University this semester. Our Church is blessed with 20 youth members; they need good guidance in their future life according to the will of the Lord. Bethesda Asian Indian Mission society exists to proclaim the pure gospel of Jesus Christ and bring salvation to Asian Indians especially Hindus in Chicagoland.
Welcome to Christs Church: 57-7-10/1, Gokulnagar, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, 530 008
Our church was started as a prayer cell by a believer Sushil Kumar who was converted to christianity by a church of christ native missionary. We distribute christian literature such as tracts, new testaments. We do biblical counselling and our work includes village evangelism. We care for the poor by way of taking up health care programs where they lack facilities and give guidance in matters of education, sanitation etc. We are faced with idol worship and centuries old customs. Some of our beliefs:
1. Bible is the divinely inspired word of God meaning infallible and authoritative. Bible is the basis for all preaching and basic textbook of our church. 2. We believe that christ is the only begotten son of god, uniting in His presence perfect divinity and perfect manhood. 3. The Elder is the shepherd/overseer of our church. 4. All prayers are offered in the name of Christ (through Christ) to god the father. 5. We address believers by the term brother. 6. We believe in baptism by immersion, as it was the practice of the church in apostolic times. Also baptism must be given only to those old enough to understand and believe the gospel. 7. We preach publicly. 8. We belong to Christ's church as described in the Bible established at the day of Pentecost. There is vast scope in our ministry specially in our area and surrounding villages for spreading the gospel. So far we have been doing in a small scale with the meagre domestic help from my relatives, friends and co-believers that we could generate. Now we are expanding our operations and have several full time ministers. We look forward to link up with any church/individual/organisation of Christs church/ Church of Christ ONLY which can extend their help and guidance in this work of god. We also welcome financial support from related individual sponsors with similar beliefs, churches and ministries in carrying on this task. We are also looking forward for a donor organisation/church who can helpus to have a church (land and building) of our own. Support on regular basis to: 1. CHURCH CONSTRUCTION (land & building) OF OUR OWN 2. Preach the gospel
.

7. Individual church forecasts

One in 55 people in India is an evangelical Christian. At its current growth rate, the evangelical Church in India will double in size by 2017. — Derived from Operation World 2001

The 200 YEARS SINCE William Carey, the great Baptist pioneer, ministered in India have been remarkable. Johnstone and Mandryk of Operation World 2001 state, “The Holy Spirit has used countless thousands of Indian and expatriate workers to affect India for good in education, health, challenging social wrongs, and to plant over 300,000 churches.”
India is a complex mission field with incredible ethnic, cultural, and geographic diversity; a nation of some 600,000 villages and over 4,000 people groups. Most of India’s churches are in the south and northeast parts of the country, but this is changing. Although the north and west remain largely unreached, with hundreds of millions of people having never heard the good news of Jesus Christ, exciting progress is being seen even in these areas.
God is raising up tens of thousands of Indian missionaries today to minister to these unreached peoples. Broad cooperative missions efforts are underway, backed by committed prayer networks. In the midst of increasing persecution, Christians are sacrificially serving in the name of Jesus throughout the country. How do we appropriately partner with our Indian brothers and sisters today in carrying out God’s mission in this great land? One way is by providing technical expertise and information resources to help Indian leaders better see the real ministry situation. Seeing, in a clear, integrated, and accurate manner, is essential to gain crucial insights, to wisely plan and manage, and to effectively mobilize the Body.
Global Mapping International (GMI) participates in a multiagency project called “LIGHT India.” Bob Waymire (president of LIGHT International and founder of GMI) leads the project, which provides detailed digital mapping coverage of the whole country in support of major church-planting efforts there. GMI integrates huge geographic and statistical databases and provides consulting and training resources. Indian church leaders, researchers, and technologists play essential roles in the project as well.
Church-planting strategists in India envision a church within practical and cultural distance of every person, including a church in every village and city neighborhood.
One individual who travels to India on a regular basis to track these developments observes, “There are encouraging signs that strong church-planting networks are springing up all over the country. Some are focusing on specific geopolitical areas, others on specific people groups and languages, and still others are focused on a specific world view or religion in this vast country.”
Maps showing the presence or absence of churches are critical planning and mobilization tools for the strategists leading these saturation church planting networks.
Two hundred years have passed since William Carey’s vision enabled him to participate in a wondrous outpouring of God’s blessing in India. This vision for evangelization of India has been rekindled by national and international believers alike. Pray with us for the light of God’s blessing and grace to be poured out upon all the peoples of India.

8. Immediate Duty of governments, Hindu Organizations and Hindu Citizens

The following letter shows the determination of the Christian missionary to illegally convert Indian Hindus. The law is seen to be ineffective.
THE "ADVERSARIES"
I reported in the last letter that many anonymous letters full of false accusations directed particularly against Pastor Rakshana had been coming to us. We narrowed the source down to just the few persons who were sending them. They were requesting a "hearing" when the Canadian team visited. We arranged a time but listened only to their grievances, we did not attempt to answer them or make any decisions at that time. Letters of response will be sent to them later with our decisions. We trust that the annoyance will be stopped now.. These included some accusations against me as well. This came by a report to police stating that I was guilty, by Indian law, of "converting" many. This is an offence punishable by law. For that reason I left India, at that time, to avoid being forcefully expelled. I am now, however, able to return and go again, but not for the long periods of time that I had been doing before. Other restrictions apply as well; I am now only at liberty to minister to the sick in our own compound.
One thing is certain. NOTHING can stop what God has done and is doing in India for Christ. All of the believers are well grounded in the Lord and together they function as a mature and growing church. They themselves say that no one can stop them, as it is THEIR OWN CHURCH. They have invested sacrificially for it and are now a close-knit community, though from varied backgrounds, social status and literary levels. They are "One Body".
If foreign funds were stopped for any reason, only the social work would suffer, but it is our burden to reach out to other areas who also need the gospel. Without outside help, this could not be done. Pastor Rakshana is already reaching the more affluent people in the big cities. Please continue to support us and continue to uphold us in your prayers. We must "OCCUPY 'TIL HE COMES."
Faithfully yours in Christ,

Hindu organizations should see the magnitude of the threat and react. Hindu citizens should attempt to with draw their wards from Christian schools and colleges and keep them informed about the trickery of the Christians, even if the former action is not feasible immediately.  Every Christian can be a potential Evangelist. Hindu families should watch their children and prohibit them from making friendship with Christians and instruct them to never discuss religion with them. Those employed must be cautious in dealing with Christian colleagues or bosses. Every one of them could be a potential evangelist.  Even an infection like AIDS can affect only one individual and utmost make him or her sick. The bug of Christianity can kill the culture of ancestors up to our Rishis, affects future generations permanently and destroy their roots of Indian-ness.


9. Concluding Remarks

The foregoing account clearly shows the spread of Christianity to about 30-40% population in Andhra Pradesh, though census will never give the correct figures there of. If the present trend continues, there is no doubt that the missionaries succeed in their long march for decimating Hindus and destroying Hinduism in India. It appears that about 1.0 % of Christian population are acting as unofficial evangelists. The estimated population of A. P. in 2003 is 7.8 crores with 3.1 crores already in a move towards Christianity with about 3 lakhs of them gainfully employed as evangelists in their prosperous business of harvesting souls to the good shepherd. A Hindu has to use utmost caution in order to protect himself from these evangelists. Every Christian country's evangelists are operating in India - USA, Canada, Mexico, South American Continent, All European countries, African Countries such as Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa, Asian countries such as Philippines, South Korea, Australia and Newzeland.





10. Appendix A: Example - Model Evangelical Organization Tree

The appendix gives a number of organizations sprouting from one root doing coordinated evangelism activities in India. Who knows how many branches the tree of International Christianity has got! Do Jehovah and Jesus know? Or at least does the Devil know? Alien God can be local Devil! 

  • India Christian Fellowship
    url
    : http://www.libertynet.org/~icf/
    A group of Indian Christians met together in Philadelphia in November 1973 to explore about forming an association to foster fellowship among believing Christians and to proclaim the Gospel of Christ.
  • India Full Gospel Mission
    url
    : http://www.angelfire.com/pa/ifgm/index.html
    India Full Gospel Missionary Institute, Bhopal India Full Gospel Missionary Institute (IFGMI) is situated in Bhopal, the capital of India’s largest state, Madhya Pradesh. This institute in Govindpura, Bhopal is the headquarters of India Full Gospel Mission (IFGM), which was founded nearly 25 years ago.
  • INDIA GOSPEL TEAM (GOSPEL MINISTRIES IN INDIA) is a non-denominational Evangelical organization functioning in India for the past 53 Years.
  • India Prayer & Fellowship Association
    url
    : http://www.geocities.com/athens/troy/2836/
    India Prayer & Fellowship Association is a registered trust in India and started our mission from 6th Jan. '98. We are doing evangelism among non-believers. We do door to door ministry area wise and have close friendly relationship with those that responded for prayer and lead them to salvation. We start prayer cells and Sunday Schools areas wise so that the children of our contacts get regular teaching also. We have regular free postal follow up to those who are double minded. We provide free literature, tracts and Christian comic books. As the number of contacts are increasing day by day we are looking for sponsors to support evangelists / counselors, supply of material, etc.
  • India Rural Evangelical Fellowship
    url
    : http://irefusa.org/
    Evangelical Christian mission bringing hope to rural India by child sponsorship for food education, and operation of orphanages and by sponsorship of native evangelists spreading the gospel of …
  • Indian Evangelical Team
    url
    : http://www.pgv.com
    IET has experienced phenomenal growth during the past 24 years. The missionary team itself has increased from P. G. & Lilly to 976 and the number of mission stations from 1 to 367.
  • Inter Collegiate Prayer Fellowship
    url
    : http://www.icpf.org/
    Inter Collegiate Prayer Fellowship, born in a student convention in 1980 In a humble way, with only a handful of groups and a few committed voluntary workers in Kerala, the southern state of India, has grown to its present position with over, fifty staffs.
  • International Gospel Mission
    url
    : http://www.ionet.net/~igm/index.html
    Proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ in India
  • International Outreach
    url
    : http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Raj_Patta/
    A Christian Missions organization based in Hyderabad, India. We are involved in Bible College Training, Tribal, Village and City Evangelism and Church Planting.
  • Jesus Calls Ministries India
    url
    : http://www.jesuscalls.org
    The 19 facets of Jesus Calls ministry carry Christ's love, compassion and His divine power to the people, who live in sorrow, around the world. Every month, millions of people receive abundant blessings from the Lord Jesus through these ministries.
  • Kaleo Ministries
    url
    : http://www.kaleoministries.net
    Kaleo, which means "Called" in Greek, is to be witnesses for Christ by sharing the gospel to all people. We seek to accomplish this in various ways, such as organizing meetings focused on Praise and Worship, and speaking directly from His Word, so that people may grow and mature in their walk with the Lord. Locally we are actively involved in community outreach programs as well as monthly gospel meetings. We are also in the process of developing a group to focus on foreign missions. And while this web site keeps you updated on the numerous activities of Kaleo Ministries, we hope that it will also serve as a spiritual inspiration. Our hope is that the content of these different pages will minister to your spiritual needs and be a blessing to your life.
  • Life and Light Ministries
    url
    : http://netministries.org/see/charmin/cm01400
    MINISTRY FOUNDED IN 1994 WITH VISION TO REACH THE SOULS IN INDIA,ESPECIALLY THE STATE OF KARNATAKA. CURRENTLY WE HAVE SEVEN FULL TIME MINISTERS AND WORKERS IN SEVERAL PARTS OF KARNATAKA.
  • Life and Light Ministriess
    url
    : http://members.aol.com/lnlm/page
    Ministry started in India to reach the non- Christians. Currently in Karnataka and Kerala
  • MARANATHA GOSPEL FELLOWSHIP
    url
    : http://www.geocities.com/maranatha_fellowship/
    Evangelistic Christian site with focus on Missions
  • Mission 21 India
    url
    : http://www.missionindia.org/
    Mission 21 India is an agency which seeks to reach India with the gospel of Christ through motivating, equipping and training national churches to plant, grow and multiply new churches through India in a systematic and measurable way.
  • Nations Vision Ministries
    url
    : http://www.nationsvision.org
    The primary vision of Nations Vision Ministries is to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to this generation around the world, through teaching, discipleship, and cross-cultural evangelism with effective utilization of media and a strong emphasis on Praise and Worship.
  • Native Missionary Movement of India
    url
    : http://www.nmmindia.org/index.htm
    Udaipur, Rajasthan, India
    Founded 1981 by Pastor Thomas Mathew. Have 600 Native Missionaries and 600 Local Churches. Mission work among 45 un-reached ethnic groups.
  • North India Missions
    url
    : http://www.nimissions.org/
    The purpose of North India Missions is to evangelize the northern part of the sub-continent of India, leading men and women to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, then assist in the start up of churches to teach and equip these to lead a solid spiritual life according to the Bible.
  • Proclamation Ministries
    url
    : http://www.concentric.net/~philipa
    Proclamation Ministries is an evangelistic organization dedicated to proclaim the good news of God's salvation, His glory among the nations, and His wonders among all peoples.
  • Project India 2000
    url
    : http://www.jesusfilm.org/pi2000/
    Through the use of the JESUS film, a powerful multi-language presentation of the gospel, Project India 2000 plans to reach the diverse populations of India.
  • Real Audio Gospel messages
    url
    : http://www.i-am.org/south_asia.htm
    Real Audio messages of God's love and grace in several major Indian languages with an easy to use map interface.
  • Sports Outreach India
    url
    : http://www.mtoak.org/soi/
    The Sports Ministry in India has seen unique happenings since its inception. The movement is built on inter-denominational Sports Chapters.
  • The India Missions Association
    url
    : http://www.ad2000.org/ima/index.htm
    India Missions Association - Objectives - Goals - Criteria For Membership - Annual Membership Contribution -
  • To the Utter Most Part - The Call to North India
    url
    : http://www.ad2000.org/utermost.htm
    Why North India? North India is strategically important in completing the unfinished task of world evangelization
  • Upper Room Prayer Mission
    url
    : http://www.gis.net/~upperroom
    The Upper Room Prayer Mission is a Christ centered, Bible based ministry established to inspire and challenge the Body of Christ to world wide prayer and to reach the un-reached with the life changing Gospel of Jesus Christ.
  • Vedanadam Ministries
    url
    : http://vedanadam.homepage.com/
  • Voice of Calvary International Ministries
    url
    : http://www.geocities.com/athens/7834/
    We are an international missions organization which is working to train and send missionaries into the unreached people groups of India.
  • Voice of Gospel
    url
    : http://www.thecore.com/~clf/webp/vog1.htm
    Voice of Gospel is an indigenous, Full Gospel, missionary, non-profit organisation established on the foundation of the fundamental truths of the Apostolic creed

Appendix 2: Typical Begging Bowl to the West (Source Liberation Ministries)

Spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ in India


I care about the lost 1.3 billion people of India. I will help native missionaries reach their own people for Jesus. I understand it takes from $30-$100 per month to fully support a native missionary, depending on his marital status, family size and location of service.


New Tamil speaking church southeast of Madras scheduled for completion middle of 2001.
We welcome your support to continue our work in India


"They could not stop us! We baptized 230 Hindus who had accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Praise God! They are hungry for God's Word and for Jesus. But they cannot meet in the open because of their enemies. They cannot even carry their bibles in the open. So they meet in each other's home."

-Dr. K.C. Chako, Missionary to India-

"You cannot know here in America the price they pay. They do not take this call lightly. They have no seminary. They have only a Bible and the training we can give them and our financial support. And they leave everything to preach the gospel from one poor little remote village to another. "
-Dr. K.C. Chako, Missionary to India-


Please pray for India. Pray for strength and courage of our pastors and evangelists. Pray for the spiritual health and maturity of all of these new congregations and for their physical safety from Hindu extremists. And pray for Anna and me, that the Holy Spirit will work mightily through us-and through you-to reach all those He has, and will, send us to.




11. References

Web sites visited: A small sample of 40 web sites is given here as an illustration. There are at least 405 sites revealed on this particular search. There may be thousands more that I have not tracked.

1. Andhra Pradesh Missions Catalog of the Churches of Christ ... 37, Pamuvari St Kakinada Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh 533004 India ... congregation has: Deacons; A Missionary Team; A ... An active Evangelism Program. This congregation is ... church-of-christ.org/missions/ India/Andhra%20Pradesh_S.htm - 6k - Cached - Similar pages
2. Andhra pradesh, India Missions Catalog of the Churches of Christ... 10-6-95/3/2, Burhanpuram Khammam, Andhra pradesh, India 507001 ... This congregation has:A Missionary Team; A full ...Evangelism Program. This ... church-of-christ.org/missions/India/ Andhra%20pradesh,%20India_S.htm - 4k - Cached - Similar pages Youth Program; An active
3. World Missionary Evangelism Church
... Name of Church or organization - World Missionary Evangelism Church. ... Country
- India State/Province - Andhra Pradesh City - Anakapalli. ...
www.thekingdomsnet.org/India1/WorldMissionaryEvan..htm - 16k -
5. Praise & Pray
... States of India, namely Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat ... Rajasthan, Tamilnadu and Uttar
Pradesh, for revival ... and cross-cultural missionary evangelism leading to ...
www.blessingyouthmission.org/praise_pray_body.htm - 45k - Cached - Similar pages
6. About BYM
... Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh ... Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil
Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh. ... in cross cultural Missionary evangelism leading to ...
www.blessingyouthmission.org/aboutbym.htm - 15k - Cached - Similar pages
7. [ More results from www.blessingyouthmission.org ]
8. India Gospel Network
... is an evangelistic ministry in Andhra Pradesh, India ... is a Christ centered,Bible based
missionary organization ... Engaged in evangelism and Church planting among the ...
www.indiagospel.net/ign/directory/ministries/ - 21k - Cached - Similar pages
9. India Gospel Network
... informal network of Christian missionary agencies, denominations ... in the forefront
of evangelism in Tamil ... Christian Bible Fellowship - Andhra Pradesh, India url ...
www.indiagospel.net/ign/directory/missions/ - 16k - Cached - Similar pages
10. ACTION FOR ASIA OUTREACH
... 4. CHRISTIAN OUTREACH FOR MISSION & EVANGELISM. Tamil Nadu. CHRISTIAN OUTREACH UPLIFTING
NEW TRIBES. Andhra Pradesh. 4. CHURCH GROWTH MISSIONARY MOVEMENT. Tamil Nadu. ...
iyesu.com/missions/Ima/MEM_STATE.htm - 101k - Cached - Similar pages
School of Oriental and African Studies Library: Methodist ...
... 1932); Methodist New Connexion Missionary Society (1797 ... India (especially Karnataka
and Andhra Pradesh); Sri Lanka ... as accounts of Christian evangelism the MMSL ...
www.mundus.ac.uk/cats/4/1244.htm - 7k - Cached - Similar pages
11. Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church
... Work started by the North German Missionary Society in ... of workers in areas of evangelism,
education, health ... is mainly in the state of Andhra Pradesh, a Telugu ...
www.elca.org/dgm/country_packet/india/aelc.html - 11k - Cached - Similar pages

... India For Christ VILLAGE EVANGELISM IN ANDHRA PRADESH Missionary EVELYN
SPLANE BIBLE SCHOOL..... CHURCHES..... ...
missionmagazine.tdlofton-ministries.net/articles/ missionary/105267539233297.html - 17k - 12. 12.
CHRISTS CHURCH - VISAKHAPATNAM,ANDHRA PRADESH, S.INDIA
57-7-10/1 GOKULNAGAR VISAKHAPATNAM, ANDHRA PRADESH, S.INDIA 530 ... by a church of christ
native missionary. ... counselling and our work includes village evangelism. ...
www.netministries.org/see/charmin/CM06885?frame=N - 4k -
14. Prayer Tower Evangelical Fellowship - VISAKHAPATNAM,Andhra ...
... 10/1 , Gokulnagar Kancharapalem VISAKHAPATNAM, Andhra Pradesh 530 008 ... Village Evangelism
5. Child Evangelism 6. Binding ... the principles of missionary work done ...
www.netministries.org/see/churches/ch19813?frame=N - 5k - Cached - Similar pages
15. General Baptist World Headquarters, International Missions ... and thus remains the greatest challenge for world evangelism. ... Click on Missionary's name for bio and latest ... located in the state of Andhra Pradesh along the ... www.generalbaptist.com/international/ - 24k -
17. Evangelical Missions Quarterly - Is Extraction Evangelism Still ...  ... the south Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka ... to Christ by extraction evangelism, let us ... support from conservative Presbyterian missionary John Taylor ... www.gospelcom.net/bgc/emis/1994/extraction.html - 26k -
19. Sammy Tippit Ministries: Evangelism and Revival with God's Love ...
... One of the most responsive states to the gospel is Andhra Pradesh. The Baptist Church
of Hyderabad has grown from seven couples 27 years ago to 10,000 members. ...
www.gospelcom.net/glia/countries/india.shtml - 22k -
22. MB Herald: Vol. 36, No. 5: The Mennonite Churches in India
... are primarily in the province of Andhra Pradesh, and come ... medical work, care of widows
and evangelism through preaching ... The United Missionary Church in India. ...
www.mbconf.ca/mb/mbh3605/india.htm - 5k -
24. Available Ministries - Apostolic.edu ... House Road, Bhimavaram 534201 West Godavary District, Andhra Pradesh, S India. ... Oracle (Learning) Worked as Administrator in World Missionary Evangelism of India ... www.apostolic.edu/ministries/avalmin.htm - 64k -
25. Cached -
[PDF]Training Program
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
... 15 states of India: Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Orissa ... During the training
period, a missionary is taught nine courses: 1 Evangelism & Methods ...
www.mission1.org/pdf_files/HBINonFTraining.pdf -
New Christian Partners @ LightLinks2000.com... christian missions, missionary, Missions prayer ... Home School evangelism Evangelism cults, evolution ... El-Shaddai Ministries: - Pithapuram Andhra Pradesh, India; ...
www.lightlinks2000.com/NewPartner.htm - 31k -
29. Missions Insider Report, July 2, 2003
... Another missionary in Andhra Pradesh said that even with ... They begged the missionary
to come as often as he ... lepers and the poor, food and children's evangelism. ...
www.christianaid.org/insider/insider-4-26.asp - 26k -
31. MTS-PROSPECTUS
... It is the desire of Missionary Training School ... Another feature of ministry available
is crusade evangelism. ... in different parts of Andhra Pradesh with special ...
www.geocities.com/cemindia/MTS-PROSPECTUS.html - 13k -
34. travel guide,India travel guide,Indian destination guide,travel ...
... 50% of this amount to mission and evangelism. ... a center for theological Education,
missionary training center ... cyclone eg.Orissa, W.Bengal, Andhra Pradesh etc who ...
www.tourmyindia.com/states/mizoram/pilgrimage.html - 43k - Cached -
[PDF]Church Buildings
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - 
36.View as HTML
... states of India: Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Orissa ... the mission- ary will
perform evangelism by conducting ... have undergone 2 years Missionary Training ...
www.mission1.org/pdf_files/HBIChurchBuildings.pdf -
38. Central India Union Section - Adventist Yearbook 2003
... 2 Chapel Road. Hyderabad 500 001, Andhra Pradesh. India. ... ADRA, LeRoy P. Samuel. Services:
City Evangelism Coordinator, R. Anand Moses. ... Missionary Credential: Ch. ...
yearbook.gc.adventist.org/ast/yearbook/ view_AdmField.asp?AdmFieldID=CIUS - 24k - Cached - Similar pages
39. Latest Missionary News: GFA Ministry: Serving the Lord
... a Gospel for Asia (GFA) missionary spreading the ... Work began in 1998 - Personal evangelism
- Church planting ... heat wave sweeping through Andhra Pradesh and other ...
www.gfa.org/site/latest_news/news/ archives/apr_may2003.html - 101k - Cached - Similar pages
40. Calvary Prayer Hall
... Email Evangelism. Missionary Resources. Digitracts Evangelism. ... Country -
India State/Province - Andhra Pradesh. City - Gangavaram Remote village. ...
www.thekingdomsnet.org/India1/CalvaryPrayerHall.htm - 16k - Cached - Similar pages
[ More results from www.thekingdomsnet.org ]
IREF Fact Sheet
... Gospel Fields in Repalle, Andhra Pradesh, South India is the headquarters of ... Evangelism. ... Lady
support provides the living expenses for the missionary and their ...
www.irefusa.org/facts.htm - 9k - Cached - Similar pages
index
... Missionary Training School, ... Evangelism, ... CHRIST'S EVANGELICAL MISSION Dowlaiswaram-
533 125 East Godavari district Andhra Pradesh, India Tele: 91-883-2416263 ...
www.geocities.com/cemindia/ - 28k - Cached - Similar pages



Christian churches in India are coming up in places where there are no Christians. In fact, they are "planted" to convert by considerable "trickery" the local population to Christianity. They are set up by funds from outside the country, by evangelists who spread blatant lies in the West and elsewhere about the so-called evil practices of Hindu religion.  They are used as centres to propagate Christianity and to convert. The social service activities that are part of the churches are also with an objective to convert. The activity has at best an accidental redeeming value, and becomes highly debased. It provides a cheap cover for the trade of the evangelists.
At an International Conference of Mission Work in Rome, Cardinal Josef Tomko criticised liberation theologians like Paul Knitter, a professor of Theology, for being more occupied with ‘social work’ and-inter-religious dialogue’ than with announcing the Gospel. Shri Sita Ram Goel comments:
The answer to this criticism by one truly pluralist was obvious: that announcing the Gospel was redundant, that it was even arrogant, that  other people do not need a Christian Gospel and probably many of them have a Gospel of their own as good as the Bible. But Dr Knitter’s answer was different. “We are not saying outreach evangelisation should only consist of action of human welfare but we are saying that working for human welfare, is an essential part of the work.... It is essential to the Gospel of Christ,” he said. Missionary strategist will have no difficulty in agreeing with this view. They already know that ‘social work’ is a great aid to proselytisation. (Catholic Ashrams, Voice of India, 1994, p 181.)
It is exactly for this reason that Mahatma Gandhi said,
If instead of confining themselves purely to humanitarian work such as education, medical services to the poor and the like, they would use these activities of theirs for the purpose of proselytising, I would certainly like them to withdraw. Every nation considers its own faith to be as good as that of any other. Certainly the great faiths held by the people of India are adequate for her people. India stands in no need of conversion from one faith to another. (Foreign Missionaries, Young India, April 23, 1931.)
The Mahatma probably guessed that the Christian missionaries would not follow this advice. Very soon after the above statement, he said,
In India under Swaraj I have no doubt that foreign missionaries will be at liberty to do their proselytising, as I would say, in the wrong way; but they would be expected to bear with those who like me, may point out that in their opinion the way is wrong. (Young India, May 7, 1931.)
The wrong way that the missionaries follow is not only with respect to the debased social service that is being indulged in. There is a calumny against Hinduism. In 1994, at a conference in Vadodara, Religion and Society in Contemporary India, Shri Nirmal Verma, the eminent Hindi writer, said,
The type of abuses which missionaries hurled against the Indian Gods and Goddesses, if you read today, would be outrageous to any Hindu believer. Krishna is lecherous person, Shiva is some demonic force. All sorts of sexual abuses (are hurled) against Kali Durga. (Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies, Project Nr 14, 1996, p 60.)
This is even more graphically narrated by a journalist, K R Sundar Rajan, in a letter to an English weekly in India, Outlook, March 16, 1998. He wrote:
When I was working in a Mumbai newspaper, I noticed a foreign missionary addressing a crowd at Azad Maidan. He was extolling the virtues of Christianity, which was legitimate, but then he went on to dissuade his audience from following Lord Krishna saying that ‘even as a child Krishna stole butter churned by his own mother and later he was surrounded by women of loose morals’. I protested at his remarks at which he asked his aides to throw me out. Not one Hindu in the audience stood for me. I went to lodge a complaint with the police where I was told to put the news in my own paper. I gave the story to may chief reporter who asked me ‘what’s the news in it?’ and did not publish it.
Shri Verma has confirmed the reaction of the audience, when he continued the above statement as follows:
And can you imagine all those things were completely disregarded by people, by believing Hindus, because they thought that they were absolutely nonsensical. They did not believe that any such outrage is being done to their religion because they themselves mocked in some way their own gods, with their own tremendous reverence and admiration for them.
This laid back attitude is born out of the Hindu tolerance and out of a freedom to think for oneself and to criticise where criticism is warranted. It is also the reason for the dynamism that is the hallmark of Hinduism. Mahatma Gandhi said,
My belief in the Hindu scriptures does not require me to accept every word and every verse as divinely inspired .... I decline to be bound by any interpretation, however learned it may be, if it is repugnant to reason or moral sense. (Young India, October 6, 1921.)
However, instead of admiring this character of the Hindus, it was seen as a sign of weakness. The calumny continues even today. Some, like Pat Robertson, do it crudely. In his daily Christian TV show, The 700 Club, Rev Pat Robertson portrays other religions in poor light. However, he exceeded all limits in his March 23, 1995, programme, when he labelled Hinduism as ‘demonic’ and advocated keeping Hindus out of America. In this episode, details of the Reverend’s conversion of Hindus of Rajamundry in the state of Andhra Pradesh were shown. His son said, “Wherever you find this type of idolatry, you find a grinding poverty. (India) has been cursed.” (Hinduism Today, July 1995) There was hardly any mention of this incident in the ‘secular’ press in India, and the Christians in this country did not feel at all uncomfortable about the whole incident.
Others, like a priest in Mumbai, do it in a more sophisticated manner.
Hindu philosophy is basically one that encourages withdrawal from the world to the detriment of social commitment. (Pravrutti-Nivruttin.) Hindu spirituality also fosters individuality at the expense of community. The sadhu is preoccupied with his prayer, asceticism and other spiritual endeavours in order to accumulate spiritual capital for his own salvation. This attitude is also encouraged in the life of the ordinary Hindu who is expected to work for his own individual salvation. As a result there is hardly any communitarian or social consciousness. To be freed from suffering the individual has to go through the whole cycle of rebirth to overcome his karma or fate. The community cannot redeem from this suffering. (Fr Francis D’Britto, Theology of Involvement, The Examiner, May 2, 1998.)
When Fr D’Britto says that Hindus have ‘hardly any communitarian or social consciousness’, he ignores the contribution that Hindus make to the various charities, even to the Christian ones. In case of the latter, the Hindus giving their money and time often know that they are involved in conversion activity.
People like Fr D’Britto are projected as ones who are ‘experts’ on Hinduism. They study Hinduism not with an intention of understanding it better, but to damn it. This was the objective of the missionary indologists in the past, and it continues to be so today. The fact that such things can happen in a Hindu land is something amazing.
 




India
Evangelistic movement in Northern India spreads
"Almost 10,000 new Christian groups were started in 2002, more than twice the number of new churches in 2001," reports Operation Agape's Dr. Alex Abraham. "One of our partners tells us that 1,400 members of the Banjara tribe in Andhra Pradesh were baptised in the past four months."
Uttar Pradesh: 7,000 new churches
We counted 8,500 churches in Punjab, 500 of which were planted by the Operation Agape team in 2002 alone. The house churches in Uttar Pradesh are spreading rapidly: in the past two years, prayer groups have started in 17,000 houses, and around 7, 000 house churches have been formed.
Woman healed of epilepsy
Yousuf, one of the movement's staff, prayed for a woman suffering from serious epilepsy. Jesus touched the woman and healed her; she became a zealous Christian, and decided to evangelise in front of her house. 100 of her 175 listeners decided to also become Christians.
700 new house churches in Chatisgarh
H.K. Patel reports from Chatisgarh in central India: "The 95 prayer groups with which we started in 1997 grew to 500 house churches in 2000 and 700 now. Many people in the Satnami tribe are coming to Jesus."
Water out of dryness
"In Hinota, a village in Dindori (Chatisgarh), we started prayer walks," says Patel. "The land is known to be very dry, so we blessed it in God's name. Not long afterwards, the Panchayat (village mayor) was astonished by the amount of water which came out of the water pump. The government officials were so astonished that they asked us to pray for other arid areas."
Source: Operation Agape, alexagapeldh@cs.com
CHURCH PLANTING
At the moment we have 35 pastors and 3 administrative staff working full time with International Outreach.
We have 42 village Churches in 19 districts of the state of Andhra Pradesh. With the three "King's Temple" Churches in the heart of the Hyderabad city we are pastoring about 7500 people. We also have another 51 outreach points where we conduct village crusades and home group meetings on a regular basis with a goal of planting churches.
IN Y2K
We established 16 new churches
Conducted the Jesus Heals Campaign in Kamareddy and Lalaguda.
We started “International Christian College” for city ministry training.
Held Pastors Conferences in February, March, October and November
Hosted 9 PACT teams from New Zealand, Australia, England and USA.
We also hosted 13 visiting preachers and teachers who ministered in our Colleges and Churches
May the Lord encourage you as you read these testimonies of His power and goodness. Please continue to support our work with your prayer. I look forward to another year of partnership in the work of the Gospel
Rev. Dr. Samuel Rajkumar Patta, President, IO
Church leaders in Andhra Pradesh have invited T-NET to start 4 pastoral training centers in their state.
Each center will have 20-30 pastors
Training will be done in English
T-NET trainers will teach 6 6-day courses
Courses will be taught in 4-6 month intervals
The approximate cost for a trainer is $3000 per trip
What Sort of Fruit Can You Expect? By the end of these two years of training, you can expect, on average:
800 new converts added to these churches
130 disciplemaking groups started
Your fruit will be multiplied because you are empowering pastors to reproduce what you are doing resulting in:
10 new centers will be started by your students
Each center with 20 additional pastors (a total of 200 in all)
An additional 8000 converts added to their churches




Correspondence of "World Christians": 25 Feb 2003

India: Last Saturday - 200 brand new Christians.
All come from heathen background as the result of the work of the newly sent ministers. I was really thrilled with joy to see them and lead them in to baptism. Our ministers are doing powerful works in the villages. Now we have 70 more in the waiting list to be sent out but as the Bible says "How will they go without someone to send"?
Pastor D, South India.
$50/£30 a month is all it takes to send a trained, local language speaking evangelist in India. We have been very blessed over the years to help in this way. Les and Pilar, the editors.
The new anti-Christ (From The Tribune: Tuesday, October 12, 1999)


THE election process is over and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition has secured a comfortable majority in the 13th Lok Sabha. The soul-mates of the BJP in the Sangh Parivar have not wasted time in putting on the front-burner and on high flame their anti-Christian agenda. The scheduled four-day visit to India of Pope John Paul II from November 5 has provided the right platform to the RSS, the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad activists for stepping up their campaign of hatred against conversion and related missionary work. They are opposing the Pope’s visit on the ground that he has yet to renounce attempts to “force” tribals and members of other Hindu sects to embrace Christianity. He has also not indicated his stand on the related missionary work of Christian nuns and priests in all parts of the country. If the Sangh Parivar’s conditions for letting the Pope visit India are accepted, he would, among other things, have to “tender an apology for forced conversions and atrocities committed against Hindus”. As if to indicate that they mean to stop the Pope from visiting India, the members of the VHP have decided to start a 15-day yatra from Goa to Delhi on October 20 which would cover Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. Their list of “don’ts” for the Vatican’s head includes taking part in religious functions. The logic for putting the condition is simple. If he is visiting India as a Head of State, he should not participate in religious functions; if he is coming as a religious head, he should not be treated as a State guest. The VHP’s claim that it has opened “ekal” [single-teacher schools] for keeping an eye on the activities of missionaries is not an empty boast.
At least in Punjab, where the SAD-BJP coalition is in power, the Sangh Parivar has succeeded in getting official support for their demand for a “close scrutiny” of Christian activity. As of today, a 12-day prayer meeting from October 6 organised by local Christian organisations in Jalandhar is in the eye of a storm. The RSS, Bajrang Dal and VHP activists have succeeded in pressuring the local administration into investigating the “hidden agenda” of the organisers. For instance, Christian leaders have been reportedly asked to inform the administration about the veracity of the claim that an agenda for the millennium includes the conversion of 50,000 Hindus to Christianity every week and that funds are pouring in from all over the Christian world for the implementation of the project. Understandably, there is fear as well as resentment among members of the Christian community in Punjab over the “help extended to the Sangh organisations by the administration.” The response of the Centre to the revival of the anti-Christian rhetoric of Sangh members would be known only after Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee is sworn in as Prime Minister on October 13. During the Manoharpur outrage he had supported a nationwide debate on religious conversions rather than unequivocally criticise the killing of Graham Staines and his two sons by Dara Singh and his men. An issue which needs explanation is the shift in the anti-minority stand of the votaries of Hindutva. So long as Indian Muslims were at the receiving end of their ire, the Christian world seldom reacted even to specific atrocities. Now it sees the votaries of rabid “religiosity” who oppose conversion and other missionary work as more dangerous than the original anti-Christ it has been fighting for the past 14 centuries. The report prepared by a US group against the anti-Christian acts of the Sangh Parivar was the first polite warning. If the hotheads are not reined in, the second warning may be more sharp. And the anti-Christ are seldom served a third warning by those who have made Islam look like the most retrograde faith in the world.

BIAMS Occasional Newsletter
(British and Irish Association for Mission Studies)
No.16 (New Series) March 2001



EDITORIAL
One of the few issues which divided Mahatma Gandhi from C.F. Andrews was that of conversion. Andrews, himself the subject of Christian conversion, could not concede its validity, even when stigmatised as "proselytism". The freedom to convert to Christ needed to be maintained, however respectful a Christian might be to Hindu life and the moral and spiritual example of a person of Gandhi's stature. We are indebted to Sebastian Kim in this issue for an article which opens up and probes the present legal position on conversion in India, where it still remains an explosive issue as the sad death by violence of an Australian missionary all too recently indicated. Those who wish to pursue the subject more broadly will find Andrew Wingate a helpful guide, both on the subject of conversion away from Christianity, as in his essay in Previous Convictions: conversion in the present day (SPCK, 2000), and in his excellent study of conversion in Tamil speaking South India reviewed in our last issue The Church and Conversion (SPCK, 1998). In March 2000 we were instructed on China by Edmond Tang: it is good this year to be made aware of a subject of such vital importance for Christian mission in India. Bishop Stephen Neill, himself an Indian missionary, used to point out in relation to the conversion of Jewish people to Christian faith (and I write this on the day churches remember the Conversion of St Paul) that nobody should be denied the right to convert to Christ: to do so in relation to the Jew could be regarded as an act of anti-Semitism. It is a happy co-incidence that in this same issue we carry a perceptive and appreciative review by Eleanor Jackson of Susan Billington Harper's outstanding study on V.S. Azariah, who regarded his work as evangelist and bishop as "the higher patriotism" when faced by the same criticisms earlier in the twentieth century.
Timothy Yates
INDIA AND CONVERSION
The Hindu-Christian debate over "freedom of religion" legislation in India, 1967-1977
"If I had power and could legislate, I should certainly stop them proselytising"[1]
Mahatma Gandhi
Gandhi's warning, made in the context of mass conversion movements of Hindus to Christianity in the 1930s, found its fulfilment after Independence in legal moves by Hindus to prohibit the conversion activities of Indian Christians and foreign missionaries. The "freedom of religion" acts passed in the late 1960s represented Hindu efforts to prevent conversion and, as such, were vehemently challenged by Christians. The acts themselves and the issues raised are an important part of the background to the contemporary Indian situation in which so much tension between Hindus and Christians has been focused on the problem of conversion. In this brief account, the Hindu and Christian views on conversion will be discussed in order to understand better the situation of Christians in India as they face the implications of legislation on conversion.
1
The Hindu desire to legislate on the subject of conversion gained support at state government level when the findings and recommendations of the "Niyogi Report" of the state of Madhya Pradesh were published in 1956, which strongly urged the government to pass laws to prevent conversion from Hinduism to Christianity.[2] There were several attempts to implement the recommendations of the report but it was in 1967 that the government of the neighbouring state eventually passed the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act, which stated:
No person shall convert or attempt to convert, either directly or otherwise, any person from one religious faith to another by the use of force or by inducement or by any fraudulent means nor shall any person abet any such conversion.[3]
This led to controversy and debate between Hindus and Christians in various court cases during which both sides bitterly opposed each other's position on religious conversion. The main objections to conversion in the act were that it undermines another's faith; that it is more objectionable when it is brought about through undesirable methods; and that it creates "maladjustments in social life" and causes "problems of law and order". The following year, the state of Madhya Pradesh adopted the Madhya Pradesh Dharma Swatantrya Adhiniyam (Freedom of Religion Act), which was almost identical to the Orissa act but added clauses on the reporting of any conversion ceremony to the district magistrate.[4]
The Orissa act, and later the Madhya Pradesh act, immediately came to the attention of Christians who then strongly criticised these states. The editor of the National Christian Council Review responded to the concept of conversion raised in the acts by saying that conversion is wider than the issue of changing one's religion, it is about freedom of individual choice, which is fundamental to human nature and closely related to the "right for the search for Truth".[5] Eugene DÕSouza, the Catholic Archbishop of Bhopal, wrote a strong letter against the act to the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, in which he described it as a direct attack on the fundamental right to propagate religion guaranteed in the Indian constitution[6] and something that had certainly "shaken the confidence of the Christian community".[7]
Christians in various parts of the country protested against the acts. Christian objections justifiably concentrated on the following issues: First, although it was stated that the acts were meant to prohibit conversion by undesirable means, it is clear in the Orissa act that conversion itself was regarded as objectionable since it was said to undermine another's faith. Therefore it is quite clear that, in spite of the Hindu claim of there not being any objection to "genuine conversion", the acts were intended to regulate or limit not only conversion done by undesirable means but also conversion in general. Second, the fact that the definitions of the terms used in the acts were wide and open to abusive interpretation led to serious fears among Christians that what they regarded as a personal matter would be under the scrutiny of government officials without sufficient safeguards against the abuse. Probably the strongest case against the acts from the Christian point of view was that, as Jawahalal Nehru warned, the acts could create more problems than they solved.[8]
As the texts of the acts show, especially in the case of Madhya Pradesh, they were aimed to regulate the activity of the instigator of conversion rather than the one who him/herself converts to another religion. Therefore, when Christians insisted that the acts were ultra vires in the constitution, they had to establish that the fundamental right "to propagate" meant a fundamental right to seek the conversion of others. This was the key point in the debate.
2
As a result of the enactment of the Orissa act, the authorities arrested some Christians, which resulted in others engaging in legal action against the acts. The Catholic Union of India filed a case against the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act on the grounds that the act violated the fundamental rights guaranteed in the constitution, and that it was beyond the competence of the state legislature.[9] In their decision on 24 October 1972, the Orissa High Court acknowledged, on the basis of the petitioners' arguments, that "it is the religious duty of every Christian to propagate his religion" and as far as the scope of Article 25 (1) of the constitution is concerned, "[c]onversion into one's own religion has to be included in the [fundamental] right so far as a Christian citizen is concerned". They therefore concluded that the act was ultra vires in the constitution, that the term "inducement" was vague, and that the state legislature had no power to enact it since only parliament could act in matters related to religion.[10] The verdict was welcomed by the Christian community and effectively prevented other states from proceeding with similar acts.[11] However, in the case of the Madhya Pradesh act, Chief Justice P.K. Tare delivered a final verdict on 23 April 1974, which was in contradiction to the decision of the Orissa High Court. By arguing that the freedom of religion should not "encroach upon similar freedom of other individuals", he concluded that the act, far from violating Article 25 (1) of the constitution, actually "guarantees equality of religious freedom to all".[12]
The contradictions of the verdicts of the Orissa High Court and the Madhya Pradesh High Court inevitably led to the case being brought before the Supreme Court, which gave its final verdict on 17 January 1977. This was to uphold the decision of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. On the matter of the charge that the acts violated Article 25 (1) of the constitution, Chief Justice A.N. Ray argued thus:
[W]hat the Article grants is not the right to convert another person to one's own religion, but to transmit or spread one's religion by an exposition of its tenets ..... there is no fundamental right to convert another person to one's own religion because if a person purposely undertakes the conversion of another person to his religion ..... that would impinge on the "freedom of conscience" guaranteed to all the citizens of the country alike.[13]
Since the Supreme Court is the final interpreter of the constitution, the decision was of crucial importance to the Christian community. It not only authenticated the Orissa and Madhya Pradesh acts but it also paved the way for other states to enact such legislation if they so desired.[14] In response to the verdict of the Supreme Court, E.D. Devadason, a well known Christian lawyer, questioned the legitimacy of the verdict on the grounds that the Chief Justice's "devastating" judgement was one of many such limiting the fundamental rights of the people made during the Emergency.[15] He also disputed the definition of "secular state" in the Supreme Court decision, especially as it related to the equality of religions:
Equality of religions does not mean one should not seek to convert one from his religion to another... when the Constitution guarantees equality of religions, it does not require that all citizens should accept equality of religions. It only means that the State cannot discriminate one religion from another and the State is bound to treat all religions alike. It does not impose an obligation that the citizens should treat all religions alike .... [16]
3
While Christians saw the right of the person who propagates, which might lead to the conversion of others, as a fundamental right, the Supreme Court had returned a verdict that those who are subject to the propagating efforts of others should be able to maintain "freedom of conscience" in their decision, and that this is the fundamental right clearly guaranteed in the constitution. This decision meant that, in spite of repeated Christian questioning of the legitimacy of the verdict on the basis that it was delivered in the midst of the Emergency, in India, at least in legal terms, there is no fundamental right to seek the conversion of others. In other words, Christians as citizens of a democratic nation, have to accept the fact that propagation aimed at conversion is not guaranteed as a fundamental right in the constitution but is under the discretion of the local legislature.
The Supreme Court verdict on the word "propagate" respected all parties, but the Court's endorsement of the "freedom of religion" acts seriously impaired the fundamental rights of Christians. The decision of the Supreme Court was based on the questionable assumption that in the process of conversion, the one who is converted is merely passive and the one who propagates the faith is the active party. In the case of one actively seeking to convert to another religion as the result of a personal religious search, the acts still required anyone who conducted a conversion ceremony to report it to the authority for investigation. So, though the acts rightly safeguarded the freedom of the one receiving propagation not to be converted by unethical means, at the same time they inevitably restrained those who propagated their faith, even by the limited definition of the court, since the criteria for adjudicating unethical means in religious activities were unclear and therefore the scrutiny by the local authority was open to abuse. The decision not only put enormous pressure on those who propagated a religion, who now feared that any of their words or actions would be scrutinised by officials, but it also infringed the freedom of conscience to convert. Whilst the verdict guaranteed "freedom of conscience" not to change one's religion, in practice, it severely limited "freedom of conscience" to change one's religion by denying the other's right to propagate. These acts could be used to intimidate those who wished to change their religion and therefore encroached on the fundamental rights guaranteed in the constitution.
The Supreme Court decision was just in a sense that, by clarifying the word propagate, it protected the people of India from aggressive campaigns of conversion by either Christian or Hindu groups. But it was unjust in that, by endorsing the "freedom of religion" acts, it opened the way for political abuse of the legislation to intimidate people involved in conversions. Hindus and Christians have different views on the concept of religious freedom - for Christians it means freedom to choose one's own religion, and for Hindus freedom to keep one's faith. Both these views need to be respected. While Christians are called to understand Hindu resentment at aggressive campaigns of conversion by some Christian groups, both past and present, Hindus are asked to re-think their insistence on the implementation of the "freedom of religion" acts that may lead to a society in which the daily life of individuals and religious communities is severely restricted.
  1. Harijan, 11 May 1935.
  2. Report of the Christian Missionary Activities Enquiry Committee (Nagpur: Government Printing, Madhya Pradesh, 1956).
  3. The Orissa Freedom of Religion Act, 1967.
  4. The Madhya Pradesh Dharma Swatantrya Adhiniyam, 1968.
  5. National Christian Council Review LXXXVIII/3 (Mar 1968), 120-2.
  6. Article 25 (1) of the Constitution of India states: "Subject to public order, morality and health and to the other provisions of this Part, all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion". For the debate on conversion during the Constituent Assembly, see author's article - "The Debate on Conversion in the Indian Constituent Assembly, 1947-49", North Atlantic Missiology Project, Position Paper 93 (Cambridge: NAMP, 1998); re-published in Bangalore Theological Forum XXXI/2 (Dec 1999).
  7. The Examiner (Mumbai), 12 Oct 1968, 651.
  8. Lok Sabha Debates 2/9 (2 Dec 1955), 1093-1119.
  9. For a detailed account of the Catholic campaign of legal action, see The Examiner, 4 Jan 1969, 4. For the Protestant campaigns, see National Christian Council Review LXXXIX/4 (Apr 1969), 129.
  10. All India Reporter 1973 Orissa, 116-23.
  11. National Christian Council Review XCII/12 (Dec 1972), 485-8.
  12. All India Reporter 1975 Madhya Pradesh, 163-74.
  13. All India Reporter 1977 Supreme Court, 908-12.
  14. The state of Arunachal Pradesh passed the Arunachal Pradesh Freedom of Indigenous Faith Act in 1978.
  15. From June 1975 to March 1977, under the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, the central government assumed emergency powers.
  16. E.D. Devadason, "The Supreme Court Judgement on the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act, 1967", National Christian Council Review XCV11/9 (Sep 1977), 433-7.


India
Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church (Andhra Suvisesha Lutheran Sangham)
Bishop Ch. Victor MOSES, moderator/president
Address
P.O. Box 205 , Brodipet, 522 002 GUNTUR, Andhra Pradesh, India
Phone
+91/863-224 16 23
Fax
+91/863-224 92 00, or 223 00 16
Web site

Joined LWF
1947
Membership
800 000
National Committee
Y
Affiliations
World Council of Churches United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India National Council of Churches in India

Address
East Mission Compound
6-1-11 Govt Maternity Hospital Rd
517507 TIRUPATI,
Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh

Phone
+91/8574-324 55

Web site

Joined LWF
1952

Membership
45 500

National Committee
Y

Affiliations
United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India





South Andhra Lutheran Church, (Dakshana Andhra Lutheran  Sangham)
Rev. D. D. Nirmal KUMAR, President

AD2000 & Beyond Movement
url
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The AD2000 & Beyond Movement is a global, informal network of Christian missionary agencies, denominations, churches and individuals committed to world evangelism.
Abide In Christ International Ministries
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Welcome to Abide in Christ "Foundation of Christianity" International Ministries, and New Jerusalem News.
Agni Ministries
url
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A ministry started by Sadhu Chellappa, a powerful speaker, who was in the forefront of evangelism in Tamil Nadu.
Althea International Ministries (AIM)
url
: www.althea.org
An evangelistic ministry doing seminars on Biblical subjects focussed to young people and to equip Christians for witnessing. AIM also do Church planting and charitable mission through Althea India Mission (AIM) based in Karnataka state of India.
BGEA - International Ministries - Ministries in India
url
: http://www.graham-assn.org/bgea/bgeaint/icrusrc.htm
Bible Times
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The premiere Christian web-site, Biblical resource, and source of nourishment for the eternal part of you- the soul.
Blessing Youth Mission
url
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Revival camps are conducted for christians to experience the renewal and restoration. Bible Study Programmes for and training camps are organized for the growth and maturity of the believers.
Christ For Asia International
url
: http://www.christforasia.org
A non denominational Christian Gospel outreach ministry conveying Christ in the native languages to Asians and Asian origins with an aim to bring as many as souls to Christ before He returns.
Christian Aid Mission
url
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Preaching the Gospel in some of the hardest-to- reach areas on earth.
Christian Bible Fellowship - Andhra Pradesh, India
url
: http://www.ourchurch.com/member/b/barbmindia
Christian Bible Fellowship is an evangelistic ministry in Andhra Pradesh, India. Come & see the miracles of changed lives!
Christian Life International Bible College
url
: http://www.clibc.edu
Christian Life International Bible College offers a complete External Degree Bible program in English, Tamil, Telegu, Hindi, Gujarati, French, and Russian. Included in this program is a complete Bible Commentary that covers over 3000 pages in material. The price for the External Program is extremely reasonable.
Evangelizing India For Christ
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The mission of Evangelizing India For Christ shall consist of Evangelism, the proclamation of good news about Jesus Christ; Establishment of Churches, the planting and nourishing of churches ...
Faith Ministries for India, Unreached People Missions
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Our aim is to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ throughout India. Our primary strategy is church planting, followed by numerous methods of effectively communicating the message of Jesus Christ ...
Good News India
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To preach the gospel and make disciples among the unreached areas of North India.
Good News for India
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Good News for India is a Christian interdenominational organization dedicated to training native believers to spread the gospel to the unreached parts of India.
Gospel For Asia
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: http://www.gfa.org/
Gospel for Asia. "Reaching the most unreached." Welcome to Gospel for Asia's home page! Together we can reach our generation for Christ.
Gospel Missions of India
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Gospel Missions of India (GMI) provides an opportunity for believers here in the United States and Canada to continue the Gospel work in India from their homes.
Gospel News for All Nations
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Gospel News for All Nations from Poruvazhy, Kollam, Kerala, India
Gospel for India
url
: http://vcu.org/gospelforindia
Gospel For India is a Christ centered,Bible based missionary organization. Engaged in evangelism and Church planting among the most unreached people groups of India by training,equipping, and sendingout natives of India.
Grace Fellowship, Jaipur, Rajasthan
url
: http://netministries.org/see/charmin/CM01783
Reaching South Asia for Jesus! To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith
Grace Ministries
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: http://kripa.homepage.com/
Grace Ministries is striving to show forth the Lord Jesus Christ, the source of all grace and peace. Tribal Ministry, Bible school, correspondence course...
HBI Ministries International
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: http://www.gospelcom.net/hbi/
HBI GlobalPartners exists to glorify God by enabling the North American church to develop partnerships to reach the unreached of India and beyond.
House of the Good Shepherd Ministries
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: http://www.houseofthegoodshepherd.org
This Canadian ministry is involved in setting up a permanent drop-in style Christian outreach center in Delhi.
Immanuel faith Ministries International
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: http://ifmi.homepad.com
Christian Missionary Ministry
India Center for Mission
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: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/2849/icm.html
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    ReplyDelete
  2. My dear brother,
    I do not know whether you are a male or female (your name indicates a male name, whereas you state in your article that you stayed in YWCA where only females are allowed to stay).
    Your entire article is written purely with religious zeal. But you know one thing, it is possible that a person can live without ANY SORT OF religion but at same time can have a relationship with his Creator. Because religion is all about demonstrating your bhakti to please God in the form of all kinds of ceremonies or rituals. But do you know the reality? What your God desires is YOUR HEART, yes, a purified heart, not some milk or flowers or candles! No religion in this world can save anybody when he or she stands before God (you and me will stand in front of the same God even if you do not believe it) and give account to his/her sins he committed. Do you think, any Bishops, any Pastors, any Brahmin Pujaris, any Imams, Babas or Swamis can save you from your sins? The moment your heartbeat stops (it could be today night or tomorrow) you will stand face to face with GOD, your Creator; No amount of candles, flowers that you bought here in earth in the name of your religion would be able to save you from going to receive the punishment you deserve. This is for the simple reason that each an every human being in the face of this earth (including you and me) is created by THE SAME GOD. If you and I are created by the same God, how would we ever identify or call our Father in thousand of names? If HE is the most powerful, the omnipotent God how can we make HIM equivalent to some calendar pictures or idols painted or sculpted by human beings according to his whims and fancies?
    I am person who do not believe in ANY religion but same time believe and have a live relationship with Jesus Christ. Yes, dear brother, the absolute truth is that Jesus is not somebody's God (or HE is not a God of some foreigners as you think) but each and every human beings' God. Have you ever tried to understand what all this fuss about Jesus Christ’s salvation is? I can see how painstakingly you amassed the facts and figures from different sources to defend for the beliefs that you think are absolute truths. If you would have put an effort to understand and experience your Creator’s universal love towards you, then I bet you would have shocked to come into the realization that you were carrying a bundle of huge misunderstandings and wrong pieces of information with you all these years and would have stunned to know about your Creator who wish to embrace you at His bosom through the liberation of sins offered by Jesus who stand in the midst of human being’s history.

    Will you come out of the rob of your religious zeal and think for 10 minutes about the stark reality you are going to face when you shut your eyes here in this world and stand before the ONE AND ONLY GOD?

    I am praying for you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. My friend,
    you're like saul who opposed christianity with all his might.but he found jesus and he was named as paul and preached the gospel.JESUS will soon come to your life and your heart will be filled with love instead of hate.Your faith preaches that u can achieve salvation by yourself.
    "can u lift your own weight?".u need someone to pull you up so that u can enter heaven.He is JESUS.
    Acts 9:5
    And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: "it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks".
    If u think u can fight love with hate,u are seriously deluded.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Christian missionaries are spending millions of dollars by building orphanages and hospitals with the sole intention of converting Hindus to Christianity. The converts do not change their Hindu names but start visiting Churches and getting benefits. I think currently the Christians in India are more than 15% of Indian population. Why the Hindu political parties are ignoring these conversion?

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think the writer is very hurt because he found many conversions taking place. he twisted his interpretations. no christian encourages communal strife between hindus and muslims as the author blamed. in fact we are praying for the peace of the world. has been christians aggressive like muslims and hindus, the situation should have been different and india should have been more worst attacks on each other. but christ told us to bear and we are bearing attacks on us. kindly dont attack on churches any more. church brings peace in to the country. it is fact that murderers, thieves, prostitutes, liers, angry men, abusers, wife harrassers, parents killers, brothers attackers, rapists, drunkards, drug users like many more dangerous habits were left and became holy for the christ. this is the beauty of the Christianity. as u said there are 15% of christians in the country unofficially. be happy brother that 15% of people are not harmful to the country and to their neighbours. do you want these 15% people also to turn wild and start agin bad life.... think brother... you are absolutely wrong in your interpretation. religion will not save us but it is truth.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. christianity is blessing for the country but not harmful. they have patience, dont tell lies, dont harm others as jesus said ... love your neighbour as yourself... they are not attacking on anyone....not hurting any one ...infact they dont even retaliate even when someone hurts them ... please understand brother and love them and their goodness instead of hating ...please this is my sincere request as your brother ...

      Delete
  6. in my opinion the author is the real christian who abserved other chritian activities and seached for the reality. in fact many christians are aware of all these missionary works and their sacrafising. i thank to auther for his work which gives good information about christianity in great India,though he is hating christianituy he is helping us to know.

    ReplyDelete
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