Illiteracy is worst in India's rural areas.
Audio Scripture Ministries is working hard in India this year. They are getting ready to build a new building,
recording the entire Bible in three new languages, hosting two short-term
mission teams of college students, and distributing recordings of the Scripture.
India currently has a population of 1.15 billion people and will soon be the most-densely populated country in the world. Forty percent of the population cannot read, and more than 1,000 languages are spoken. Bringing the Word of God to this 40 percent is no small task.
ASM plans to tear down its century-old India Ministry Center in Bangalore and construct a 4-story building in its place. One-third of ASM's $375,000 goal has already been reached.
ASM had hoped to build the center in phases, but recent changes in the building code have made this impossible. As a result, it cannot start building until all of the money has been raised. On top of this, the price of the building will probably increase as time passes. Click here if you would like to help build the building as soon as possible.
ASM will soon record both the Old and New Testaments in the Oriya and Santali languages of India. The Christians in these tribal groups are excited to get the new recordings, and their enthusiasm for the Old Testament is especially admirable.
This June and July, two teams of college students will travel to India to assist in an historic recording of the Bible in the Vasavi language. They will be working with missionaries JP and Katy Sundararajan, who are already busy preparing for the project.
The distribution of Scripture recordings continues to go forth in India, as 400 players were recently distributed through pastors in the northeast. Christians who fled the recent persecution in Orissa reported that ASM's recordings of the Bible ministered to them wonderfully while they were in hiding.
