India (MNN) — After India’s general election this summer, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi lost its majority in the lower house of India’s Parliament. The BJP has been a leading force in India since 2014 but now must rely on several ally parties moving forward.
Floyd Brobbel from Voice of the Martyrs Canada says Christian minorities hoped this change might lead to a more favorable government stance toward them. Muslims are also a minority in India. However, this change has not come yet, so caution is still the way forward.
“While there is a little bit of hope, there’s apprehension. Of course, they’re going to protect their identities, they’re going to want to seek to protect their internal partnerships and things that they’re doing within the country,” Brobbel says.
ndia is nearly 80% Hindu, 14% Muslim and 2% Christian. (Source: CIA Factbook) (Photo courtesy of Ron Hansen via Unsplash)
“There needs to be wisdom in in how we [communicate with and support our partners], because increasingly — not only in India, but in the world — we’re seeing governments more hostile to open channels of funding ministries for the advancement of the gospel.”
Voice of the Martyrs Canada is considering alternative strategies to stay connected to partners in India in an uncertain future.
“Will all our ministry partners be cut off from any type of funding or resourcing, even communications? How will we communicate with them? That may be an extreme measure, but we’ve seen that happen before,” Brobbel says.
“So we need to operate with caution and also communicate in a way that doesn’t jeopardize the safety of our partners in the field or those that they’re calling to help.”
Representative photo of a remote village in India. (Photo courtesy of Deepak Srinivasan/Unsplash)
Brobbel says the whole situation relates to Jesus’ direction to His disciples in Matthew 10:16: “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”
Please pray for Christians in India. They need wisdom and unity.
“I think India has a lot of natural resource[s] within the Church itself. If the Church in India continues to unite and work together, then they can better also do the work of the church, not necessarily be depending on organizations to fund them,” Brobbel explains without criticism.
“Pray for unity and for those resources to be able to flow, but also [for] wisdom for organizations that are reaching out on how they can make a difference in India.”
Click to learn more about Voice of the Martyrs Canada.
Header photo courtesy of Voice of the Martyrs Canada.
