Flooding India has taken its toll on missionary workers.

India (MNN) — Students and a church planter are dead after a rash of flooding in India. Drought was a problem, but the end of the drought came at a huge price.

Mission India David DeGroot says flooding hit the states of Assam and Bihar weeks ago, but DeGroot says, “in the state of Assam, 14 of the students in one of our classes died of diseases after one of the floods, and 40 more were extremely sick. And, we had one of our church planters also perished in the Assam flooding in the last couple of months.”

Mission India does have people to replace them. “We have an abundance of people who have already signed up,” says DeGroot. He says the tragedy is two fold. “What’s so devastating is the tragedy for these families and the contacts that these people have made and the churches they were in the process of establishing churches. To lose these types of people is very tragic.”

While the situation is tragic, DeGroot says Christians have an incredible opportunity to minister to the millions who have been affected by the flooring. He says, “in rural areas in India, there’s kind of a hopeless feeling that just permeates so many of the people, especially the outcasts, tribal people. Christians come in with the message of hope. They work very effectively in disaster areas.”

Mission India asks people to pray that the local church will rebound quickly and that Mission India’s Bible clubs will continue to be effective.