India (MNN) — The stakes are
high for believers in India as they watch the outcome of the election process. Hindu nationalists are expected to reform
their alliances after May 16.
A team member with
World Bible Translation Center in India, whom we'll call 'Samson' says Christians have already
suffered at the hands of the Hindu nationalists. The Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) would likely bring further erosion to religious freedom. "We need a government appointed by the
Lord. The government has to support the church, support the missions, and we
need a secular government who can stand for truth."
The BJP is in power in all four areas of the
country. In the North, they are
influential in Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Punjab. Gujarat is their stronghold in the West, and
to the East, they hold sway in Chhattisgarh Bihar, Nagaland and Meghalaya.
Hindu nationalists are powerful in the South region's Karnataka state. In many of the places where the BJP's ideology
is shared, there are also anti-conversion laws either in effect or pending.
Given
the reports of wholesale destruction of churches and the persecution
experienced by many lay pastors, the likelihood of trouble during an election
cycle was great. However, Samson says that
disruption to the Tamil Nadu Bible distribution project has been
minimal. "Evangelists and church
planters have restricted their work to a certain extent, but the work has never
stopped."
There's been
opportunity to teach people in India how to read and write using Easy-to-ReadTM
Scriptures. Since January, there have
been 27 literacy centers started in villages in the states of Orissa,
Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh, and a new literacy program is being finalized in
Jharkhand.
The team is asking for prayer for a new ministry relationship between WBTC-India and
TractsOnline as they work together to use Easy-to-ReadTM Tamil and Hindi Scriptures for outreach
purposes.
Samson says they've just launched
a new Web site specifically for India. It provides contact in areas too
dangerous for their team. "Where people do not have access to the Word of
God or where movement is restricted or where carrying Bibles is restricted,
people can read the Bible in their own houses or in a nearby sidewalk
cafe." You can help. Click here for details.
Hello I am prayerful considering a mission trip to Sri Lanka soon. I was concerned to know the method used to translate the Tamil New Testament. What manuscripts were used? Was the recieved text the “Textus Receptus”, or was the westcott and hort textual criticism method used in translation. Was dynamic equivalency a method used or was it a literal word for word translation out of the Hebrew and the Greek.
And also do you publish a a bible in Sinhalese?