India (MNN) — Police in India’s Orissa State have arrested a young pastor after he prayed for a woman suffering from tuberculosis and kidney problems, not knowing that she was the wife of Hindu leader. This arrest is just one example of the difficulties facing Christians in that predominately Hindu nation.
Operation Mobilization’s Peter Dance says Hindu nationalists are attacking Christians. He describes the problems. “They’re burning churches. They’re burning Christian literature. They’re beating up people in prayer groups. There are even murders of pastors and evangelists. There is an incredible spiritual battle going on.”
However, Dance says it hasn’t affected the growth of the church. “We’re finding churches are being planted all across the country. I think we’re now at 2,500 new churches that we’ve seen come into being and many thousands upon thousands of new believers are coming into the Kingdom because of one form of outreach or another.”
The low caste of society, the Dalits, are most receptive to the Gospel. They’ve rejected Hinduism because they’ve faced centuries of racism and abuse by other castes. Dance says, “They desire to choose a God who cares for them, loves them, and brings them dignity and justice and that is why so many are choosing the Christian Gospel.”
To help the Dalits physically, OM has opened Dalit education centers. Dance says they’re facing a major problem with that program. “We’re finding it quite difficult, particularly in the north, to find teachers who are willing to go and live in some of these remote areas.”
Funding is also an issue. “We can, very often, find funding to start one of these schools and get it going, but the on-going costs of running the school we’re finding more and more difficult.”
So, OM has started a child sponsorship program to support these programs that are pointing these Dalit children to Christ.
You can help OM’s work through their partner, the Dalit Freedom Network.
