Story number 2 for 9 Jul 2001

(India)–Elsewhere, amidst the sinister development of an army of Hindus in the Bajrang Dal, missionaries to India say there’s another change coming from an unexpected source. The Dalit population of India, or the lowest members of the caste society, are rejecting Hinduism and turning to Christianity in droves. Operation Mobilization’s Peter Dance says this presents an unusual predicament for the church. “The Dalit population makes up about 250-million people, and if a large quantity of those want to join the Christian community, what it means for the Christian church is, ‘Wow! What are we going to do with these people? How are we going to handle them, how are we going to disciple them?’ ” Dance adds that this is where prayer becomes crucial. “Pray for peace and that the response will not be violent by the extremist Hindus to this. We can also pray for the church that will be welcoming these people into their congregations, into their midst.”