India (MNN)–Hindu militant threats shuttered a literacy project to temple prostitutes in India's Karnataka state. Vice President of Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Mission India says their team was using primers that contained Scripture verses. Members of the Hindu radical group known as the 'RSS' (Rashtriya Swamsevak Sangh) stormed one class and tore up the primers in use.
They then lodged a complaint with police against the project manager and two of the teachers, resulting in arrests and an interrogation.
Police reaction following the interrogation stunned the team. "They reacted positively, and decided to let the teachers and the project managers go free. Then they warned the Hindu militant group not to disturb the project in the future."
He urges prayer for their literacy teams, especially as people begin to respond to the hope of Christ. "You have a growing public attitude that is 'anti-conversion', even in states where the law does not exist. Anytime where people are believing that someone is being converted, there sometimes, are strong public reactions against that."
Mission India's literacy program follows a 12-month, five-night-a-week, 2-hour-a-night curriculum designed for areas where literacy is low.
This course is now available in 17 languages and can be effectively taught by instructors from depressed areas who have little formal education themselves. Approximately 85-percent of the students graduate at a fifth grade level.
Funding can help these teams spread out even further and provide the hope that comes from both literacy and knowing Christ. Click here if you want to help support the literacy program.
