04-09-2008, 03:05 PM
http://www.operationworld.org/country/indi/owtext.html
4 The Church in India is, at the same time, both vital and growing, and nominal and in decline.
a) Much of organized Christianity is based on people movements over the past 400 years and in many denominations Western forms, liberal theology, universalism and a growing nominalism has dried up the rivers of the Spirit to the millions of non-Christians around them. Many congregations have no first-generation Christians from a non-Christian background. Disputes over personalities, power and property have led to many divisions, court cases, a widespread disillusionment and a steady loss of young people to secularism and nominal Hinduism. Pray that present pressures and the work of the Holy Spirit might bring new life to traditional streams of Christianity.
b) The need for change in the Church has never been greater. Pray for:
i) Unity. The All India Christian Council was formed in 1998 to protect and serve Christians from all denominations. Over 2,000 denominations and associations are participating in the AICC. There is greater unity than ever known before, because of the more hostile national environment. The past has been characterised by a spirit of divisiveness. Pray for this unity to mature and develop and to be made visible to the watching world. There also needs to be a greater cooperation and accountability between local churches and sending agencies.
ii) Indigeneity in music, worship and culture â for too long churches have appeared foreign.
iii) Greater reliance on cell/house churches of an Indian model than on Western-style buildings.
iv) More effective discipling of the many being touched or stirred by multiple evangelistic programmes. Pray for a greater integrity of life, earnestness and commitment to the Lord among those evangelizing.
v) More effective outreach through personal evangelism rather than mass rallies.
vi) More relevance to impact the mainstream of national life. The Church is seen to be linked to the marginalized, deprived sections of society. Business, politics, arts, culture, the middle and upper classes have been neglected.
c) Biblical Christianity is thriving:
i) Evangelical pastors in mainline denominations are increasing.
ii) A multiplicity of dynamic, newer Pentecostal and charismatic fellowships have sprung up and spread to many areas.
iii) The number of evangelical denominations has increased and congregations multiplied. There are several key networks linking many denominations â the Pentecostal Fellowship of India (linking all major Pentecostal denominations), the Baptist Evangelical Alliance and the Evangelical Fellowship of India (linking over 100 denominations and agencies). These have been used of God in maturing, stabilizing and mobilizing believers through prayer, conventions, pastors' retreats, coordinating training, literature production, mission and outreach.
iv) The Charismatic movement in the Catholic Church began in 1972 and has spread to nearly every Catholic church. It has had a profound impact, brought many to new life, and stimulated outreach.
d) The growth of the Church during the 1990s was significant but hard to measure. Many networks for intercession for the evangelization of the country, involving millions of Christians, have flourished, such as the Arpana Prayer Network (in 100 cities linking thousands of Christian women) and Quiet Corner Ministries. Millions have become responsive through widely heard radio programmes, massive distributions of Christian literature, extensive use of Christian videos, films and cassettes. Many have come into the Kingdom through multiple efforts to start new congregations. Pray that no attack of the enemy from outside or inside the Church may stunt this growth.
5 The training of Christian workers is fundamental for the health and growth of the Church. Poor discipling and lack of teaching have made nominalism, syncretism and losses to Hinduism a problem for Catholics, Protestants and Independents. There are about 100,000 full-time workers in India; about half are pastoring local churches. There is, on average, one pastor for every six congregations. Pray for:
a) Degree-level seminaries, of which there are over 40. A minority are theologically evangelical. Several for special mention â Union Biblical Seminary in Pune, with 225 students from 50 evangelical denominations and agencies, Asia Biblical Seminary in Tiruvalla, Kerala with 400 students from 31 denominations, Hindustan Bible Institute, etc. Pray for a stream of warm-hearted workers, anointed by the Spirit, to move out from these institutions to India and beyond.
b) Bible schools which now number over 300, having doubled in 10 years. Evangelical institutions are full. Bible schools need to change from merely teaching theology to giving practical skills in church planting.
c) Training centres for indigenous workers, largely for church planters are playing a significant role (FMPB, IEM, etc.). GFA has set up 50 such, with 5,000 in a 3-year programme in 2000.
d) New, creative ways for multiplying leaders must be sought and, in some cases, are being attempted. Many residential institutions are locked into a Western maintenance model which leads to minimal impact on the non-Christian majority and cannot produce the hundreds of thousands of workers needed now.
e) The House/Cell Church Movement is rapidly spreading in many parts of the country. One such is Operation Agap� in the north and AoG in the south. It is proving culturally appropriate, affordable, biblically authentic and very effective.
6 The growth of the number, size and maturity of Indian cross-cultural outreach agencies is remarkable. In 1973 there were 420 missionaries; in 1983 â 3,017; in 1993 â 12,000 in 200 agencies. By 2000 this had risen to 44,000 in 440+ Protestant/ independent agencies. During the 1990s significant progress was made in upgrading training, improving the quality of ministry, planning strategically, setting goals, initializing research and partnering with others. Pray for:
a) Indian mission agency networking structures play a key role in furthering cooperation, goal-setting and fellowship; major ones being the India Missions Association (132 evangelical agencies representing 21,000 missionaries), CONS, North India Harvest Network.
b) The Asian Theological Association-India and the Indian Institute of Missiology accredit, facilitate and network missions training. There are over 100 schools providing such; almost all started since 1980; IET started 27.
c) The mission agencies themselves, for their leadership to be strategic, for provision of pastoral care and support to their workers, for fruitfulness in ministry and for spiritual unity. The largest agencies: GFA (10,795), CCCI (2,604), IET (1,876), Brethren (1,140), OM (1,000), Mizo Presbyterians (800), New Life (690), IEM (470), EHC (450), FMPB (400). There are 45 Pentecostal missions with over 4,000 workers.
d) Indian missionaries serving in other lands â around 440. Costs for them are much higher. Pray for provision of their finances, etc.
e) OM graduates. The impact of OM on implanting missions vision has been significant. The Association of OM Graduates links together 12,000 full-time Christian workers. Many of these lead some of the most effective agencies in India today.
f) Indian missionaries serving in India face heightened and organized opposition and even persecution. A number of those serving in literature distribution, showing evangelistic films, and in discipling young Christians have been martyred in recent years.
g) A widening of ministry to other needy sections of the population. Hitherto half the cross-cultural missionaries have gone to tribal groups and many of the rest to the downtrodden, marginalized or needy sections of the population. Few are working among the urban middle class, the higher castes, etc. â this needs to be increased, but most existing workers feel inadequately prepared for this challenge.
h) Better and closer relationships between local churches and sending agencies. Many missions are supported by multi-congregational informal prayer networks. There needs to be more accountability between workers and churches.
i) Expatriates serving in India who now number only around 1,000. Tentmaking is one way of entry for new workers, and there are many roles that could be filled by expatriates in support of existing Indian ministries and pioneering contacts in sections of the population not easily reached by indigenous workers. Many international advocates are needed to adopt peoples and areas and raise prayer for barriers to be broken down.
7 The least evangelized areas of India â no other part of the world has such a concentration of unevangelized people. Pray for:
a) The North India Ganges plains with their teeming millions in the Hindi-speaking heartland. In the 5 states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh with 360 million people, live 650,000 Christians, but active committed believers may be no more than 120,000. Christians in India are unequally spread â 70% in the south, 25% in the northeast and only 5% in the more populated north and west.
b) The great cities with their rapid growth and mix of great wealth and abject poverty. Chennai (12% Christian) and Mumbai (5%) are in contrast to Kolkata, Delhi, Varanasi, etc., where Christian witness is very small. Twenty-six percent of the urban population live in slums, many being newcomers to the cities. There are 41 million Indians without a home.
8 The least reached mega people groups of India which are resident in many different states.
a) The Brahmin are the highest and priestly caste in the Hindu world. They number 40 million but there may be only 18,000 who openly profess Christianity.
b) Other Forward Castes â the Rajput (40m), Mahratta (28m), Jat (12m), Bhumihar (4m), Arora (3.8m), Samon (3.7m), etc., may have no more than 5,000 Christians. The forward castes have a very negative view of Christian workers â Dalit, simple, cowardly, followers of the colonialists, rejectors of Indian culture and touting Western ideas. There is little effective ministry among them. These people groups will need a different and more sensitive, loving approach and adequate preparation of workers if the barriers to faith in Christ are to be breached.
c) Many Backward Caste peoples, such as the Yadava (31.5m), Kurmi (25.7m), Ahir (25.4m), Gujar (8.5m), Sonar (7.1m) have no known Christians at worst, or a few thousand at best.
d) Dalit groups have responded more, such as the 47m Chamar, with 500,000 Christians, but the 5.5m Dhobi and 7.2m Pasi have shown little response.
e) There are still numerous tribal peoples un- or under-evangelized.
i) The Banjara (Lambadi) are the people from whom the world's Roma (Gypsy) have come. Mahars have turned to Buddhism in large numbers, but are one of the most responsive groups in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. The Banjara number 4.8 million, but only 1% are Christian.
ii) The 10 million Bhil and 10.5 million Gond are slower in committing their lives to Christ despite years of outreach.
f) The Sindhi â 36 million equally divided between Muslims (in Pakistan) and Hindu (in India). There are 300 Christians among them in India, and about double that globally.
g) There are 205 people groups with populations of over 10,000 that are still totally unreached.
9 Specific communities requiring specialized ministry:
a) The increasingly affluent 250 million of the middle classes have virtually no meaningful contact with Christianity and they are the key sector of society in the 21st Century.
b) Students numbering over 10 million in 250 universities and 10,000 colleges. A high proportion use addictive drugs. Pray for the nation-wide ministries of YFC, ICCC, Intercollegiate Pentecostal Fellowship and the Union of Evangelical Students of India (UESI/IFES). The latter has groups and staff workers in most campuses, winning new Christians annually. Pray for a clear, vibrant witness to the thousands of non-Christian students. Pray for their growth and integration into local churches. There are no UESI staff workers in Kashmir or Himachal Pradesh.
c) Young people â the statistics are solemn: 100 million school drop-outs, 50% living below the poverty line, 24% severely malnourished. Many live in a moral and spiritual vacuum. Most churches do not have the resources or know-how to minister to them. YFC, Blessing Youth Ministry, CEF, SU, CCCI and others reach out to some.
d) Children in crisis â no country can rival India's need. Of India's nearly 400m under 18, 70m+ are child labourers, 10m are bonded labourers (a form of slavery to pay off family debts), 13m are homeless, 2m are street children without families. There is widespread child abuse, and there is a deficit of 40m girls because of female foeticide â over 20,000 ultrasound clinics thrive on this illegal practice. There are 575,000 child prostitutes and there is a massive trade in Bangladeshi and Nepali girls sold into prostitution. Pray that these desperate needs may be addressed through loving Christian ministries.
e) Leprosy sufferers number 1.5m, 63% of the world's total. Christian agencies, in particular TLM and their 2,000 workers in 50 centres, minister to them.
f) The blind. India's 10m blind represent over a quarter of the world's total. Few have learned the Braille script, nor are there many materials in Braille in Indian languages. The Torch Trust for the Blind is committed to producing the whole Bible in Braille in the 12 major languages of India. At present there are some books in nine languages, but none have the whole Bible. Other agencies with ministry to blind people are Mission to the Blind and India Fellowship for Physically Handicapped. Compass Braille is an agency specializing in producing Braille Scriptures in Indian languages by means of computer.
g) AIDS has spread rapidly and is worst in Mumbai (3% of population), Maharashtra and Karnataka (2.4%), Tamil Nadu (1.8%) and NE India. Many fear that by 2000 there will be 10m carrying the virus, or 1% of the population of India. By 2020 there could be 200m carrying HIV â if present trends continue unchecked. This could become a catastrophe for India and only now are the authorities and Christian churches and agencies beginning to address the need for effective preventive and care ministries and also the need to minister to drug addicts â a major source of infection. A massive mobilization is needed.
RELIGION
India's constitution provides for full religious freedom of worship and witness for all religions. The rise of Hindutva extremism resulted in a hate campaign against Muslims in the early 1990s and against Christians in the late 1990s as being followers of 'foreign' religions. Anti-conversion legislation and imposing legal restrictions on Christian activities has been strongly demanded. Some states have enacted such legislation and condoned a rising wave of violence and even murder of Christian workers. Many are concerned at the practical erosion of guaranteed religious freedoms. In the present climate of persecution, for Christians, statistics below are not given in full, but are representative of what God is doing. Persecution index 29th in the world.
Religions Population % Adherents Ann.Gr.
Hindu/other 79.83 792,075,313 +1.6%
Muslim 12.50 126,707,722 +2.1%
Christian 2.40 25 million* n.a.
Sikh 1.92 19,462,306 +1.7%
Traditional ethnic 1.40 14,191,265 +1.0%
Buddhist 0.80 8,109,294 +3.0%
Jain 0.35 3,500,000 +2.0%
non-Religious 0.55 5,575,000 +1.7%
Baha'i 0.23 2,331,422 +3.1%
Parsee 0.02 150,000 +2.2%
*The religion figures for 2000 are largely derived from the 1991 census which, for many reasons, seriously under-enumerated Christians at 2.34%. Official 1991 census figures are used in the coverage of the individual states.
Christians Denom. % of Chris. Ann.Gr.
Protestant 309 39.0 +4.5%
Independent 1,700 27.6 +6.8%
Catholic 3 29.2 +1.1%
Orthodox 6 3.8 +1.2%
Marginal 15 0.4 +7.7%
Note: The percentage figure given is of the total number of Christians only.
Churches MegaBloc Cong. Members Affiliates
Catholic C 17,178 6,424,581 11,500,000
Ch of South India (CSI) P 15,765 1,387,324 2,955,000
Council of Bap Ch of NEI P 5,400 760,000 2,000,000
Malankara Orth Syrian O 1,346 1,143,713 1,910,000
United Ev LuthChs in I P 13,000 608,108 1,350,000
Ch of North India (CNI) P 4,382 714,286 1,300,000
Samavesam of Telu. Bapt P 893 475,639 1,110,000
Mar Thoma Syrian I 1,547 508,982 850,000
Assemblies of God [2] P 3,600 350,000 800,000
Presby Ch of NE I [4] P 2,896 389,385 797,932
Indian Pente Ch of God I 4,000 320,000 750,000
Seventh-day Adventist P 1,056 289,417 445,000
Chr Assemblies of India P 1,900 130,000 433,000
Evang Church of India P 1,152 363,390 431,000
Believers Church (GFA) I 5,000 100,000 400,000
Baptist Conv of N Circars P 280 185,400 371,000
Indian Evang Team I 2,893 200,000 340,000
Baptist Convention P 2,700 165,000 330,000
Mennonite S. S. P 2,000 80,000 310,000
Salvation Army P 2,300 230,000 300,000
9 Garo Baptist Assocs P 2,100 185,000 270,000
Assembs -Jeh Shammah I 760 80,000 250,000
United Pentecostal [2] P 2,100 140,000 220,000
Ch of God (Cleveland) P 1,020 95,000 190,000
Baptist U of Mizoram P 391 70,000 180,000
Chs of Christ [6] P 3,700 75,000 160,000
New Life Fellowship I 1,500 80,000 160,000
N Bank Baptist Assoc P 800 60,000 110,000
St Thomas Evangelical I 700 65,868 110,000
Denoms listed here [39] 122,000 15,870,000
30,620,000
There are a further 2,000 or so smaller, mostly indigenous denominations or networks with over 200,000 churches not listed or enumerated here.
Trans-bloc Groupings pop.% ,000 Ann.Gr.
Evangelical
1.8
18,458
+5.3%
Charismatic
1.2
12,541
+4.9%
Pentecostal
0.4
3,891
+7.5%
Missionaries from India
P,I,A over 44,000 in 440 agencies of which 60% are working cross-culturally in India, 440 in foreign countries.
Expatriates to India
P,I,A approx. 1,000 in 184 agencies. C 5,000.
click for legend
4 The Church in India is, at the same time, both vital and growing, and nominal and in decline.
a) Much of organized Christianity is based on people movements over the past 400 years and in many denominations Western forms, liberal theology, universalism and a growing nominalism has dried up the rivers of the Spirit to the millions of non-Christians around them. Many congregations have no first-generation Christians from a non-Christian background. Disputes over personalities, power and property have led to many divisions, court cases, a widespread disillusionment and a steady loss of young people to secularism and nominal Hinduism. Pray that present pressures and the work of the Holy Spirit might bring new life to traditional streams of Christianity.
b) The need for change in the Church has never been greater. Pray for:
i) Unity. The All India Christian Council was formed in 1998 to protect and serve Christians from all denominations. Over 2,000 denominations and associations are participating in the AICC. There is greater unity than ever known before, because of the more hostile national environment. The past has been characterised by a spirit of divisiveness. Pray for this unity to mature and develop and to be made visible to the watching world. There also needs to be a greater cooperation and accountability between local churches and sending agencies.
ii) Indigeneity in music, worship and culture â for too long churches have appeared foreign.
iii) Greater reliance on cell/house churches of an Indian model than on Western-style buildings.
iv) More effective discipling of the many being touched or stirred by multiple evangelistic programmes. Pray for a greater integrity of life, earnestness and commitment to the Lord among those evangelizing.
v) More effective outreach through personal evangelism rather than mass rallies.
vi) More relevance to impact the mainstream of national life. The Church is seen to be linked to the marginalized, deprived sections of society. Business, politics, arts, culture, the middle and upper classes have been neglected.
c) Biblical Christianity is thriving:
i) Evangelical pastors in mainline denominations are increasing.
ii) A multiplicity of dynamic, newer Pentecostal and charismatic fellowships have sprung up and spread to many areas.
iii) The number of evangelical denominations has increased and congregations multiplied. There are several key networks linking many denominations â the Pentecostal Fellowship of India (linking all major Pentecostal denominations), the Baptist Evangelical Alliance and the Evangelical Fellowship of India (linking over 100 denominations and agencies). These have been used of God in maturing, stabilizing and mobilizing believers through prayer, conventions, pastors' retreats, coordinating training, literature production, mission and outreach.
iv) The Charismatic movement in the Catholic Church began in 1972 and has spread to nearly every Catholic church. It has had a profound impact, brought many to new life, and stimulated outreach.
d) The growth of the Church during the 1990s was significant but hard to measure. Many networks for intercession for the evangelization of the country, involving millions of Christians, have flourished, such as the Arpana Prayer Network (in 100 cities linking thousands of Christian women) and Quiet Corner Ministries. Millions have become responsive through widely heard radio programmes, massive distributions of Christian literature, extensive use of Christian videos, films and cassettes. Many have come into the Kingdom through multiple efforts to start new congregations. Pray that no attack of the enemy from outside or inside the Church may stunt this growth.
5 The training of Christian workers is fundamental for the health and growth of the Church. Poor discipling and lack of teaching have made nominalism, syncretism and losses to Hinduism a problem for Catholics, Protestants and Independents. There are about 100,000 full-time workers in India; about half are pastoring local churches. There is, on average, one pastor for every six congregations. Pray for:
a) Degree-level seminaries, of which there are over 40. A minority are theologically evangelical. Several for special mention â Union Biblical Seminary in Pune, with 225 students from 50 evangelical denominations and agencies, Asia Biblical Seminary in Tiruvalla, Kerala with 400 students from 31 denominations, Hindustan Bible Institute, etc. Pray for a stream of warm-hearted workers, anointed by the Spirit, to move out from these institutions to India and beyond.
b) Bible schools which now number over 300, having doubled in 10 years. Evangelical institutions are full. Bible schools need to change from merely teaching theology to giving practical skills in church planting.
c) Training centres for indigenous workers, largely for church planters are playing a significant role (FMPB, IEM, etc.). GFA has set up 50 such, with 5,000 in a 3-year programme in 2000.
d) New, creative ways for multiplying leaders must be sought and, in some cases, are being attempted. Many residential institutions are locked into a Western maintenance model which leads to minimal impact on the non-Christian majority and cannot produce the hundreds of thousands of workers needed now.
e) The House/Cell Church Movement is rapidly spreading in many parts of the country. One such is Operation Agap� in the north and AoG in the south. It is proving culturally appropriate, affordable, biblically authentic and very effective.
6 The growth of the number, size and maturity of Indian cross-cultural outreach agencies is remarkable. In 1973 there were 420 missionaries; in 1983 â 3,017; in 1993 â 12,000 in 200 agencies. By 2000 this had risen to 44,000 in 440+ Protestant/ independent agencies. During the 1990s significant progress was made in upgrading training, improving the quality of ministry, planning strategically, setting goals, initializing research and partnering with others. Pray for:
a) Indian mission agency networking structures play a key role in furthering cooperation, goal-setting and fellowship; major ones being the India Missions Association (132 evangelical agencies representing 21,000 missionaries), CONS, North India Harvest Network.
b) The Asian Theological Association-India and the Indian Institute of Missiology accredit, facilitate and network missions training. There are over 100 schools providing such; almost all started since 1980; IET started 27.
c) The mission agencies themselves, for their leadership to be strategic, for provision of pastoral care and support to their workers, for fruitfulness in ministry and for spiritual unity. The largest agencies: GFA (10,795), CCCI (2,604), IET (1,876), Brethren (1,140), OM (1,000), Mizo Presbyterians (800), New Life (690), IEM (470), EHC (450), FMPB (400). There are 45 Pentecostal missions with over 4,000 workers.
d) Indian missionaries serving in other lands â around 440. Costs for them are much higher. Pray for provision of their finances, etc.
e) OM graduates. The impact of OM on implanting missions vision has been significant. The Association of OM Graduates links together 12,000 full-time Christian workers. Many of these lead some of the most effective agencies in India today.
f) Indian missionaries serving in India face heightened and organized opposition and even persecution. A number of those serving in literature distribution, showing evangelistic films, and in discipling young Christians have been martyred in recent years.
g) A widening of ministry to other needy sections of the population. Hitherto half the cross-cultural missionaries have gone to tribal groups and many of the rest to the downtrodden, marginalized or needy sections of the population. Few are working among the urban middle class, the higher castes, etc. â this needs to be increased, but most existing workers feel inadequately prepared for this challenge.
h) Better and closer relationships between local churches and sending agencies. Many missions are supported by multi-congregational informal prayer networks. There needs to be more accountability between workers and churches.
i) Expatriates serving in India who now number only around 1,000. Tentmaking is one way of entry for new workers, and there are many roles that could be filled by expatriates in support of existing Indian ministries and pioneering contacts in sections of the population not easily reached by indigenous workers. Many international advocates are needed to adopt peoples and areas and raise prayer for barriers to be broken down.
7 The least evangelized areas of India â no other part of the world has such a concentration of unevangelized people. Pray for:
a) The North India Ganges plains with their teeming millions in the Hindi-speaking heartland. In the 5 states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh with 360 million people, live 650,000 Christians, but active committed believers may be no more than 120,000. Christians in India are unequally spread â 70% in the south, 25% in the northeast and only 5% in the more populated north and west.
b) The great cities with their rapid growth and mix of great wealth and abject poverty. Chennai (12% Christian) and Mumbai (5%) are in contrast to Kolkata, Delhi, Varanasi, etc., where Christian witness is very small. Twenty-six percent of the urban population live in slums, many being newcomers to the cities. There are 41 million Indians without a home.
8 The least reached mega people groups of India which are resident in many different states.
a) The Brahmin are the highest and priestly caste in the Hindu world. They number 40 million but there may be only 18,000 who openly profess Christianity.
b) Other Forward Castes â the Rajput (40m), Mahratta (28m), Jat (12m), Bhumihar (4m), Arora (3.8m), Samon (3.7m), etc., may have no more than 5,000 Christians. The forward castes have a very negative view of Christian workers â Dalit, simple, cowardly, followers of the colonialists, rejectors of Indian culture and touting Western ideas. There is little effective ministry among them. These people groups will need a different and more sensitive, loving approach and adequate preparation of workers if the barriers to faith in Christ are to be breached.
c) Many Backward Caste peoples, such as the Yadava (31.5m), Kurmi (25.7m), Ahir (25.4m), Gujar (8.5m), Sonar (7.1m) have no known Christians at worst, or a few thousand at best.
d) Dalit groups have responded more, such as the 47m Chamar, with 500,000 Christians, but the 5.5m Dhobi and 7.2m Pasi have shown little response.
e) There are still numerous tribal peoples un- or under-evangelized.
i) The Banjara (Lambadi) are the people from whom the world's Roma (Gypsy) have come. Mahars have turned to Buddhism in large numbers, but are one of the most responsive groups in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. The Banjara number 4.8 million, but only 1% are Christian.
ii) The 10 million Bhil and 10.5 million Gond are slower in committing their lives to Christ despite years of outreach.
f) The Sindhi â 36 million equally divided between Muslims (in Pakistan) and Hindu (in India). There are 300 Christians among them in India, and about double that globally.
g) There are 205 people groups with populations of over 10,000 that are still totally unreached.
9 Specific communities requiring specialized ministry:
a) The increasingly affluent 250 million of the middle classes have virtually no meaningful contact with Christianity and they are the key sector of society in the 21st Century.
b) Students numbering over 10 million in 250 universities and 10,000 colleges. A high proportion use addictive drugs. Pray for the nation-wide ministries of YFC, ICCC, Intercollegiate Pentecostal Fellowship and the Union of Evangelical Students of India (UESI/IFES). The latter has groups and staff workers in most campuses, winning new Christians annually. Pray for a clear, vibrant witness to the thousands of non-Christian students. Pray for their growth and integration into local churches. There are no UESI staff workers in Kashmir or Himachal Pradesh.
c) Young people â the statistics are solemn: 100 million school drop-outs, 50% living below the poverty line, 24% severely malnourished. Many live in a moral and spiritual vacuum. Most churches do not have the resources or know-how to minister to them. YFC, Blessing Youth Ministry, CEF, SU, CCCI and others reach out to some.
d) Children in crisis â no country can rival India's need. Of India's nearly 400m under 18, 70m+ are child labourers, 10m are bonded labourers (a form of slavery to pay off family debts), 13m are homeless, 2m are street children without families. There is widespread child abuse, and there is a deficit of 40m girls because of female foeticide â over 20,000 ultrasound clinics thrive on this illegal practice. There are 575,000 child prostitutes and there is a massive trade in Bangladeshi and Nepali girls sold into prostitution. Pray that these desperate needs may be addressed through loving Christian ministries.
e) Leprosy sufferers number 1.5m, 63% of the world's total. Christian agencies, in particular TLM and their 2,000 workers in 50 centres, minister to them.
f) The blind. India's 10m blind represent over a quarter of the world's total. Few have learned the Braille script, nor are there many materials in Braille in Indian languages. The Torch Trust for the Blind is committed to producing the whole Bible in Braille in the 12 major languages of India. At present there are some books in nine languages, but none have the whole Bible. Other agencies with ministry to blind people are Mission to the Blind and India Fellowship for Physically Handicapped. Compass Braille is an agency specializing in producing Braille Scriptures in Indian languages by means of computer.
g) AIDS has spread rapidly and is worst in Mumbai (3% of population), Maharashtra and Karnataka (2.4%), Tamil Nadu (1.8%) and NE India. Many fear that by 2000 there will be 10m carrying the virus, or 1% of the population of India. By 2020 there could be 200m carrying HIV â if present trends continue unchecked. This could become a catastrophe for India and only now are the authorities and Christian churches and agencies beginning to address the need for effective preventive and care ministries and also the need to minister to drug addicts â a major source of infection. A massive mobilization is needed.
RELIGION
India's constitution provides for full religious freedom of worship and witness for all religions. The rise of Hindutva extremism resulted in a hate campaign against Muslims in the early 1990s and against Christians in the late 1990s as being followers of 'foreign' religions. Anti-conversion legislation and imposing legal restrictions on Christian activities has been strongly demanded. Some states have enacted such legislation and condoned a rising wave of violence and even murder of Christian workers. Many are concerned at the practical erosion of guaranteed religious freedoms. In the present climate of persecution, for Christians, statistics below are not given in full, but are representative of what God is doing. Persecution index 29th in the world.
Religions Population % Adherents Ann.Gr.
Hindu/other 79.83 792,075,313 +1.6%
Muslim 12.50 126,707,722 +2.1%
Christian 2.40 25 million* n.a.
Sikh 1.92 19,462,306 +1.7%
Traditional ethnic 1.40 14,191,265 +1.0%
Buddhist 0.80 8,109,294 +3.0%
Jain 0.35 3,500,000 +2.0%
non-Religious 0.55 5,575,000 +1.7%
Baha'i 0.23 2,331,422 +3.1%
Parsee 0.02 150,000 +2.2%
*The religion figures for 2000 are largely derived from the 1991 census which, for many reasons, seriously under-enumerated Christians at 2.34%. Official 1991 census figures are used in the coverage of the individual states.
Christians Denom. % of Chris. Ann.Gr.
Protestant 309 39.0 +4.5%
Independent 1,700 27.6 +6.8%
Catholic 3 29.2 +1.1%
Orthodox 6 3.8 +1.2%
Marginal 15 0.4 +7.7%
Note: The percentage figure given is of the total number of Christians only.
Churches MegaBloc Cong. Members Affiliates
Catholic C 17,178 6,424,581 11,500,000
Ch of South India (CSI) P 15,765 1,387,324 2,955,000
Council of Bap Ch of NEI P 5,400 760,000 2,000,000
Malankara Orth Syrian O 1,346 1,143,713 1,910,000
United Ev LuthChs in I P 13,000 608,108 1,350,000
Ch of North India (CNI) P 4,382 714,286 1,300,000
Samavesam of Telu. Bapt P 893 475,639 1,110,000
Mar Thoma Syrian I 1,547 508,982 850,000
Assemblies of God [2] P 3,600 350,000 800,000
Presby Ch of NE I [4] P 2,896 389,385 797,932
Indian Pente Ch of God I 4,000 320,000 750,000
Seventh-day Adventist P 1,056 289,417 445,000
Chr Assemblies of India P 1,900 130,000 433,000
Evang Church of India P 1,152 363,390 431,000
Believers Church (GFA) I 5,000 100,000 400,000
Baptist Conv of N Circars P 280 185,400 371,000
Indian Evang Team I 2,893 200,000 340,000
Baptist Convention P 2,700 165,000 330,000
Mennonite S. S. P 2,000 80,000 310,000
Salvation Army P 2,300 230,000 300,000
9 Garo Baptist Assocs P 2,100 185,000 270,000
Assembs -Jeh Shammah I 760 80,000 250,000
United Pentecostal [2] P 2,100 140,000 220,000
Ch of God (Cleveland) P 1,020 95,000 190,000
Baptist U of Mizoram P 391 70,000 180,000
Chs of Christ [6] P 3,700 75,000 160,000
New Life Fellowship I 1,500 80,000 160,000
N Bank Baptist Assoc P 800 60,000 110,000
St Thomas Evangelical I 700 65,868 110,000
Denoms listed here [39] 122,000 15,870,000
30,620,000
There are a further 2,000 or so smaller, mostly indigenous denominations or networks with over 200,000 churches not listed or enumerated here.
Trans-bloc Groupings pop.% ,000 Ann.Gr.
Evangelical
1.8
18,458
+5.3%
Charismatic
1.2
12,541
+4.9%
Pentecostal
0.4
3,891
+7.5%
Missionaries from India
P,I,A over 44,000 in 440 agencies of which 60% are working cross-culturally in India, 440 in foreign countries.
Expatriates to India
P,I,A approx. 1,000 in 184 agencies. C 5,000.
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