Lighting the Darkest Places in India
with the Gospel of Jesus Christ

AIMS News: Posted 1/1/2004

"Omar" and his wife converted to Christianity from Hinduism in the early 1990s. He began sharing Christ with his Hindu neighbors and planting churches. The government branded him a terrorist and issued a warrant for his arrest. He hid for six weeks with a Hindu friend until he was able to pay the bribe to get the charges dropped.

Undisturbed, Omar continued to plant churches and lead crusades throughout Northern India. During one open-air crusade, several newspapers reported that Omar had illegally forced Hindus to convert to Christianity. No charges were filed, and the publicity finally ceased. Recently, ten armed policemen searched their home following a false accusation from one of their neighbors. Regardless, Omar and his wife continue to live and witness in their predominantly Hindu neighborhood.

Last February, Omar attended the Equipping for the Harvest conference in Mumbai (formerly Bombay), which AIMS held in partnership with New Life Fellowship. When he returned from the conference, he convinced one of his church planters to reach one people group instead of focusing on a geographical area which contains several various cultures. The strategy worked. As a result, 150 people accepted Christ in the people group he adopted.

Then, Omar decided to coordinate a training in one of the darkest places in India: Varanasi.

Piercing the Darkness in Varanasi

Considered the most holy city in Hinduism, Varanasi is the capital of Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in India with almost 170 million people. Millions gather along the Ganges River to light prayer candles, burn bodies and offer child sacrifices in hopes of escaping the endless cycle of reincarnation and go to heaven. During their annual festival, men, women and children crowded around the holy water of the Ganges for miles, drinking the water and offering prayers to the millions of Hindu gods.

"In this darkest of places, the beautiful vine of Christ is growing many branches," said "Jeremiah," AIMS South Asia Coordinator, who led the October conference in Varanasi. "I found among our brothers and sisters in India a deep appreciation for any believer who comes to India to work with them to further the kingdom of God."

A total of 120 pastors, missionaries and church leaders attended the conference from five denominations, independent churches, and agencies. Many expressed a renewed vision to reach the 300,000 villages in India without a church. "If Pepsi and Coke can sell their products in every village in India," observed one attendee, "we can reach every village with the Gospel."

The pastors who attended the conference learned that they could support three full-time missionaries for one year through faith promise giving. They planned to teach their prospective churches how to raise money to reach unreached people groups in India and throughout the world.

An Awakening in Manipur

In the late 1800s, a Baptist missionary couple settled among the Paite tribe in Manipur, a state in Northeast India. Through their efforts, the entire tribe accepted Christ. Likewise, through additional missionaries, other tribes in the area had come to know Christ. During the past 100 years, several well-established churches have developed within each tribe, and each have sent missionaries of their own to neighboring people who share their ethnicity.

When Jeremiah arrived in Manipur, he met 250 people from eight different tribes, who attended the Equipping for the Harvest conference.

"The conference in Manipur helped the churches to view their missionary activities in a more strategic light," said Jeremiah. "They came to understand how the Lord desires to use them just as He used missionaries from another culture to reach their peoples 100 years ago."

Although the churches had been funding missions, they were not stretching their faith. After learning about faith promise giving, they were surprised to learn that they could support one missionary family for each set of twenty families within their congregations. One pastor shared his heart with Jeremiah. "You have awakened us from our slumber."

At the conclusion of the conference, Jeremiah spoke about the heart of God and invited everyone who felt called to participate in missions to come to the altar. Over 100 people stepped forward.

"Before, we saw the Great Commission as an impossible task," one attendee commented. "Now, we know that the job can be accomplished."

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