Why India, Rural Villages & Karnataka ??
Why India and why rural villages ?
According to the Joshua Project, there are nearly 7,200 groups of people around the world who have not heard the Gospel. They have either no Christians at all or so few that they can’t grow without outside assistance. Over 2,300 of these are in India. That means one-third of the work of evangelizing the world is in India!
As of 2013, India’s estimated population was 1.27 billion. Of that some 70% (nearly 900 million) live in small rural villages that are scattered across the country. These villages are mostly impoverished, and often, access to them is extremely difficult. They typically have few (if any) services that larger towns and cities enjoy. While many Christian ministries are found in the big cities and larger towns, few ever make it out into the rural villages.
India’s culture is highly diverse. There are many languages, cultures and religions that thrive in the country. With a social and political structure that is built on caste, language and religion, India also struggles with the majority of its rural population living in poverty. It is also the third largest Muslim population in the world following only behind Indonesia and Pakistan.
Because of these factors, violence against Christians is a prevalent part of India’s culture. It is not unusual to hear of Bible burnings, destruction of churches or other property, imprisonment, beating and even murder. The perpetrators are rarely charged and so the violence continues to grow. Six Indian states have implemented laws against coerced religious conversions and more often than not, these laws are used against Christians. There are a number of groups throughout the country that subscribe to Hindutya, an extremist ideology that believes all non-Hindus should be expelled from the country. This puts the very lives of our pastors and their flocks in danger on a regular basis.
Why Karnatka?
Karnataka is the ninth largest state in India with a population of 70.2 million (greater population than every country in Western Europe except Germany). It contains some 30,000 rural villages.
With a predominantly Hindu population and a government that is known to be unfriendly to Christians, India is understood to be one of the spiritually darkest places in the world. In 2009, The Voice of the Martyrs ranked the state of Karnataka #1 among the worst places in the world for persecution. In short, Karnataka is the front line of spiritual battle.
Winning lost souls in this region is in-the-trenches combat. Many of KGM’s pastors and believers have suffered many forms of persecution – consisting of everything from being expelled from families and jobs, to being beaten nearly to death, having their churches trashed or destroyed and their vehicles burned.
This is why we have chosen to focus our efforts on Karnataka, India.
We sincerely hope that you will partner with us on this mission!
