Pray for India

Part B. The Unfinished Task in India.

1. The world’s least-evangelized peoples are concentrated in India.
   When evaluating the Unreached population of India, of 159 people groups of over 1 million people, 133 are unreached. Hundreds more groups of fewer than 1 million are unreached. Also, 953 ethnic groups have populations greater than 10,000; of these, 205 have no church and little to no outreach from Christians. They can be found in every state, although they tend to be more concentrated in the north. A few of the most significant peoples for prayer:
   
2. India has more unreached individuals than any other nation.
   Christians in India are very unequally spread – the south and northeast have a much higher proportion of Christians than the more populated north and west. Thirteen states in North India are less than 1% Christian (see map  above). Pray that the Church worldwide might rise to this task. Pray for:

• The North India Ganges plains, with their teeming millions, in the Hindi-speaking heartland (Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal) combine to account for 382 million people.
• None of these states is more than 1% Christian, according to census data. There is, however, more church growth than ever in the north, from megachurches of 7,000 to networks of tens of thousands of house churches. A vision exists for 1 million churches planted in the north in the next 10 years.
• The great cities with rapid growth and a mix of great wealth and abject poverty. Chennai, Mumbai and even Hyderabad with significant Christian populations exist in contrast to Kolkata, Delhi, Varanasi, Lucknow and others where Christian witness is very small.
• Increasing urbanization sees millions drawn from rural areas into urban areas annually, often with little by way of resources and connections. As a result, India’s slum-dwelling population now exceeds 70 million.

3. The Indian Church is highly diverse, with a long legacy.
Much of Indian Christianity results from people movements of the last 300 years, often started by local revivals. Some Christian groups today have remarkable growth, while other groups decline in numbers.

The Mar Thoma Church in India sees itself as continuation of the Saint Thomas Christians, a community traditionally believed to have been founded in the first century in AD 52 by Thomas the Apostle, who is known as Mar Thoma (Saint Thomas) in Syriac, and describes itself as “Apostolic in origin, Universal in nature, Biblical in faith, Evangelical in principle, Ecumenical in outlook, Oriental in worship, Democratic in function, and Episcopal in character”.

• The Orthodox Churches trace their origin to the tradition of the Apostle Thomas, who was said to minister here in the 1st century. Orthodox Christians (over 2.2 million) have the strongest presence in Kerala and southwest India.
• Catholics represent the largest Christian group in India (nearly 20 million). People respect their charity work, especially Mother Teresa’s care for the poorest of the poor. Catholics run more than 5,000, healthcare facilities. The charismatic movement in the Catholic Church began in 1972 spread to almost every congregation and brought both new life and increased outreach.
• Evangelical denominations and congregations multiplied. God uses several networks and alliances to mature and mobilize believers through prayer, pastors’ retreats, and conventions. They also coordinate training, literature production, missions, and outreach (the Evangelical Fellowship of India links over 224 denominations, the Pentecostal Fellowship of India links the major Pentecostal groups, and so on).
• Newer Pentecostal and charismatic fellowships sprang up quickly, and spread throughout India, especially in the last 15 years. The Yesu Darbar gathers tens of thousands of Jesus’ followers in North India. They model biblical worship and fellowship patterns in an Indian style.
• Millions of followers of Jesus (Yesu Bhaktas) are secret believers, or unbaptized Christians outside the established denominations. Pray for discipleship for these people as their numbers increase.

4. The Mission endeavors in India.
The growth of Indian cross-cultural mission outreach (within India) is remarkable and has occurred despite increasingly intense opposition in many cases.

• In 1973, there were 420 missionaries. In 2009, India Missions Association (IMA) alone represented over 235 organizations and 40,000 missionaries. Encouraging progress has also been made in upgrading training, improving the quality of ministry, planning strategically, setting goals, initializing research and partnering with others.
• Training for Christian workers is an urgent need. The life and health of the Church depend on pastors, teachers, evangelists, and missionaries and yet most leaders and pastors receive very little preparation for their work. Pray for the formal training institutions and Bible schools which number over 1,000. Many teach practical skills (such as church planting) in addition to theology and Training centers for indigenous workers (to train church planters) now also play a significant role.
• Persecution of Christians has been steadily intensifying in recent years, and shows no signs of abating. Pray for our brothers and sisters in India to endure in the midst of this increasing pressure.

5. Pray for the Indian diaspora.
The Indian diaspora now numbers nearly 30 million and is spread across 130 countries.

 Large numbers have emigrated to the Americas: USA (2.2m, where they have built over 500 Hindu temples), Canada (1.0m), Trinidad (500,000), Suriname (150,000); others to Europe: UK (1.5m), France (290,000); many to Africa: South Africa (920,000), Mauritius (870,000); to the Pacific: Fiji (310,000), Australia (225,000); to Asia: Nepal (5.5m), Malaysia (2.1m), Myanmar (2.5m), Sri Lanka (1.5m), Singapore (400,000); and to the Middle East: Saudi Arabia (1.4m), UAE (1.4m), Kuwait (560,000), Oman (385,000). They are influential in their adopted lands, especially in business, technology and culture.

6. Pray for the Assemblies of God in India.
The Assemblies of God India celebrated 100 years in 2016 and continues to dedicate itself to raising up the next generation as followers of Christ. The General Superintendent Rev. David Mohan noted that since their beginning in 1916, AG India has planted over 5,200 recognized churches and 6,000 house churches. They have sent out over 600 missionaries and trained more than 8,000 leaders, including more than 2,500 trained ministers today. “All over India, the power of God is really moving,” Rev. Mohan said. “God is doing a great work, and we are seeing a move of God and revival in this nation. Let us all join together, work together, to train more workers. We must put our hearts together to reach this nation for the glory of God.”

Currently they have 3 General Councils of South India, North India and East India which has over 7500 Churches in total, having some of the finest leaders with great vision and passion to reach India and beyond. Having established their presence in key cities and locations, they are positioned to reach the neighboring communities and villages to reach the Unreached People Groups. The AG India has contributed to raising great leaders such as Rev. Mohan who pastors the largest church in South Asia with 50,000 people and also serves as the Acting Chairman of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship.
Please Pray for a great Revival in India.

• Pray for the Leaders and Pastors of AG India to continue to work amidst challenges of opposition and persecution to fulfil the Great Commission in India.
• Pray for Churches to experience fresh Revival to reach out to the lost and to plant churches and establish new communities of believers.
• Pray for the Missionary vision of India AG to reach out to the Unreached People Groups of North India and the Southern Asia Region.
• Pray for the persecuted believers and pastors who are facing severe opposition against their ministries.
• Pray for Bible Schools and raising of more laborers for the Harvest.
• Pray for the ministries among Children and Youth and other community based programs reaching out to the next generation.

Thank You for Praying for India!
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Resources and Picture credits: : Operation World, AG News, Mar Thoma Church- (Wikipidia).