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South Asia
Christian Aid supports indigenous ministries located in five countries of South Asia, which include India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. These ministries are working to share the gospel with 513 unreached people groups.
India, with its more than 2,300 people groups—87 percent of which are considered unreached—has been a natural focal point in Christian Aid’s quest to reach “every tongue, tribe and nation” with the message of Christ.
Religions are varied throughout the region. In addition to animism—or spirit worship—South Asians practice three main religions: Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism.
India: 80% Hindu
Bangladesh: 83% Islam
Bhutan: 75% Buddhist
Sri Lanka: 69% Buddhist
Pakistan: 97% Islam
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"We need to train missionaries and send them to rural areas," urges a leader of a ministry in Sri Lanka, "those called to reach the unreached with the gospel of Christ."
In the heights of India’s Himalaya Mountains, where the waters of the Ganges are thought to be a mystical spring of life, Hinduism’s iron grip on the hearts of the people stands in firm opposition to the gospel. In this region, God’s Word has been sparse historically, but nonetheless powerful when applied to sinners upon whom He has extended His grace.
There is an urgency in Pastor Rai’s voice as he describes the need to evangelize the eastern part of Nepal. "People are starving spiritually. They seek to fill this great void, but do not know where to turn. We must fill that emptiness with the gospel."
When you think of a bicycle, you might picture a day of exercise and fun with your family. When a native missionary thinks of a bicycle, he thinks of the speed with which he can reach a village and the number of people he can tell about the love of Jesus. With a bicycle, distances between villages diminish as one sets out to preach the Word.
South Asia--the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism, with strong Muslim elements--is seeing the witness of Christ being spread and strengthened among its nations. The witness of indigenous messengers is key.
Indigenous ministries are working to reach the hard-to-reach and the never reached. When they have begun a work in one of these remote areas, they return often to strengthen the new believers....
There are several cities located in northern India having a population of more than two million people. Within these cities are pockets of Urdu-speaking communities, where a native missionary* and his wife began their ministry. But this has not been an easy mission field. Religious tensions persist, so Muslim minorities are fearful of entering the mainstream of society....
India has the largest number of unreached people groups (UPG) in the world. With its population exceeding one billion and the languages spoken there numbering in the hundreds, it is clear that native missionaries are the best people to reach those who have yet to hear the good news of salvation through Christ....
My sister and I shared a precious camaraderie. I remember well those whispered secrets, the silent understanding and those times we knelt together in prayer....
In 1977 native Bangladeshi missionary, Bawm, dedicated his life to Christ during a revival meeting. After graduating from seminary in 1989, Bawm begin ministering to his own people, the Bawm tribe, for which he is named....
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