Believers press forward to meet a Bible distribution goal.

India (MNN)–India’s new parliament opened session Wednesay following elections that swept out the Hindu nationalists.

The lower house begins its tenure after a tumultuous election that brought out a surprising result. Voters toppled the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led alliance and brought the Congress back to power at the helm of a new coalition.

With a religious minority as prime minister, and a Christian seated in the Cabinet, many mission agencies are heartened by the potential for change. Audio Scripture Ministries’ Tom Dudenhoffer says, “Because the lifting of the anti-conversion laws has already taken place in one state, we’re trusting that the others will soon follow, and that the Christians will become more outspoken. This is really an opportunity for them to engage in some public comments about what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.”

Dudenhoffer says they’re hoping to place the Bible with 25-thousand families in the next five years. National believers survey villages, looking for those willing to become listening families (listening centers) in the village. They are enrolled, pay a small fee (to avoid charges of proselytizing), and provided with a Scripture player and Scripture tapes.

Usually, as the family listens, the other tapes are “loaned” to others. There is constant circulation of God’s word. In two weeks, they are visited by local evangelists and reports are taken and forwarded back to ASM.

Within six months, another visit takes place, and those who are willing, are baptized and connected with a local church (or a local church is begun)

Dudenhoffer says ASM is partnering with the World Cassette Outreach to bring more dialects of the spoken Word of God to the impoverished of India. “We continue to record many of the more obscure languages within India, and as we record those languages, we attempt to do a distribution as soon as possible.”