India (MNN) — In the Indian states of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, Christians have been a stagnant minority, not even comprising one percent of the population. The Hindu and Sikh majorities try to run out the few Christians who remain, by using threats and hostility such as shutting down churches or driving them from their homes.
Mawii Pudaite of Bibles for the World said one such believer is Pastor Thanga Tryte, supported by BFTW, who just lost his home and his place of worship.
"Unfortunately, the landlords are unwilling to extend the rent to Pastor Thanga and his family this month. Also, they no longer allow the church to hold services in the apartment and to store the supplies of Gospels and Bibles," Pudaite said.
With no place to meet, believers in the area searched for a new church building. Thanga and BFTW's director in Delhi, C. Thant Khobung, found a building which Youth With a Mission (YWAM) had outgrown.
Although YWAM cut the price by one third, Pudaite said they still could not afford the $50,000 needed to purchase the building–that is, until two sisters from Minnesota heard about the plight of these Indian believers.
Pudaite said, "This past week the $50,000 grant came, and we are able to take possession of the building."
Christians in these two Indian states were previously a stagnant minority, but that is beginning to change as new believers are baptized almost weekly. Just last week, 18 made public commitments of faith through baptism. As these converts–many of them Sikh–believe Christ's truth, they in turn begin evangelizing their communities.
"These are the direct results of the Bibles and Gospels we have been distributing in Chandigarh and other cities in Punjab," Pastor Thanga told Pudaite. "We urgently need more Gospels and New Testaments to distribute."
Consider helping to replenish BFTW's diminishing stock of Bibles and Gospels. Click here to help. It costs just $2.25 per copy to print and distribute New Testaments, and only 25 cents per copy for the Gospel of John.
