India (MNN) — What happens when Christians disobey laws that are being used to hinder the gospel from spreading? Believe it or not, it’s not always good.
A man we’ll call Paul is a pastoral coach supporting work in India. He explains that India’s majority-Hindu government has a vision for India to become a Hindu Rashtra, or state.
“For that, they have to plug every hole — that means anything which is going to be a hindrance to that vision of establishing a Hindu Rashtra,” says Paul.
To Hindu leaders, Indians who follow a religion other than Hinduism have betrayed India’s heritage and given allegiance to foreign nations, says Paul. By extension, that means evangelical Christian ministries are not viewed favorably.
As one strategy to combat foreign influence, India created the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act in 1976. It has put red tape on non-profit organizations that receive foreign funding. In recent years, the government has effectively canceled the FCRA licenses of more than 20,000 organizations. Many were Christian-led. Without that license, these ministries are effectively blocked from receiving foreign funding.
But here’s where the uncomfortable problem comes in: when Christian orgs dodge the system, they put not only themselves but others at risk.
“The problem I see is many Christian agencies were not following, or they were not being compliant, in that sense,” says Paul of the FCRA licensure.
(Photo courtesy of Mahmut Yılmaz via Pexels)
He gives a hypothetical scenario in which one FCRA license holder allows other groups or individuals to route money through their account.
“Now, with the current realities, you’re going to be in deep trouble, because they are really monitoring every penny you spend,” he says. “[If] they even see a slightest error or discrepancy, they are canceling your FCRA account.”
Recently, an evangelical Christian NGO was exposed as part of a network that was using United States–based debit cards in India. It was not even registered under the FCRA. It is now under investigation by India’s Enforcement Directorate.
“[The government is] going to weaponize that to further say ‘This is what we have been telling over the years, how Christian organizations, Christians in India — and there is collaboration with the Western world — are trying to convert us Hindus in India,’” says Paul. “This is what they have been [saying]. Propaganda is going on. Massive, big-scale now, all over India.”
The situation is complicated. Please pray for wisdom for Christians to respond to these circumstances. Pray that the Church, both within India and outside of it, spreads the gospel in a way that honors God.
India is around 80% Hindu, with an estimated 1.15 billion adherents according to Joshua Project (Photo courtesy of Wevlog Vijay via Pexels)
Header photo: Believers in West Bengal, India (Photo Courtesy of Ranit Das via Pexels.)
