Story number 2 for 2 Dec 2002

(India) — Next, Mission India of Grand Rapids, Michigan is expanding its outreach among the Dalits. They’re using their biblically based literacy-training program to do it. Mission India’s John DeVries says the Dalits are craving education. He says it’s a great tool for evangelism. “The first seven (or) eight lessons are pretty much based on secular needs such as cleanliness, health and hygiene, this sort of thing. And then gradually we begin to introduce lessons about Christ so that during the actual nine months that they’re in the primers they do get the full story of salvation from creation to the second coming. “DeVries says the program is seeing some success. “We have an incredibly high graduation rate – 84-percent. 40-percent of those become believers. The income level goes up rather dramatically. Health and hygiene shows a dramatic transformation.” Funding is needed to assure the programs will continue.