India (MNN) — According to a report from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, twelve of India’s 28 states have anti-conversion laws on the books. Last month, a Maharashtra State leader promised that their government will do the same.
If this happens in Maharashtra or other Indian states, it will become even harder to reach those who have never heard of Jesus. That’s because India is home to nearly one-third of the world’s unreached people groups. According to The Joshua Project, those 2,041 people groups in India approximate a staggering 1.39 billion people.
While anti-conversion laws won’t stop God’s plan, they create real resistance and suffering for those spreading the gospel. Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs, USA says dozens of pastors are in prison across India on charges of violating these state laws. He says accusations often include the idea of “enticement.” It’s dangerously easy to fall afoul.
“Well, what is [enticement]? ‘Oh, you invited someone to church? Oh, there was music playing at your church, someone heard it outside, walked inside, and heard the gospel? Well, that was illegal enticement,’” says Nettleton.
Although India’s constitution promises religious freedom to everyone, the persecution comes from the Hindu-majority government itself.
“They would call it purifying India. There are government ministers [who] have literally talked about ‘the soil of India is Hindu soil,’” says Nettleton. “That has gone from being sort of an outlying philosophy to now being the philosophy that drives the Indian government.”
Now that you know, please pray
- Pray for pastors and ordinary Christians imprisoned under false charges, that they will be bold witnesses for Christ there. Pray for endurance for their families during the separation.
- Pray for a just federal government that will truly honor religious freedom for India’s 1.46 billion people.
- Pray specifically that government officials in Maharashtra State, the second-most populous Indian state, will reverse their plans to implement anti-conversion laws.
- Ask God to strengthen India’s Church to press forward with the gospel to India’s unreached people.
Header photo courtesy of The Voice of the Martyrs, USA.
