Back to the Bible International's Sri Lanka Country Director James Kanaganayagam says, "One thing that's probably going to keep it at that stage for some time is the pressure that came upon the government by countries like the United States and the United Kingdom not to bring this to a law. I know in the U.S. the Sri Lankan Ambassador in Washington was called for a meeting. "

Kanaganayagam says that pressure is believed to be what caused the legislation to be buried in committee.

According to Kanaganayagam, the church in Sri Lanka was instrumental in seeing this pressure come to pass. "The evangelical church in Sri Lanka made presentations to the different embassies in Sri Lanka, including the U.S. Embassy. They sent reports of the different atrocities that were being done against the church."

The anti-conversion bill wanted to prevent Christians and others from causing fear to those they're ministering to. Kanaganayagam says that would have caused issues in their outreach. "In that sense, it practically prevents us from sharing the whole Gospel. We can't talk about hell. We can't talk about the punishment of sin. So if you were to take the law in that context, we would all be guilty of breaking the law."

It would also have prevented Christians from offering humanitarian aid, education, and other assistance. The law claims those "allurements" could cause people to convert to Christianity.

Kanaganayagam says prayer support and telephone calls to legislative leader made a huge difference.

Even though the anti-conversion legislation is on-hold, Christians are facing increasing violence as the civil conflict between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels have intensified. Many Tamil Christians have been accused of terrorism. 

Pray for protection and for the salvation of many.

According to reports, the number of attacks against Christians by Hindu extremists has increased at an alarming rate through the first four months of 2007; a reported total of 113 incidents have been recorded since January 1, 2007. Mobs of Hindus are allegedly responsible for many of these attacks.

However, the work of Back to the Bible International-India isn't stopped. Country Director Prem Swaroop says. "At present we are doing the radio program through short-wave, medium wave, and also we are on TV in English and Tamil. We are going to launch on FM radio in Hyderabad and Delhi."

According to Swaroop, while tensions are high between Christians and Hindus, the FM programming will share the Gospel in a subtle way. "We can do a song-based program, and in between we can read Scripture — the Bible. That permission we have received.

The only hindrance to starting this new outreach is funding for airtime. "Each program for a half hour costs about 10,000 rupees. That's about $225 per half hour program. And we need to make an agreement with the authorities for one year."

That's $11,700 for just one year of broadcasting.

This would be a first for India, says Swaroop. "There are no Christian radio programs on FM radio which are regularly aired. There are some programs that come out at Christmas time, Good Friday, or Easter. We're looking at doing a program every week."

While Back to the Bible is broadcasting in nine languages, they're not doing it alone. Swaroop says they're strategically working with other Christian broadcasters. "We're all hooked together doing 155 languages. That is only 10-percent of the languages of India that we have touched. We are concerned about the 90-percent who are still in darkness."

While persecution is a concern, Swaroop says, "Whenever there is persecution, people come close to the Lord. Their dependency on God is increased."

Pray that churches will grow during this time of persecution.

If you'd like to help Back to the Bible-India, click here.

War planes are
constantly over rebel-held areas. Many fear it's a preview of a conflict in Sri
Lanka that could see thousands die.

Back to the Bible' s
Country Director James Kanaganayagam says many people have already felt the
effects of war. "This has just compounded the already huge number of
refugees which is now over 200,000 in the eastern province alone. The problem
with the refugees is that there isn't enough infrastructure set for these people to be
accommodated. So there's a huge issue there for humanitarian assistance."

This conflict is
also causing problems for Back to the Bible and other ministries in Sri Lanka
because it pits the Sinhalese Sri Lankan government against the Tamil Tiger
rebels. Kanaganayagam says, "It's primarily an ethnic issue. There is an
increasing number of arrests being made, and all of the people arrested are
Tamils because they're more likely to be connected with Tamil Tigers. So there's that sense of tension for the Tamil-speaking people."

While these tensions
are increasing, it hasn't stopped ministry. "We have the
correspondence courses that are continuing to minister to people and draw
people. It's not an overt evangelistic tool. But it continues to grow because
people are looking for answers to their questions."

More than 70,000
people have gone through the program over the years.

In addition to correspondence course, Back to the Bible is also reaching out through their radio broadcasts in these difficult times, says Kanaganayagam.
"We have daily programs on national stations that actually cover the
entire country, and these programs have the potential of reaching millions of
people in Sinhalese and Tamil. People have come to know the Lord through that
program."

While
funding is an important need, Kanaganayagam also is asking believers around the
world to pray for the morale of his staff. He says his team is battling a bit of discouragement.

If you'd like more information about Back to the Bible-Sri Lanka, click here.