India is the world’s largest democracy by population, and it is predicted that it will be the most populous nation in the world by the year 2,020. The latest figure (August 1997 – the 50th anniversary of India’s independence) was 966,783,171. The population density is 845 people per square mile. About 80% of its citizens are Hindu, 12% are Muslim, and 3% are Christian.

At the time of this writing, the population of the world is reported to be 5,996,215,340. At this present rate of increase in population by the month of August there will be 6,000,000,000 people living on planet earth.

China and India, the two largest nations, however, are endeavoring to keep the message of Christ’s redemption from their people. Due to communism China is closed to missionaries that preach the Gospel. India is closed because of religion. Hinduism is more militant than ever in an attempt to keep a stronghold on India.

Since the Bharatiya Janatha Party formed a new government in 1997, violence against Christians has increased in an unparalleled manner. In northeastern India, Christians are no longer allowed to conduct any evangelistic activities. In central India, religious conversion is banned and efforts are made to reconvert tribal Christians by force and threat of death. In western India, Hindus have destroyed Christian schools and burned Bibles and New Testaments.

Dev Sarka, Coordinator of United Prayer Track Mission of Calcutta, reports that starting from Christmas Day, 1998, the two armed wings of the fundamentalist Hindu parties have unleashed a reign of terror on Christians and Christian churches. The greatest persecution is in the western Indian State of GUJARAT. A number of churches were destroyed by fire and Christians were attacked during worship on Christmas Day. The VHP has declared that they have launched a countrywide campaign to “counteract the program of the Christian churches for the evangelization of India.”

The Editors at the website, Religion Today.com state that Christian suffering in India is the worst in 50 years. Mobs of religious fanatics have attacked churches and Christian schools, dispersed outdoor Gospel meetings, and have beaten evangelists in dozens of incidents during the past months.

The Los Angeles Times said that oppression is widespread. Churches have been burned in the villages of Bhapkal, Singana, Lahan Kadmad, and Borkhal. The Apostle Thomas is said to have brought Christianity to southern India 2,000 years ago, but the church’s influence thins in the central regions.

It is reported by a person with contacts in India that in some northern states there may be “one Christian for every 22 million people.” Evangelists and others are bringing the gospel to these areas for the first time. These workers are constantly told to leave or be killed; despite these threats they continue their soul winning efforts and trust God for their protection. They “take the threats before the Lord in fasting and prayer and ask Him to protect them.”

This increased persecution of Christians is in a land where the constitution guarantees religious freedom. This should be a matter of great concern for all who know and love the Lord of the harvest. We must pray for God’s people in India. They have the sole task of preaching the Gospel to almost a billion people.

However, in the midst of this terrible persecution and this awesome task, the church is growing. At this time BIMI has only a few missionaries endeavoring to reach the populace of India. Dr. and Mrs. Edwin Divakar are Indians who work full time in witnessing, church planting, discipling new converts, and missionary training. Thomas and Jerilyn Kane go to India for six months at a time and help the Divakars by teaching in the college and seminary. The Divakar’s son, David, and his wife, Joanne, are on deputation at this time and need help in getting to the field as soon as possible. David received his seminary training at Northwest Baptist Seminary in Tacoma, Washington, and Joanne is a graduate of the Bible college in Mysore, India. Please pray for David and Joanne and their financial needs. Pray that their monthly support will be provided, plus the funds for plane tickets to India as well as housing and transportation upon arrival.

If you are concerned about helping reach the millions of souls in India whoare without Christ, please contact David Divakar at BIMI. Since it is not possible to get full time missionaries into this needy nation, we must do all we can to assist the Indians who are called and prepared to reach their own people. The hour is late, the task is great, and you and I cannot wait! Remember that we may be the terminal generation, the last generation to have the opportunity to “preach the Gospel to every creature.”

A Product of Missions!

by missionary David Divakar

Our story begins in British-India in the year 1890. A Hindu guru (teacher), in the small town of Sandoor in Southern India, sat under a Banyan tree teaching his disciples as he did every afternoon. This guru was a “Janghama” who came from a high cast and was greatly respected among other gurus. His name was Bassaiah. In a society where the human feet are considered unholy and therefore never allowed to touch another person’s feet, Bassaiah’s disciples would wash his feet. They would then drink that water as holy water because they worshipped him as a god and considered his feet holy. One day, Bassaiah was reading from the “Kodaykal Vachanayagollu,” which is one of the religious books in Hinduism. As he read and explained each verse from this book to his disciples, he came across a passage that said, “All religions will ultimately be done away with, but a religion started by a carpenter will survive.” For the first time in his life, he was at a loss for words because he had no explanation for this passage as he did not know the meaning himself. He thought Hinduism was the greatest religion in the world. For this reason he was a priest in that religion, but now his own book told him otherwise. Carpenters were not considered of much affluence because they were of a lower cast. The words from this book troubled him because he did not understand them.

In another part of the world, a missionary with the London Missionary Society said good-bye to friends and relatives as he and his family boarded a ship for India. India was a world away for a man and his family to leave their comfortable lives in England and go to a hot desert climate. However, their hearts burned with a desire to tell the masses of India about Jesus. The Lord in His mighty way brought this missionary to Sandoor and burdened him to preach the gospel. The missionary poured out his heart to the people. He preached the gospel of Jesus Christ without fear or compromise. The Indian people around him were interested in what this Englishman had to say because it was something they had never heard before. However, they were very reluctant to accept what he had to say because it was too bizarre for them to believe. Their religion expected them to do a lot of work in pleasing their various gods before they could even hope of having a chance to get to heaven. However, this man was preaching about a God who did all the work for mankind and the only thing man had to do was to believe. Day after day the missionary preached faithfully, but no one turned to Christ.

One day Bassaiah happened to be listening to the missionary. While the missionary was preaching, he alluded to the fact that Jesus Christ was a carpenter by trade before he entered his three years of public ministry. Suddenly Bassaiah realized that what he read in his book and what the missionary was talking about were probably one and the same. The missionary saw the old guru and knew that he was the most important person in that town. Out of respect for his position in society, the missionary invited Bassaiah to the place where he was staying. The guru accepted the invitation very reluctantly because he was considered a holy man in his society. Any association with a non-Hindu would be unacceptable. Nevertheless, Bassaiah went with the missionary. The missionary presented the gospel to the old guru. The old guru was awestruck by the fact that God cared enough for him that he would take upon himself the form of man and die on the cross to save him from his sins. This was the first time the old guru realized that the God who created the universe cared enough to love him and shed His blood for a sinner like him. This concept of God loving man was so new and yet so wonderful! The old guru bowed his head and asked Jesus to come into his heart and save him from eternal condemnation.

When Bassaiah’s disciples heard that their guru had become a Christian, they threatened to kill him and his family. With his family and all the luggage they could carry, Bassaiah left the town. They left behind their home and many acres of land. They never looked back. The townspeople made the missionary leave town that very day. He did so with a very sad heart. The missionary had labored so earnestly, yet there was only one soul that came to know Christ as personal Savior. Although he was happy for that one soul, he left Sandoor a disappointed man.

What the missionary never knew was that Bassaiah’s son would later pastor a church for forty-five years and that he would have a son who would retire from the police department and become an evangelist. Also, he could not have known that the evangelist would have a son who is Edwin Divakar, BIMI missionary in India, and that his son would be me, David Divakar. I am the fourth generation after Bassaiah Divakar to be privileged to be called to serve our Lord in the land of India. I praise the Lord for that missionary from the London Missionary Society. No one alive, today, knows his name or whatever became of him or his family. However, their legacy will live on until Jesus comes back. On that glorious day when I bow my knee to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, if I get a chance I want to say, “Thank you, Lord, for sending that missionary, and thank you, missionary, for being willing to go where the Lord led you.”

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Acts 16:9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.

TAMARA AURAND -  IVORY COAST
RONNIE & CHONA AUTREY -  DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
RICHARD G & LAURA BADGETT -  SOUTH AFRICA