INDIA MISSIONS ASSOCIATION

INDIA MAIL, 29 November 2002

CHURCH GROWTH MISSIONARY MOVEMENT: A bhajan was held in a village in Gujarat. The film `Jesus’ was shown in 2 villages to 110 people. As a result, 4 persons have joined the local training program. The good news was shared for the first time in three villages of Gujarat. About 60 persons participated in a prayer meeting at Goyapalli in Andhra Pradesh.

BIBLE SOCIETY OF INDIA: Pamphlets, books and literature published by Bible Society of India are available in Kottayam branch of BSI at rock bottom prices. Bible Society of India, Kottayam – 1, Kerala. Phone 0481 562103;

AGNI MINISTRIES: Magazine “Suthikarikum Agni” is published monthly. Cassettes are produced and literature published. Short-term bible courses are conducted. Pray for street children ministry.

MARTHOMA EVANGELISTIC ASSOCIATION: Established on 5th Sept 1888. Work is in progress in 16 states of India. It has 47 mission fields, 87 different units, 220 evangelists, and 35 workers and 350 field staff.

PEOPLE GROUP PARDHIS: Pardhis are one of the 150 communities the British notified as criminals in 1871. Though the republic denotified them in 1952, some six crore of them continue to be social outcasts and victims at the hands of the police. Phase Pardhis form one third of the five lakh Pardhi clan. History branded Phase Pardhis (Marathi for trap hunters) criminals and hounded them like beasts of prey. The stigma is still the curse of their life. 90 percent of Pardhis had no formal education. “Pardhis do not face any trouble from Muslim and Christian communities. It is the Hindus who trouble them the most.” (The Week, 1 Dec 2002, pp.16, 17)

FOREIGN DONATIONS TO SANGH PARIVAR LINKED WITH VIOLENCE: Global software major, Cisco Systems donated $ 70,000 in just one year to a U.S.-based Sangh Parivar fund-raising outfit, the Indian Development and Relief Fund (IDRF), which has channelled millions of dollars to Sangh Parivar organisations, like the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, linked with anti-minority violence in many States. (The Hindu, Internet edition, 21st Nov 2002)

HEALTH OF INDIANS: 90 people die every hour in India because of cancer caused by tobacco consumption. About 15 million tobacco consumers are suffering from fatal lung and oral cancer. By 2010 the numbers could reach 30 million, if uncontrolled. 12 to 14 percent of the population in Gujarat above the age of 30 suffer from diabetes — supposedly the highest in the country. A poor lifestyle and genetic predisposition are the main reasons. 84,000 people die every year in India because of air pollution. Delhi has been rated the fourth most polluted city in the world through the 1990’s. (The Week, 1 Dec 2002, p. 6)

POVERTY LEADS TO MIGRATION: In India, it is estimated that 600 million people will live in urban areas by 2025. “The poor who migrate from rural to urban areas seeking better livelihoods are illiterate and unskilled; the vast majority of them are unable to enter the organized industrial sector and consequently coalesce into a bloated informal sector or poorly paid day labourers trapped in an uncertain and precarious existence,” a study by World Food Programme said. (Indian Currents, 24 Nov 2002, p 22)

REFUGEES IN INDIA: At the end of 2001, some 345,000 refugees were living in India, including as many as 144,000 from Sri Lanka, 110, 000 from Tibet, 52,000 from Burma, 15,000 from Bhutan, 12,000 from Afghanistan, an estimated 5,000 to 20,000 from Bangladesh, and nearly 300 from other countries. A United Nations Human Rights Commission report says that another 40,000 Afghans were living in India in refugee-like conditions. It also says that about 17,000 Kashmiris from the Indian Controlled area of Kashmir remained in Pakistan controlled Kashmir. (Indian Currents, 27 Oct 2002, p. 28)

JAINS IN CENTRAL INDIA: There are over one million Jains in central India. The moneyed Jains are breaking free of their social low profile, self-imposed for years, and acquiring a new political, religious and social assertiveness. Jain munis have inspired followers to take up temple, hospital and education projects estimated at well in excess of Rs 500 crore. (India Today, 25 Nov 2002)

KERALA, THE SAFEST PLACE TO LIVE IN: The Home Ministry has ranked Kerala as the safest place in the country in terms of security situation. An Intelligence Bureau report, placed before the annual conference of the Director Generals of Police, says that Kerala is the safest place to live followed by Haryana, Delhi and Punjab. (The New Indian Express, 19 Nov 2002)

INDIA MISSIONS ASSOCIATION: IMA is organizing a Mission Focus Seminar on 11th and 12th of December 2002 at Hyderabad. All pastors, lay leaders, mission leaders and staff, church committee members and others may attend. For more information, please contact phone 7134535/30 ; email:

Compiled by the IMA Research Team and mailed by INDIA MISSIONS ASSOCIATION,

E-mail: