(Praise the Lord for the appointment of a born again Christian in India's new government, and for the thousands of Christian schools planned in India!)
http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/s04060002.htm
Tuesday, June 1, 2004BORN AGAIN CHRISTIAN IN INDIA'S NEW GOVERNMENT
Appointment gives hope for Bible distribution and less perssecution, missionaries sayBy Stefan J. Bos
Special Correspondent, ASSIST News ServiceNEW DELHI, INDIA (ANS) -- In an unprecedented move India's first ever non-Hindu Prime Minister has asked a born again Christian to help lead the country, who missionaries hope will help to end persecution of Christians and allow them to set up thousands of schools and distribute Bibles among tens of millions of people, ASSIST News Service monitored Tuesday, June 1.
An official of global Bible distributor Bibles For the World told Mission Network News (MNN), a mission news service, that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had appointed P.R. Kyndiah from northeast India to become his Minister of Tribal Affairs all across India.
"My dear friend P.R. Kyndiah from northeast India, was not only elected by an overwhelming majority to become a member of parliament, but the prime minister of India inducted him as one of his cabinet members," said Rochunga Pudaite in an interview with MNN.
Pudaite, who personally led Kyndiah to Christ, suggested the Minister may support plans to distribute Bibles among over 40-million people, MNN reported.
42 MILLION BIBLES
"There are 42 million telephone subscribers whose names and addresses we have, and we'd like to make a Bible available to all of them. That will have the impact, the kind of which we have never known before."
$4 prints, packages and distributes one Bible, Pudiaite said, adding that it would be a great project for churches and Sunday school classes. The official announced on Monday, May 31, that Bibles For the World also wants to be involved in setting up 3-thousand schools around New Delhi, India's capital.
Kyndiah's appointment was also expected to boost hopes among human rights watchers and missionary organizations that persecution of Christians will be tackled in area's such as Jhabua in the north Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, where churches have been burned down and Christians are reportedly in prison for their faith.
"HATE FOR CHRISTIANS"
The region has "become a laboratory for India’s religious forces to demonstrate their hate for Christians," said Hope Builders International in a recent statement. The mission organization, which works in Asia, claims that village activists recently burned down several churches and nearly two dozen Christian homes.
"Christians have deserted the town and nearby villages and are living in fear for their lives. Fourteen Christians are in prison and another 84 are sought after," while families are allegedly harassed and intimidated by the police.
The persecutors, the police and the government machinery are working together to create insecurity in the lives of the Christian minority in Jhabua, the organization said, before news emerged of the appointment of Kyndiah.
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http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/s04050150.htm
Monday, May 31, 2004THOUSANDS OF CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS PLANNED IN INDIA
Missionary workers hope for "new wind" in India with new non-Hindu PMBy: Stefan J. Bos
Special Correspondent, ASSIST News ServiceNEW DEHLI, INDIA (ANS) -- A Christian organization plans to set up 3-thousand schools around India's capital New Dehli amid hopes among mission organizations that the first ever non-Hindu Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, the gentlemanly Oxford-educated economist who took office this month, will bring about a "wind of change", Mission Network News (MNN) reported Monday, May 31.
MNN, a well informed Evangelical oriented mission news and broadcasting service, quoted a Bibles For The World official as saying that the schools are "one way" of reaching out to the community and that churches, hospitals and clean water wells are expected to follow.
"If we can open three thousand schools around New Dehli, we are praying that the Lord of the Harvest will send laborers, and that He will also provide the means whereby we will be able to bring education to these people, and along with that, we will share with them the life transforming message of the Lord Jesus Christ," Bibles For The World's Rochunga Pudaite told MNN.
Pudaite said believers are already sponsoring nearly 1,500 needy school children, a hospital, and a seminary in northeast India." MNN also said that sponsors have helped plant "more than 300 Indian churches through partnering with Indian national missionaries," amid news of a growing interest in India in the Gospel of Christ.
"JESUS FOR CHILDREN"
MNN said "The story of Jesus for Children", was seen five months ago by an estimated 69.5 million Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs including many children when it was aired across India on December 27. "An estimated 35 million children and their parents experienced the gospel, as seen through the eyes of the children who appear in this special version of "Jesus", MNN said citing Jesus film staff sources.
Over 9,500 letters were received in the first three weeks following the broadcasts and Jesus Film staff was quoted as saying that they even "received a long distance call from someone who had turned on the television and saw only the last few minutes, from an area in the Himalayas, asking for a copy of "The Story of Jesus for Children."
There are 61 translations of "The Story of Jesus For Children" in circulation and funding is needed to translate it into more languages, MNN reported.
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Read more on these and other news stories on news agency BosNewsLife at website http://www.bosnewslife.com
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