By Nete Ertner Rasmussen, Travel Secretary at DE
We read that India is economically on its way to playing with the big countries of the world. You don't see much of that here where I am. I'm at the very tip of India, in the state of Tamil Nadu. The largest city in the state is Chennai, which used to be called Madras, but I'm in Erode, a smaller city of 5 million people (believe me, a city of 5 million people is a smaller city in India). Bethany Fellowship Church has its headquarters here with pastor training, an orphanage and a beautiful new church, and just a three-hour drive away is the leprosy colony where DE sponsors a school for the children.
In Tamil Nadu, everyone is poor, no one has ever been able to become really rich. And when I look at the streets, I don't see any signs of the increased prosperity coming to India. I know more children are getting an education, but it's not creating more jobs, unemployment is still huge, and the average wage here in the state is still a penny a day. There are a few more nice shops - you can now buy iPhones - and the nearest airport (Coimbatore) is new, but the administration is the same.
In one respect, however, things have changed. There is a new hope for better times among the people, which means that the traditional reverence for the Hindu gods is waning. In Erode, every year there is a big Hindu festival where people come from far and wide to queue for 10 days in front of a temple to pour water over the god's head. The queue outside the temple used to be 10 km. Long and the city was full of pilgrims. But year by year the numbers have dwindled, and this year the queue never exceeded 2 km.
The problem is that while the number of Hindu pilgrims is dwindling, the number of Christians is growing. Christians are still an absolute minority in this country of hundreds of millions of Hindus, but Christians gather in churches and are very faithful. Therefore, it has become common to blame Christians for the population's declining respect for Hindu gods and the decreasing number of pilgrims. And across India, attacks on Christians are escalating, both in the media and on the streets. It's worst in northern India, but also in Tamil Nadu, churches are now being attacked more frequently and priests assaulted.
Here in Erode last month a pastor was holding a Bible class in a private home when neighbors broke in and beat up everyone in the small congregation, and similar things are happening all over the state. All evangelism has had to be stopped and all pastors and churches are very cautious. You can no longer give anyone a tract without fear of being arrested. Last week, in the middle of the night, a group of men came to the orphanage where the church bus is parked and threw stones at the bus and broke all the windows.
The churches are also accused of being in the pocket of the West, making it harder to send money from abroad, even if it is for the churches' social work. Authorities suspect the money is being used to convert Hindus to Christianity, even though it is only meant to help the poor, the marginalized, the fatherless and the widows.
Last year, the church turned 30 years old and had been collecting money from its members for 4 years to rent the city stadium and hold a big meeting. The city council gave permission, the stadium was rented, posters were put up (it was still possible), and everyone was invited. But there were so many protests from the town's Hindus that the permit was withdrawn. The church leader, Pastor Jenson Jebaraj, sued the city council and threatened to demand compensation, which led to the judge reversing the decision at the last minute and the meeting was held.
I clearly feel this nervousness in the church. I can't go around Tamil Nadu and visit the churches or speak as usual, only in the main church inside the city itself can I come. Everyone is holding their breath and expecting the worst because next month there is a general election in India and the Hindu nationalist party BJP is expected to win. That's when things are expected to get really bad. Their party program contains a number of laws that will limit the activities and growth of Christians and churches.
Yet new Christians are coming and churches are growing. Because the gospel is preached and the word of God does not return empty.
