The persecution of Christians in India is rising at an alarming rate. They face extreme violence from radical Hindu and Muslim groups, and the government is pressuring Christian groups to stop proclaiming the Gospel.
Now more than ever, the people of India need God’s Word – and your support is helping translate and distribute the Bible to transform more lives while we have the opportunity.
Thanks to generous friends like you, Mathew and Susan Varghese began Bible translation work in a small tribal village in northern India. They shared their faith in Christ, and soon seven people were saved. When some radical Hindus heard what happened, it sparked trouble.
“The entire village surrounded us with drawn swords,” Mathew recalls, “all shouting, ‘Cut off their heads!’
“I said, ‘You can cut off our heads; but the moment you kill us, our souls will go to a place of peace, joy, and happiness. We came to your village to give you the same assurance that we have.’”
Miraculously, one of the village elders defended Mathew and Susan from the unruly mob. “He protected us,” Mathew says. “Otherwise, we would have been killed.”
Soon after, people from neighboring villages came, begging Mathew and Susan to translate God’s Word into their languages… and 12 churches were planted as a result.
“Many thousands are still languishing in different communities, speaking different languages, still under the oppressive spells of evil spirits [and] man-made traditions; many are trying to deliver themselves from the unending cycles of birth by various religious rituals,” says Mathew. “How would they ever clearly hear [God’s] message of eternal love unless someone translates the Word into their language?”
Thank you for your ongoing support to help reach more unreached people in India, so they can know Jesus and be powerfully transformed by His Word. He makes all things possible!
