Think Gospel... Think Villages!

	Mahatma Gandi has said: “the soul of India”  (simply, the real India) lies in her villages.   This little statement seems to express a very valuable truth about India that is worthy of note by all who care about the well-being of the land and its people.  For one thing, the vastness, the variety, the vitality, the color,  . . . indeed the very pulse of India, is to be experienced in its villages. So it is also with the harsh realities of poverty, isolation, neglect and helplessness. No doubt there are cities bulging with people some of which are pockets of prosperity and they have a character of their own, but the city populations are largely drawn from villages and their character is evolved by pressure of circumstances.  The  “original “ is the village!  Want to know India?   See it in its villages!

Knowing India in its villages is important not just for government and social organizations but also for Christians aspiring to give the people of India the living gospel.  If we believe that the gospel has life and power,   --  life to give life and power to lift up --  and if we accept that love is the motivation that can help lift people up,  then it is in the villages that such
lifting up is most needed.  It is the villages that tell the story of the non-existent roads, sanitation, schools, hospitals and community welfare centers.  It is also the village where ignorance, lack of education, social evils, witchcraft, etc. have their deadliest effect.  It is there that Satan’s tyranny is at its harshest. 

NEGLECT:  OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND

A major reason why the Indian village presents such a sorry spectacle is that in the vast country, many villages lie far away from centers of power, many of them nestled in mountains. They are out of sight of rulers and authorities and therefore out of mind.  “Neglect’ is the word that most aptly describes the attitude of those who are obligated to look after the village people.  The task of those who want to reach out is made so much harder by the lack of anything by way of infrastructure.

WHO IS EQUAL TO THE TASK?

Many Christians do know and believe that the gospel is the power that can lift up and liberate people from Satan’s tyranny, manifest in the horrible moral corruption and all the social ills stemming from it, just like it was the force behind formal abolition of slavery.  Many sincere souls feel obligated to do their bit to bring God’s light into the dark world.  But the massiveness of the problem turns people off.  “Who can tackle this”, they ask, and give up. There is, however, anther way of looking at it practically.  Granted, there is no one strong enough to carry the world on his shoulders, but each caring individual can move, as it were, one pebble at a time.  This approach can make a difference.   Although unknown, there certainly are people who do their bit to make a difference.  This piece is about one such effort.

INDIA VILLAGE MISSION (IVM)

INDIA VILLAGE MISSION (IVM) had its origin in the heart of a theology student. He was not known to be brilliant on the academic side but he was endowed with gifts.  He had struggled hard to settle down in life with a career but was frustrated repeatedly. He weathered the battering with a deepening faith and trust in God which led him to the decision to enter seminary in Dehradun,  Uttarakhand, the North Indian state bordering Tibet.  God’s work in him began to find tangible expressions during his practical work.  He was challenged to do something that would impact the lives of people for good, which would also afford opportunities to share God’s love and His word.  He started by helping some poor girls utilize their skills to make hand-made articles. The initial input was a sewing machine, some raw materials and a room for them to work in.  The result came in the form of beautiful greeting cards, shoulder bags, baby bags, wall hangings, cushion covers, table top items, quilts, etc.  This effort would take the form of a project which he called “The Village”.  He also worked to form an umbrella organization to cover the activities of “The Village” and take the work beyond the social aspects to spiritual counseling and sharing of God’s word to those who are involved in the project.  Thus was born INDIA VILLAGE MISSION (IVM), now a registered Religious and Charitable Trust.  This is already impacting the lives of the participants and, we feel sure, will continue to make an impact on their homes and the community they live in.  Some of the project participants have confessed faith in the Lord Jesus for salvation. Some others are being positively influenced, as evidenced by the change in their lifestyle.

Our hope and expectation in the Lord is that in time “The Village” (the current project) would grow into a self-sustaining unit (through the marketing of its products) and spill its benefits into the lives of the participants, their families and their community itself. But our goal for INDIA VILLAGE MISSION (IVM) is to go even beyond to have missionaries outreaching into communities, mostly the deprived sections of the population, with the gospel.  We do see scope for quiet, fruitful work. It was in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, that the Lord began this work.  It is there that IVM has its base, but the field lies beyond in the villages.

Uttarakhand is a land of mountains of haunting beauty and is called the “abode of the gods”.  It has many Hindu holy places –  Haridwar, Rishikesh, Uttar Kashi, Badrinath, Kedarnath,  Rudra Prayag, Deva Prayag, Gongotri, etc.  The ‘holy’ river Ganga, deeply revered by devout Hindus, winds through many of these places.  Similarly the Hindus have close affinity with the Himalayas (part of which lies in the State) on account of the legends in their scriptures. Besides, there are spectacles like the “Om Parvat”.  The appearance of this mountain has a striking resemblance to the Hindu  “Om” sign.  The impact of all these in strengthening the religious beliefs  of the Hindus must be enormous.  Temples dot the land, and, Hindu holy men are ubiquitous. 

The Ganga (Garhwal hills, Uttarakhand).

According to Wikipedia, 85% of Uttarakhand’s population is Hindu; Muslims make up 12 percent, Sikhs 2.5 per cent, and the rest of the religionists (Buddhists, Jains, Christians and others) together make up a mere  0.5 per cent.  One can gauge from this the likely strength of the  Christian popula-tion in the State. Out of a total population of 8. 48 Million, even an optimistic estimate cannot put the Christian population in the state above 10,000.  The chances are that this will be well below 10,000. This statistics cannot but point to a very low level of Christian witness in the state. The exposure of the population to the gospel must also be regarded as correspondingly low.

For all the adverse statistics and the natural discouragement it can present, the available evidence is that the territory is still not closed for the gospel. 

It does seem that there is scope for quiet, fruitful work, be it that it is unlikely to produce dramatic results and impressive statistics. In fact it is learned that there are small pockets in which such work is carried on. IVM desires to be a part of the small effort, doing small things quietly to get results that would endure to eternity.  We see the village as the place where this can happen, and sending dedicated missionaries as the required response.

It is possible that there are some believers who are eager to take a share in the gospel but are unsure where they can come in to make a difference. IVM, on the scene and eager to “go”, offers such believes an opportunity to participate in meaningful work.  So, join hands with us in this small but serious effort to give the gospel to the villages in Uttarakhand. To learn how you can participate with IVM in its gospel effort, go to: