Published on Operation World (http://www.operationworld.org)
Jun 27: India, Maharashtra, Manipur
India
Republic of India
Asia
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Geography
Area: 3,166,000 sq kmA further 121,000 sq km of Kashmir, a contested area, is administered by Pakistan and China. Geographically and politically, India dominates South Asia and the Indian Ocean. There are 28 Union States and 7 Union Territories.
Population: 1,214,464,312 Annual Growth: 1.44%
Capital: Delhi
Urbanites: 30.1%
HDI Rank: 134 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)
Peoples
Peoples: 2,533 (88% unreached) All peoplesUnreached Peoples Prayer Card
Official language: Constitutionally there are 22 official languages. The official language is Hindi (spoken by 40% of the population). English is a subsidiary official language Languages: 456 All languages
Religion
Largest Religion: Hinduism| Religion | Pop % | Ann Gr | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christians | 71,011,000 | 5.84 | 3.7 |
| Evangelicals | 26,290,283 | 2.2 | 3.9 |
| Hinduism | 902,711,323 | 74.33 |
Answer to Prayer
Praise for continued freedom for Indian Christians to proclaim the gospel, despite efforts from certain communal and political forces to limit this freedom through legislation, intimidation and persecution.For an additional 6 Answers to Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.
More Information
The Operation World book, CD-ROM, and DVD-ROM provide far more information and fuel for prayer for the people of India.Maharashtra
India
See Prayer Information
Challenge for Prayer
The Christian Church needs prayer. Christians are few in smaller cities and rural areas. Maharashtra did not experience the same scale of mass people movements to Christ in the past as did other states. Pray for:a) The established denominations and ministries. Many churches struggle with nominalism; church attendance is barely 50%. Infighting and legal squabbles have crippled ministry and undermined witness. Much good work done by missions was undone by their inability to raise up a second generation of leaders who would take the baton. Now, many of these ministries face the twin spectres of irrelevance and financial insolvency.
b) Outreach and growth. Since the early 1980s, new waves of outreach have turned the tide; Love Maharashtra, New Life Fellowship, the CONS saturation church-planting vision and a multiplication of agencies and workers have reached many new peoples, districts and villages. Pray that revival, growth and outreach may become normal parts of church life.
c) The new challenges that come with new growth. Lack of sensitivity and over-aggression in evangelism and church planting have often and unnecessarily led to backlashes from alarmed Hindus. Church growth is not always accompanied by follow-up of solid teaching and discipleship, and error creeps into fellowships. Divisions between local Marathi Christian leaders and missionaries from South India can occur when both sides fail to practice humility and grace.
d) Persecution is increasingly common as the Church continues to grow; this is partly inevitable and partly avoidable when wise outreach practices and good missiology are adopted at grassroots level. Christianity is accused of offending traditional, orthodox practices and beliefs, while the powerful influences of materialism and the modern values of Bollywood remain relatively free of such rigorous criticism.
For an additional 3 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.
More Information
The Operation World book, CD-ROM, and DVD-ROM provide far more information and fuel for prayer for the people of Maharashtra.Manipur
India
See Prayer Information
Challenge for Prayer
Nearly all the Naga, Kuki and Chin peoples became Christian in the 20th Century. Baptists (21 denominations) and Presbyterians predominate, along with Catholics and increasingly Pentecostals. Nominalism is widespread, and sadly, intertribal warfare (especially Naga-Kuki, Kuki-Zomi) has plagued the state for decades. These ethnic conflicts severely compromise witness and hamper outreach by Christians to Muslims and Hindus. Pray for full reconciliation, ethnic harmony and humble, sanctified cooperation among all who claim to follow Christ. Hundreds of Manipur missionaries serve cross-culturally today.For an additional 3 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.
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