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What we believe |
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We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only
nfallible authori-
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tative Word of God.
We believe that there is only one God, eternally existent in the Father, ...more
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Glimpses from the Mission field |
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Kanchipuram/ Kanchi, is a distri-ct in the north-east of Tamil
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Nadu, adjacent to the Bay of Bengal. It had a population of 2,877 ... more |
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Upcoming
Projects
The condition of the villages
in India is still in a pathetic condition. In the 21st
century when the world is moving into a technology boomed
world, there are still villages in parts of India where
people don't even have the basic facility. Today the
world population is about six billion people. Only six
percentage of that population live in the borders of
the United States of America. Most of them have had
the opportunity to hear the gospel and for the
others, they have heard it a countless number of times.
94 % of the world live outside the United States. Over
three billion people—60% of the world’s
population live in Asia and 94% of them have never
heard the Name of Jesus. Thousands of people die everyday
without even hearing the name of Jesus. In India itself
there are more the 500, 000 villages who have never
heard about Jesus. There is neither a church nor has
any missionary been in these parts. Our responsibility
as the chosen one of God is to make an opportunity for
these people so that they too can hear the word of God.
The major hindrance that is faced by our missionaries
is that these people lack education and the social evils
prevalent among them. Can we as Christians do any thing
for the underprivileged people in the villages? |
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| Jharkhand |
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Jharkhand
is a major tribal populated state in North India. The
name Jharkhand originated from tribal language, which
means land of Jungles. Jharkhand has a population of
around 26.90 million. The population consists of 28%
tribals, 12% Scheduled Castes and 60% others. Jharkhand
has always remained a home to a number of tribal communities.
Infact, in some of the districts of Jharkhand, the tribal
population predominates, the non tribal one. The state
has 32 primitive tribal groups. The tribal people use
bamboo for making baskets, hunting and fishing equipments.
Especially the bamboo made fishing cage is very attractive.
Tribal pottery is a part of the tribals. Bow and arrow
is the symbolic weapon of the tribals of this area.
Apart from this they use iron made Axes and Doulies
and Ghana (Big hammer). In certain areas of the state,
poverty and consequent malnutrition has given rise to
diseases like Tuberculosis (TB). In fact, TB has assumed
epidemic proportions in certain areas of the state.
Kala-zar is another major disease that is also taking
lives in this region. Largely unknown in the developed
world, Kala-azar is a parasitic disease which threatens
many poor countries. The disease principally affects
poor communities in isolated regions, often as devastating
epidemics. |
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Tribal Areas in Jharkand |
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Santal |
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This is our primary mission area
in Jharkhand. Santals are the largest tribal community
in India. Found mainly in the states of West Bengal,
Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa.. Their lifestyle and
livelihood revolves around the forest they live in.
The tribals derive their needs from the trees and
plants in the jungles, the keen knowledge of which
has been handed down from father to son since ages.
Besides the ability to use the plants and its by-product
for making agricultural and musical equipments, mats,
baskets etc. Their language is called Santali. They
believe in supernatural beings and ancestral spirits.
Santali rituals are mainly comprised of sacrificial
offerings and invocations to the spirits, or bongas.
Their livelihood depends on agriculture. They face
utter financial crisis during the months of August,
September and October till harvest time. Cultivation
is mainly dependent on weather conditions which are
very unstable. This leads to starvation if the weather
is bad. Normally they eat only two meals a day. Their
houses normally don't have any windows and with only
one door which is only about four feet high.
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Houses are made
in accordance with their belief that they should have only
one spirit inside the house and if they keep any windows,
other spirits will try to come in and cause diseases and disasters
to the family members. They also keep animals like cows and
buffaloes inside the house. This unhygienic situation causes
many diseases such as Malaria, Kala-Azar & Tuberculosis.
Electricity is not available in this locality. People are
addicted to Hadiya which is locally made liquor available
everywhere in the village. They are sedative and fully out
of mind after taking this liquor which is causing immoral
relationships such as adultery. Many fatherless children are
born due to such relationships. An average woman of their
community gives birth to more children than that they can
feed. This furthermore deepens their poverty. Child death
is very common among them. Recently two children were married
to puppies to avoid bad fortunes of their lives. We have plans
to do eradication efforts for malaria; Kala-Azar & TB.
For this awareness programmes need to be conducted. A government
medical aid has to be made available in this locality. We
have to hire some qualified social workers since they are
the only people having access to government medical aids.
The biggest challenge is to persuade medical professionals
to come and work in this region because they are hesitant
to come to these remote areas due to the threat to their own
health. We have to work against the ruthless false beliefs
among the people by educating them about the cause and symptoms
of the common diseases. They need to be educated about the
consequences and after effects of drug addiction such as hadia
which is making an unhealthy effect on the society and families.
Education is one of the most important factors in the development
of any society. Although Santali Bible is available, the people
can't read it because they are illiterate. So we have plans
to make Santali audio bible. Hence the adults of this region
need to be made capable of reading and understanding their
own language. |
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Malto |
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| Malto
is a primitive tribal group found in the areas of Jharkhand.
Their number has dwindled from about a million a century
ago to 85,000 now. They are diminishing in number mainly
due to infectious diseases such as Malaria, Kala-azar,
Dehydration, Tuberculosis, etc. The maltos live in small
village hamlets of 10-15 huts each, scattered over the
verdant Rajmahal range of hills in the districts of
Sahibganj, Pakaur and Godda of Jharkhand. Most of the
villages are remote and inaccessible. The main occupation
of the Maltos is agriculture, forestry and cattle rearing.
They are a fun-loving people given to much dancing and
singing, usually under the effect of locally brewed
alcohol. They have strong belief in spirits and view
them as the main cause of misfortune and illness. Mortality
and morbidity is quite high among the Malto people.
Infectious diseases being a major killer. The area is
hyper-endemic |
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malaria contributing to a high mortality rate especially
among the under-fives.Recurrent malaria is a common
factor leading to anemia. Diarrhea is also common due
to unavailability of safe drinking water. About
20% of the reported deaths in a year are caused mainly
due to diarrhea. Tuberculosis and Kalazar were also
major diseases in the last decade. Malnutrition is common
among the children with 36% of under-fives being severely
malnourished. Poor antenatal coverage, lack of primary
or secondary obstetric care, lack of trained birth attendants,
poor accessibility of villages, poor transportation
facilities are some of the factors contributing to the
high maternal mortality rate. Immunization status of
the community was almost nil to begin with. This is
due to the remoteness of the Malto villages, lack of
health awareness, poor transportation facilities and
difficulty in maintaining the cold chain in peripheral
centers due to insufficient electrical supply. |
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The Munda
are tribal (Adivasi) people of the Jharkhand region. There
are some two million Munda people. Their language is Mundari.
Mundas have their own religion, called Sarna, in which they
worship nature. They believe in a supreme being called Sing
Bonga, which means literally "Sun God." About 25
% of the population is Christians.
The Oraon,
or Uraon, people inhabit various states across central and
eastern India as well as Bangladesh. Traditionally they depend
on the forest for their ritual and economic livelihood, but
in recent times they have become settled agriculturalists.
Small numbers of Oraon have immigrated to the Northeastern
part of India, where they are mainly employed as laborers
on tea estates. Oraons are also known as "Dhangar"
in many parts of India. The Oraon language, Kurukh, belongs
to the Dravidian family, and is most closely related to Brahui
and Malto (Paharia).Oraonpeople have a rich and vast range
of folk songs, dances and tales, as well as traditional musical
instruments.Both men and women participate in dance, which
are performed at social events and festivals. About 25 % of
the population is Christians.
Non Tribal Areas
Haliya, East UP (Mirzapur)
People in these areas are living below the poverty line. There
is very less Christian work among them. Illiteracy is a major
problem here. People are very skilled in carpet making but
they are underpaid and are being exploited by big entrepreneurs.
We have plans to develop, equip and establish three local
missionaries. We also need to start an Anganvadi/Lower Primary
School. Making their carpet products available in urban and
foreign market for their welfare is also our primary goal.
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