Mission: India 2022
Plant, water, grow
Simply put, ministry partner Rohit Mattoo said, “For this year, our goal is to reach as many as possible with the Gospel in the (northern India) states of Himachal Pradesh first and then Punjab.” Amen!
Rohit has a teaching program in Punjab that he wants to expand into the mountain state of Himachal Pradesh. His ministry rents a space for worship there, “which costs us a lot. We need to have our own place of worship.”
The challenges they face are great: First and foremost, India is the largest Hindu nation in the world. Eighty percent of the country’s 1.4 billion people are Hindu. “We have many groups working against the spread of the Gospel and God’s people,” Rohit said. “We need God’s protection.
“Some people coming to the church are threatened by their relatives and people from their (community) not to follow Jesus.”
There are anti-conversion laws in Himachal Pradesh. “People in the higher positions are against the Gospel,” Rohit said. Penalties can range from one to seven years in prison, along with a fine.
In addition to Hindu nationalistic opposition, Rohit and other Christians face the challenge of badly needing funding and resources to carry out the Lord’s work.
In southeastern India, Climbing For Christ members Pastor Sharat Babu and his wife Sara Roja are targeting 350 villages in interior regions where idolatry is practiced, and people have never heard about Jesus and His loving Gospel.
“We decided to reach at least some of these villages in 2022, and for this we want your constant prayers and guidance,” Sister Sara said. “Also, we face persecution not to preach about our Lord in some regions. But we are still reaching and planting the Gospel seeds.” 
PROVERBS 16:9 MOMENTS: No short-term trip is currently planned for India, but we are praying for more workers, more support, and more hearts to come to Christ in a country where only about two percent of the population (or 27.5 million people) follow Jesus. The growth of the church in India is greater than the global average, but there are far more Hindus (1.1 billion) and even Muslims (192 million) in this vast nation. In addition to praying for the boldness and protection of indigenous workers, we are looking for sponsors for Rohit’s ministry in the mountains of north India.
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