Please pray for the …
Koiri of India
Population: 6,885,000
Language: Bhojpuri
Religion: Hinduism
Evangelical: 0.00%
Taking the Church Where It’s Needed Most
Please pray for the …
Kunbi of India
Population: 15,367,000
Language: Gujarati
Religion: Hinduism
Evangelical: 0.00%
The Lewa Kunbi people live in the Western Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. They have gotras such as Shendilya, Kashyap and Bharadwaj. They are known as Lewa Patil.
They speak the Marathi and Telegu languages and use the Devanagari script. A few of them also speak Hindi. The incidence of colour-blindness is reported in 5 percent of the Lewa Kunbi population.
The Lewa men are non-vegetarian but their women are vegetarian. Jowar is their staple cereal and they eat rice occasionally. The economy of the Lewa Kunbi is mainly based on agriculture. They either cultivate their own land or work for others on a share-cropping basis. They participate in the local weekly markets. The problem of alcoholism is prevalent among the men.
The Lewa Kunbis generally follow monogamy. The women contribute to the family economy as wage earners and take part in socio-religious activities. In a marriage a series of rituals are performed simultaneously at the bride and groom’s residences. Marriage rituals include the thread wearing ceremony, the exchange of garlands and circumambulating the sacred fire seven times.
The Lewa Kunbi has an association, which looks after the socio-economic development of the community. They cremate the dead and observe death pollution for ten days.
The Lewa Kunbi worship both family and village deities. The Brahman officiates as a priest at their rituals. Their traditional customs prevent them from exchanging water and cooked food with certain communities, such as, the Bhangi, Chamar and Mahar. Ancestor worship is also prevalent among them. Diwali is the main festival celebrated by the Lewa Kunbi.
Pray:
– For the salvation of the Lewa Kunbi people and that God may send several Christian workers to work among them and meet their spiritual and physical needs.
– That the Lewa Kunbi people may be freed from alcoholism, ancestors’ worship, colour- blindness and be able to accept all the communities without caste prejudice.
Text source: Copyright © India Missions Association – Edited by Philipose Vaidyar. Used with permission.
The best definition I know of which describes church planting is the word “missions.” Church planters are missionaries. If church planting isn’t about missions it’s only about rearranging Christians. You can start a new church using attractive programs, dynamic worship, and fancy PowerPoint displays, but if all you’re doing is drawing other Christians from other churches That’s not missions. We call that “sheep-stealing,” or “swapping chairs on the Titanic.”
Full Document Here
According to AD2000 and Beyond:
“The Great Commission is a two-fold command. In Matthew 28:19,20 Jesus commands us to ‘Go and make disciples of all nations (peoples)’. The focus is to establish disciples in mature fellowships among every people group. In Mark 16:15 Jesus gave the task of preaching the gospel to every person. The focus here is to present the Gospel to every individual. The watchword of ‘a church for every people and the Gospel for every person’ sums up this two-fold command.”
The Joshua Project list of ‘least reached peoples’ was developed as a tool for measurement and mobilization. It establishes those peoples over 10,000 in number, and below 2% Evangelical or 5% Christian adherents, as most likely to need a church planting initiative. Approximately 1600 least reached peoples fit these criteria. The Joshua Project list has helped draw the attention of the Church to the neediest, most ignored, least resourced, and most challenging part of the unfinished task of world evangelization.
Praying Through the (10/40) Window initiatives were followed by specific commitments of church planting agencies to focus ministry on these peoples. Over the years the list became shorter, and at Amsterdam 2000 this year all the remaining peoples were embraced. About 99% of the world’s population live in a people group that has a commitment for church planting team in the near future.
The vision is for a mission-minded church within every people. A goal was established as a basic minimum of a vital, witnessing congregation of at least 100 individuals within each people group. There are reports of such congregations in nearly 1/3 of the Joshua Project peoples.
There is still lots of work to be done!
569 of Indonesia’s 774 people groups do not have even Bible portions available in their primary language. The largest of these is the Banjar, 5,320,000
Please pray for the …
Yadava of India
Population: 54,584,000
Language: Hindi
Religion: Hinduism
Evangelical: 0.00%
The Yadava people from all over the country trace their descent to the Krishna of Yadu lineage. They are also known as Ala Golla, Poone Golla, Mong Golla, Idaiyar, Konarulu, Pillai, Nayudu, Naikan and Yadukulam, etc. The Yadava of the South speak Dravidian languages, practice Dravidian kinship. Those of the North speak languages of the Indo-Aryan family and are generally vegetarian. The Yadava consist of both landowning and landless people. Their traditional occupation is animal husbandry and selling its products. Child labour is common among them. Agriculture, business, trade and self-employment are their present occupation. Some Yadava are businessmen, teachers, doctors, engineers and political leaders. The Yadava live in joint families. They cremate dead and observe pollution period for thirteen days; however, in Kerala the Yadava community bury the dead and observed death pollution for six days. They have caste associations at the regional and national levels. The Yadava participate in the local traditional and socio-religious festivals. They are known to have more faith in astrology and talismans rather than in the services of a doctor. They have expertise in oral traditions like Sevagaridi or group singing in praise of the god Vishnu. Similarly, they are good in musical dance and mock-fighting with swords. Boys are favored for formal education.
Alternate names: Ala Golla, Poone Golla, Mong Golla, Idaiyar, Konarulu, Pillai, Nayudu and Naikan, Yadukulam
Pray for:
Copyright © India Missions Association – Edited by Philipose Vaidyar. Used with permission from The Joshua Project, www.joshuaproject.net
The above is a modified excerpt from Operation World Web Site (www.operationworld.org), March 19, 2007. Copyright ©2001 Patrick Johnstone.