In the darkness of a July night, 200 villagers sat and stared at the makeshift movie screen alongside a river in Nanjanagudu, a rural community in India’s southwestern Karnataka state. Six Indian men in their late 20s stood by the LCD projector they had brought to show a film about Jesus.
Ignoring the plentiful mosquitoes and mat bugs, Lakshmamma, 45, a dark-skinned Dalit woman in the crowd, winced as she watched Roman soldiers drive long nails into the body of Jesus. For the fourth time, Lakshmamma was watching Dayasagar (Ocean of Mercy), a gripping Indian-produced feature film about Jesus translated into 15 major Indian languages under the sponsorship of Dayspring International in Virginia Beach. As the film depicted Christ on the cross, Lakshmamma wept openly.
For the last quarter-century, Operation Mobilization (OM), Campus Crusade, Vimukthi Baptist Church, Dayspring, Gospel for Asia, and others have been penetrating the thicket of traditional Indian culture with compelling feature films about the life of Christ.
Dayasagar and the Jesus film, one or both available in 70 of India’s 407 living languages, have won over large numbers of villagers. Dayspring says 19 million Indians have seen Dayasagar since 1979, and 7 million have made public Christian commitments. Campus Crusade says 500 film teams show the Jesus film to 100,000 Indians daily.
As a result, feature-film outreach has earned its place as a powerful tool for Christians in Hindu-majority India; it has also garnered severe opposition.
It takes 735,000 villages
After the film ended in Nanjanagudu, the mostly illiterate audience listened to Prakash, one of the six missionaries who had shown it. “Brothers and sisters, you saw how the Son of God gave his life to pay for our sins,” he said. Thirty minutes later, the gathering was dismissed and about 20 Dalits came forward to hear more about Jesus.
Dalits, trampled at the bottom of Hindu society, number about 300 million. Mostly landless agricultural laborers, they live in chronic poverty and experience widespread discrimination at the hands of elite, upper-caste Hindus. In recent years, Dalits have increasingly turned to Christianity and Buddhism to escape the Hindu system.
“In the Indian context of multifaith communities, propagating the story of Jesus is the wisest way to bring the people over to church,” said Joseph D’Souza, president of All India Christian Council. “The chief task is to inspire an attitudinal shift and then bring them to the central idea of faith. Film evangelists in India are doing the initial part of paving the ground for a personal experience of faith.”
Operation Mobilization has 140 field teams working with local churches to distribute literature and screen films. They introduce key Christian concepts, including the universal human need for salvation.
“After each show, 5 to 10 percent of viewers decide to choose Jesus as their Savior,” said Kumar Swamy, director of OM’s south zone. “We don’t force them to change their names that identify them as non-Christians or shun their gods. In the course of time, they themselves do it.” Swamy hopes to plant 1,000 new churches in southern India.
Each team conducts four screenings per week, traveling with a 40-pound power generator and related equipment. Teams have visited 85,000 villages, but 650,000 more villages remain on their list.
Campus Crusade for Christ has helped pay for film teams in India since 1983. These teams consist of three Indian Christians who show Jesus 100 times each year in remote villages. Their goal is to show the film to every one of India’s 1.1 billion people.
“Our film evangelism among extremely backward tribal groups in India is proving stunningly effective,” said a source at Campus Crusade in Bangalore, who asked not to be named.
He cited the case of the Bhils, a 90,000-strong tribal community living in villages of Gujarat and Rajasthan states. Bhils, an illiterate community, are stereotyped as crime-ridden, substance-abusing animists. In 1996, Campus Crusade India dubbed the Jesus film into the Bhil language and took it to their villages. Soon, 21 churches and 185 small fellowship groups sprouted.
“Now we have with us testimonials from opinion leaders of Bhils who say alcoholism and crime fell dramatically after the screening of the Jesus film to them,” he said.
Many film evangelists do not just roll up the screen and leave after the show but stay for follow-up. “So far OM has launched around 390 fellowships to instill faith among new followers, and many will gradually turn into full-fledged churches,” Swamy said.
Assaults and murder
All this success comes with a price in Hindu-majority India. Many Christian film evangelists across the country are facing abuse and death threats. In June 2000, Ashish Prabash, a full-time film missionary with Campus Crusade, was found stabbed to death in his home in Punjab. The killers are still at large.
Gospel for Asia reports that Titus, a missionary, was brutally beaten up earlier this year for attempting to show Ocean of Mercy in Jharkhand, a predominantly tribal area. Film ministries face the greatest hostility from Hindu militants in Bihar and Rajasthan states. “[The] threat is real and standing. We risk our lives while going into these villages with projectors and videocassettes,” said one ministry leader.
Film evangelists reported at least 16 cases of assault this year. One attack took place in July in Sirsi village in Karnataka. Unnamed assailants beat up a local pastor who worked with a film team. They confiscated tracts used in the outreach and burned them.
“The day is gone when one could easily show Jesus films or distribute tracts,” said Oliver D’Souza, south zone convener of the All India Christian Council. “These films leave a lasting impression on non-Christian viewers. It works like magic, and the Hindu extremists are left red-faced.”
Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, whose militant followers attack Christian film evangelists, share a political agenda with the Bharatiya Janata Party, India’s ruling political party. In recent months, Hindu elites have moved to curtail the right to conversion.
Long-term challenges
In the midst of opposition, Christians in India are grappling with how to use this tool most effectively. OM workers, when not starting new churches, funnel new believers to existing local churches. Dayspring says workers have started 2,000 churches since 1979. Such claims are hard to verify, as long-term, independent studies do not exist.
Everyone involved agrees that local churches are key. Joseph D’Souza points out that long-term discipleship of new believers depends more on local congregations than on the efforts of film evangelists alone. “The church has to further utilize the effect of Jesus’ story on the masses. Some churches in India still have a shallow view on this. They have to chalk out well-thought-out strategies for spreading discipleship.”
Tom Steffen, a professor of intercultural studies at Biola University in southern California, agrees. “Films are most effective when connected to an ongoing church-planting movement,” Steffen said. He also said most audiences should have some understanding of the Bible and the film medium. Otherwise, conversions of enthusiastic people who come forward may not last.
The experience of Lakshmamma seems to bode well for the evangelistic use of film in rural cultures, however. Standing at a windy riverside in sleepy Mysore village, Lakshmamma said, “This film on Jesus brought a new meaning to my life. As I submitted myself to Jesus, a new sense of peace dawned on me. I was born a Dalit, but I don’t feel like a lesser being any more.”
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Related Elsewhere
Other articles on India include:
Hindu Leaders Crack Down on Conversions | Potential converts must ask permission (Oct. 13, 2003)
Weblog: Bogus Claims of Abuse Leveled Against Martyred Missionary (June 13, 2003)
Power in Punjab | Christians see churches—and opposition—grow among Sikhs. (June 18, 2003)
Fending off Hindutva | Indian Christians blast Nazi-like survey, “draconian” conversion law. (May 16, 2003)
Gujarat Religious Survey Troubles Indian Christians | Government of Indian state says it has been gathering statistics on the minority at the behest of federal officials. (March 14, 2003)
Machete Attack on American Alarms Local Christians | Hindu militants threaten to expel evangelists, stop conversions. (Feb. 18, 2003)
Indian Christians ‘Living in Terror,’ Rights Groups Report | Accusations against priest lead to intense conversion pressure in Rajasthan. (Nov. 6, 2002)
Indian State Bans Conversion | Christians say Tamil Nadu ordinance threatens relief work. (October 11, 2002)
Hounded, Beaten, Shot | What you can do to help persecuted Christians in India. (June 11, 2002)
Critics Assail Dialogue with Hindu Radicals | But some Christians see talks as an opportunity to build bridges in times of persecution. Critics Assail Dialogue with Hindu Radicals. (May 14, 2002)
New Curriculum ‘Tampering’ with History, Indian Churches Protest | Christian leaders allege that a current education proposal promotes Hindu nationalism. (Dec. 12, 2001)
Law Could Curb Foreign Donations To Churches, Indian Christians | Worry Stringent legislation is aimed at cutting off terrorist funding, but could hurt non-government organizations. (Nov. 9, 2001)
Christians Encouraged as 50,000 Dalits Leave Hinduism | Low-caste Hindus see conversion as their only escape from oppression. (October 11, 2001)
India’s First Dalit Archbishop Holds ‘No Grudge’ Over Predecessor’s Attack | Once “untouchable” Dalits make up bulk of country’s Christians. (May, 11, 2001)
Plans to Resolve India’s Interfaith Tensions Face Delays and Accusations | Did India’s National Commission for Minorities plan a meeting to discredit Christians? (July 20, 2000)
Foes Claim BJP is Using Arms Training to Win Crucial Election in India | Fears mount that reason for camps is to galvanize support for temple construction. (June 29, 2001)
Bomb Explosion During Mass Stirs Fear, Public Outcry in Bangladesh | Suspects linked to rash of attacks. (June 25, 2001)
Christians Say Sikh Book Threatens Centuries of Harmony Between Faiths | Author arrested on three counts, including “derogatory language.” (June 11, 2001)
India Election Results Rattle Ruling Nationalists | Hindu BJP “getting irrelevant day by day” say rivals. (June 13, 2001)
Militants Blamed for Death of Three Missionaries in India | 5,000 attend funeral, Catholic schools close in mourning. (June 7, 2001)
Churches Adopt Entire Villages in Devastated Gujarat to Help the Homeless | Charities aim to meet basic needs after January’s western India earthquake (June 7, 2001)
Communist-Backed Orthodox Priest Loses Election for Kerala Assembly | Nooranal’s electoral campaign annoyed some Christians with support of Communists (June 7, 2001)
Despite Tensions, Indian Churches Agree to Talks With Hindu Groups | Mainline churches will join talks, but other Christians say “partisan” meeting is dangerous. (Apr. 11, 2001)
India Relief Abuses Rampant | Radical Hindus hijack supplies in quake intervention. (Mar. 20, 2001)
In Orissa, You Must Ask the Government If You Want to Change Religion | Christian church leaders say they’re trying to ignore the controversial law, but police aren’t doing the same. (Mar. 12, 2001)
Churches Angry that Indian Census Ignores 14 Million Christian Dalits | Only Hindu, Sikh, and Buddhist members of “untouchable” caste being counted. (Mar. 2, 2001)
India’s Christians Face Continued Threats | We must preach what we believe in spite of Hindu pressure, says Operation Mobilization India leader. (Feb. 15, 2001)
