Dear Fellow Workers in the Vineyard,

I had the very wonderful experience of traveling to India this year. This was my second trip to India and I was extremely blessed to observe what God is doing to transform lives there for Him. As many of you probably already know India is 80% Hindu. What you probably do not know is that it is also the second largest Muslim nation claiming 10% of its 1.2 billion residents. Only about 6-7% of its population is Christian. Jesus Christ is changing all of that as you read this letter. India has now surpassed China as the nation with the fastest growing Christian population.

It is exciting to look into the faces of Indians, both Hindu and Muslim, as they hear for the first time that they are created in the image of God and are dearly loved by Him. Their hunger for all of God’s Word grows very quickly. They hear and believe in God’s love for them in Jesus Christ and they cannot wait to tell their friends.

On my trip this year I spent a week and a half at Christian Media Center (Lutheran Hour) offices, meeting with the staff and learning more about their amazing ministry there. Lutheran Hour has been foundational to spreading the Gospel message through India. I heard Pastors and Lay people, who used to be Hindu or Muslim, share with me how much Jesus Christ is transforming their lives and their nation. The spiritual hunger in India continues to grow, but because of limited resources Lutheran Hour does not even have Bibles to send to those requesting them. India is an extremely poor nation and while people would love to be able to purchase the Word, they cannot.

Our District has adopted India Lutheran Hour with which to partner in this important ministry of reaching out with the Gospel, and our first project will be to provide for the purchase of about 5,000 Bibles in Indian Languages (largely Hindi) to be distributed. Those Bibles will cost approximately $11,500.00 to purchase. Right now we are being offered matching funds dollar for dollar for donations made to this important project.

We are asking that each congregation make a plea to their congregants and perhaps take a special offering to support this project of Bibles for India. Any money raised above our original target will be used to purchase additional Bibles for India. God is inviting you and me to be participants in a wonderful thing He is doing in that part of the world. Personally, I plan on embracing the invitation Our Lord Jesus has extended to me. I pray you and your congregation will do the same.

In Our Lord’s Service Together,

Rev. Daniel Rowe

Senior Pastor

Trinity Lutheran Church and School

Paso Robles, California