Despite the evolving array of new technologies in the modern world, the most effective tools for the furtherance of the Gospel in rural India have proven to be the oldest, such as the megaphone, the wheel and, of course, Gutenburg’s invention, the printing press.

There are well over fifteen hundred separate dialects in India, nearly all derived from two dozen major languages.  These have written alphabets, and the Bible has been translated into each of them.

The pioneer of Indian Bible translation, William Carey, laid the foundation for this about two centuries ago.  His team in India labored for decades, painstakingly translating  New Testament Greek into twenty three Indian languages, eventually making the Word of God available to about one third of the world’s population.

Bible printing is currently unrestricted in India, and it is very economical.  Full hard-bound bibles can be printed for two to three dollars each, in large quantities.  These are then strategically distributed, through our local BCM pastors, into village churches and families hungry for the Word of God.  Fruitful opportunities are virtually unlimited, and it is not logistically possible for us to ever fully saturate the need for Bibles among the 800 million Indians who have not yet even heard the Gospel.

Two years ago, when major violent persecution erupted in Orissa State against the Christians there, tens of thousands of believers were driven into hiding deep in the forests, after their homes and villages were burned, and many were injured or slain.

A BCM team lead by Israel Paulose was the first to make outside contact with them, after navigating a perilous gauntlet of government and Hindu obstacles.

The disciples they found were bereft of food, shelter and basic supplies, struggling to survive in the jungles.  Despite their deprivations, the Christians pleaded with Israel to first bring them Bibles in their Bengali language, as their local church and personal Bibles had been destroyed in the recent persecution.  Christians in the West responded at once to the urgent request, and BCM was quickly able to deliver a truck load of Bibles to them, along with food and essentials they also needed.