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ASIA LUTHERAN HOME previous article next article April 1999

The National Council of Churches in India (NCCI) has resolved to reaffirm its �gcommitment to the service of the poor.�h Over one-third of the population lives below the poverty line.

The decision to make service to the poor a priority was taken at a national �gConvention on Poverty�h held from March 16 to 18 in New Delhi by the NCCI, which represents 29 Protestant and Orthodox churches, in collaboration with several NCCI member churches-the Church of South India (CSI), Church of North India (CNI) and India's Lutheran churches.

About 200 officials and representatives of NCCI member churches from across India proposed several initiatives for church action against poverty.

In a keynote address, NCCI president, K. Rajaratnam, said that in the recent past, �gthe commitment of the church in India to serve the poor and the oppressed is dismally poor ... [churches should] restore service to the poor from the present periphery to the center of the church's agenda.�h

Unlike missionaries of the past �gwho sacrificed their wealth�h and �glived in penury, facing disease, suffering death,�h Rajaratnam said, �gmissions are growing like mushrooms because [some of them] have become money-spinners, having their origin in rich countries.�h

He pointed to the growing role of funding agencies and church development agencies which was �gdepriving churches of their legitimate function of service to society.�h Rajaratnam said that churches should �grestore their legitimate functions of serving the society directly, and not by proxy.�h

�gPoverty and justice concerns must take the shape of active ministries at diocesan and congregational level,�h the NCCI president said. He called upon churches to use their �glimited resources�h for the maximum benefit to the poor.

�gThe church...is a community comprising the poor, the marginalized, the oppressed, the displaced, the crushed, the excluded and so on,�h said Bishop Vinod Peter of Nagpur, moderator of the Church of North India. �gIt [the church] cannot overlook the reality of poverty and oppression.�h

Bishop William Moses, moderator of the Church of South India, gave a graphic description of the fate of India's poor people: Struggling to sustain themselves, the rural poor, who comprise 60 percent of the population, do not have access to drinking water; 64 percent of children are malnourished; and every year almost 125,000 women die in pregnancy and childbirth. He added that the high cost of medicines put them beyond the reach of the poor, thus pushing up the mortality rate.

While 40 million child workers were deprived of their natural childhood, 40 percent of children who were admitted to schools later dropped out because of poverty. Half of India's population was still illiterate, Bishop Moses said.

In an interview after the conference, Bishop Moses mentioned that while �gpoverty is becoming an increasing reality in India...unfor-tunately, the poor are ignored by the government.�h With limited resources, the church could not assume the role of government, Bishop Moses said. But, he added: �gwe can use our resources to generate awareness on the poverty situation and draw the nation's attention. This is what we should do first, as few speak out for the voiceless poor.�h

�gThe aim of Christian social work is not conversion,�h Prasanna Kumari, general secretary of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India, said at a news conference at the end of the three-day meeting.

Replying to a journalist who asked if the churches' work for the poor was giving credibility to Hindu fundamentalist claims that Christians were using charity to �ginduce�h-or convert-the poor to Christianity, she said: �gChristians have gone to the remote areas in service of the poor because we stand committed to extending education and development to them as humans.�h If the aim of Christian social work had been conversion, Kumari said, �gthe Christian population in India should be rising. But, in reality, the Christian population is declining."

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