Prayer Highlight: Indian Diaspora
"The sun never sets on the Indian Christian diaspora." Dr. Sam George
(A worship song in Malayalam at the 2023 Advance Initiative conference in Houston)
The Indian diaspora is the second largest foreign-born community in the US (after those from Mexico) consisting of 5.2 million individuals. It is the largest diaspora community around the world and also one of the most educated diaspora groups in the US.
According to Indian-American missiologist (and DN board member) Dr. Sam George, approximately 20% of Indians in the US are Christians whereas in India about 2% of the population is. This 20% is a total of over 1 million Indian Christians in over 1500 churches spread across the US. The primary Indian languages spoken by the Christian diaspora in the US are Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Hindi. (According to the Ethnologue there are 424 indigenous languages in India.)
Jeevan Church in Austin, for example, worships in Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil and Austin Mar Thoma worships in English and Malayalam. IPC Hebron in Houston, a church of over a thousand people, has services in English, Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam.
In his edited book Desi Diaspora, Dr. Sam writes: “Indian Christians are global now. The sun never sets on the Indian Christian diaspora… They have successfully translated themselves in every time zone all over the globe and have recreated and adapted their native faith practices in foreign lands.”
Indian St. Thomas Christians bring ancient faith traditions going back to the Apostle Thomas. Malayali Mar Thoma, CSI, Orthodox, and Catholic Christians bring a historic and reformed liturgical worship deeply rooted in the mystery of God. To learn some of this history watch this video.
Telugu Christians also have a rich history of contextualization and and of holding to Christian faith as a minority religion interacting on daily basis with a Hindu majority. Andi P. writes, “Telugu Christians have grown into a vibrant community. While not without their problems, they contribute significantly to education, healthcare, and social work and form a diverse group across different denominations, all engaging with contemporary challenges while preserving their unique cultural identity and faith traditions.”
Another prominent gift of the Indian diaspora are dynamic next generation leaders.
1.5 and 2nd gen Indians are leading the way in dynamic church planting movements like the one led by Advance Initiative.
We also celebrate next gen led initiatives such as Brown Table and Houston Magnify.
Visit an Indian churches in your area! For one list of Indian diaspora churches nationwide see: https://www.indianchristiansunited.org/church/usa
Prayer Points:
Gifts: We give thanks to God for the incredible gift of the Indian Christian diaspora and the rich history of faith going back to the Apostle Thomas.
Multiplication: That God would bless the work of Advance Initiative and multiply churches and disciples in and through Indians, particularly those from Hindu, Muslim and Sikh backgrounds.
Next Gen: For Brown Table and Houston Magnify as they connect, disciple, and raise up next gen Indian leaders.
Mutuality: For Indian churches in Austin, Houston, and other cities in the US to be able to build mutual, multiethnic partnerships with churches outside of their denominational and ethnic contexts.
(Save the date for our national conference September 12-13 in Houston, TX!)