Imagine having that statement yelled at you your entire life. Imagine that it was said not only with words but feelings, actions, and thoughts from everyone around you every day since you had been born. Imagine growing up believing that you were truly worthless, that God had forsaken you, that you were dirty and less than the animals, and even worse--you actually had no soul. For hundreds of millions of Dalits from India, this fate is true.
What made this true? The religion of Hinduism. The belief of reincarnation. Over 2500 years ago, the belief was started that what you are today is a result of past lives and how good or bad you were in those. In America, those "New Agey" types that believe in reincarnation have the freedom to make it fun and exciting--like they must have been a great explorer if they are adventurous or maybe a medicine man or woman if they are into natural healing today. It seems like great fun to think about what we "could have been." But in America we've never seen the devastation of the Hindu religion, the belief in reincarnation, and the caste system. We've never had the government tell us that we are the lowest of the low, deserving of nothing more than death because we had been cursed by God because of our sin in a past life.
You see, the "bible" of the Hindus tells them a different creation story than what our Christian Bible tells us. We believe in the God of Genesis--the one true God--who created all mankind equal. Genesis 1:27 tells us that "God created man in His own image, in the image of God he created him. Male and Female he created him." This is what we know to be true. But this is not a truth shared by other religions around the world. In Hinduism, their holy book tells them that god created different castes of people out of his own pleasure--four different castes that are definitely segregated with the top two being only 6-8% of the population of India. About 60% of the population make up the bottom two "acceptable" castes. The bottom of these are even called the "slave caste" but they are still considered from god. What about the other roughly 40% of India? Untouchables. People who are not fit to be called "human." They are lower than animals and considered worthless. No one in the caste system is allowed to touch them unless they are using them as a sex slave. Yes, then it is acceptable. The world's largest percentage of sex trafficking comes from among the Dalits of India. They are not even allowed to let their shadow touch the shadow of a Brahmin (the highest of the castes) else they may corrupt the Brahmin. Yes, this type of horrendous apartheid still exists today in the enlightened age of 2011.
Most of us have heard of the caste system. We may even know how bad it "was." But we don't think of it as happening today. Most of us have heard that Ghandi got rid of it all. He was the savior of the Indians, right? He was the enlightened Hindu that taught peace and love and taught that all were equal. Well, maybe Ghandi believed that. Maybe Ghandi taught that. And maybe even some followers of Ghandi lived like that. But Ghandi did not change a 2500 year old tradition. Only a great God could do that, and that's exactly what He's doing. You see, Ghandi did get the government to give more opportunity to the Dalits. He got the government to "say" that everyone could have an equal opportunity, that discrimination wasn't allowable, etc. But he didn't get them to abolish the caste system. The labels remained. The stigmas remained. And for all but a few enlightened Hindus, everything else remained as well. The only thing that changed was that now the rest of the world was snowed.
Thankfully, things are changing. Dr. Joseph D'Souza visited our church this morning from India. You can read more about his life mission here at his blog. Dr. D'Souza is a man on fire for Christ. He is a man with a mission to reach his native country of India with the Word of God. He is a man who believes that God loves all of those untouchable Dalits and created them in His own image, and he is committed to spreading that as far as he can reach. You see, Dr. D'Souza was born a Brahmin in India. He is one of the top 3% of the population. He could do whatever he wanted, but he learned of the love of God and had to preach it. He prayed for years for a revival in India, but little did he know that the revival would start among the Dalits and spread like wildfire. Dr. D'Souza actually fell in love with and married a Dalit woman. Together they teach the good news that Jesus came for everyone, that He loves them, and that His love is all encompassing. Dr. D'Souza also has a huge burden for the women, little girls, and even boys who are among the world's biggest population of sex slaves--those being trafficked in India. He is the president of Dalit Freedom Network. He is committed to helping his wife's people. He has a heart for his own people of India--that they know Jesus, that they feel His love and embrace, and that they know their value because of Him.
In the fall, the pastor of our church along with another man in our church traveled to India. Their lives were changed by what they saw happening there. They testified to thousands of men, women and children scrambling to touch them, to be embraced by them, to feel the love of Jesus in "human" form. You can imagine what they must feel like. They've been unable to shake their destiny for 2500 years. They've had no hope, no worth, no future--except to hope that somehow they might be good enough in this life to be reincarnated as something better. Now, they've been given hope, a future. They've been given Jesus. There are Christians who are touching them, loving them, valuing them. Churches can't be built fast enough. Hundreds of people a day are being baptized into the church. Talk about a revival! Talk about a reformation! We expect those things to happen in "civilized" places--in America or Europe. But God works in different ways than us! God is looking for people who want to give all of themselves wholeheartedly to Him. How many of us can say we do that with no abandon?
This morning when Dr. D'Souza spoke, he told us to use our voice to let people know that this is real--that this is happening in 2011. I don't have much of a voice. I don't have much of an audience. But I'll do what I can. My purpose is to let you know that the caste system is still alive and greatly oppressing in India. That most of the population is yet to be reached by the Christians who want to reach them. Sadly, Christianity isn't the only thing spreading there. Muslims are targeting the Hindus as well. They are there waiting with "answers" too. Please pray with me that God's word will be spread. Maybe you feel the tug on your heart to get involved in a more personal way or at least to find out more! I encourage you to do some research, get involved, pray for these people, pray for sex trafficking to end or more! And use your voice. We all have one!
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