For thousands of years, the Dalit people of India were so marginalized they couldn’t enter a temple or hold a holy book. Seen as being outside of Hinduism’s caste system, dirty and causing pollution to caste Hindus, they were told they didn’t have a god.

That has changed dramatically. Since 2001, in the wake of a Dalit movement to exit Hinduism, 2,000 churches have been planted among the Dalits, and they are given free New Testaments. They are being told God loves them.

“When they heard the gospel—that Jesus loves them and died on the cross for their sins—they said, ‘This is wonderful,’” says Fraser Churchill, director of development for Operation Mobilization (OM) Canada.

OM has been working in India for more than 40 years. But when the Indian government began clamping down on issuing visas to foreign mission workers, OM changed its focus to training local leaders and equipping them for evangelism and teaching.

OM Canada now has two main roles in ministry to the Dalits: advocating for the rights of the Dalits and building Dalit education centres.

Although the Indian constitution bans untouchability, the Hindu caste system that has formed the basis of Indian society for thousands of years continues. Dalits are exploited and demeaned, and according to sociologist and author Joseph D’Souza, crimes against them are increasing.

Women and girls are frequently raped, for example. “Most of the rapes are committed by high caste Brahmins,” says Churchill. It’s a scenario he finds not only reprehensible but ironic, since high castes are not supposed to touch Dalits.

The Dalits desperately need outsiders to speak up and advocate for them, says Churchill, who points out that the two highest castes, the Brahmins and the Kshatriyas, make up 10 per cent of the population but control 80 per cent of India’s wealth. “Do you think they are going to tell the world about the Dalit situation? Of course not.”

Sadly, the caste system is so ingrained that even the Indian church has been guilty of discrimination. The first Protestant church building had a wall to separate higher and lower castes. Eventually some churches began opening their doors to Dalits, while others remained closed.

OM initially didn’t want to go into church planting, but when they realized that so many people were coming to Christ and yet didn’t have a church home where they could grow and feel comfortable, they realized new churches were the way to serve the thousands of converts.

“As these churches are planted, stewardship is taught,” notes Churchill. New converts “realize if they give 10 per cent of what they have, they can support a pastor.”

Besides church planting and teaching the Bible, OM India has also begun Dalit education centres throughout India to provide schooling for people who have never had the opportunity before. There are now 34 Dalit education centres throughout the country, each with between 50 and 200 students. Education will help the Dalit people move ahead socially and economically.