Christians in South and Central Asia constitute a vulnerable minority; yet they offer deep insights into the art of Christian living among Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists. They keep the Christian faith alive and active in the midst of risks and discrimination. Their faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord gives them meaning and strength to meet unending challenges. With determination, they persevere in their walk of faith and hand it on to the next generation. Their weekly worship services in registered churches or in private homes demonstrate the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ and its relevance to their lives. They are weak and poor minorities. Governments and ruling elites do not take note of them. Yet they interact with the members of dominant religious communities. They have internalised their faith so much that it activates their lives. Their histories and patterns of Christian living and doing evangelism, their expressions of spirituality and theology and liturgy remain contextual, yet they enrich global Christianity.

Historical Background

Christianity in South Asia traces its origin to the ministry of the Apostle Thomas in modern-day Kerala and Tamil Nadu in South India and in Taxila in Pakistan. The Apostle Bartholomew is said to have worked in Thane, near Mumbai. Few Indians embraced the teachings of these apostles and passed them on to successive generations, however. Syriacspeaking Christian immigrants who had escaped religious persecutions in Persia found refuge in Kerala. Native Christian communities and these immigrants, collectively known as St Thomas Christians, kept their religious and social customs intact. Their interactions with the newly arrived Portuguese in the fifteenth century became the source of repeated schisms. German Lutheran Pietist missionaries established Tamil Lutheran congregations in the Danish colony of Tranquebar (1707) (modern-day Tharangambadi) and other major cities. The English missionary William Carey spread his Baptist faith in and around Kolkata (1793) and then worked from Serampore. Protestant missionaries of the Mission of Help translated the Bible into Malayalam in the nineteenth century. Splits occurred among St Thomas Christians.

The World Wars and the demise of British colonialism in South Asia provided the context for rising nationalism, rejuvenation of Indic religions, and indigenous Christian expressions.