It seems like not a year goes by when we don’t see news reports about famine and starvation somewhere in the world. This year it was Sudan and the images that were shown around the world were heart breaking. Usually these horrific events are triggered by natural disasters such as draught or flooding. Sometimes war is to blame as cropland is burned or occupied and people are forced from their productive lands into areas that cannot support them. Other times it is the simple math that there are too many people for the area they live in to be able to support. Finances can take a role as well when a country can simply not afford to import the food products they need for their population.
India is quite different than most of the developing nations that we typically see reports of starvation in. India is actually a net exporter of food products including such staples as rice, fruits, and vegetables. India’s economy is quite strong and it was one of the few economies in the world to experience growth during this recession. Wages in India are on the rise and for the first time in it’s history, the middle class is growing in India. Though there are occasional border conflicts and terrorist attacks, India has seen no widespread conflict for over 100 years.
So what accounts for those 2,100,000 children that die annually from the results of malnutrition?
Luke 6:44 tells us we can judge a tree by its fruit. As my friend Mark likes to say, the cult makes the culture. India is largely a Hindu country. Though there are a sizeable number of Muslims and people of other faiths present, most all are influenced by Hindu culture. The Hindu belief structure is heavily based upon the concepts of fate and karma, the belief that deeds, good or bad, will determine ones destiny. Their gods offer no real mercy or grace and as a reflection of their faith, neither do many Hindus. A Hindu may see a starving child begging on the street and simply walk past the child and say “That is his fate in this life. Perhaps, with good deeds, it will be better for him in the next.” This is a classic example of the truth of Psalm 115:8: "Those who make [idols] will become like them."It would be very hard for even the staunchest of atheists to argue that traditional Judeo-Christian values have not been good for the areas in which they are predominant. These areas include most of Europe and the Americas. As a whole, these parts of the world are the best fed and have the most freedom amongst its people. Women, for the most part, are afforded equal rights, both in the home and in the workplace. Charity and welfare programs abound as it is generally the accepted belief that the “have’s” have an obligation to care for the “have-nots.” Literacy and education in general are valued and these nations have the best opportunities for personal advancement. The nations heavily influenced by traditional Judeo-Christian values are far from perfect of course, but they are as close as can be had on earth.
I have been asked many times “why India?” Initially I would say that it was because I’ve always been fascinated with India and that The Berean Fellowship, of which my church is a member, has been involved with India for a few decades. But the more I study India, it’s people, and it’s culture, the less these reasons seem to matter. One of the fruits of India’s Hindu culture is the easily preventable deaths of four children every minute of every day of every year. It is my hope and goal in this trip that perhaps a few seedlings from the Christian tree can be planted in India, and with them, some hope for these children. That has become my new answer when I am asked “why India?”.
