India: 30,000 Bibles in Khasi language

ACN has been asked to help provide 30,000 Bibles in the Khasi language for Catholics in northwest India.

By ACN Staff

Khasi Catholics in India. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)

The far northeast of India is linked to the rest of the country only by a narrow corridor of land, as a result of which the region is isolated and remains among the poorest and most underdeveloped regions of India. The great majority of the population live scattered in small rural communities and belong to the disadvantaged ethnic minorities, or Tribal Peoples.

Khasi family reading the Bible. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)

There are 15 Catholic dioceses in this region today. Historically, the Church was not allowed to operate here until around 125 years ago, and even today in many regions it has only been present for a few decades. Nevertheless, it has shown that it has the capacity to unite people of the many different ethnic groups, traditions and cultures represented here. For the Church belongs to no particular ethnic group, but instead is the Church of all the people.

Many of the Catholic faithful here belong to the Khasi ethnic group and live in the remote hill country, which is shot through with vast valleys and dense forests. Originally an animist tribe, they believed in spirits and practised ancestor worship. But since the arrival of the Catholic missionaries, many have been converted by the Good News of the Gospel and become enthusiastic believers in Jesus Christ. They are eager to learn about and more deeply live this faith and especially to get to better know and love the Word of God.

Already some years ago, thanks to your support, ACN was able to print and distribute Bibles in the Kasi language to many of the parishes. But the demand continues to be enormous and by now the original printing has been completely exhausted.

Khasi Catholics in a procession. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)

There is keen interest in the Bible apostolate, and many of those families who already possess a Bible love to study and pray with it together. Frequently, several families will gather together in groups to study the Scriptures. And in addition the local Church organises Bible seminars at diocesan and parish level. Catechetical instruction is likewise focused around the written Word of God.

But there are still many of the faithful who long to own a Bible. And the Church here in this remote and underdeveloped region is poor, like the people, and has additionally been hard-hit financially by the pandemic. So they have turned to us for help with the cost of printing and distributing 30,000 copies of the Bible in this local language – at a total cost of €58,770. Some of these Bibles will also be distributed among people of the same Kasi ethnic group, living across the border in neighbouring Bangladesh.

Archbishop Victor Lyngsdon of the diocese of Shillong, who has also asked our help on behalf of the other dioceses in the same region, has written: “At all events, your support will be an immense help to us in our efforts to make the use of the Bible still more popular among the Kasi-speaking people here. May God bless you all!”

Will you help us?