Holy Week Viewing: A Calvary in Orissa

The passion of Graham Staines

A blessed Holy Week to all who celebrate! I’ve had an influx of free subscribers, so if that’s you, welcome. You’re reading a preview of a post reserved exclusively for paid subscribers. However, for Holy Weekend, I’m running a flash sale on annual subscriptions, generally $50, now reduced to $40. This is a $20 savings on a $5/month subscription, so you’re really getting quite a lot of bang for the buck.

And this Easter, your buck will be going to a good cause. Fun fact: Did you know that one US dollar equals about 83 Indian rupees? And that an average Indian salary is equivalent to about $430 a month? Me neither, until pretty recently. What this means is that a little goes a long way when you donate to a good cause in India. Good causes including the work of indigenous missionaries like my friend Jehu. Jehu is a fourth-generation Christian in the district of Odisha, formerly known as Orissa, the setting for the true story I’m going to tell in this piece. When he’s not co-leading a supplementary school for Dalit children (children of the lowest caste in India’s caste system), he’s motorbiking to share the gospel in neighboring villages. Christian friends of his have suffered persecution for their ministry from a hostile government, sometimes even from their own families. In India, the only caste lower than “Dalit” is “Christian Dalit.”

Sadly, like many Christians around the world, the Christians of India are largely overlooked, and news of their persecution will not make Western headlines. My research here has been rather eye-opening as I work on a magazine feature story that places Jehu’s work in its broader social context. But through him and his co-laborers, God is blessing their nation, one child at a time.

If you’re already a paid subscriber, but you’d still like to support this work, you can either give through the ministry’s current GoFundMe page or contact me for more details. Even a small one-time gift will be much appreciated, but if you or your church might be interested in committing to longer-term sponsorship, let’s chat.

On to this post, in which I recommend a movie you have probably never seen, which tells a story you have probably never heard. But you should have.