It is a known reality that the global network of evangelist missionaries, with the help of their allies in India, have been using foreign funds to convert people to Christianity through fraud, coercion and seduction. The Legal Rights Observatory (LRO), which monitors FCRA irregularities and the misappropriation of foreign funds, has found that the Apostolic church in South India had received ₹40.66 crore from abroad and illegally used it to ‘preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to baptize non-Christians.
This organization (the New Apostolic Church) on its website openly boasts about converting many people to Christianity. The LRO has complained to the Ministry of the Home Affairs for FCRA violations and the illegal use of foreign funds.
The LRO, in its complaint, said the evangelical organization ‘had received 17 souls’ in the Ichpur congregation of Bidar district. Donors to this evangelical organization are said to be from Canada, Germany and Switzerland. One of the donors, the New Apostolic Church in West Germany, posted on its official website about one of the many missionaries working for the charity. The operational area of Christchurch Nanda is said to be spread across six district rector areas in Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
Christensen Nanda said in an interview, “I work in the most challenging areas where the Naxalites meet. These are groups that are trying to violently protect their forests from industrialization and political interference.”
The website says the New Apostolic Church emphasizes ‘open and constructive relationships’ with governments, public authorities, and other religious groups. It claims to be politically neutral and that its operation is consistent with its own laws. According to these statements on the website of the New Apostolic Church, it is based on the premise that state authorities must obey ‘divine commands’ and abide by its commands.
The New Apostolic Church expects its members to respect the law and to fulfill their country’s civil duties as long as they comply with ‘divine commands’. The Church explicitly commands that if the laws of the country in which they reside are contrary to ‘divine beliefs’ then the followers must violate the laws of such countries to uphold the divine ideology of the Church.
In essence, the church not only undertakes and finances shameful religious conversions, but also advises its followers to violate the law of the land if they do not follow the ‘divine rules’ of the church.
The evangelical church first converts the marginalized sections of the society to Christianity, and after the conversions, encourages them to violate the laws of their own country. We can see these evangelical organizations calling on local Christian converts to break their local laws and engage in violent protests and armed revolutions.
These evangelical organizations are therefore closely associated with the Naxalites and Maoists in Odisha, Chhattisgarh and elsewhere, thereby inciting proselytizing people to revolt against their own government and country, leading to separatist tendencies. The LRO’s complaint to the Interior Ministry is expected to be taken seriously and a serious investigation into not only serious FCRA violations but also national security vulnerabilities.
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