a contextual missiology of the spirit - eTheses Repository ...

statutory Commission was constituted on 17 May 1993. 10 All the five religious
communities with the official status of National Minorities have their
representatives on the Minorities Commission. It is significant that Pentecostals
served in the Commission, representing the Indian Christian community. John
Joseph, who belongs to IPCoG, was a member of the first NCM during the
periods 1993-96 and then in 2000-2003. Another Pentecostal, Abraham Mathai, is
the Vice-Chairman of the Maharashtra Minorities Commission. 11 Most states in
India have set up a Minorities Commission. The State Government of Rajasthan
also has established the Commission for Minorities.
4.1.3. Pentecostals and the Minority Complex
The current research shows that Pentecostals in Rajasthan have been grappling
with a minority complex. All the Pentecostal leaders who were interviewed
strongly expressed their anxiety over their minority status in the state. Being a
minority group, Pentecostals feel that their institutions, property and even their
lives are not safe. For example, the recent attack on one of the churches,
‘Emmanuel Mission International (EMI),’ caused Pentecostal leaders to express
their concern. EMI is one of the oldest and best established Evangelical Christian
organizations in Rajasthan. It has established a number of schools, orphanages and
churches in various villages and cities of Rajasthan. Very recently, their leaders
have been arrested and imprisoned, and orphanages, schools, and hospitals have
been prevented from functioning. The state government even cancelled the charity
registration of these ministries over allegations of soliciting conversion, until the
10
National Commission for Minorities, ‘Genesis,’ http://ncm.nic.in/genesis.html (accessed 12
November 2006).
11
Abraham Mathai has been serving on the Maharastra State Minorities Commission since 2000.
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