Arunachal Pradesh

Even though Arunachal Pradesh is called "Land of the Dawn-lit Mountains," over 50 percent of its people have never seen the light of the Gospel. More than one million souls make their home here in the dense forests of the eastern Himalayan Mountains.

Located in far Northeast India, Arunachal Pradesh is bordered by Bhutan to the west, China to the north, and Myanmar to the east. Christianity first came to the area in the 19th century, when Western missionaries set up a base camp in an interior village with the intention of evangelizing Myanmar (formerly Burma). When they were not allowed to enter that country, the work was abandoned. But that was not the end of Christianity in Arunachal Pradesh. Indian Christians from neighboring states and refugee Christians from Myanmar have laid the foundation of the Church.

Most people in Arunachal Pradesh make their living as farmers. They clear the forests and raise crops for one to three years until the land is exhausted, then they move on to another area of the forest. The climate is hot and humid in the summer, cold and snowy in the winter. Both men and women wear jewelry made from bones, shells, horns, and the teeth of animals along with elaborate headgear decorated with bird feathers. Their main food is rice served with vegetables, fish, or meat.

The people of Arunachal Pradesh are predominantly Hindu (37%) and Animist (36%) with Christianity and Buddhism both at 13 percent. Islam has a small presence with 1.4 percent. Missionaries face many obstacles, including laws that hinder church growth.

Arunachal Pradesh became a state of India in 1987, but it was not until 1995 that the borders were open to outsiders, including other Indians. These isolated mountain communities have developed 22 major tribal languages. Only two of them, Tangsa and Adi, have the New Testament. Nearly 12 percent of the state's population speak Hindi or Bengali, and both of these have the complete Bible.