Challenges with Church Planting Among Hindu Rajputs

Take a few minutes to pray through our guide.

While there are many challenges that hinder church planting work among Rajputs, here are five major ones. It is comforting to know that God is sovereign, above everything in the universe, and especially above all the principalities and powers that war against Him. He desires to bless the Rajputs by building His Kingdom among the them, and He is doing just that.

1. Christ Alone

“All pathways lead to the same place.” While this religious worldview is not specific to only Rajputs, it is a very powerful Hindu belief that affects them. Once a man described religion as a mountain with many pathways leading to the top. “You can take any pathway, because they all lead to the top,” he said. “What matters more than the path is how sincere and devoted you are.” But Scripture shows us otherwise. The exclusivity of Jesus Christ is a clear message of both truth and salvation.

Pray for the Lord to break through the worldview barrier that keeps Rajputs from understanding the freedom that comes from the exclusivity of Christ.

Pray John 14:6: “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Pray Acts 4:12: “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

2. Identity

After hearing the gospel, a Rajput man shared with his Rajput friends about Jesus Christ and His salvation. His friends became angry, stopped the conversation, and stated, “It’s not Rajput!” Rajputs are a unique people group, with special traditions and customs that have been passed down to subsequent generations over hundreds of years. There is an understood value system about what it means to be a Rajput. While the Lord is not asking them to stop being a Rajput, they may need to let go of some practices that hinder them from God’s grace in Jesus Christ. As believers in Jesus Christ, they will also receive a new identity, one of a rescued, adopted child of God.

Pray for Rajputs to understand that they can remain Rajputs and also follow Jesus Christ.

Pray that Rajputs would willingly give up any unbiblical custom or ritual to honor the Lord.

Pray that Rajputs would desire and welcome a new identity, one as God’s own sons and daughters through Jesus Christ the Lord.

Pray John 1:12-13: “But to all who did receive him [Jesus], who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

3. Pride

A middle-aged man met a young man one day. As they were talking, he asked the young man his name. After sharing his entire name, the young man confidently accentuated it with the word “Rajput.” Though the older man would have known his caste after hearing his surname, the young man highlighted his Rajput heritage. Rajputs are extremely proud of who they are. They have a strong love of their legacy. There are detailed accounts of their genealogies, and some can trace back family lines over hundreds of years. While being thankful for your family ancestry is not wrong, God warns us about thinking too highly of ourselves. The Bible reminds us that God does not like pride and resists those who are proud (James 4:6). Pride keeps Rajputs from God’s grace and salvation.

Pray for Rajputs to humble themselves before the Lord.

Pray Jeremiah 9:23-24: “Thus says the Lord: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight,’ declares the Lord.”

Pray I Peter 5:6: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.”

4. Fear

While it may seem contradictory to list fear as one of the hindrances to church planting among the brave and courageous Rajputs, superstitions are something that keep them in darkness. For example, an older lady complimented a well-dressed and bejeweled younger lady with “You look very beautiful,” as they walked into a wedding. Then she spat on her and whispered, “That’s for the evil eye.” Like this example, there are many Hindu superstitions that Rajputs believe and practice. Mothers line babies’ eyes with kohl or draw a spot on their face to keep the evil eye away. Mirrors are placed on homes located on T intersection roads to ward off inauspiciousness. And there are many, many more practices that are rooted in fear. We know the enemy has come to steal, kill, and destroy, and his purpose is to keep Rajputs shackled in fear. But Jesus Christ has come to abundantly bring life, light, and hope to this special people. He wants to release them from fear. To overcome these superstitions that have been passed down and practiced for so many years is not an easy thing. But Jesus is victorious, and the Rajputs can be victorious in Him as well.

Pray for the Lord to give Rajputs courage over their superstitions and come to Jesus Christ in faith.

Pray for Rajputs to realize 2 Timothy 1:7 in Jesus Christ: "for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

5. Societal pressure

An unmarried Rajput woman came to faith in Christ. Her family was very angry and disowned her. She was kicked out of her home and left out of family life. In their eyes she brought great shame on their family, since she does not follow Hindu religious customs anymore. Of course this is extremely devastating for the woman as well. Family community is the heartbeat of Rajput society. No one would choose to be ostracized by their individual and extended families and friends, and yet this is a reality for some Rajputs coming to faith in Jesus Christ.

Pray for persecuted Rajput believers to know the depths of Jesus’ love for them and stand firm in their faith.

Pray that they continue to honor their parents and family members with the love and truth of Christ even as they are persecuted.

Pray that family members and friends who watch Rajput believers being persecuted would not be overcome with fear, but that the love of Christ seen in these people would compel them to seek Him too.

Pray this beatitude from Jesus in Matthew 5:10-12: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”