AMRITSAR

Amritsar, largest and most important city in the Punjab state, is located in northwestern India 15 miles east of the Pakistan border. The city is the birthplace of Sikhism and the site of the Sikhs’ chief pilgrimage destination-the Harmandir Sahib, or Golden Temple. India, occupying the greater part of South Asia, is the second-most populous country in the world, after China.

India’s government is a constitutional republic that represents a highly diverse population with thousands of ethnic groups, hundreds of languages, and a complex caste system. In similar fashion, India has a convoluted social and cultural history, featuring both a rich intellectual life in the sciences and arts, as well as religious tradition. After gaining independence from the British in 1947, India split from the predominantly Muslim regions of present-day Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Despite earnest attempts to unify the country and instill a semblance of peace, tensions between rival ethnic groups, religious sects, rich and poor, have further divided the nation. Burdening the country further, India has more abandoned children than any nation on the planet, with over 30 million orphans wandering the bustling streets and railways of major cities. This cultural dynamism creates immense challenges for the central government, but enormous opportunity for the church of India to step into the abundant harvest fields moved with compassion and great expectation.