India National Inland Mission (INIM) has been working in India for more than 50 years, planting churches, training indigenous leaders, opening schools, and rescuing orphans. Now, the government of India is making it more challenging for Christian ministries like INIM to operate in the country, this time by restricting charities from using foreign funds for religious conversions.
Photo by Jannes Jacob / Unsplash
On June 22, India’s Ministry of Home Affairs issued additional regulations as part of the country’s Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), which governs foreign funding for charities working in India, according to International Christian Concern.
Under the new rules, foreign-funded organizations must classify projects into specific categories and geographic locations, cannot shift funds between projects without approval, and may not use foreign contributions for activities considered proselytizing.
The FCRA has been a growing concern for Christian ministries and other nonprofits for several years.
About 14,000 organizations currently hold active FCRA registrations, but India has canceled more than 22,000 registrations over the past decade. Among those that lost their registration is World Vision, one of the world’s largest Christian relief and development organizations, according to Amnesty International.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom’s report on India recommends the country be designated a “country of particular concern for engaging in and tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations.” The report names the FCRA as one of India’s laws that targets religious minorities.
Christians make up only about 2.3% of India’s population.
Rather than seeking approval from Parliament, the Ministry of Home Affairs enacted the new regulations administratively. Several human rights organizations have called on the government to withdraw the rules, Amnesty International said.
India National Inland Mission was among the first Christian missions and registered charities in India to obtain FCRA registration in 1976 when the law was introduced.
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“We view the latest changes as significant but not as a complete shutdown of lawful, transparent foreign partnerships,” INIM President Ajay Pillai told MinistryWatch.
Pillai believes INIM can continue operating in India by adapting to the new regulations.
He explained that the new regulations require that foreign-funded work be tied to explicitly declared categories, such as social, educational, or religious activities, and to particular Indian states, giving ministries far less flexibility to reallocate funds across regions without prior approval.
Pillai affirmed that “evangelistic activity cannot be directly financed with foreign contributions,” and he expects “close scrutiny” at every stage of oversight.
Asked whether the new regulations are likely to increase INIM’s overhead costs, Pillai said the new processes will raise costs for legal review and staff training to ensure compliance. He considers those expenses part of the faithful stewardship of the group’s funds.
“They are necessary if we are to keep the door open for foreign partners in a way that is both transparent and legally secure,” Pillai said.
To comply with new restrictions on foreign-funded evangelistic activity, Pillai said INIM will “align foreign-funded projects with clearly permitted categories, such as training, education, relief, and social support, while ensuring that explicitly evangelistic and church-planting efforts are primarily funded by indigenous giving and local support.”
He said INIM is also making contingency plans in case its foreign funding is disrupted or delayed.
Asked whether the regulations on proselytization are targeting Christian ministries, Pillai said they are framed using language of transparency, accountability, and national security. Nevertheless, in practice, “restrictions on foreign-funded proselytization and heightened attention to conversion-related activity disproportionately affect all evangelistic Christian work.”
INIM plans to comply with the regulations with integrity where possible, communicate carefully, and continue to “preach Christ boldly” through means that are not dependent on foreign funding.
Pillai advised donors to partner with ministries that “can demonstrate current registration or are in the process of obtaining it, always provide clear audited accounts, and maintain a transparent distinction between foreign-funded humanitarian projects and locally funded evangelistic work.”
In the MinistryWatch database, INIM has a Donor Confidence Score of 76, meaning donors can give with confidence.
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