TGC Intl Outreach - Telugu Sproul Translation Project
THE SITUATION
Telugu
RELIEF PROJECT
The people of India who speak Telugu share a language that dates back to the 14th Century B.C. Telugu is the third most spoken language in India and is mainly spoken in southeast India along the coastline of the Bay of Bengal. What was once considered the language of the elite caste, Telugu is now a common language among the people through radio, television, and movies. This area is also home to the greatest concentration of Islamic workers and conversions to Islam. Nearly 40% of the population within each of the major cities of this region are Muslim, by faith. With the pressure of anti-conversion laws and the presence of Islam, the official percentage of Christians has declined among Telugu speakers in India and yet in the last decade there is a resurgence of evangelism (in spite of the persecution), church planting in over 26,000 villages, and the renewed work of indigenous missionaries. Still, most missionaries and pastors lack adequate training and over 50% of the region completely lacks a Christian presence. Women run most new Internet cafés and, thus, both women and men have access to online resources, books, and materials. (Central Institute of Indian Languages, IWS, and Operation World, pg. 318-19)
Our Field Partner: Philadelphia Missions, founded 2004, has been reaching the lost, building up the saints, planting churches, equipping pastors and training field workers in some of the most difficult to reach interior areas of India—tribal mountain villages, fishing villages, and unreached Hindu communities. Pastor Chintada has partnered with IO on past Relief Projects to translate and publish key Telugu-language biblical resources needed for India. THE DEMOGRAPHICS Countries with Telugu-speaking Populations: India, U.K., Australia, Singapore, Fiji, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, United States, and Canada. Number of Speakers: 73,800,000 in India India: 61% Literacy Rate (Internet users 5.3M; growing 240% per decade) .9% Protestant THE RESOURCE Telugu Resource R.C. Sproul, Everyone’s a Theologian Any time we think about a teaching of the Bible and strive to understand it, we are engaging in theology. Therefore, it is important that we put the Bible’s varied teachings together in a systematic fashion, using proper, time-tested methods of interpretation so as to arrive at a theology that is founded on truth. That is precisely what Dr. Sproul does in Everyone’s a Theologian: An Introduction to Systematic Theology. This book is anything but a dry discussion of minute points of doctrine. Dr. Sproul, demonstrating his trademark ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, surveys the basic truths of the Christian faith, reminding us once more of what God is like and of what He has done for His people in this world and the next.
THE VISION Around the world, the Christian church is facing a theological famine. Over the past century, the number of believers worldwide has grown dramatically and shifted south. 75% of the global church now lives in Africa, Asia, or South America. But the growth of the church in these regions has outpaced the supply of pastors who are equipped to shepherd these followers. 85% of the 2.2 million evangelical churches globally, are led by pastors with little or no training. In many regions, there simply isn’t access to solid, biblical teaching. The Gospel Coalition has been serving the church in North America by providing biblically faithful, gospelcentered resources through our website, events, publishing partnerships, and a deep network of individuals, churches, and organizations. We believe that the Lord would have us partner with, and support, our brothers and sisters in other regions of the world. TGC International Outreach is working to provide theological famine relief for the global church. TGC is partnering with translators, publishers, and mission networks to provide church leaders with access to biblical truth in digital and physical formats, and in the languages they need. Our goal is to strengthen thousands of congregations by helping to equip the pastors and elders who shepherd them. THE DETAILS This project is a joint ministry effort between The Gospel Coalition and our supporters, along with our publishing and distribution partners around the world. Our purpose is to spread solid biblical teaching to those who lack access to resources by making this content available, accessible, and affordable to as many as possible.
Resource Title: Everyone’s a Theologian Language: Telugu Partners: Ligonier, Philadelphia Missions Format: Softcover Book Print Run: 5,000 copies Total Cost: $11,000
LEARN MORE If this project resonates with you, we’d love to answer any questions you might have. You might also consider discussing it with the leaders of your group, church, or organization. Together, prayerfully consider partnering with us to provide this resource for those in need. Let us know how we can serve you by sharing the background to this specific need. Contact us for more information. Please consider joining us in this great cause--Theological Famine Relief for the Global Church. www.TGC.org/io [email protected]
Telugu
RELIEF PROJECT
The people of India who speak Telugu share a language that dates back to the 14th Century B.C. Telugu is the third most spoken language in India and is mainly spoken in southeast India along the coastline of the Bay of Bengal. What was once considered the language of the elite caste, Telugu is now a common language among the people through radio, television, and movies. This area is also home to the greatest concentration of Islamic workers and conversions to Islam. Nearly 40% of the population within each of the major cities of this region are Muslim, by faith. With the pressure of anti-conversion laws and the presence of Islam, the official percentage of Christians has declined among Telugu speakers in India and yet in the last decade there is a resurgence of evangelism (in spite of the persecution), church planting in over 26,000 villages, and the renewed work of indigenous missionaries. Still, most missionaries and pastors lack adequate training and over 50% of the region completely lacks a Christian presence. Women run most new Internet cafés and, thus, both women and men have access to online resources, books, and materials. (Central Institute of Indian Languages, IWS, and Operation World, pg. 318-19)
Our Field Partner: Philadelphia Missions, founded 2004, has been reaching the lost, building up the saints, planting churches, equipping pastors and training field workers in some of the most difficult to reach interior areas of India—tribal mountain villages, fishing villages, and unreached Hindu communities. Pastor Chintada has partnered with IO on past Relief Projects to translate and publish key Telugu-language biblical resources needed for India. THE DEMOGRAPHICS Countries with Telugu-speaking Populations: India, U.K., Australia, Singapore, Fiji, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, United States, and Canada. Number of Speakers: 73,800,000 in India India: 61% Literacy Rate (Internet users 5.3M; growing 240% per decade) .9% Protestant THE RESOURCE Telugu Resource R.C. Sproul, Everyone’s a Theologian Any time we think about a teaching of the Bible and strive to understand it, we are engaging in theology. Therefore, it is important that we put the Bible’s varied teachings together in a systematic fashion, using proper, time-tested methods of interpretation so as to arrive at a theology that is founded on truth. That is precisely what Dr. Sproul does in Everyone’s a Theologian: An Introduction to Systematic Theology. This book is anything but a dry discussion of minute points of doctrine. Dr. Sproul, demonstrating his trademark ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, surveys the basic truths of the Christian faith, reminding us once more of what God is like and of what He has done for His people in this world and the next.
THE VISION Around the world, the Christian church is facing a theological famine. Over the past century, the number of believers worldwide has grown dramatically and shifted south. 75% of the global church now lives in Africa, Asia, or South America. But the growth of the church in these regions has outpaced the supply of pastors who are equipped to shepherd these followers. 85% of the 2.2 million evangelical churches globally, are led by pastors with little or no training. In many regions, there simply isn’t access to solid, biblical teaching. The Gospel Coalition has been serving the church in North America by providing biblically faithful, gospelcentered resources through our website, events, publishing partnerships, and a deep network of individuals, churches, and organizations. We believe that the Lord would have us partner with, and support, our brothers and sisters in other regions of the world. TGC International Outreach is working to provide theological famine relief for the global church. TGC is partnering with translators, publishers, and mission networks to provide church leaders with access to biblical truth in digital and physical formats, and in the languages they need. Our goal is to strengthen thousands of congregations by helping to equip the pastors and elders who shepherd them. THE DETAILS This project is a joint ministry effort between The Gospel Coalition and our supporters, along with our publishing and distribution partners around the world. Our purpose is to spread solid biblical teaching to those who lack access to resources by making this content available, accessible, and affordable to as many as possible.
Resource Title: Everyone’s a Theologian Language: Telugu Partners: Ligonier, Philadelphia Missions Format: Softcover Book Print Run: 5,000 copies Total Cost: $11,000
LEARN MORE If this project resonates with you, we’d love to answer any questions you might have. You might also consider discussing it with the leaders of your group, church, or organization. Together, prayerfully consider partnering with us to provide this resource for those in need. Let us know how we can serve you by sharing the background to this specific need. Contact us for more information. Please consider joining us in this great cause--Theological Famine Relief for the Global Church. www.TGC.org/io [email protected]
