Garhwali in India

Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?”
The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."   Genesis 3:13

Like most folk cultures, the Garhwali worship that which they fear in hopes of appeasing the spirit therein. Such is the source of one Garhwali grounds practice of snake worship. “Because of its swift and gliding movement, scaly skin, hypnotic eyes and poisonous bite, it is feared and therefore the subject of myth and legend. Inevitably, it was worshipped in the hope that veneration would make it protect and not harm its devotees” Is this not proof that the enemy of our souls.

Using one of his favorite disguises, the enemy of souls still oppresses countless peoples, including the Garhwali. Let us pray that the Garhwali might come to know the One who crushes the head of the serpent that they might not live in fear and spiritual slavery.

Garhwal is a rugged, mountainous region within the Indian state of Uttaranchal. Many of the residents speak their own distinct language, called Garhwali.  Other than sharing a land and a language, people called ‘the Garhwali” are very diverse. Fourteen percent of the Garhwali are members of indigenous tribal groups which results in other Garhwali rejecting or discriminating against them for being “inferior” and outside of the caste system.   Other Garhwali are in fairly high castes and therefore are isolated within their socio-vocational group. Christians aiming to reach the Garhwali need to use creative and diverse approaches because of the variety of people speaking the Garhwali language.

While most Garhwali have been unresponsive to the Gospel, there are about 100 believers. At this time, Christians can more effectively reach the Garhwali with the ecently-published New Testament and Jesus Film in their unique language.

All Garhwali are affected by the economic development that came to their region after 1974, bringing the stresses of modernism to a people organized around family, caste, and community.  Many Garhwali care deeply about their region, becoming very active politically and socially for the betterment of their communities.