India (MNN) — Election officials across India are counting a historic 642 million votes today. General elections occurred over the last six weeks, with Saturday being the final voting day.

Most exit polls forecast Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third term and a majority win for his Bharatiya Janata Party. Mission Cry’s Jason Woolford says another Modi win will keep the pressure high on Christian ministries.

“We’ve been able to send multiple containers a year filled with free Bibles and Christian books. That all changed under the current leader in India,” Woolford says.

“The radical regime made sending containers difficult to the point where we’ve only sent one this year.”

Mission Cry collects donated Bibles and Christian books in the U.S. and ships these resources to partnering believers worldwide. More about that here.

A few months ago, one Mission Cry shipment left U.S. shores, heading to a seminary in eastern India.

Sea container filled with Bibles and Christian resources.
(Photo courtesy of Mission Cry)

“That (container) is in customs right now, and we need people to pray that this gets cleared,” Woolford says.

“We’ve been very strategic with the paperwork because there are Bibles in that container.”

If the container isn’t allowed past customs, the results could be far-reaching. “If they (officials) stop allowing those to come in and the people aren’t being trained, people aren’t going out and evangelizing because they’re not equipped,” Woolford says.

Pray that these resources will be cleared through customs and that Mission Cry partners can deliver them to believers in need.

“In most of these places, people make $100 to $300 a month if they’re lucky. So, for them to go and buy a $50 Bible or a Christian book just isn’t happening,” Woolford says.

Thank the Lord for providing strategic partners in clearing and customs departments. Woolford says, “They’re willing to lay their livelihood, their business, everything on the line because they understand the importance and the need of getting the Word of God into India.”

 

Header image depicts a voter’s finger in India. Voters are marked with ink after they’ve cast a ballot. (Photo credit: Incredibly Numing/Flickr/CC)