What Is the Opportunity?

Tamil is the official language of the Tamil Nadu state in India and a national language of Sri Lanka and Singapore. More than 86 million people speak Tamil worldwide, including large numbers in Malaysia and the Middle East, making it the twentieth most-spoken language in the world.¹

Missionaries have taken the gospel to India for centuries, perhaps beginning with the Apostle Thomas as ancient tradition suggests. Europeans began witnessing in Southern India in the seventeenth century, and in the twentieth century missionary Amy Carmichael served for 50 years at Dohnavur in Tamil Nadu. Though estimates vary, some studies indicate that Christians may make up 7 percent of people in India, which equates to more than 98 million professing Christians. The percentage is likely higher in the Tamil Nadu state itself.

Persecution against Christians in India is rapidly increasing, especially against those from a Hindu background, often incited by government policy or local officials. Radical Hindus gather to disrupt church gatherings, attack pastors and their families, and vandalize churches. Similar patterns of persecution occur in Sri Lanka, typically instigated by Buddhists, since Buddhism is the dominant religion in Sri Lanka.

There is an urgent need to help Tamil-speaking Christians globally stand fast in the faith as they boldly proclaim the gospel. To meet this need, Ligonier seeks to provide faithful gospel teaching to strengthen our brothers and sisters in Christ through free access to discipleship resources anchored in the historic Christian faith.

How Is Ligonier Meeting These Needs?

We are seeking to reach Tamil-speaking pastors, laypeople, and unbelievers through the following outreach efforts:

Web and Social Media

By God’s grace, the truth of the gospel is reaching Tamil-speaking people online. Ligonier’s dedicated Tamil website and Tamil Facebook and Instagram pages are providing easy access to trustworthy teaching. Our website contains historic Christian creeds and confessions.

The Ligonier Statement on Christology

Confusion abounds regarding Christology, the doctrine of Christ. As the church continues to grow, it is imperative that believers learn the truths of Scripture as summarized in the great confessions of faith. We produced The Word Made Flesh: The Ligonier Statement on Christology to help Christians know what the church has historically taught and to provide clarity on the person and work of Jesus Christ. Our goal is to distribute this statement worldwide, and it has already been translated into numerous languages, including Tamil.

Books

Growing interest in Reformed theology has sparked an eagerness for more resources from Dr. R.C. Sproul and Ligonier Ministries. Our plans include translating and distributing the following titles from the Crucial Questions series:

• Can I Be Sure I'm Saved? by R.C. Sproul
• Who Is the Holy Spirit? by R.C. Sproul
• What Is Faith? by R.C. Sproul
• What Is the Gospel? by R.C. Sproul
• Does Prayer Change Things? by R.C. Sproul

What Is Needed?

• Translating and publishing print and digital editions of five Crucial Questions titles — $54,899 USD
• Digital outreach — $16,900 USD (annually)

Funding needs reflect quoted estimates based on August 2024 foreign exchange rates and current translation fees.

How Do Your Gifts Help?

These are only a few of our many international projects underway. We ask you to prayerfully consider supporting these efforts through your financial gifts and prayers for the Tamil-speaking and global church. By God’s grace, your generosity enables the translation, printing, and distribution of trustworthy Christian resources, providing countless opportunities to reach people with the truth of God’s Word. You can donate here.

Our policy is to apply gifts given toward a specific program. If we receive more contributions than can be wisely used for a given project, we apply these funds to meet other pressing needs in our outreach efforts. We are committed to stewarding all gifts wisely toward the goal of proclaiming the holiness of God to as many people as possible. Ligonier Ministries is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

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¹ See https://www.ethnologue.com/guides/ethnologue200 as of August 1, 2024.