The father of modern missions, William Carey, was a cobbler, or shoe repairman. He might have come across members of the Sarki people in India, who make and repair shoes. In the Hindu worldview, working with leather, means working with "dead" material, which is very demeaning. To make matters worse, shoes also involve the bottom of the feet, considered by Hindus to be the most disgusting part of the body. For this reason, the Sarki people are among the least prestigious people in the Hindu world.

There are small numbers of Sarki people in Bangladesh, India and Bhutan. A larger number live in Nepal.

The traditional and primary occupation of the Sarki was shoe-making, but nowadays only a few among them are occupied as leather-workers or cobblers (i.e. shoe repairers). This means that they are in a desperate situation to learn new trades so they can make an honest living. Some of their women have been trafficked.

These Hindus have family deities and a village deity. Some of their deities are Santala Devi, Maidevta and Dat Kali. Their witchdoctor is called lama or jhankri.

The Sarki people need training as the modern world offers few jobs in shoe-making. More than that, they need protection for their women who are vulnerable to human trafficking.

* Scripture Prayers for the Sarki in Bangladesh.

* Pray for gospel workers to catch a vision for reaching the Hindu Sarki people for Jesus and that in God’s sovereign timing the hearts of the Sarki people would be open and ready to follow Him.
* Pray for Jesus movements to bless extended Sarki families so the gospel will spread rapidly among this people group.
* Pray for the spiritual lives of the Sarki people to become fruitful as they follow Christ.
* Pray for the lives and culture of the Sarki people to evidence the rule and reign of the Kingdom of God as they open to the gospel, and for the beauty of Jesus to be seen in them.

https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/18035/IN
https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/18035/NP
http://www.globalprayerdigest.org/issue/day/2013/11/22
https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/18035/BT
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarki_(ethnic_group)
http://www.globalprayerdigest.org/issue/day/Sarki-People-in-Nepal/