A brilliant smile and dancing eyes told of a joy we only find in those who love the Lord Jesus. With a degree in library science, this man serves his seminary as head librarian. He told me to just call him Bansal.

Bansal is one of the more common names among the Agarwal people group. Bansal is one of a tiny minority of Agarwals who have come to Christ. Almost all Agarwals still consider themselves to be Hindu. Like most other Bania subgroups, they work as businessmen and traders. Some have risen to become very wealthy. One is chairman of Jet Airways with a net worth of $1.9 billion.

Sometimes wealthy people feel no need for God. Those who feel a need for God in a Hindu context are likely to try to fill it with Hindu rituals.
Agarwals have enough clout that they have sometimes been given the right to skirt India's laws. About 100 years ago a court case went all the way to the Indian Supreme Court that included the comment that Agarwals are known for their unwillingness to follow Hindu rules. Not much has changed. It is not that they have not heard of the gospel message. Rather, the Agarwals generally do not feel the need for Christ.

* Pray for Narendra. He has started a new church to reach his Agarwal people.
* Pray that he and other Agarwal believers can demonstrate the love and character of Christ to their kinsmen.
* Pray that the Holy Spirit will create a hunger in the hearts of prominent Agarwal businessmen.

Some information from "The Scheduled Castes" K. S. Singh, ed. Oxford University Press, USA (1994)