Ellis Scism, ministered in India in the 1940s, 50s and 60s..

These two ladies stand beside a depiction of a god, who was a human being just like them - as centuries went by, heroes evolved into gods as an explanation for the source of their heroic deeds.

South India: a beautiful place as seen here in this photo of a fisherman by the sea.

Hill farmers separating the grain from the chaff.

Brush arbor meeting

A northeastern Indian welcome

This picture was taken in Manipur State, where tribal turf wars have turned many of the people into refugees.

In this area, revival broken out as people prayed in the jungle, asking God for more spiritual growth. Suddenly, some of them starting speaking in tongues and were jailed (people thought they were insane or demon-possessed. My grandfather heard about them, went there, explained to the officials that these individuals were simply filled with the Spirit, got them out of jail, and told them further truth from Scripture.

A new church being built in northeast India, where the congregation has grown to 77,000.

Lera, the man pictured above, baptized over 6,000 people in Jesus name, founded three districts, and started over 50 churches.

Harry Scism - Missionary Kid, Associate, Assistant, Language Student, Pioneer Missionary, Bible College founder and teacher, Superintendent, Regional Director and Foreign Missions Director, international teacher.

The most holy of India's holy cities is Varanasi. Hindus come here to die and be cremated because they believe that anyone cremated here goes straight to Nirvana - no more reincarnations. Here flows the Ganges - the holiest and most polluted river of India.

The Ganges river is venerated as a giver of life in a dry land. Some people still think it flows from Heaven.

The Indian people imagine life forces and natural forces as gods, and great humans as incarnations of these gods.

Ascetics come to pray and to punish the flesh. Successful mystics can evolve into gods as time goes by.

People are already removing shoes, bowing, burning incense, and praying at the site of Gandhi's cremation site.

This is the pillar of Ashok, a major north Indian emporer. He bacame a Buddhist (Buddhism began in India too) and sent priests throughout Asia to teach it.

This is a Buddhist stupa (holy memorial, meditation and prayer place) from 50 B.C. in Central India.

Daily life on northern Indian streets: A man crushes sugar cane and mixes the sugar with tap water for a dring that will cool your tongue and flip-flop your innards.

Daily life on northern Indian streets: A monkey show.

Daily life on northern Indian streets: A Roadside cook prepares a sweet made by dropping dough in syrup.

Two shops here: snacks above and a watch repair below. That's how you use space wisely in Calcutta

Another part of street life--temples everywhere. Hindus worship Kali (this god) and millions of others.

A Jain Temple: The Jain faith started in India about the same time as Buddhism, also originally as a reform movement in Hinduism.

Jain people wear scarves over their mouths to keep from accidently breathing in an insect and killing it. Some sweep the road as they walk, to avoid killing anything.

This is part of the fort in Delhi. Islamic, from the Mogul empire. Muslims make up 12% of the population. Since India has one billion people, that 12% makes India the second largest Muslim population on the earth, second only to Indonesia.

This woman, who knew only Hindi, spoke in tongues in English saying, "Jesus is wonderful." In the same meeting, a Hindi-speaking teenage girl spoke in Mizo (a NE Indian language) and a Hindi-speaking middle-aged man spoke in Malayalam (a South Indian language). A few Mizo-speaking men and a few Malayalam-speaking families were present and heard others "speaking to them in the language wherein they were born.

A young, northern Indian singer. She apparently believes, "Look to Him and be radiant."