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The Open Door Church is one of the largest buildings in the tiny agricultural village of Khojewala. With a large cross on top, it stands boldly in the majority-Sikh region in northwestern Punjab state. A sign on the gate reads, "Christ be praised." Inside, villagers sit cross-legged on cotton sheets spread over the cement floor of the main hall. Under the whir of overhead fans, they are calling out, "Hallelujah! Hallelujah!"

Every Sunday, people from across the state attend this church, nestled amid green and golden farmlands. Pastor Harbhajan Singh, a 52-year-old former landlord, built it in 1991. Harbhajan says he was a drunkard who indulged in "all kinds of bad things" until Christ saved him. He converted from Sikhism to Christianity in 1986. Through his ministry, Harbhajan seeks to heal mind and body.

"People find peace here, so they come," Harbhajan told Christianity Today. "The Lord does it. We are incapable. Their deep faith in Christ helps in healing diseases and brings inner peace." This message makes sense to Sikhs, many of whom see Jesus as a figure of mercy and compassion. Harbhajan's church has 2,800 baptized members, plus many others who are awaiting baptism.

The village youth committee initially forbade Harbhajan from building the church. And when he started building, he received many death threats.

"You can't do God's work if you are afraid," he said. "I stood. The Lord saves and protects."

John Dayal, secretary general of the All India Christian Council, said there is a new openness to Christ in the state.

"Punjab has had a traumatic 20 years," Dayal said. "Currently there is … joblessness, drug addiction, easy money, and division between Hindus and Sikhs. In search of a path, people are turning to Christ for the healing of body, mind, and soul."

Religion scholars believe that around the time of the Protestant Reformation, Sikhism was born in what is now Pakistan. It is a fusion of Hinduism and the mystical Sufi branch of Islam. Its founder, Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, was weary of a Hinduism whose upper-caste abused low-caste and outcaste untouchables—now called Dalits—in India.

There are about 25 million Sikhs worldwide, 16 million of whom live in Punjab, a relatively prosperous state of 24 million people sharing a border with Pakistan. Punjab made a futile bid for independence in the 1980s and 1990s; 25,000 people died in the war, including the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who was assassinated.

The province is 34 percent Hindu, about 1 percent Christian and Muslim, and 64 percent Sikh. Until recent years, most Christians were from traditional communities. Little evangelism took place among Sikhs, who are intensely proud of their religion and culture.

Despite Sikhism's origins, discrimination against Dalits runs deep here. Dalit Sikhs often must worship in their own shrines, or gurdwaras. Marriages between low-caste and upper-caste Sikhs are prohibited. Upper-caste Sikhs generally avoid social interaction with Dalits.

Over the last several years, several thousand Sikhs, many of them Dalits, have left Sikhism for Christianity. In April, 200 Dalits converted in the town of Moga. Another 48 converted in Amritsar, the province's capital and home to Sikhism's revered Golden Temple.

Precise overall figures are not available, however. Many Sikhs who convert keep their ethnic names, so tracking them is difficult. More importantly, Christians do not publicize mass conversions for fear of inciting local wrath, which is becoming a problem.

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July 2003, Vol. 47, No. 7