Introduction / History
The ancestors of today's Lodha people were hunters. They caught and skinned toads and snakes for a living.
Traditionally the Lodha people were Hindu. Gradually some of them converted to Islam. They live in both India and Pakistan.

What are their lives like?
Today most of the Lodha people in Pakistan and India are either blacksmiths or locksmiths. Others work as wage laborers or small time farmers. These farmers do not have adequate land.

What are their beliefs?
The Lodha people are Sunni Muslims who believe that the supreme God, Allah, spoke through his prophet, Mohammed, and taught mankind how to live a righteous life through the Koran and the Hadith. To live a righteous life, you must utter the Shahada (a statement of faith), pray five times a day facing Mecca, fast from sunup to sundown during the month of Ramadan, give alms to the poor, and make a pilgrimage to Mecca if you have the means. Muslims are prohibited from drinking alcohol, eating pork, gambling, stealing, slandering, and making idols. They gather for corporate prayer on Friday afternoons at a mosque, their place of worship.
The two main holidays for Sunni Muslims are Eid al Fitr, the breaking of the monthly fast and Eid al Adha, the celebration of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son to Allah.
Sunni religious practices are staid and simple. They believe Allah has pre-determined our fates; they minimize free will.
In most of the Muslim world, common people depend on the spirit world for their daily needs since they regard Allah as too distant. Allah may determine their eternal salvation, but the spirits determine how well they live on a daily basis. For that reason, some Muslims appease spirits using charms and amulets to help them with spiritual forces. More orthodox Muslims consider these practices heretical and un-Islamic.

What are their needs?
The Lodha people need to put their hope in the King of kings, realizing that he is the one who gives them worth and dignity.

Prayer Points
Pray for loving workers to go to the Lodha people until there are disciples who make more disciples.
Pray the Lord will prepare the hearts of the Lodha to understand and to believe the gospel.
Pray for the Lord to bless the Lodha people with adequate education and medical facilities.
Pray for the Lord to bless the Lodha people so abundantly that they will see he is the only one worthy of praise and worship.