As part of their "Christmas gift", two prominent Christian ministries are joining hands in an effort to help the poorest of people in India and encourage Christians to participate in practical giving to change lives.

Gospel for Asia (GFA) and American Family Radio (AFR) recently kicked off an initiative that allows people to provide items for India's Dalit people, formerly known as the untouchables.

According to reports, the Christmas campaign initiated by the two ministries will allow donors to reach out to this group through the purchase of practical gifts for families such as chickens, sewing machine and water buffaloes.

There are about 250 million such people in India, reports the Dalit Freedom Network, and they form India's most illiterate and lowest social strata. About 25 per cent of the one billion population of India are considered to be Dalits.

"More than 3,000 years of caste system and class division in India makes sure that Dalits continue to stay poor and uneducated," the Dalit Freedom Network claims.

Chris Brewer of GFA says the Christmas gift initiative can have an eternal impact.

"There's such abject poverty in that country, hundreds of millions of people are subject to that poverty," he said.

"So the opportunity that we have to get involved in their lives through this program we're going to be doing is a tremendous open door to share the gospel and make a difference, not only in their lives now, but to make a difference for eternity."

Gospel For Asia has more than 16,000 native missionaries working throughout Asia, a majority of which are concentrated on rural India.