“Violence Against Christians Sweeps South in India
We have been contacted by a number of our supporters about news reports they have been reading about violence against believers in India. We want to express our thanks for your concern and mail on this issue. Let me use this short space to bring you up to date.
This month we give thanks for many things. In November, we remember our Veterans for the blessings of our national security. We remember at Thanksgiving, all the blessings of freedom that our founders established, and that have been defended over the past two hundred years. At Christmas, we remember our greatest blessing, the freedom from the bondage of sin that Christ secured through his life, death and resurrection. Beyond that, we remember that our life is no longer limited to our days on earth. Through Christ, we now enjoy access to the Father and heaven’s eternal blessings.
Having said all of that, we must acknowledge that we are a small minority of believers in the world who may worship without fear of repercussions. Such is not the case for our brothers and sisters in Christ in Eastern India. There are growing reports of violence against believers, against churches, against orphanages and, indeed, against anything recognized as “Christian.”
What has happened? About two weeks ago, a militant Hindu priest and 4 others were travelling into villages in Orissa. They specifically sought Hindus who had converted to Christianity, and sought to “reconvert” them back to Hinduism. Three weeks ago, they were gunned down by unknown assailants in Central Orissa.
An outcry began, and infuriated Hindu crowds called for retribution against Christians, blaming them for the murders.
Cries of “Kill the Christians!"
filled the streets and began to spread from town to town and village to village. That is when the horrific violence began.
At present, we have received credible reports from various sources that more than one hundred churches have been burned or blown up. Over four days, at least a hundred Christians, mostly from poor tribes were killed.
Gospel for Asia reported a Catholic orphanage was overrun, many children injured, the building burned, and one of the nuns was murdered.
Good News India, working in their “Dream Centers” have also been attacked, in spite of police offering protection. They wrote.
“In Tihidi, just after the police came to offer protection, a group of
70 -thirsty militants came to kill our staff and destroy the home.
They were not allowed to get in, but they did a lot of damage to our
Dream Center by throwing rocks and bricks and smashing our gate, etc.
They have promised to come back and "finish the job." Our kids and
staff are locked inside and have stayed that way with doors and windows
shut for the past 3 days. It has been a time of desperately calling on
the Lord in prayer.
In Kalahandi, the police and some local sympathizers got to our
dream center and gave our staff and kids about 3 minutes notice to
vacate. No one had time to even grab a change of clothes or any
personal belonging. As they fled, the blood thirsty mob came to kill
everyone in the building. We would have had a mass funeral there, but
for His grace.
In Phulbani, the mob came looking for Christian homes and missions. The local Hindu people, our neighbors turned them
away by saying that there were no Christians in this area. So they left.
We had favor. The same thing happened in Balasor. All our dream
centers are under lock down with the kids and staff huddled inside and
police outside. The fanatics are circling outside waiting for a chance
to kill. Others were not so fortunate. In a nearby Catholic
orphanage, the mob allowed the kids to leave and locked up a Priest and
a computer teacher in house and burned them to death. Many believers
have been killed and hacked into pieces and left on the road.... even
women and children. At another orphanage run by another
organization, when this began, the Director and his wife jumped on
their motorbike and simply fled, leaving all the children and staff
behind. Every one of our GNI directors that I have spoken to said: "We
stay with our kids.... we live together or die together, but we will
never abandon what God has called us to do."
More than 5000
Christian families have had their homes burned or destroyed. They have
fled into the jungles and are living in great fear waiting for the
authorities to restore order.
What can you do? We need fervent prayer for all believers and Christian workers in Eastern India. If you feel led, we would like to provide aid to the suffering. Paul encouraged believers not to abandon or forget their brothers and sisters in chains. I pray that we will daily remember these—the poor, the orphan and the suffering, for the sake of our love for Jesus Christ. May God bless you for doing so.
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