Displaying items by tag: India

Friday, 08 April 2022 04:08

India: Pastors need prayer

26 pastors have been explicitly named and included in written threats. A Christian leader from a nearby city said other Christians in the area have also received threats, but still gather for worship, saying, ‘This is God’s work and we will not deny Him. It is difficult, we must face these things. Please pray that we are not discouraged.’ Police have not taken action and are not interested in pursuing those who attack or kill believers. Sometimes the police side with the persecutors. Please pray for the 26 named pastors to be protected from harm. Their names can’t be shared for security reasons, but God knows them. Pray for all Christian leaders in India to receive God’s love and strength, and continue to be resilient in their faith and witness as the attacks against Christian leaders increase daily. Even if they don’t kill in all the cases, the injuries are serious and long-lasting.

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Thursday, 31 March 2022 21:46

India: another anti-conversion law

As India’s election process gathers momentum, more Christians are being attacked. Haryana is the tenth state to pass an anti-conversion law preventing Christians from sharing their faith or Hindus from converting freely. A Haryana pastor, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, ‘There has been a gradual shutdown of house churches in the region through threats and violence. The new law will be one more step to validate what they have been doing to Christians. The law can be misused to target innocent Christians.’ Opposition Congress members staged a walkout of the legislative assembly on 22 March in protest at the bill. They called anti-conversion measures ‘draconian’ and said its passing would be ‘a black day in Haryana’s history that will deepen the communal divide. The bill is in violation of the Indian constitution, which gives the right to profess, practice and propagate a person's religion’.

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Thursday, 24 February 2022 20:52

India: Jesus statue demolished in Christian village

A 20-foot statue of Jesus that stood next to Gokunte village's St Francis Xavier's Church in Karnataka state for 18 years was demolished after local officials claimed it was built on land reserved for animal pasture. ‘We have prayed at the statue since 2004’, said a villager. ‘Despite asking the authorities to safely remove the statue and hand it over to us, it was destroyed and removed in a tractor.’ Father Lobo of the Catholic bishops' council said, ‘The video of the demolition was widely circulated, and Christians are alarmed and pained at such repeated acts by the pro-Hindu government machinery’. The bishops say dishonouring the Jesus statue is an example of growing attacks against Karnataka state Christians by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party. Open Doors warned, ‘The persecution of Christians in India is intensifying as Hindu extremists aim to cleanse the country of their presence and influence’.

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Thursday, 27 January 2022 20:11

Global: persecution in 2022

Islamist extremists are gaining ground in sub-Saharan Africa, including Burkina Faso and Mali. Christians are bombed, killed, and kidnapped; schools are burnt. Jihadists have assaulted religious leaders and places of worship, and forced churches to close and meet in secret. The situation is set to grow worse as French troops withdraw from the area. Life for Christians in the Sahel region now resembles Nigeria, where Boko Haram terrorists, IS fighters and Fulani militants are active. For all three, Christian communities are their prime targets. Afghanistan and India are also countries of great concern. Since the Taliban recaptured Afghanistan, Christians have faced greater risks of violence and betrayal by family and neighbours. Major food shortages will increase pressure on them. Indian Hindu militants are attacking Christians, and some states have anti-conversion laws to prevent Christian outreach among the Dalits where many are turning to Christ.

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Archbishop Joseph D’Souza said, ‘In Belguam police are not allowing Christian groups to meet in local churches, house groups and halls. This situation will mean the inability to have Christmas services. There have been increasing numbers of attacks against Christians in Karnataka, where Hindu radicals have been disrupting Christian meetings. In many areas, Christians are now afraid because of the way the extremists are taking the law into their hands. There is no place in India’s democracy for incessant campaigns of hatred aimed squarely at the Christian community, its churches, NGOs and schools. We expect protection from the prime minister as the Christmas season approaches.’ Extremists are ‘walking into Christian worship to disrupt it by conducting their own services with Hindu chanting. We have not seen anything like this before and these extremists are not being arrested.’ He is calling on prime minister Modi to engage in the struggle of India’s Christians.

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India has the second-largest Christian population in Asia, but a recent report states that over 300 attacks on Christians took place in the first nine months of 2021. 169 of them were in four states: BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh, tribal-dominated Jharkhand, and BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh. At least nine states have planned anti-conversion laws, including Chhattisgarh which has emerged as a ‘new laboratory’ for anti-Christian hatred in India. Over 1,000 people recently gathered for a Stop Religious Conversions rally - one in a series of events organised in the garb of anti-conversion protests. Addressing the gathering, a far-right Hindu leader urged the people to ‘arm themselves with axes to teach Christians indulging in conversions a lesson’.

Published in Worldwide
Thursday, 18 November 2021 20:31

India: Zika outbreak in Uttar Pradesh

As of 9 November there were 89 new cases of the Zika virus in the city of Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh (UP). This is the first time they have found Zika in UP. Health officials said it can quickly spread through the population of 204 million. Mosquitoes spread Zika, and it can also be sexually transmitted. There is no cure, so they must rid the area of mosquitoes quickly. Symptoms include fever, joint head and muscle pain, rash and conjunctivitis. Pregnant women who catch Zika can have babies born with severe disabilities, such as abnormally small heads or underdeveloped brains. Zika is also linked to an auto-immune disease that causes the body to attack its immunities. Pray for healthy babies to be born to women in UP. Several teams are trying to contain the spread with very aggressive contact tracing, and there are additional teams eliminating the mosquitoes’ breeding grounds.

Published in Worldwide
Thursday, 18 November 2021 20:29

India: floods and deaths in Chennai

This year’s rainy season in Chennai is as heavy as 2015, when 200 people died in floods. Fortunately, the death count is lower this time, but heavy rains are still pounding the area, so the danger continues. Uprooted trees block roads, cars are damaged, and people wade through knee-high water. The rains are taxing the infrastructure. To avoid the danger of electrocution, the government shut down the power grid in some areas. If the rains continue, other low-lying areas of Chennai will be in danger. Pray for God's mercy for those who are most vulnerable to flooding, cholera, and electrocution. Illegal building has left Chennai vulnerable to flood damage; pray for God to raise up righteous decision-makers. Pray for those suffering amid days of stagnant waterlogging and no power. ‘Drainage water is mixed with rainwater, causing odour, and a lot of insects and snakes are coming into the house,’ said a local.

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500 Hindu nationalists accused 60+ Christians of forcible conversion. The mob harassed them, searched their belongings, including women’s undergarments, physically assaulted them, and vandalised their vehicles. But when the police came they arrested the Christians, not the Hindus. Violence and hate incidents against Christians are increasing. An intervention specialist commented, ‘These include disrupting or stopping Sunday services, physical attacks, vandalising churches, social boycotts, false accusations of religious conversions and as in this case arrests on the basis of false charges. Many attacks remain unreported and unrecorded through fear of further victimisation’.  Also, on 6 November, fifty radical Hindu nationalists went from house to house in Metapal village, attacking Christians, to make it a ‘Christian-free’ village. Wielding fists, clubs, and other objects, they beat everyone including women and children leaving nine seriously injured. Six were hospitalised and remain in a critical condition. Without significant government intervention, 2021 will be the worst year on record for Christian persecution in India.

Published in Worldwide
Thursday, 04 November 2021 21:32

India: Diwali - pray for Hindus

With over one billion people, Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world. The majority of Hindus have never heard the name of Jesus, and less than 2% of Protestant missionaries are serving among them. Centred mostly in India, Hinduism is much more than a religion; it is a way of life and a cultural identity. Acts of violence and intimidation by militant Hindus are on the rise, particularly against Christians. The five-day festival of Diwali, also called Festival of Lights, began on 4 November. Diwali can often also be celebrated by Jains, Sikhs and some Newar Buddhists. Few Indian festivals are as popular or anticipated, or as widely celebrated worldwide as Diwali. Diwali symbolises a spiritual ‘victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance’. Despite the candles and fireworks, these millions of people remain in darkness.

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