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Saturday, January 7, 2012

Anti-Christian Violence Growing In India

And the mayhem, rage and persecution against my Indian brethren in Christ Jesus continues in this New Year of 2012:

01/02/2012 India (MNN)-Recent threats and outbreaks of violence against Christians in India show persecution is on the rise. Any hope for justice in this New Year looks grim. In Orissa, an Indian state infamous for a wave of attacks against Christians back in 2008, threats of violence were made against Christians in an effort to "stop Christmas."

2,500 protestors rallied on December 18 under the leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an activist arm of the Hindu nationalist movement. The RSS leader called for a strike over Christmas weekend and into last week. Dave Stravers with Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Mission India says the timing was intentional. “When there’s a general strike, the opportunities for violence are just multiple…it’s a time [that] these extremists use to get violent against people they don’t like, and Christians are usually the targets of that.”

Violence did breakout in Karnataka, a neighboring state just south-west of Orissa. A group of 15 Christians were meeting privately in a new believer’s house singing Christmas carols. Stravers says the police came and arrested all the believers after they were beaten. The Christians were thrown in jail for a week while no action was taken against the attackers. The leader of the house gathering, Pastor Manu Das, is still currently in intensive care with severe head injuries and internal bleeding.

“This illustrates the justice problem,” states Stravers. “Someone comes to beat you up, and then the police come and arrest you and accuse you of inciting that other person to violence!”

According to Stravers, “Hostility in India has been increasing over the entire country… This is the direct result of the fast growth of the church and the great response to the Gospel in so many areas.” Please pray for courage in Indian believers this next year and for justice to take hold in the hearts of leaders(Source).

I will indeed be praying for my Indian brethren in Christ Jesus. I will helping them to be bolder and more valiant for the Risen King in this New Year of 2012 and that their Hindu and Muslim persecutors will turn to Christ Jesus.

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