india burning

If you think Islam is the biggest offender of religious liberty around the world- you are mostly right. In India, Hindu radicals are now making a run for that ominous distinction. The next time you hear a Hollywood celebrity talk about the acceptance and tolerance of Eastern "New Age" religions, think about how Hindus are treating Christians in "modern" India. (Read the documentation of the persecution here).

Over the past few weeks, while we here in America have been consumed with elections and hurricanes, churches in India have been burned to the ground and Christians thrown into prison, beaten, persecuted and in some cases brutally killed. One of our church planters from India recently learned that his elderly mother has been arrested by the Hindu thugs. Her crime is that she runs a Christian Orphanage that takes care of over 1,000 children.

Last Friday I received the following email from my good friend Lars Dunberg, whose organization Global Action we are partnering with to build an orphanage in Motipur. You may remember that Michael Butler and I traveled to Orissa last year to help lead a conference for young Christian leaders. That part of India is now especially out of control:

Twenty fifth August 2008 has become one of the saddest days in the history of Orissa as the angry mob attacked Christian Churches, Institutions, burned houses to ashes, beaten and even killed a number of pastors, missionaries and believers. 4014 houses burnt in 300 villages displacing more than 50,000 people, 2 pastors killed, 6 priests severely injured, 1 Nun gang raped, 2 ladies burnt alive, 24 other Christians killed and many injured. The young pastor of the church in Tatamaha was brutally killed. The mob dragged his dead body and thrown it in the field by the road-side. His wife and two-year old daughter are missing. At Sankarakhol, the pastor was asked to deny Jesus, as he refused to deny Him they cut his throat and killed him. His house and the church destroyed.

The village of one of our students was attacked by the mob. Church building and Houses were destroyed and burned. Three people were killed in this village. The believers are still hiding in forest. In Gajapati, about fifteen villages have been attacked. Churches and houses burned, destroyed and looted. Another one of our students said, ‘Two men were killed; one of them was burnt alive. People are still in jungle as some of these villages have been attacked for the second time."

Another student serves as a pastor with Bible Fellowship Church. About 70 people came and ransacked his house and destroyed it. He, his wife and their two little children ran for their life and escaped. Meanwhile the mob looted his house and another student, being unaware of what has happened, came across the mob as he was riding his bicycle on his way to conduct worship service at a house church four kilometers away from Khurda district head quarters. He thought some accident might have taken place, so the people have gathered. But when he came nearer to them one from the mob said this fellow is a Christian, catch him. The mob got hold of him, beaten him badly, poured diesel on him to burn him alive. But something unusual happened, none of the match-sticks lit up. By the time police came and he was rescued. Even our own office was not spared. The mob managed to take about eight cartons of books, dumped those in front of our gate, poured petrol over them and burned them."

The church here in America needs to pray for India. The church here needs to pay attention. We need to get the word out about the suffering of our brothers and sisters in this part of the world.

Spread the word.

Indian churches are burning.