Violence in Orissa

Indian missionary answered questions about violent attacks on Christians

As Christian Telegraph reported earlier radical militant Hindus have violently attacked Christians in India’s state of Orissa. Some Christian converts victimized by extremist Hindu attacks are now being forced to return to Hinduism and attack their Christian churches.

Local Indian missionaries report of the growing violence in the country. Reports say that even one thousand could have died instead of official 25. People have been set on fire alive. More than 2 000 houses have been burnt. 600 churches have been destroyed. Countless vehicles have been set on fire. The whole district of Kandamal, where the Christians were on majority, was totally destroyed. More than 20 000 Christians are living in relief camps. Still there is violence and persecution.

The Orissa Government has not taken many steps to control the militant groups there. Now it is spreading across the nation. Last Sunday they vandalized 16 churches in Karnataka – in south India. And in Tamilnadu also three churches were vandalized.

We have asked one of the very well known ministers and missionaries in India to take part in the web-conference and tell us what we do not know about the situation yet. We do not mention his name for the reason of his safety and safety of his fellow pastors who are supported by his ministry in the area of violence. There is also an orphanage in Orissa supported by his ministry. Missionaries report that children are doing fine.

Dear brothers and sisters,

Thank you for all your concerns, prayers and support to us at this time. I have tried my best to answer the questions that you have asked. Several have asked the same question in different ways, and I have copied the answers from the previous questions. If the answer is not clear, please email me personally, I would be able to help you.

My personal email is andrew.p@shareinasia.org

Please do not add me to any mailing list or for other purposes. It is only to be used to make a personal contact.

Our ministry is called Share in Asia. We have an office in the United States to raise support for hundreds of pastors, children, widows, orphanages, Lepers, prostitute rehabilitation, disaster help etc….

I am usually traveling between the United States and India. I also travel quite a lot to Europe – Italy, Spain, Austria, UK, Ireland, Russia, Latvia, Sweden, Norway and several other countries to preach. I present India and the work we do in India. Please visit my website www.connectsia.org Please do not publicize this website as this is only for Christians. We do not want to put our pastors and children in harm’s way for anyone to target and persecute. God bless you and thank you again for your concern for my nation.

Sincerely,

Pastor Andrew Prakasam

Have there always been such hard times for Christians in India or is it just this time that they are persecuted? (Aya, Germany)

There have been hard times for Christians in India. Some areas are very Christian friendly and others are not. Some states in India which has a particular political party like BJP ( Bharthya Jantha Party ) are the ones that always trouble Christians and the police are asked to overlook atrocities against Christians. This is a known fact to all Indian Christians. Also, there are pockets of persecution in villages where the local people turn against a particular church or a pastor.

Are the areas of violent attacks close to the border with Pakistan? Could the violence spread to this country? I worry for my Christian friends who live not far from the border with India… We pray for our brothers and sisters – hold on to God! (Vladimir, Ukraine)

Some areas are close to the border with Pakistan. This time around the States where there has been persecution of Christians, damaging and breaking of Churches, Pulpits and furniture inside the churches, burning of Bibles and Hymn books etc. have taken place in states like Karnataka in South India, in Orissa, in East India, Gujarat and Rajasthan in the Northwest India etc.

It is horrible! How come the government doesn’t react to such violent attacks on Christians? How come other countries are silent too? (Kristin, UK)

As stated above, some states in India where the government is administered by a particular political party like BJP ( Bharthya Jantha Party and its allies known as Sangh Parivar which includes militant groups like the VHP, Bajrang Dal, RSS etc.) are the ones that always trouble Christians and the police are asked to overlook atrocities against Christians. These persons have been persecuting Christians and causing damage to churches claiming that there should be no conversions carried out by Christians in India. This is a known fact to all Indian Christians. Also, there are pockets of persecution in villages where the local people turn against a particular church or a pastor.

The Indian Christians are grateful and appreciate the support they have received from the Congress Party and other secular Political Parties in India, church leaders, Hindu leaders, Muslim leaders in India, litterateurs, intelligentsia, many Media persons have supported the cause of Christians and expressed their sympathies and solidarity with the Indian Christians.

In addition to this, the Christians in several countries like USA, UK, Canada, Italy, Vatican etc. and some of these governments have condemned such undemocratic practices and atrocities.

How do you know the numbers of people who suffered from the attacks?

Mainly through Newspapers, TV News channels, radio and also by word of mouth. Several pastors that are working in our organization have called in to the main office through remote telephones and using public phones to tell us what is happening there and other pertinent information. Probably the numbers published are only an understatement.

You will have to do more for Indian Churches that is growing at a fast pace. The attacks against Christians and church is being carried out by Bajrang Dal. RSS and VHP (World Hindu Council) which are front organisations for the right wing Hindu party BJP. These organisations are nothing less than terrorist organisations. Interestingly biggest source of money is from US and other western countries and this money is used to kill Christians and burn churches. The secular parties in India are demanding banning of Bajrang Dal, RSS and VHP in India. It is time America and other western countries ban these organisations, freeze bank accounts and seize all their assets. These BJP organisations are also spear-heading banning of foreign aid to Christian missions and churches in India. (Preeti Iyer, Chennai)

Thank you Preeti for your support, concern and prayers.

What, do you think, is the reason of the attacks? Why does God let His people suffer so much? (Wanda, Ukraine)

These persons have been persecuting Christians and causing damage to churches claiming that there should be no conversions carried out by Christians in India. This is a known fact to all Indian Christians. Also, there are pockets of persecution in villages where the local people turn against a particular church or a pastor.

However, the Constitution of India guarantees the fundamental right of every citizen of India on Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Religion etc. These militant groups deny this right to Indian Christians by using their brute and violent force.

The great need of the hour is for the Church in India arrange to sit in dialogue and discuss with the leaders of other religious communities (like Hindu, Muslim, Sikh etc.) on a National, State, District and local levels and discuss the whole issue of Conversion. What the Hindu militant organizations mean by conversion and what Christians understand by conversion are different concepts. If there is a clear understanding of what true conversion is, much of the ill feelings, misunderstandings and atrocities can be ended for the benefit of all concerned.

It is not God who allows so much suffering of His people. It is the hatred, suspicion and misunderstanding of the adherents of each others’ religion and religious practices that cause such persecutions and damage.

Is there any way Christians can help? (Dan, UK)

Thank you for your love and concern. Yes, the best way Christians can help Christians in India by praying, writing to their Governments to send protests to the Indian government to make their concern known, by writing articles and letters of concern to the Editors of local and national Newspapers highlighting the situation and stating the facts, ask TV and Radio stations to express their concern and good wishes to the Christians in India. You can also financially help by contacting local missionary organizations. Please contact us if you need further information. We were able to send relief to pastors and families in those areas. You can send contributions through Share in Aisa, P.O.Box 815, Kirkland, WA 98083 or if you contact us through email, we will give you the local India office bank account information. You can do a direct transfer from your country.

You can email us at information@shareinasia.org or andrew.p@shareinasia.org

I heard that the violence is spreading on other states of India. Is it true? Is the situation out of control? May God bless you and save our brothers and sisters! (Adeline, Paris, France)

Thank you for your love and concern. It is a process. Sometimes there is more violence and persecution and sometimes there is a lull in such militant activities. In areas where the government and the police do not take immediate action and firm steps against the culprits, the violence increases.

How can we help????!!! (Lera, Taganrog, Russia)

You can help Christians in India by praying, writing to their Governments to send protests to the Indian government to make their concern known, by writing articles and letters of concern to the Editors of local and national Newspapers highlighting the situation and stating the facts, ask TV and Radio stations to express their concern and good wishes to the Christians in India. You can also financially help by contacting local missionary organizations. Please contact us if you need further information. We were able to send relief to pastors and families in those areas. You can send contributions through Share in Aisa, P.O.Box 815, Kirkland, WA 98083 or if you contact us through email, we will give you the local India office bank account information. You can do a direct transfer from your country.

You can email us at information@shareinasia.org or andrew.p@shareinasia.org

Thank you for your ministry! You are such a great example of how to serve Jesus Christ. Please, tell us how you came to India. I really want to be a missionary and India is one of the countries that are on my mind. May I keep in touch with you? Thank you for your answer. May the Lord bless you and keep you safe under His wings! (Oleg, Kiev)

Thank you for your interest in our ministry and efforts for the Lord’s Kingdom. It is good to know that you are interested in preaching the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the world in line with our Lord’s “Great Commission” in Matthew 11:28. First of all you should pray and seek the Lord to show you His will and purpose for your life and go from there. In the meantime, you can help Christians in India by praying, writing to their Governments to send protests to the Indian government to make their concern known, by writing articles and letters of concern to the Editors of local and national Newspapers highlighting the situation and stating the facts, ask TV and Radio stations to express their concern and good wishes to the Christians in India.

Please contact me at andrew.@shareinasia.org. I will be able to direct you to the right place. We have several young people who have gone to help with the mission work.

I was born in the city of coimbatore, Tamilnadu – India and was brought up in a good christian family. My father although was born into a heathen family serving millions and millions of gods and goddesses. He was stricken with a deadly disease when he was 16 years old and he began to call on all the gods and goddesses he served, but none of them answered. He came to know about Jesus Christ through a missionary and when he uttered the name of Jesus, Jesus came into his room and touched him and he was completely healed. Thus, he was the first convert from Hindusim to serve Jesus Christ in his whole village. Today, through his conversion over 100,000 thousand believers have come to Christ in 500 plus churches all over India. My father is 83 years now and is retired from preaching, but us sons – 3 of us are leading the ministry and taking it to the next level. Your prayers are much appreciated.

How do Christian missionaries preach in India? Because there a lot of different religions and cults. How can one explain Hindus, who are used to religious syncretism, that Christianity is the only true belief? (Anonymous author)

There is no one set way to preach the gospel. The best way that I have seen work is through miracles, signs, wonders and healings. When a simple missionary who is barefoot (don’t have enough money to buy shoes) lays his hands on a sick person and he gets healed, he wants to know more of the God that just healed him. Now, he has an open door to preach the Gospel. That’s how most of the churches get established. Jesus Christ can heal, save and bring peace into your heart and we don’t have to pay for it. It is free. This is how we are able to preach. Hindus have no way of praying for sick; saving the sinner from sins etc… there is a vast difference in the belief system.

This is not a question, but a suggestion for the readers and editors. We can appeal a petition to the President of the United States and other influential countries with the request to protect Christians in India. We have to show our Christian solidarity with the persecuted Christians of this country. (Dmitriy, Lvov, Ukraine)

Thank you for your suggestions. Some Christians in US have already done this.

If God is calling to serve in India, what do I have to do? (Svetlana, Nijniy-Novgorod, Russia)

Please contact me at andrew.p@shareinasia.org. I will be able to direct you to the right place. We have several young people who have come to help with the mission work. I would like to know what is your calling – is it to be an evangelist, youth worker, teacher, etc… based on your calling, I can help you find your place. Please go to www. Connectsia.org and go to serve in India and click “ job opportunities” you will find several listed there. Also, we recruit case by case basis. Thanks for your interest.

Good day! How is your ministry in India built? Is it possible to openly preach about Christ and hold big evangelization events? Is the whole territory of India caught on such a violence? Are these attacks provoked by the government, Hinduism or something else? How do you think a ministry from Ukraine can start its work in India? (Sergey, Odessa, Ukraine)

I won’t be able to answer all your questions. Let me try. Ministry is built on planting churches. We have planted over 510 churches in 22 states of India. Yes, it is possible to preach openly in India as long as we have police permission, but in certain places no. We can hold big events with police escort and with government protection. Not guaranteed that there won’t be any violence. Violence is no provoked by Government. It is provoked by big businessmen who are against Christians and by politicians who are against Christians.

I am glad you are interested in starting a ministry in India. Please contact me directly. I will do whatever that is needed to help you get started in India.

God bless you for your interest.

Please contact me at andrew.p@shareinasia.org. I will be able to direct you to the right place. We have several young people who have gone to help with the mission work.

What is the situation in India now? Our church prays for our brothers and sisters, so that God protects them and keeps them safe! (Evgenia, California)

The situation in India is improving but one cannot say when and where it will burst out in the near future. Thank you for your prayers and concern.

Our dear friends, may the Lord strengthen you and supernaturally keeps you safe! May these persecution grow into a great revival! We are with you. May new and even bigger churches be built instead of those burnt ones and thousands of people know that Jesus Christ is the only Lord and Savoir! (Anna, Karmiel, Israel)

Thank you for your prayers and support.

Christians have to be allowed to protect themselves and their property – I know from my own experience that in this way you could stop these inhuman manifestations. Should we only raise our hands and these hordes will squeal like pigs!!! And we should do it for THE GOOD of our brothers and sisters. Do not be afraid of them – if you can’t act straightforwardly, start partisan war! It is said in the proverbs, “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes.” Is it possible to gather 100,000 of Chrostians and walk through the streets of India to intimidate and conquer more souls for salvation? (Viacheslav, Nikolaev, Ukraine)

I think in some way you are right. We had a situation where we were planning to dedicate a church building. Overnight, dozens of Hindus came and built a small temple next to the church and claimed that they have been there for 38 years and stopped our dedication with the help of government and police officials. They were ready to kill the pastor and his wife if they went ahead to dedicate the church. Well, in the same area there were some Muslims who were against the Hindus. They came to the pastor and said that they will kill the Hindus if they come to disturb the meeting. Here we are trying to preach love to everyone by starting with human sacrifices….? What do you think we should do? Should we take help from the Muslims to dedicate our church or should we stop? Well, we stopped and a court case has been filed and for the last 6 years, we are battling and the church has never opened. So, sometimes I feel like we have to retaliate and show that we are not chickens… but we will fight with love….

I thank God for your heart and desire to serve in the places where Christians are persecuted. We pray for India and for those missionaries, Christians who are there. Please, tell us how are doing those people who had to flee to the woods and jungles. (Victoria, Seoul, Onnuri Russian ministry)

Thank you very much! We are still collecting the reports and have sent our best men to help them to bring relief and supplies. Still it is in the preliminary stages. We will know more things in about 2 weeks. Please keep us in prayer.

Thank you for your ministry. Persecution proves that you break the works of the dark. Please, tell us of most effective ways you use in telling people of India of Jesus Christ. What is God telling you about India today? Thank you for your answers. (Bogdan, Alushta, Ukraine)

There is no one way to effectively preach. If you are thinking of preaching to an individual, then you must practice a lot of love and patience. Be a friend and help in the time of need. You are the Christ that this person will ever see and the joy and peace that you have will be the greatest testimony that will bring an individual to Jesus Christ.

India will be saved and changed to Christia… Praise the Lord. Slava Bogu!!!!

We pray for you. May God strengthen you. You are the her of faith.

Thank you

I have a desire to serve God in this ministry. How can I start? My heart soars when I think of kids who are rejected by the society. I hope you will understand me. May God bless you. (Alexander, Liahovichi, Belarus)

Please contact me at andrew.p@shareinasia.org. I will be able to direct you to the right place. We have several young people who have come to help with the mission work. I would like to know what is your calling – is it to be an evangelist, youth worker, teacher, etc… based on your calling, I can help you find your place. Please go to www. Connectsia.org and go to serve in India and click “ job opportunities” you will find several listed there. Also, we recruit case by case basis. Thanks for your interest.

Hello, may the Lord bless you and strengthen you in your uneasy mission! This summer I met with a Christian man who is from India. He told me that Christians are persecuted mainly in the middle part of India because preaching the Gospel is officially restricted there. But it is allowed to preach the Gospel in nearshore states because they historically were European colonies. Is it true? And why are murderers not punished for what they do? I would like to encourage you, because Christians from other countries are praying for you. Not long ago I went to a conference where the whole service was devoted to prayers for persecuted churches. A huge number of people prayed there for you. I believe that God has an answer to these prayers. May God bless you! (Tania)

Yes, is it is true that central and North India are more subjected to persecution than the Southern region. In south, there are pockets of persecution. Not that they are European colonies, but people in the South are more receptive to the Gospel than the people in the North.

Murderers are punished, but not until they are proved guilty. This is where police go hand in hand with politics. They will file the report very differently than what has happened.

Thank you for your encouragement. Please keep us in your prayers. Thanks to everyone who is praying for us.

We are praying for you. God is with you. He doesn’t leave His children. (Vasiliy, Cheliabinsk, Russia)

Thank you very much for your prayers.

Our heart aches. We pray for your with tears on our eyes. Hold on there! (Alexander, Brest, Belarus, Cherson, Ukraine)

Thank you very much for your prayers.

‘Brothers and sisters, whole Kazakhstan is praying for you. Everything in the hands og our god. May He hear uor prayers for you. May He strengthen you and help you to hold on in such a hard time. (Viktoru, Taras, Kazakhstan)

Thank you very much for your prayers. May God reward you much. Some day I will come to your country and talk about the persecution and how God has brought a revival through it.

May God bless you and keep you and all Christians in India in the name of Jesus Christ! (Olia, Kiev, Ukraine)

Thank you very much. God bless you too.

Could Hindus be so violent? I thought that Buddhism and Hinduism are the most peaceful religions in the world! (Alex, Berlin, Germany)

Absolutely! Not the normal one.. but the extremist! The present violence and persecution of Christians in India shows that Hindus have graduated from patience and tolerance to militancy and atrocities.

Don’t you think that it is your own fault that these attacks have begun? Maybe you’ve been too peaceful? (Mnemonika)

Not necessarily. Christians in India are by land large law abiding citizens and peace loving people. Some Hindu militant groups have leveled this charge against Christians to justify their violence and but it has been proved wrong both in Karnataka and Orissa States. Then there is a grave misunderstanding on the whole question of “conversion” that needs to be explained, discussed and sorted out.

Is islamisation of India real? As far as I know, Pakistan parted from India because of Islam. And what would Hindus do in this case, after all Mahatma Gandhi taught peaceful protests. (Sergey, Uzbekistan)

You will be surprised to know that there are more Muslims in India than in Pakistan. India has the largest population of Muslims compared to many Muslim countries. Many Indians who are forty years and less have forgotten who Mahatma Gandhi was and his ideology!!! When it comes to violence, only Christians are practicing peaceful ideology that Mahatma Gandhi followed, which is from reading the Bible.

Brother, is it true that there was an order to destroy all Christian denominations in the next 24 hours? We are praying for you! (Svetlana, Rubejnoe, Ukraine)

No, it is NOT true. There is no such danger to Christians in India so far.

TAGS: India Orissa Kandamal Hinduism anti-Christian violence persecution local missionary

[10/03/2008]

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