Upcoming political change triggers a rise in persecution

Image courtesy Mission India)

India (MNN) ― Christians are becoming scapegoats in the run-up to India's national elections.

According to ASSIST News, Hindus are trying to secure votes in the run-up to next spring's national elections. India's politics have two major players: the secular Congress Party, which has ruled India for the past decade, and the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"The BJP official party platform is that India is a country that's only for Hindus," says Dave Stravers of Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Mission India. "Hindus have the rights, and any other person of any other religious persuasion should leave the country."

As a result, Christians are coming under fire.

Sajan George, president of the Global Council of India Christians (GCIC), told Morning Star News that persecution in Karnataka state increased from 4 attacks between the months of January and May to 21 attacks from June to mid-September.

"The Hindu extremists want to show their existence by attacking the Christians, and sadly the present Congress government is not serious about these attacks launched against the Christians," Senior Advocate S. Nova Bethania of Christian Legal Association told Morning Star.

"Christians are targeted because of the very fast growth of the Christian Church," states Evans. "We actually have seen presentations by Hindu leaders saying, 'The growth of Christians is so fast in our region, within a generation we'll be majority Christian if we don't put a stop to this.'

"That fear of losing political power when your party is based on religion, because so many people are turning to Christ: that's really the basis of the persecution."

In mid-September, a mob of Hindu extremists beat a 50-year-old believer and dragged her around the streets, Morning Star reports. They also tried to re-convert the woman to Hinduism, pouring water on her to symbolize religious cleansing and applying a red dot to her forehead.

The attack lasted a total of six hours. The woman was eventually rescued by her sister-in-law and taken to a hospital where she was treated for internal injuries and multiple contusions.

"What I am suffering is nothing compared to what my Lord Jesus has suffered," she told Morning Star. "I will love Him forever for giving me a new life."

Mission India workers face the same dangers.

"Our workers are threatened every day," says Stravers. They are "beaten up, attacked, forced out of locations."

Despite daily persecution, the Gospel is spreading and the Church continues to grow.

Mission India's Adult Literacy program and Children's Bible Clubs are widely accepted by Muslim and Hindu populations alike. Click on each program name to learn more.

"Without literacy, [people] cannot participate in the economic growth of India," explains Stravers.

India is one of five developing world economies known as BRICS: Brazil, Russia, China, and South Africa compose the rest of the acronym. These countries have experienced an economic boom over the past decade.

Rapid growth isn't limited to the economy.

"I'm just so impressed and overwhelmed, in fact, by the response to the Gospel," says Stravers.

"Everywhere we go, people are open to the message of Christ. People seem so eager to get out from under the burden of Islam, or the burden of Hinduism."

Pray that more people will turn to Christ from these religions. Please ask the Lord to protect Gospel workers in India.

Organized violence not enough to stop Gospel work

Police join Hindu extremists in persecuting Christians.
(Image courtesy of Mission India)

India (MNN) ― It's not unusual to hear about persecution in India, especially in the central state of Madhya Pradesh.

"In Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Orissa--those states in what's called the 'Hindu Heartland,' there is a very organized violence against Christians, trying to stop the growth of the Church," says Dave Stravers with Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Mission India.

However, reports of police helping Hindu extremists attack Christians in Madhya Pradesh is a little disconcerting.

Usually, Stravers explains, extremists go to police before they engage in violence against believers; then when the attack is reported and police are called in, they often arrest the Christians.

"This is the first time I've heard a case that confirmed police officers were part of the attackers," Stravers says.

A church pastor told Morning Star News that at the end of November, four police officers broke into his church during worship service and ordered Christians to leave. Close behind was a mob of Hindu extremists who told the leader "Jesus' name will not work in Madhya Pradesh" and warned against future mention of His name.

"The extremists further threatened to kill us, cut off our legs, burn down our houses. and expel us from the village if we speak the name of Jesus again and conduct meetings in the future," the church leader said.

When a church member tried to file a complaint at the local police station, an officer slapped him twice in the face.

"India has been resistant to the Gospel for centuries, and just in the last 10 or 15 years, places that once [had] just no Christians at all are now open to Christ, and people are coming to Jesus," says Stravers. "This is found to be very threatening by the Hindu and some community leaders."

Believers aren't holding back, though. Stravers says hundreds of volunteers want to share the Good News through Mission India's adult literacy classes and children's Bible clubs.

"They just need the training. They need to know how to carry out the ministry, and they need the literature and materials to do it," he explains. Click here if you can help.

"We can reach a child for $1 -- that's for the training and all of the materials," says Stravers. "We can reach an illiterate adult for $30 per person, bringing him from zero to fifth-grade reading level."

Pray that Great Commission work would keep moving forward despite persecution, and pray for courage for believers in India.

Stravers says, "The intention is not really to kill anyone or even to imprison them, but to stop the Message from going out; so we pray for courage."

In places like the "Hindu Heartland" where tolerance is threadbare and injustice is commonplace, Stravers says the storms of persecution only make believers tighten their grips on the Rock that is Jesus Christ.

"Their faith is increased, they're stiffened in their resolve, and if you go back 6 months later, you'll find the work is progressing even stronger than before," he explains.

Check out our Featured Links section to see how you can support and encourage believers in India.

Extremists teach children to pray against Bible Clubs in India

Mission Network News: "India (MNN) ― There's a saying that goes: '"Imitation is the sincerest (form) of flattery."

In this case, it's a new twist to Gospel work in India. President of Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Mission India, Dave Stravers, explains, "The Bible Club ministry is so effective that Hindu leaders in this area are trying to copy it by forming their own clubs for children: they're forming Hindu clubs.""

Read more...

A ministry team employs an unusual strategy in India

India (MNN) ― Disruptive violence against evangelists, pastors, and church gatherings continues to occur on a monthly basis in India, usually where the Christians live and work in remote or rural areas.

Mainly, the troublemakers are organized by extremist Hindu organizations who believe that those belonging to other faiths have no place in India and should be forced to leave.

According to Open Doors, it is likely that there's a higher degree of persecution because of the success Christianity is having among the low castes and untouchables, or Dalits. It means a loss of influence and power to Hindu leaders.

With the likelihood of rising oppression, Dave Stravers with Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Mission India asks, "How do you engage in this battle in a way that will break down the barriers and enable people to understand what Jesus can mean for their life?"

India's secularism may be critical to answering that question. Stravers explains that "India has never been more open to the Gospel than now. The growth of churches has really stirred up some of these activists. We have a ministry in India that's doing this in a really effective way, and it seems to completely disarm the opponents."

Their strategy is unusual, Stravers admits. "How can you use children to fight a spiritual battle? That's the question." That's especially important when you consider that for the average family helped by Mission India, grinding poverty is a major problem. 40% of India's population under five is malnourished; a staggering 72% of Indian children never attend high school, and there are 60 million child laborers.

You start with education. Mission India has Bible Clubs and many other programs that build on relationship in the community. "There are literally tens of thousands of Christian volunteers that want to do this. They go every day, two hours a day, and  they get this relationship with the kids and then with their parents. We have many converts, and in most cases, we end up with a new church."

Teachers that run the clubs are trained from the local churches. Mission India provides all of the materials and training. Stravers says they're not shy about who they are and what they're about. Even so, "Hindu and Muslim parents are very willing for their children to attend these clubs because they know Christians have a reputation for education, and they know their kids need this kind of help if they're going to succeed in school."

So, when word gets out that a club is starting, there's immediately a throng of eager participants. "Children come after school to meet in a location. A Christian teacher from some nearby church tutors them in their lessons, leads them in some games, tells Bible stories, helps with learning memory verses, and sings songs." Most of these kids take their new material home, sing the songs, and otherwise live out the lessons they're learning. On more than one occasion, says Stravers, that has resulted in the parents coming to Christ, too.

Even though Christians are bracing for increasing persecution in the future, that's having very little effect on the zeal following this program. "The demand is four or five times what we can provide. It only costs a dollar to bring a child through one of our 10-Day Clubs." Stravers goes on to say they have to turn away thousands of churches for lack of funding, which supports training and resourcing.

However, their teams can't afford to stop. A future body of Christ hangs in the balance. "India has 350 million children under the age of 14, more than the entire population of the United States. The remarkable thing is that it's the Hindu children and the Muslim children who are the most eager to participate."

Learn more on our homepage in the Featured Links Section.

Karnataka Christians most targeted in India

India (MNN) ― Karnataka State is one of the most dangerous places in India for Christians, according to the Evangelical Fellowship of India's (EFI) annual report.

After the Bharatiya Janata Party came to sole power in May 2008, anti-Christian attacks increased in the state and continue steadily increasing every year, according to the EFI. However, harassment doesn't always come in the form of violence. It is often subversive and emotionally draining.

Don Edwards, a spokesman with Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Mission India, shares one case involving a group of their partners. "Two and a half years ago, we had a training going on in the same state of Karnataka where all the trouble is happening today. 10 of our partners were arrested, thrown in jail, and then released on bond waiting for a court hearing."

In late 2010, there was faint hope that a judge would throw out the Karnataka case in which the team was accused of "inciting communal violence and bribing people to become Christians" in August 2009 during a 3-day training session for the Children's Bible Club program.

The partners have to travel back to Karnataka to appear before the court to answer the charges. The months of delay, while not a direct threat, intimidates through inconvenience and expense.

Edwards says, "They have to drop everything and show up at the court at least once a month. That's been going on now for two and a half years. Every time they show up,at court, the court case is postponed. It's quite an act of harassment."

Once again, the team arrived in Karnataka on Thursday, January 19. "There was another court hearing. It was postponed for another five days. The court hearing has now been postponed until next Tuesday, January 24. We certainly would appreciate any prayers from those who would remember Mission India's ministry, especially in the state of Karnataka."

The charges they face could be determined under India's Penal Code, Section 295-A which reads, in part: the offense is "deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings or any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs."   

While legal protections against violations of religious freedom exist in India, corruption impacts how the laws are enforced, a fact noted by the U.S. State Department. Edwards notes, "It could be interpreted any way by the judge and whoever is the political power broker in the state at the time. That particular crime of 'intending to outrage religious feelings' is punishable by imprisonment for three years, or a fine, or both."

The accusations are false: the team was sleeping at the time they were arrested, so they could not have been inciting communal violence. "That's just one of the charges leveled against this particular group and often is leveled against people when they're attacked by Hindu fundamentalists and the government arrests the Christians rather than those who are committing the violence."

There is openness to the Gospel, and the church is growing. Edwards urges you to pray "that this case would be dismissed and these Christians would no longer be harassed simply because they  were conducting training for Christians to share the Gospel."

Mission India has long waiting lists of people who want to participate in their literacy program, Bible Club, and other outreach programs. Growth is only limited by resources, however. Here are links to help Mission India move forward.