Armed with sickles, pickets and torches, approximately two hundred Hindus converged on the Believer's Church in Lamding village on April 19. Lamding is located 21 kilometres from Imphal, the capital of the Indian state of Manipur.
Opposed to a church being built in the predominantly Hindu area, the mob overpowered a police patrol assigned to protect the building, which was still under construction, and set it ablaze. The police guard was due to previous threats made against the church. Reports vary, but at least four Christians were injured in the attack. Three people have since been arrested. Damage to the property has been estimated at 445,000 rupees ($12,680 CDN).
Opposition to the work of the Church in India has been increasing in recent months; particularly from militant Hindu organizations striving to enact or enforce anti-conversion legislation. In an unusual act of solidarity against Christians, the Indian news agency "The Telegraph," reported on April 17 that Hindu and Sikh organizations in Chandigarh State have joined hands to stop religious conversions in their state after as many as fifty-six low-caste (Dalit) Sikhs converted to Christianity on April 16. A state leader of the militant Hindu VHP threatened, "We warn Christian missionaries to lay their hands off Punjab." Anti-conversion legislation is presently in place in five Indian states: Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa.
Pray for the Christians in Lamding village, as they meet to consider the appropriate response to this attack and consider future plans. Pray that those responsible for this attack will come to understand the grace and love of Jesus Christ. Pray for Christians throughout India facing opposition as they seek to share the Gospel.
For more information on persecution facing Christians in India, click here.
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