On January 14, approximately forty Hindu militants opposed to a children's home and school being constructed in the north-eastern Indian village of Tikri in Uttaranchal came to the construction site and threatened to kill the workers who were building the new facility. The workers all fled for their lives. Ashish Massey, the head of the North India Evangelistic Association (NIEA) who is funding the project, has also been threatened with death by the militants. According a report received by VOMC, credited to Khumi Massey, a staff member of NIEA, some of the local villagers allegedly complained to the activists that the Christians had come to their village to convert them.
In a separate incident in West Bengal, the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority demolished a church building and orphanage on January 16, despite on-going legal proceedings. According to Indian Express, the development authority claimed that the buildings were impeding a planned road expansion. At the time of its destruction, the orphanage was home to thirty children and twenty women.
Pray that those who are serving these little ones in the name of the Father will know His protection. Pray that the displaced children and women in West Bengal will find comfortable, safe housing. Pray that the threats against Ashish's life will amount to nothing more than powerless words.
For more information on persecution facing Christians in India, click here.
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