A woman in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India has accused six of her uncles and their pastor of trying to forcefully convert her to Christianity. According to a May 11 report from Compass Direct, the men claim that the accusations stem from a dispute over a drainage channel that flows by her door. They allege that, rather than trying to resolve the immediate issue, Saroj Maurya went to the local newspapers and accused her uncles and their pastor, Mehboob Masih, of attempting to force her to convert to Christianity.
As a result of the accusations, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched a campaign against Pastor Masih. On May 6, three local BJP leaders threatened to kill him if he did not stop holding prayer meetings in his home. Later that day, a senior police officer ordered Masih not to hold the prayer meeting the following day and said police would not be responsible if any "untoward incident" took place. He also threatened to arrest Masih if there were any disturbances. When Masih filed a complaint with the authorities on May 7, the police refused to give him a signed copy of his complaint as required by law. Instead, they informed him that a forcible conversion case had been filed against him.
Pray that these men will maintain the attitude of Christ, entrusting themselves to God Who judges perfectly (I Peter 5:1-4). Ask the Lord to protect Pastor Masih from any attempts on his life. Also ask God to give him wisdom as he provides spiritual leadership to these believers (James 1:5). Pray that the prayer meetings will continue uninterrupted.
For more information on the persecution facing Christians in India, click here. A newly-released video report on the trials facing Christians in India is available at https://www.vomcanada.com/.
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