In an attempt to kill Pastor Shri Levi Chetti, a mob of 300 Hindu militants completely demolished a JLC church building in Gunthaput village, Orissa, on March 30, according to a report from the Global Council of Indian Christians. During the demolition, the militants demanded that all Christians leave the village and said they will not allow any Christian worship centers in the area.
The church has been subject to persecution in the past. On March 2, 2005 their building was burned down by Hindu villagers along with Hindu nationalists. Money, food and musical instruments were stolen and Bibles were burned. Since then, local Hindus have desecrated the church building by urinating and defecating on it just prior to worship services. Attempts to build a wall to stop this have met with further violence.
Pray that these Christians will be encouraged to continue to meet together despite their loss of property (Hebrews 10:23). Pray that persecutors will come to know Christ's love, forgiveness and blessing through the faithfulness His followers (Romans 12:14, 21).
For more information on the persecution facing Christians in India, click here. Several recent video reports on India are available on VOMC's multimedia website, www.vomcanada.com.
Population
