On June 13th, the pastor of God's Kingdom Gospel Church in Kandapola, Sri Lanka, was constructing a house church building, together with the support of other pastors and church leaders, when he was approached by a junior manager. The pastor was questioned by the manager as to whether or not the Christians had permission to build a church.
Shortly after leaving the construction site, the manager returned with several police officers, local Buddhist leaders, and some individuals from another village. Police hurled abusive language at the Christians who were present and physically assaulted the pastor's 14-year-old son. In addition, others who had come to oppose the church building project assaulted some of the pastors who were helping with the construction build. Despite the attack having been perpetrated by members of the opposing group, five pastors and two church workers were arrested instead.
While all the arrested Christians had been released on bail that day, they were then ordered to appear in court the following day. Upon arriving at the courthouse, these same believers had once again been taken into custody; this time, their detainment lasted until June 18th. Although they have since been released, a subsequent court date was scheduled for October 4th. To learn more about the persecution of Christians in Sri Lanka, visit our country report.
Pray that the case involving the accused Christian workers will be quickly resolved and that opportunities would arise to peaceably settle this disagreement between them and those in opposition to the church building project. May the believers involved be able to proceed with the construction of the worship facility without any further interference. As they continue to await the outcome of the court hearing in October, pray that the Lord would guide, equip and empower them so they will wisely discern how to best deal with the situation.
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