India (MNN) — Despite a curfew, a wave of anti-Christian violence in India is into its
second month with no end in sight.
Today's reports indicate that mobs vandalized a church and dozens of houses
overnight in the eastern Indian state of Orissa. They took
place in the Tikabali and Daringbadi areas of Kandhamal district.
U.S. President George W. Bush is under pressure to press India's Prime
Minister for a commitment to stop the anti-Christian riots.
There are fears that without
international pressure, the attacks will spread as Hindu extremist politicians
try to sway voters before next year's general elections.
Lee DeYoung with
Words of Hope
agrees. "It seems that any gains that are made in that country are met
with fierce opposition, and that opposition is organized and even is allied in
some ways with political parties. So this is going to be a continuing test for
the church in India."
With national ministries facing
disruption, DeYoung says they are sharing the Gospel through Hindi radio
programs from outside of the country. "At this time, it's not possible to
broadcast overtly Christian programs over the increasingly privatizing media
inside of India. We hope that day may come, but there's no immediate prospect
of that. But at least there are broadcasts that can come in, and there
are many people that are listening and responding."
Though DeYoung expects the
opposition to intensify, he says their teams won't stop. Words of Hope asks for prayer for their partner's
oversight of the groups' ministry throughout India, as well as wisdom for how
best to help encourage the Christians and bring others to Christ.
