VOMC continues to receive reports of violence against Christians throughout India.
Hindu militants incited by the anti-Christian violence that has been escalating across Orissa since August 23 and angered by allegedly "forced" conversions of Hindus to Christianity attacked more than a dozen churches throughout Karnataka on September 14. According to the Evangelical Fellowship of India, a mob attacked two church buildings in the village of Puthur, Dakshina Kannada district. Windows, lights, and furniture in one church building were destroyed while the other building was burned. Christians in the town of Talguppa, Shimoga district have received threats of violence from the militants if they continue conducting worship services.
On September 14, two pastors were attacked by Hindu militants in Kanpur district, Uttar Pradesh. Another pastor was beaten by a militant group after he filed a written complaint to the police against the local leader of the group.
A church building was burned down on September 13 by Hindu militants in Indore city, Madhya Pradesh. On September 16, a guard at a convent in Banduha village was shot after he refused to call the nuns inside the convent to come outside.
In the state of Kerala, a building that was used for both kindergarten classes and hosting church services was attacked and windows were smashed on September 14.
Also on September 14, a pastor and other Christians were beaten by Hindu militants when they were gathered for worship in the home of a believer in Talatad village, Jharkhand. The believers were forcibly taken to a Hindu temple were the militants demanded they convert to Hinduism.
A more thorough report by Compass Direct on these incidents can be viewed here.
Please uphold our brothers and sisters in India during these days of tribulation. Ask God to give the Christians an attitude of forgiveness and love for those who have so openly expressed their opposition to them (Luke 6:29).
For more information on the persecution of Christians in India, click here.
A Christian man, Rayan Nafei Jamooa, was killed by a group of armed militants in Mosul, Iraq on September 10, according to a September 23 report from Compass Direct. The murder occurred only two weeks after his Christian father, Nassar Jamooa, was kidnapped and killed by unidentified assailants. Although there are often financial motivations behind the kidnapping of Christians in the country, a local clergyman noted that ransom money was not requested in either case and maintains that these men were targeted strictly because of their faith in Christ.
