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Pastor Bashir Masih Photo from GCIC |
Pray for strength and endurance for Pastor Bashir, his family and his congregation. Pray that those opposing the message of Christ will come to trust the God of the Bible.
For more information on persecution in India, go to the India Country Report.
VOMC assists persecuted Christians with legal support and rehabilitation assistance, and cares for children of martyrs by providing them with a safe place to be nurtured physical and spiritually. VOMC also partners to equip Christians in India with Biblical training and works to strengthen and support marginalized and persecuted Christian women. Additionally, VOMC helps to provide medical assistance to believers who have faced injuries after being attacked.”
Project Funds: Families of Martyrs, Equipping the Saints, Legal Defense, Relief and Development, Women’s Ministry, Medical Fund
Population
1,399,179,585 (2023 est.)
Ethnicity (%)
Indo-Aryan (72), Dravidian (25), other (3)
Religion (%)
Hinduism (79.8), Muslim (14.2), Christianity (2.3), Sikh (1.7), other (2)
Leader
President Droupadi Murmu (2022)
Government type
Federal parliamentary republic
Legal system
Based on English common law; separate personal law codes apply to Christians, Hindus and Muslims.
Source: CIA World Factbook
Despite the intimidation and violence that have taken place in many of India's states, may Christians wisely yet unashamedly preach the Gospel. Pray that indigenous Christians and foreign missionaries will minister in ways that do not hint at fraudulent conversions, unmasking the intentions behind the anti-conversion legislation. Intercede for India's leaders, that they may reign with justice and righteousness.
A Christian family residing in a tribal village of Chhattisgarh state has been denied permission to bury a relative who passed away, unless they first convert to Hinduism. Local villagers claim that allowing a Christian burial would defile their land and anger their deities.
In a tribal region of Odisha State, three members of a Christian family were recently killed by close relatives, leaving three children orphaned and now in hiding. The incident took place in the village of Nialijharan on January 25th, claiming the lives of Jitendra Soren and his wife Malati, along with their 15-year-old daughter Sasmita.
Pastor Bipin Bihari Naik had just gathered with other believers for prayer in the village of Kandarsinga, Odisha State, on January 4th when a group of men burst into the home where the meeting was taking place. The men dragged the pastor outside and began to violently assault him. When Pastor Bipin's wife attempted to intervene, she was threatened with similar treatment.
A Christian evangelistic team was brutally attacked in early January near the village of Korrakudu in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Not only were several believers injured during the ambush, the minibus they had been travelling in was also destroyed.
