Persecution in INDIA NOW!!!

Churches burned, Christians slaughtered in India

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 - 3:35 PM CST

In what could be eerily compared to the massacre of men, women and children burned alive or hacked to death in rioting that occurred in Kenya earlier this year, Hindu mobs are rampaging throughout the Orissa region of India, burning churches with people still inside and hacking other Christians to death.

However, unlike Kenya, this outbreak of violence is linked totally to religion, and Christians are being hunted by Hindus who are methodically targeting, hunting and killing them wherever and whenever possible.

"We have never seen anything like this," reports a U.S. Assemblies of God minister in India, whose name is being withheld for safety. "We knew that Orissa was the most resistant and hostile state in India as far as the gospel is concerned . . . . But none of our staff imagined that they would see this kind of carnage."

The attacks stem from the slaying of a "militant" Hindu priest, Laxmanananda Saraswati, and four of his attendants this past Saturday. Although it is unclear who committed the murders, Christians were immediately targeted.

"In the past four [now 6] days, we have first hand witness to hundreds of churches being blown up or burned and many, many dozens of Christian tribals have been slaughtered," the minister states, who is in contact with native Christian leaders throughout the region. Police have been called out and have been able to protect some Christian locations, but many Christians have fled their churches, Christian centers and homes to the comparative safety of the jungle.

"The killing is expected to last at least 14 days," the minister explains, "supposedly the mourning period for the slain Hindu priest."

He goes on to explain that even though the police are out in force, the mobs are roving throughout the area, waiting for a chance to slip by police-protected areas to get at Christians. "More than 5,000 Christian families have had their homes burned or destroyed," he states. "Many believers have been killed and hacked into pieces and left on the road - even women and children."

Although India is mainly Hindu, with only 2 percent of the population being Christian, in the Kandhamal district of Orissa, an area of great violence, Christians reportedly make up 20 percent of the population. And now police have "shoot-at-sight" orders to help control the violence.

"We ask for your prayers," the minister says. "Only the hand of God can calm this storm . . . . this is spiritual warfare at its most basic meaning."


PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN INDIA NOW!!!!!!!!! THEY NEED IT BADLY!!!!
Thanks, TigerLily