Photos by Reuters/Parth Sanyal
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.
