India (MNN) ― Last August, we told you the story of an attack on ministry workers in Karnataka State, India.
On August 11, 80 ministry partners in the state
of Karnataka gathered at a 4-day training for the Year-Long Children's
Bible Clubs. Around midnight, after everyone had gone to
sleep, a mob of 20 Hindu extremists broke in, beat the trainees, and held them
against their will for at least 14 hours. Police arrived on the scene and
promptly arrested 8 of the Christians.
In spite of the injustice of the arrests and jailings, their team never wavered from their purpose. Dave Stravers with Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Mission India says they did what Paul and Silas did while in prison: "They had more than 100 prisoners in their area. They started prayer meetings and worship services, and they had converts."
Stravers says eventually the team was released after seven days behind bars. He says the good news is: "The charges were dropped, except for the charge that they were engaged in 'deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings.'"
The bad news? On July 1, the eight go back to court. Stravers remains confident in what God is doing. "There's no case against them. They weren't doing anything to 'outrage religious feelings'. This is pure intimidation. (It's) violent intimidation on the part of people who are very upset. What they're really responding to is the growth of the church in this area."
Keep praying for courage and for open doors. "Many people that we've been training, who are teaching children, leading adult literacy training, and doing adult evangelism in this area, are very well received."
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