Story number 1 for 1 Jun 2000

We begin today’s news in the shadow of threatened violence in India. There has been intelligence trickling in that Christians have become targets for Hindu radicals in places that had earlier been free of violence. First, there was a church bombing near Andhra Pradesh. Then, other stories began to come in. India Evangelical Mission’s G.V. Matthai confirms the reports. “There were three other churches that people got inside and beat the people. The churches are closed-there is no morning service or evening service in Andhra Pradesh. [But], the Christians are more committed.” Matthai adds that their ministry has seen great encouragement despite the trouble. “We have seen in history, Christians were persecuted, but last year was the heaviest that persecution took place in the history of India. But, we have seen that wherever the public meetings were held, thousands of people came forward and accepted the Lord.”