Last week, a statue of a monkey-headed Hindu god was installed inside a Protestant AOG church that was undergoing renovations, in Haryana, northern India. The Hindu activists responsible then manhandled the church pastor and vandalised the building.
The group claims that a Hindu temple once existed there, though they have failed to produce any documents to substantiate the claim. The church holds documents of ownership to the land.
The Hindus continued to offer daily prayers before the monkey-headed Hindu god, according to church officials. After several days, the statue was removed by police. Tensions remain high.
Pastor Uday Pillai, the associate pastor of the church said violence against Christians is normal in Haryana and most cases go unreported. Only 0.2% of its people are Christian.
As part of its services, the church offers schooling to 210 slum children. Hindu groups claim Christian services such as education and health care among the poor, are a façade to attract them toward Christianity.
Sources: VOM Contacts, UCA News
- Pray for the pastor, his family and the members of the church.
- Fanatical groups are trying to force believers to return to their former Hindu faith. Pray the Lord will strengthen believers facing this kind of opposition.
- Pray the believers in Haryana will be unified in their love for one another and their witness to the community.
Post your prayer in the comments below.
Lord God, whose will conquers all and who inhabits eternity, we praise you that Christianity is not just about this world but very much about the world to come and so we pray for our brothers and sisters in India caught up in this situation and many others like it. We ask for wisdom for the Pastor, for Assistant Pastor Pastor Uday Pillai and the other leaders of the Protestant AOG church in Haryana and for the body of Christ in their care, that you might strengthen them in the face of fiece opposition and that they might ‘maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace’. Grant to them greater and ever increasing fruitful witness. Protect them from the wiles and traps of the evil one who will do everything to destroy ‘God’s temple’, his people. Give them an ever growing faith in Jesus and his promises.