India Persecution Update

In many parts of the world Christians are persecuted by relatives, radicals, religious leaders, or the government.  For the most part our ministry has been under the radar, until recently.

When I visited one of our teams in the state of Uttar Pradesh this last January, my team members were very cautious for me and were watching the surroundings closely.  In that part of India persecution is a real possibility and has happened much.  A couple of our team members have been questioned by the police and by the RSS.  For me, they just didn’t want me to attract any extra attention.  In reality there should have been no reason for someone with my skin color to be in that part of the country.  There are no tourist attractions – nothing that would bring me there.  In other words, it wouldn’t take much to arouse suspicion.  I was told to keep my hood up and not to go out at night – just stay in the hotel.  I was fine, our team was fine, but I certainly didn’t want to put our team in jeopardy by being there.

Our team in Bihar has recently had some death threats to their team.  Our entire family spent seven weeks there and got to know them very well.  We didn’t personally experience persecution while there, but you could sense that people were very cautious of us as foreigners.  Our team was also very protective of us and didn’t want unnecessary attention.  Due to these threats, it is doubtful that we will be able to go back to this team for an extended time.  It would draw extra attention to their efforts and would put them in jeopardy.

Below is information I was sent from our team leader in Bihar.  

“These people are from RSS and Bajrang Dal from the BJP party. They are planning to stop us. Many RSS young people they called me telling me not to share the gospel otherwise i will kill you. They threatened my family and team mates Indrajeet, Bablu,  and all our Christian brothers of Supual district Bihar. But we trust God so pray for us.  I know all these people personally but they are against us. Pray for us!”

We spent much time with Philip, Bablu and Indrajeet.  They are our friends and are some wonderful people and faithful followers of the Lord.  God is doing a mighty work in them in spite of the threat of persecution.  

Please Pray for the Church and our teams in South Asia!

In India and Nepal millions of day laborers live hand to mouth. They have no savings and depend on end of the day wages to buy food for their families. When these nations were locked down, they immediately lost their livelihood.  The countries are back open for the most part, but many have been without food or with little food for 3 months.  Here is the desperate situation…. many who are hungry are deciding – 

Do we continue to starve to death or do we just end it now?

Unfortunately many are choosing suicide.   Government food aid is getting to the villages, but often times village leaders are withholding the food from Christians.

Your Response!  Thank you for your generous response – RUN Global has distributed over $30,000 in funds to help with the Covid Response.  RUN Global’s 155 employees are doing our small part to help with food relief.  We are planning on another round of food distribution soon.  If you would like to support this effort you can click here – RUN GLOBAL COVID FOOD RESPONSE.  100% of these funds go to food relief.  We are grateful that God is using RUN Global to meet the needs not only spiritually, but physically with food too.

Other Ways to Help!  During this challenging time we are also aware of other organizations that have much larger distribution channels and ways to move money and food. I want to make you aware of some other great organizations.

Open Doors – opendoorsusa.org – Open Doors has been around for 65 years and has been in the business of strengthening what remains.  They work to strengthen the church, especially the persecuted church.  They have been in the business of getting things where they need to go.  Right now you can go to their website and give $30.  That money will feed a family for one month.  $30 for one month!   Give to OpenDoors.  

Asia Harvest – asiaharvest.org/ they are reaching Asia with the Gospel and are also in a position to distribute food to starving Christians.  You can read more about their response to the food crisis from COVID here – Asia Harvest Food Relief.  The link to donate is here: Persecution Relief Fund

Wycliffe Associates– https://wycliffeassociates.org/ – 
Wycliffe Associates has been supporting Bible translations since 1967.  They are supporting many translation projects around the world and their translators are starving.  You can also give to them at this link:  Wycliffe Associates 911 Emergency Fund

You may very well save a life from your support!

Dear partners – can you take some time to pray for India?  This Friday Open Doors USA has called for a day of fasting and pray for the country of India.  Friday July 24th! 

Ranked No. 10 on the 2020 World Watch List, the country of 1.3 billion people is one of the world’s most dangerous places for Christians. Along with other religious minorities, Christians are targeted for their faith. COVID-19 and the country’s strict quarantine brought another layer of persecution and suffering. Thousands of Indian Christians, often day laborers, are struggling to feed their families. Because they have left Hinduism, they have no family to turn to for help. We also have reports of Christian converts not receiving government aid because they have decided to follow Jesus.

Will you pray?