Church Planter attacked in India

Praise God, for answering our prayers!   Pastor Anil, is out of the hospital and recovering from injuries suffered at the hands of anti-Christian extremists.

It was truly an answer to all our prayers when we received an email just recently that Pastor Anil is home with his family, including his wife and young daughter who witnessed the attacks.

We were also thankful to hear that the Children's Bible Club he established as part of his Church Planting work is still meeting, though some parents are fearful of ongoing violence.

The attack took place suddenly on an ordinary Sunday in late November. Pastor Anil was preaching to his congregation of 45 when the doors burst open.

A crowd of 50 angry Hindu extremists ran in screaming and wielding sticks. They immediately began beating the pastor. They ripped Anil’s shirt and kicked him over and over until he lay nearly unconscious on the floor, bleeding.

Anil’s wife, clutching their young daughter in her arms, yelled at the extremists. She ran to stand between the extremists and her husband. But they roughly shoved her and the baby to the ground. When other church members tried to intervene, the attackers came after them, too.

A week before the attack, Anil received a threat from the same Hindu extremist group to cease preaching the Gospel. He continued to preach anyway.

Anil is not unfamiliar with being persecuted for preaching the Gospel. He has suffered violence before from those who want him to stop spreading the Good News.

In this remote Hindu-dominated village of about 2,000, the number of Christians continues to grow. Local believers stood strong even as Hindu extremists entered their homes and tried to convince them to renounce their faith.

The extremists are afraid because of the huge response to the Gospel across India. The Good News is a threat to the social and spiritual oppression that has enslaved generations of India’s poor.

Please continue to pray for the situation, as the police are sympathetic to the extremists and are pressuring Pastor Anil to drop all charges against the attackers.

Pastor Anil is following doctor's orders to stay on bed rest for one month. Pray that the Holy Spirit will minister to him during this time and that Anil will be encouraged and strengthened to return to his work soon.

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