July 4, 2007
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Our church supports missionaries in other countries, one of which is India – not the India where many missionaries go, but deep into the interior of India where there are not so many missionaries. The Pastor we deal the most with is Pastor Abraham who has many churches in India. Pastor Abraham taught another pastor, Pastor Paulas, who has already started three Living Word Chapel churches in India. Before last Wednesday’s Bible study we prayed for Pastor Paulas. Because today is Independence Day, I think it is fitting to pray for religious freedom around the world. Let me share with you what we learned recently happened to Pastor Paulas’ church.
45-50 Shaq (sp?) youth attacked one of Pastor Paulas’ churches. The members had gathered to do a prayer meeting. They were not evangelizing, it was just the members meeting to pray. In India evangelizing is against the law. The members were attacked during their prayers. Mr. T. XaXa was dragged out of the meeting and beaten, taken to the police station. The attackers were beating people with hockey sticks, and then dragged Mr. XaXa to the police station. We are praying for his release and healing for his body.
Pastor Abraham’s churches have also suffered similar problems. Last year 19 members were beaten, dragged out and of those 19, 9 were arrested. The people were taken out into the street, beaten and trees and logs were rolled over them. Many were hurt to the point where they couldnt’ work, the 9 were kept in jail for six months before they could be bailed out. We were able to send money to bail the members out, and ultimately the charges were declared false, but the people were beaten, and those who perpetrated the abuse to the church members went free – no charges were brought against them.
The police in India will not press charges against the attackers. In the previous situation the activists had lodged a complaint four days before the attack on the 19 members, so this was premeditated. Jobs are hard to come by for the ones who are Christians.
The activists in India do not tolerate religious freedom, and this is not reported by our media and the press. The government of India says that there is freedom to choose religion, but the government is not enforcing freedom of religion, and do not press charges for those who attack Christians. Justice is not served in these cases.
So pray for India, pray for all countries where religious freedom is not permitted. Pray for our country.
Right now at church we have a prayer time chart up for a prayer movement for July 7, 2007 – 7/7/07 to pray, each of us are signing up for a fifteen minute slot. Perhaps on that day you can join your prayers with ours, praying freedom for our country, praying wisdom for our leaders, praying for a move of God in our World.
Hoping you have a blessed Independence Day. I will be typing up my notes from the Wednesday Bible study and posting it as soon as I can, but it may be much later today. I guarantee it is a study that will bless your socks off.
Have a wonderful day, I get to go to a birthday party for Pastor Don’s mom who is 90 years old/young today. She is a pleasure to visit and talk with, for her experiences are so varied. She was the daughter of a pastor, married a pastor and now has two sons who are pastors. God is always with her. At one point she directed a choir of many different churches that performed at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, and many other places around the country. I love learning about her and her life.
Blessings to you and yours,
Heather
Comments (22)
Thanks for posting the other day. My husband and I are going to France to be missionaries next year. There are less than 1% believers in France. People are slowing starting to come around but it’s a hard work. Mostly people believe in Human secularism or intellectualism, etc. In Paris where we will be working there are now 1/3 Muslims who have moved in. God loves them and I hope we can share what Jesus did for them so they can understand and be moved. The French govt. says they have religious freedom but the mayors have control over the real estate and none of our church planters have been able to buy a building for their church because of the Separation of Church and State law. They meet in homes and the French think we evangelicals are a cult because we don’t have a cathedral (their past generations of Catholics). They have had many generations of no Christian spiritual experience now.
Take care and thanks for sharing about your missionaries.
Thanks Heather for your many generous postings to my xanga site. I see you pick my humor–surprisingly, not everyone does. I know that the persecution of the church around the world is hardly mentioned by our media. I think some things are getting so bad, that it will have to come out into the open. Oh the other hand, one of the xanga family is a missionary in China!! I was shocked. Things have changed there. They Chinese government is paying teachers and professors good salaries to teach English in China, plus other subjects. So these missionaries apply for the jobs and then evangelize one on one with excellent results. I do know in some countries that Christianity is not tolerated at all.
Heather, thanks again for visiting and being such a strong Christian. I am still trying to figure it out with my emergence of real emtoitons.
Frank
Thanks for the comment. We did stay in a hotel one night, but they are expensive up there. My friend got us a nice place to stay in a fire station where he used to work, so that was super nice for about four nights. One other night we stayed with a family, and the rest of the time we either camped or slept in the car. We averaged almost 500 miles of driving per day, so we slept in the car quite a bit. A sleeping bag on the ground sometimes sounds pretty good after being cramped in the car over night.
Yes, we are so blessed to be able to meet as Christians freely in this country. I take that for granted much too often – pretty much all the time. Praying for those churches in India.
Blessings,
I’ll come back later–not today–perhaps tomorrow– and read your post. I read some of it from my subscription list. I’ve heard that about India…….I don’t ever plan to go there and my husband has never been back since the day he left in l966. What I want to say is.HAPPY 4TH OF JULY, Heather! ~Carolyn
I will definitely be praying for the persecuted Christians in India.
larry
Hope you and your family have a very Blessed and safe 4th!……In Christ’s Love,……..Monic
Thanks for the prayers!!
Kathy
Hi there, noticed you stopped by. Thank you for giving me something to really be thankful for on this 4th of July. May it be a blessed one for you and yours! Tracy
Thank you for your support of other missionaries to foreign countries. We have it a lot better here in America. I support a child through World Vision there. I don’t know how much they can talk about Christianity there, if any. We do send little birthday cards and such with verses of scripture on them. I think she is North Central in India.
happy birthday to pastor dons mom. 90 years old is a fantastic blessing.
ty for your prayers for td. he is home and doing great. god is merciful and carign with his special needs kids.
we are praying for pastor abraham, pastr paulas and his church, mr t xaxa and for religious freedom.
gld bless you and yours on this day of celebration fo freedon.
Is this the Pastor Abraham with Christ for India. Our church supports and prays for him. It’s good to think about how blessed we are in this country and how isn’t that way in other place. They really do need our prayers and support.
Happy birthday to your pastor’s mom. My husband and I are strong supporters of a couple of Indian families who minister in their country with wonderfully blessed ministries. I shall join you in praying for religious freedom around the world, incl. in India. I hope that you are having a great 4th. ~ Carolyn
I just wanted to thank you so much for your sweet words and your support. It means the world to me
Thanks for your comments honey xx Enjoy the rest of your week. love from Laura xx
Heather I will keep the Pastor in India in prayer they need it. It is so hard when you are not what the people want to learn but I hope theu know when they are there that God is with them and he will lead them to what is good.
RYC: I actually mentioned that to my brother since it was his choice to sign up. He doesn’t actually report unitl mid-October, but I’m sure his bride is not too fond of the idea.
Hi Heather!
We often forget about what it means to follow Christ in a hostile environment. Thanks for the reminder. I’m joining you in your prayers today.
Steve
Heather, I see from your other comments that you spend a lot of your time generously commenting on a lot of sites. It looks like I am not the only one that appreciates your thoughts and time. I wish that I had the internet speed I used to (and quiet time, that a 3yr old doesn’t allow) to visit others more.
Again, thanks so much for your thoughtful comments.
Heather… thank you for praying for us! Praying great blessings upon you.. and thanking God for this wonderful blog you share with us!
Pastor Don’s mom sounds AMAZING! Should be a great party. I did NOT know that was going on in India. I have (and have had) Indian friends and they have never mentioned that too me. They were not of Christian descent. I hope things change for them (and at least the police will charge the attackers).
We are mostly blinded to what other Christian have to endure as “normal” in other parts of the world……..have a great weekend!
Pastor Abraham belongs to the Carmel Pentecostal Church of God in Christ, and has 175 pastors under him.
Heather