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Missionaries Facing Severe Opposition in Three Villages


14th July 2010

Several Christians—including three Gospel for Asia-supported missionaries—are in danger after opposition to the Gospel reared up in their villages.

The first situation occurred when Beena Dhonai, a believer who attends a church led by GFA-supported missionary Abhi Dhat, shared her faith with some other women from her village.

The women became angry and accused her of trying to force people to convert to Christianity. Their anger grew to the point that, a few days later, they organized a group to come to Beena's home and threaten her and her family. They told Beena, her family and her pastor, Abhi, to stop telling people about Jesus or face serious consequences.

Local Men Unite Against Missionary
In another village in the same state, Gospel for Asia-supported missionary Somu Murali's life is in danger. Somu, who is pastor of a small church with an average attendance of 25, is the target of a political group that opposes Christians. Some 40 members of this group recently met and adopted a resolution accusing Somu of converting people to Christianity by giving them gifts in return for their conversions. Their major complaint was the presence of a Bridge of Hope center in the village. They claimed the center was a type of allurement that Somu was using to force people to convert to Christianity.

They demanded that Somu vacate the Bridge of Hope center and leave the village.

On July 4, several members of this group took their complaint one step further and planned to physically attack Somu. They laid in wait for him one Sunday, but Somu felt God leading him to walk a different route that day and, therefore, was miraculously protected.

Somu asks for prayer for grace, wisdom and boldness to face the situation courageously. He also asks for prayer that all the believers in the church will remain strong in their faith and that God would protect the Bridge of Hope center and the students from any harm.

Finally, he asks for prayer that the men seeking to harm him would turn to Christ.

Women's Missionary Team Targeted
A Women's Bible Team in another state also needs your prayers. This team is comprised of five women who are students at a local Bible college. They were on their way to distribute tracts and Bibles in a village when some youth, known for their anti-Christian views, stole their bags and set the tracts and Bibles on fire. One of the women was physically assaulted during the altercation. The attackers even filed a complaint with the local police accusing these women of forcing people to change their religion.

The attackers withdrew their police complaint the next day, yet the local people continued to ruthlessly pursue the missionaries, threatening them and the local GFA-supported pastor, Debesh Azad, with bodily harm unless they leave the village.

Pastor Debesh and the women's team request prayer for God's protection to be on all of them, including Debesh's family. They also seek prayer for the people in the village, that God would speak to their hearts and reveal the truth about the love of Jesus.

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