International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church

At Midnight in Chhattisgarh, India on Oct 13 Hindu nationalists broke open the door of a house where a three-day prayer meeting was taking place & attacked participants as they slept – ultimately forcing two Christians to beat one of their own prayer partners unconscious under threat of death. The mob beat the participants in the prayer meeting, including women, and dragged three of them from the house. “We thought that they were taken to the police station, but instead they were taken to a secluded place where they were beaten all night.” Muneshwar Ekka and Beik were beaten first, and then the Hindu nationalists ordered them to beat the third captured Christian, Ravi Devangan, or be killed. The three beaten men were then arrested by the police, accused of the crime of “false conversion.”

Last Sunday our church, as it has for the previous two years, recognized the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.  It is our hope that through our prayers and our giving (we raised over $2400 for Bibles) we will be be a source of support to our afflicted family.  I spoke briefly of the return of Christ from 2 Thes 1:4-10.  He shall appear in “flaming fire” that he may “repay with affliction those who afflict” and “grant relief” to the afflicted.  You may listen to my homily by clicking the sermon audio tab above or by clicking here.