Our Body in Orissa

This blog has been submitted by ICC representative Sukalaya Kenworthy.

Not many Christians in America know about the vicious violence against their brothers and sisters in Christ that broke out in Orissa, India in August. But the magnitude of their sufferings is horrific. As of today, hundreds of Christian homes and churches have been demolished or burned to the ground, and estimates put the total number of Christians murdered near 50. Close to 20,000 Christians are living in unsafe refugee camps and more are hiding in jungles.

As the killings spread to nearby states, little has been done by the Indian government (local or State) to improve the situation. I am wondering if and when our major media will pick up this news and report it as they are supposed to? Since Christian persecution has never been their forte, the answer might be “never.”

However, we as Christians, can do a lot for our own body. The Bible says that the body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body (1 Corinthians 12:12).

During my prayer time this morning, my eyes laid upon this scripture in 2 Timothy 3, “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Do you know that those believers in India live righteously and follow Jesus boldly even if it cost them their lives? That’s why the Hindu extremists are filled with jealousy and hate towards them. The Hindus murdered our brothers in the most gruesome ways. They set fire to homes when Christians were inside. They ordered them not to return home unless they converted back to Hinduism and paid a huge fine to perform a conversion ceremony. One elderly man was forced to burn his own Bible in front of everyone. The Hindu mobs demanded that pastors and Christians stop converting local people and slaughtering cows because cows are considered sacred in Hinduism. A young woman who tried to stop the mob from attacking children in an orphanage was thrown alive into a burning building.

What would you do if parts of your body were set on fire? I don’t believe you would just sit and let your whole body burn. I also believe that the Church needs to step up and help their family in a crisis like this. Paul wrote to the Romans and gave this instruction, “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.” And “Rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn.”

You can easily do what Apostle Paul did by devoting yourself to the body of Christ now! Prayer is our first weapon as Christians. Pray fervently that the Lord will protect and comfort Christians who are suffering in India. Pray that despite the horrid situation, the number of believers in India would grow.

You can also send your financial help to Christian organizations to help rebuild homes, orphanages, and churches that were destroyed. Write to the media to inform them of this situation and request that the crisis be immediately reported to the world. Lastly, you can contact Indian government officials to ask for protection of Christians in Orissa and request that the Christians are treated fairly.

For more information and an update on Orissa Christians, please check International Christian Concern and Gospel for Asia websites.

Published in: on September 29, 2008 at 4:33 pm  Leave a Comment 
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Shackled for Christ: Iranian Apostates Face Death

Arash Basirat’s family pleaded with the Iranian prison guard to take their money.  With shaking hands they gently laid the crumpled bills on the guard’s desk and begged him for mercy–but the prison officer was not in a merciful mood.  He peered at Arash Basirat’s family with angry eyes and quickly flicked their money off of the desk. The guard was sick and tired of seeing the Basirat family’s faces—their persistence was not paying off.  Instead their frequent, emotional, visits to the Iranian prison were making him angry! When were they going to learn that Arash Basirat and his infidel cohort, Mahomood Matin-Azad, were not going to be released from Block 100? 

 

The Iranian prison guard peered at Basirat’s pitiful family and snarled. He had better things to do than coddle a family whose son was an apostate—an infidel! With angry hands the prison guard opened his desk and pulled out a red folder. The Basirat family reeled back as the guard slammed the folder down onto his desk, causing it to shake and quiver. With infuriated eyes the guard held up Arash Basirat’s and Mahomood Matin Azad’s arrest report and sneered. Blood drained from the faces of each family member as citation after citation was spouted off. 

 

“Religious treason, anti-revolutionary activities, creating public confusion, publishing falsities, and insulting the founder of the Iranian revolution,” barked the prison guard through pursed lips. “They are infidels!  They are condemned!  Give up,” he rasped with smug satisfaction.

 

Arash Basirat’s family sobbed as they left Block 100. They knew what it meant to be condemned as an infidel in Iran—execution by hanging. Basirat’s family wept as they made their way down the dark Iranian streets.  They wondered how they were going to tell Mahomood Matin Azad’s family that their loved ones had been convicted of leaving Islam and converting to Christianity—and that this conviction was punishable by death.  As Basirat’s family continued the long trek home, they heard the Islamic call to prayer reverberate in the distance—a chilling reminder of Arash and Mahomood’s imminent punishment.

Published in: on September 11, 2008 at 11:47 am  Leave a Comment 
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Nothing more than a second-class citizen-a Christian

Noban left the Pakistani police station with a dejected look on her face.  No matter how hard she tried—the officers would not take her case.  In their minds, she was a nothing more than a second-class citizen, an infidel—a Christian.  Sixty-five year-old Noban looked down at her empty wrists—wrists that used to hold beautiful golden bracelets—and sighed.  For six months she had trekked back and forth to the Kasur police station with hopes that the police would finally apprehend the Muslim men who had robbed her blind.  Yet, the police had no sympathy for Noban.  To them she was nothing more than a second-class citizen, an infidel—a Christian.  All Noban desired was justice.  All she wanted was for her stolen jewelry to be returned, but nobody was willing to help her—not even the police.  Suddenly, Noban felt helpless and alone on the densely packed Pakistani street.   As she stood there with swarms of people milling around her, Noban came to a horrifying realization.  If even the police were not willing to help her, who was?

As Noban began the long walk home from the Kasur police station, her mind began to reel with the recent death threats she had received.  On multiple occasions, the Muslim thieves had threatened Noban with death, but she had not believed them.  Noban had naively assumed they were bluffing—but were they?   She didn’t know anymore. 

The house was eerily quiet as Noban climbed into bed that night.  The only sound the sixty-five year-old woman could hear was that of her own heart pounding.  Noban took a deep breath and told herself that there was nothing to worry about, but something in the back of her mind was telling her to get up and run.  Yet, Noban shrugged off her fears and closed her weary eyes.  Soon, she was fast asleep. 

Noban never heard the Muslim thieves step onto her front porch and she never heard her front door slowly creek open.  The sixty-five year-old woman never heard the pickaxe being raised above her head and she never saw the look of insane satisfaction on the Muslim men’s faces as they took her life.  To them she was nothing more than a second-class citizen, an infidel—a Christian.

Published in: on September 3, 2008 at 4:56 pm  Leave a Comment 
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