India Trip Postponed Due to Outbreak in Violence

After a week of focused prayer and seeking God for direction and finances the India Team has made the decision to postpone the mission’s trip to Chennai, India in November of this year. Recent events fueling a sharp increase in extreme violence towards Christians in India coupled with falling short of our monetary goal were the primary reasons for this postponement.

Within the last six months Hindu extremist within specific states of India have launched a full scale attack on Christians living in their region. Initially it was reserved to primarily one location, the State of Orissa, but within months the violence has emboldened other Hindu extremists to act in like manner and it has spread like a malignant cancer to at least 4 other areas within the country. This is full scale martyrdom and suffering for the cause of Christ at its highest levels. Christians are being murdered and raped, their homes and businesses burned to the ground. At this moment hundreds of Christian men, women and children are hiding in the jungles outside their towns and cities surviving any way they can having been driven from their homes for fear of their lives. Please pray for the Christians in India. They are under immense persecution. Pray for their safety and protection and for those who have already given their lives their blood will sow the seeds of revival that will break the lie and curse of Hinduism and release the Light and Love of Jesus Christ to a nation blinded by the god of this world.

Please read the following news bulletin excerpt I received just this week.

An estimated 30 Christians have been killed and thousands of others have lost their homes since Hindu extremists went on a rampage after their leader, Swami Laxmananda Saraswati was murdered. His followers are seeking revenge for his death, for which Christians have been blamed. However, Maoists have claimed responsibility for the murder.

Since the violence began August 22, six people who attended churches in Orissa have been killed by the Hindu extremists, who have personally attacked more than 2,000 believers from these churches. The extremists have also burned down 630 homes belonging to believers and destroyed 22 churches. Many Christians are still hiding out in the dense jungles surrounding their villages. They are suffering from the effects of starvation, disease and monsoon flooding that wrecked the state in September.

We have been in regular communication with the Gupta family and Danny assures us the violence has not entered the city of Chennai where they live. It is serious enough that he requested our team leader, Pastor Matt, to remove a picture he had posted as a blog on the internet of a church about 3 hours north of Chennai that Danny helped plant. The picture had the local leadership standing in front. It was a precautionary measure, but nonetheless, one that needed to be done just in case that picture, in the wrong hands, could identify local Christians for persecution by radical Hindu extremists.

Another consideration was, as a team, we raised only about 50% of the finances needed. Praise the Lord for that but we need another $10,000 to reach our goal. As a team we never once waivered in our decision and resolve to go to India; we clearly knew God was calling us there for very strategic ministry and missions work. But in light of the violence and volatile situation we now know the question is not, “Are we to go?” but “When are we to go?”

Until that window of opportunity opens here are six ministry activities the India Team is doing.

1. Continuing to raise the final $10,000 through fundraisers and donor support.
2. Sending a one-time gift of $2,000 to the Gupta family. The last few months have been extremely difficult for them to even provide the basic necessities.
3. Creating a Care Package for Christmas time to send to the family. We have asked the girls to send us their Christmas Wish List.
4. Coordinating Pen Pals with the 15 Gupta girls and our Children’s Church kids.
5. Pledging, as a church, to send monthly support to the Gupta family of a minimum of $100.
6. Creating a “World Missions” bulletin board in the foyer of our church and highlighting the country of India, the Gupta Family, and recent violence to Christians.

A heartfelt thank you goes out from the entire India Team of Pastor Matt White, Pastor Lyn and Claude Detjens, Don Lucas, Rachel Moon, Mary White and Makenzie White. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. We would love to keep all financial donors and prayer partners updated on current events through a regular email and/or blog. If you would like regular updates on the India Mission team please email your request to Pastor Matt White at pastormattwhite@gmail.com.