Persecution Heard 'Round the World
Families ran for their lives into the jungle but hundreds died as they tried to flee the carnage.
The light of the Gospel has transformed so many lives in India. Those once entirely lost in false religions have been saved and their witness burns brightly. The state of Orissa in India is beginning to shine with Christ’s glory. The church has exploded in size over the past few years. Hundreds of thousands have left Hinduism to receive the Lord. It is because of this significant movement of God that those engulfed in sin persecute the believers. Orissa has a long history of violence against Christians. It is the location of an outbreak of persecution so terrible that it was publicized around the world. The year was 2007 when 10,000 Hindu militants descended upon the Christians in one particular village. These militants burned down houses, attacked the women, and were stabbing and beating the Christians. Families ran for their lives into the jungle but hundreds died as they tried to flee the carnage. The militants’ rage did not end in this one village, their anger spilled over to all the other Christians in the surrounding area until the government stepped in and tried to save them. It has taken years, but some believers have moved back to their old village to try to rebuild their lives. When I visited one of these persecuted villages, my reception was overwhelming. The people heard that a foreign Christian brother was coming to their village. Determined to make a statement to the Hindu militants, they erected a huge red tent in the center of the Christian area. Believers from all over gathered together. It was a show of solidarity and faith. They would no longer live in fear. A band of dancers ushered me into the service and, as is their custom, ladies washed my feet. Fireworks exploded all around. I spoke to them from Revelation 2, encouraging them with Jesus’ words to the church in Smyrna. The service was the first gathering of all the believers since the attacks in 2007. Despite all they had endured, the joy on their faces left me inspired and has been imprinted on my heart as a reminder that the darkness could not envelop the Light of the world or His Church.
The Bible gives us this promise in 2 Corinthians 4:7 – 11: But we have this treasure in earthen vessels so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves. We are afflicted in every way but we are not crushed, perplexed but not despairing, persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed, always carrying about, in the body, the dying of Jesus, so that the Life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live, are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
Jesus is the Light, and when we accept Him as Savior and Lord of our lives, we carry His light for all the world to see.
