Persecution has increased for Christians Indians in their native country as many are finding it more difficult to preach the Gospel without fearing for their life because of ongoing verbal and physical attacks.
Despite Increased Persecution, Christianity Growing in India
In the community of Hyderabed, India pervasive persecution of Christians has become the norm over the last several weeks. Most recently the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a Hindu based extremist group, led a mob attack on Christian Evangelist Dr. Kusuma Anjeneya Swamy.
The assault has made many Christians within India find ways to unite against harassers like those that attempted to silence Swamy and his Christian faith.
#India #Christian Persecution Report 2016 – Attacks Rise 3 fold: Murders, Rapes, Arrests, Violence – 12,000 Victims https://t.co/qSduzAB7uh
— davidslim53 (@davidslim53) January 24, 2017
As for now the outlook for Swamy’s health is in limbo. On Jan. 21st after being yelled at by a gang of Hindu nationals and then by the local police, the 47-year-old suffered a brain hemorrhage and is now in the ICU at a local hospital while his family continues to pray for a miracle.
The taunting first started when Swamy was handing out New Testament Bibles and a group of men surrounded him and accused the Christian of religious propagation because of his daily Gospel related handouts.
INDIA Evangelist: Brain hemorrhage after interrogation #persecution https://t.co/qzaXwiWFbS pic.twitter.com/lH0Z8fP27D
— TRUNEWS™ (@TRUNEWS) January 24, 2017
“We will burn you, and let us see if Jesus would come and save you from the flames” continuing with, “You and your family members will be finished, if you continue to this work,” an unidentified mob participant said according to Persecution.org.
Several hours later, Swamy went to the police station to escape the bullying and the officers didn’t help. Instead of finding ways to calm the man down, they held him for no reason in the station and warned him to stop distributing Christian literature outside of the church.
Sometime between his arrival and before his supposed departure from the local precinct, Swamy suffered a brain hemorrhage, according to his wife, K. Sujatha.
His wife told the International Christian Concern team, “I was shocked when I received a phone call (in the) early evening on Saturday. (They told me) that my husband had a brain hemorrhage and he was rushed to the hospital, (but)…he neither showed any symptoms nor did he have a history of bad health.”
“I couldn’t believe that this happened to my husband. This could not have happened in normal situations,” she added.
Christian persecution is rising rapidly across Asia, with a dramatic increase in #India and surrounding countries: https://t.co/TGNyfm1p0d pic.twitter.com/1y28tuRPmC
— CitizenGO (@CitizenGO) January 19, 2017
The number of persecuted Christians around the world is steadily growing and many need the kind words, prayers and donations of others. To get more information on how to help check out persecution.org.
There are 25 million Christians in India — if not more. How do they respond to persecution? https://t.co/x2OPyoX7O1 pic.twitter.com/ufd6sp5EMa
— Under Caesar's Sword (@CaesarsSword) January 30, 2017
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