Militant Hindus Seize GFA Missionary's Church-Home for Their Temple
by Allie Martin
December 15, 2005
(AgapePress) - - A Christian pastor in India was forced out of his church building by militant Hindus. But while the setback is virtually unprecedented, the head of a missionary organization working in Asia says this incident will not keep the gospel from going forth. Ramesh Batith is a native missionary in northern India who works with the evangelical ministry Gospel for Asia (GFA). Not long ago, he received threats from militant Hindus, who warned him to reconvert to the Hindu faith or be burned alive. Then, earlier this month, a group of Hindus forced Batith out of his home, which also served as a church building, and turned the former dwelling and Christian house of worship into a Hindu temple.
GFA's president, K.P. Yohannan, says although the ministry's missionaries are not strangers to persecution, this marks the first time Hindus have forcibly taken over a Christian church. In musing over "the reason for it, how it came about," he says, "I think more than anything else, it's hate toward Christian work.
"And again," Yohannan adds, "we say to our people that our battle is not against flesh and blood; it's Satanic forces tearing at people -- nothing new. In the book of Acts we read of things like this all the time." He maintains that the Indian Christians in the region are standing strong.
"One of the things they are consistently praying and fasting for," the GFA spokesman notes, "is that the Lord will use this incident to work in the hearts of the very people who came to cause them this problem, that they will come to know the Lord." Meanwhile, he says, Batith's fellow church members are now meeting in another believer's house for worship.
Despite militant Hindus' annexing of the native pastor's home and their threats against his life, the head of GFA says Batith and other area Christians are continuing to live out their faith in God, share the good news about Jesus Christ, and pray for their enemies' salvation.
Yohannan says GFA's mission work in northern India will likewise continue, even in the face of extreme persecution. He adds, "The interesting thing I can tell you is, in the history of our work, wherever we've had such difficulties and opposition, the work of the Lord grew faster and stronger."
Currently, more than 14,000 Gospel for Asia native missionaries are planting churches in ten Asian nations at a rate of more than 15 churches a day.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
