The congregation made significant progress on the building before extremists tore it down.
Over two days, anti-Christian radicals completely demolished the church building. |
Believers in an Indian village were working hard to construct a church building, only to have their hopes—and their building—dashed by anti-Christian extremists.
Over two days, these radicals completely destroyed the new facilities. Although the congregation had received government permission to build the church, the extremists tore it down anyway. Implying that the Christians had been untruthful in their permit application about what they were building, they accused the church members of not having the proper permission to build.
Gospel for Asia-supported pastor Paul Joseph and his congregation had completed much of the building when the anti-Christian militants arrived September 14. That afternoon, the intruders demolished half the building. Paul Joseph and other church leaders approached the police, but they refused to help.
On the following day, the radicals pressured those living in the area to sign a petition against the church construction. Ignoring the believers’ pleas to stop their destructive plan, they insisted, “We don’t want any church in this area.” They reduced the rest of the building to a heap of rubble.
This incident deeply saddened Paul Joseph and his family. He would greatly appreciate your prayers that the believers will remain firm in their faith, and that they will be able to rebuild their church.