A church building is a huge blessing to Asian congregations.
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Gospel for Asia missionary Matish Junni was attacked by a mob of anti-Christian extremists on his way to a church service in Orissa, India, yesterday (December 23). The extremists beat him badly and humiliated him by shaving his head and parading him around the village.
Matish pastors a church with 25 believers in his village. Just last week, the small congregation began constructing a church building. The extremists who attacked the pastor on Sunday demanded that the church members halt construction immediately.
Matish and his believers are now asking for prayer as they do not know how they can continue constructing their church building in the face of such threats and opposition. Matish was released by the extremists and has been given police protection, but still faces a great deal of uncertainty.
This is the second report received regarding persecution of Christians in Orissa during December. Earlier this month, a well-known sorcerer’s decision to follow Christ angered anti-Christians.
GFA missionary Bidra Nayak, who works in this area, has faced increased difficulty from this extremist group. These extremists are trying to also halt construction of a church building in this village. During the ceremony the Christians held to lay the foundation of the church building, four members of the extremist group showed up hoping to intimidate them. The believers continued their work on the building in spite of the threats.
Pastor Matish and Pastor Bidra ask for prayer that they would have courage from the Lord to minister in their mission fields in spite of opposition. Pray that the church buildings will be completed and that the believers will have boldness to share their faith with their neighbors.
Orissa is a challenging state for GFA missionaries.
Why are church buildings so important to Asian congregations?
