Ministry in Chharttisgarh

On 18 Oct we visited our training center in Koppaguda village, in Bastar District. This small and cramped building is used by Pst Prabu Lal for his church service and also used as a training centre. Currently ten students are undergoing church planters training and this is the first batch to start the program in Chhattisgarh. Some church planters also came for the meeting. It was indeed a joy to meet these young men and we are praying that they will all go out to plant churches in Chhattisgarh.

That afternoon we went to visit some of our church planters. We have been supporting 10 CPs in Chhattisgarh for the last 4 years. Church planting in Chhattisgarh is a very dangerous and challenging. There is an anti-conversion law, prohibiting the conversion of Hindus and there are many fanatic Hindu groups that persecute Christians.

By the time we finished visiting the 4^th CP , it was about 5 pm. The 5^th CP is Pst Gendlal and is married with 3 children. He has planted a church in Thongkongra, It was in a remote village in the forest, about 30 km from Jagadalpur.  It would take us about two to three hours hrs to reach the place. I suggested postponing the visit but Pst Prsbu Lal said that the people were waiting since 2 PM. So we decided to press. It was dark and we had to travel through jungle tracks to reach the village. It was also totally dark in the village. There was no electricity and no light at all. About 40 people gathered under the starry sky in the open and they set on a mat. It was also getting cold. There was only one small kerosene wick that provided light for the meeting. It was so dark that I can’t even see the people clearly. No musical instruments but worship was sincere from the hearts. I was indeed blessed to see the work of this church planter, in this very remote place. Bro Steven Tan and Bro Nick Chiang have been faithfully supporting five church planters for the last few years.

As I was about 20 minutes into my message, I heard some commotion at the back. Bishop Nehemiah signaled to me that we have to leave. I was disappointed as I was just getting started. But another church planter Pst John Nag, who had also come with us, was persistent that we leave immediately. Some men had followed us in a motorcycle and I learnt that they were from a fanatical Hindu group that persecutes Christians. They questioned what we were doing there and took down our vehicle number. These people have been persecuting Christians before and Pst Pabu Lal said that if we stayed any longer they would activate their group of militants and there would be serious trouble. They feared for our safety. We scrambled immediately. As we were moving out of the village, the Pst of the church in the village called to say that the men had threatened him not to preach the gospel. Another two more threatening calls were received later. Pst Prabu Lal was visibly shaken this time and he reckoned that its best we leave Chhattisgarh, the soonest possible time as these men can harm us, since they know our vehicle number. It seems they have the police support as well and that made our situation worst. Hence we decided to cancel the next day’s program and leave at daybreak.

Many of our CPs work in such difficult places and they need desperate prayer and support. While we sing and shout in our modern churches, many out there don't have a roof for a church and persecution is real.