INDIA:
Reports that Christians and non-Hindus are being denied government aid during this coronavirus pandemic are coming out of India. Persecution watchdog Open Doors warned the lives of thousands, if not millions, of persecuted Christians are at risk due to the lockdown.
India was given a $1 billion aid package for coronavirus testing and management. A letter from multi-faith representatives from 34 organizations and ministries send a letter to President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and World Bank Group President David Malpass calling for a committee to hold India’s leaders accountable and monitor use of this aid.
One of Open Doors local partners stated that he personally knows at “least 20 to 30 pastors who are starving because of the lockdown. We are receiving news of persecution incidents from many areas, even in this situation where people have been ordered to stay inside their homes. In fact, we believe that during this phase of lockdown, Christians are suffering even more than before, since most of them now have to combat economic problems as well as the opposition and hatred from the community.”
Open Doors ranks India 10th on its 2020 World Watch List of countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. Earlier this month, a mob in central India attached members of five families after they refused to renounce their faith in Christ. The Christians had denied used of their land to be used to perform tribal animist worship.
Animism is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Local village leaders told the Christians “You are not partaking in our tribal rituals, and so we cannot allow you to profit from your agricultural lands.”
Eight Christians were injured, including one man who was stoned and had to be admitted to a local hospital.
NIGERIA:
Despite coronavirus-related restrictions, violence against Christians in Nigeria continues. Armed herdsmen shot Anglican Rev. Canon Bayo James Famonure, his wife and two sons while they were praying at home. Famonure is the founder of Calvary Ministries (CAPRO), an international mission with operations in several countries. He is also the head of the Messiah College high school in Barkin Ladi County, where the attack occurred. Neighbors carried the family to the hospital and all are currently in stable condition.
April was particularly vicious month. Four people, including the pastor of a local ECWA church, were killed in Bassa County. A 30-year-old Christian farmer was fatally attacked at his home in Bokkos County. And, in central Kaduna, attacks on five villages left 13 Christians dead and another 13 kidnapped as herdsman burned down homes, vehicles, and food supplies.
Showing no regard for gender or age, mothers and fathers are killed along with their children. Dede Laugeson, executive director for the nonprofit Save the Persecuted Christians told The Christian Post, “I am perplexed by the state of humanity when children as young as six months are routinely hacked to death in Nigeria simply for being Christian, and the world ignores their plight. This must stop. The international community must intervene.”
The U.S. State Department lists Nigeria on its “special watch list” of countries that engage in or tolerate violations of religious freedom. Nigeria is 12th on Open Doors World Watch List.
PRAY: Pray for our Christian brothers and sisters who are attacked for their faith in Christ. Pray that the Lord would strengthen them and allow their faith to serve as a beacon to others. Pray for those who persecute Christians that they will be exposed to the truth of God and miraculously converted out of the web of deception in which they are entangled.