whereabouts of a pastor who it said was among two church leaders allegedly beaten and kidnapped this week by anti Christian militants.
In an appeal to supporters obtained by BosNewsLife Thursday, October 7, GFA said pastors Tulsiram and Vijay in Chhattisgarh state were attacked by an angry mob "as they prepared to baptize 32 new believers."
After beating them, "their captors dragged them out of the village and took them to an unknown location. The kidnapping was part of a plan to stop them from continuing ministry in the village," GFA claimed.
Pastor Vijay later escaped "and ran close to 25 miles (38 kilometers)" to ask the nearest GFA office for help and secure his colleague’s release. However "we still do not know Pastor Tulsiram’s whereabouts, please fervently pray for this urgent situation," GFA wrote its supporters.
PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS
The organization also said it had urged the Indian government to safe the lives of persecuted Christians including another pastor and church members in the troubled state of Karnataka as they too were reportedly threatened by militants.
GFA said Pastor Kumar narrowly survived last Sunday after he was confronted with a crowd of anti-Christians "who beat him and told him they’d kill him in front of his wife and two-year-old son if he conducted church services."
The over 40 new believers in the south Indian village, "whom Kumar led to Christ over the past two years", were apparently also threatened with death if they set foot inside the church. The pastor and his congregation met Sunday at another undisclosed location, after local police advised them to take the treats seriously, GFA said.
EXTREMIST ATTACKS
Christians in India have become increasingly targets of extremist attacks in the religiously divided nation, religious rights watchers say. GFA has made clear that despite the reported tensions it wants to train and send 100,000 native missionaries "into the most unreached areas of Asia", including India.
It currently supports over 14,000 native missionaries, who it claims are now serving and planting over 10 churches every day. The total number of Christians in India now account for just over 2 per cent of the population, or roughly 24 million, a marginal increase from 1991, the Council for World Mission said last month, citing official estimates.
However about eight out of every 10 Indians are reportedly belonging to the Hindu religion. GFA and other groups have suggested that they expect a spectacular church growth within the next few years.
WITH AUTHOR STEFAN J. BOS
