INDIA: “THOUGH I AM SUFFERING, THE CHURCH IS GROWING”

“Jesus’s name gives salvation. Jesus’s name gives peace,” sings Preeti*. “This is my favourite song to sing at Christmas. The Christmas story is my favourite Bible story, because it’s when Jesus Christ was born.”  

Preeti (12) lives in a small village in India with her grandparents. While Preeti was brought up as a Christian, it was her grandfather, Ashok*, who first chose to follow Jesus. “I come from a Hindu background,” he shares. “One of my relatives shared about Christ and the thought that Christ had died for my sins changed my heart and I accepted Christ and decided to follow Him.” 

Ashok started to share the gospel with the people in his village and conduct prayer meetings at his house. But Hindu extremists living nearby were angry, and so they retaliated by attacking Preeti’s grandmother.

Ashok and his son went to confront her attackers – but they turned on them and violently attacked them. They were taken to hospital, but the extremists bribed the doctors and nurses not to treat them properly. 

You helped keep Preeti’s family alive  

Preeti only learned about the attacks when she got home from school. “I was very sad,” she says. “I was feeling afraid. I was very angry at the people who did this to my family.”   

Preeti’s favourite verse from Psalms helped her cope in this situation: “I love Psalm 18:6, which provides God’s assurance to me: ‘In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.’” 

When local Open Doors partners heard about the attack, they made sure Ashok received proper hospital treatment and covered his medical bills. He still struggles with pain in his left arm and is unable to work, which meant he could not provide for the family.  

But thanks to you, Preeti and her family also received food and prayer support. “There were no groceries in the house. The team helped us and we were so thankful,” says Preeti. Ashok agrees: “We would have died of starvation if the organisation had not helped us with groceries. I thank the Lord that we got this help.”  

A joyful Christmas in a growing church 

Since the attack, Ashok has been wary of leading large church gatherings – but Christmas is the exception. “More than 150 people gather to celebrate Christmas,” he says. “It is a grand celebration with singing, dancing, worshipping and sharing the good news of Christ with unbelievers.”  

Praise God that, even after all that Ashok has suffered, he is seeing the church grow. “After the attack, I feared believers will go astray but, praise be to God, as I share about Christ more people are coming to Christ. Though I am suffering persecution, the church is growing. The incident happened, but faith increased.”  

Pray for Preeti

Preeti asks us to pray for her and her family: “I want you to pray for me, so that God gives me wisdom; pray for my family to grow in Christ and for their safety; pray that we should be safe to live out our faith.”  

*Name changed for security reasons