The first Sunday of November is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.
So you can be equipped to pray, below are a few stories of persecution from the last few months, directly from the men and women you support through Harvest Bridge. These stories come from areas where we have seen increased persecution this year.
In Nepal, a new anti-conversion law in this Hindu-majority country now makes it illegal to share one’s faith. Christians especially face pressure with this law in effect.
Dinesh* says,
“Please pray for my ministry. I have a mission to complete for God, but after the new anti-conversion law, it has become challenging to preach publicly and baptize people in the rivers. The number of oppositions have increased after the law.”
Ashok* shares,
“The level of persecution has increased a lot within a few years. Recently, one of my friends was beaten for sharing the Gospel. He was hospitalized as the non-Christians beat him very severely while he was sharing the Gospel in a remote village.”
The Kingdom of Bhutan, wanting to preserve its Buddhist heritage, continues to tighten restrictions on Christians meeting together, owning property, or even being listed on the census as citizens.
Druk* says,
“My daughter had to stop attending the government school that is close to our house because she was targeted for being my (a pastor’s) daughter. So for the last year we took her out. Now we have brought her back to this school, but again the teachers are not kind to her and she is unwilling to go to school. Please pray for my daughter.”
Anjay* requests,
“Please pray for the Church members to be strengthened in the midst of threats and harassments from local authorities.”
India’s recent elections confirmed broad support for a radical Hindu government, resulting in an increase of both government-led and local persecution.
Mukesh* recounts,
“We had started praying in a particular town and there were about 50 people reached. The RSS (a radical Hindu group) came and the place of prayer was surrounded. All the belongings of our church were broken and some Christians were killed by them. Many people were injured and abused, with the attackers saying we were proselytizing…we were told that ‘you should stop this work, otherwise you will be killed’.
But we have faithfully not stopped the Lord’s work…we were assured because God has saved us in the past. We thank God that He is faithful, as we are people serving Him. Pray for us, that we continue to stand firm for the work of God.”
With your help, we stand with these brothers and sisters as they serve the Lord in the hardest of circumstances, and we rejoice with them in the best of times. Thank you for standing with your persecuted brothers and sisters!
In Christ,
Kate Therese,
Director of Mobilization
