Two Missionaries Beaten in North India
8/17/07 India (ANS) — A Gospel for Asia missionary and a Bible college student were attacked August 15 after distributing Gospel tracts to people in North India .
The injured missionary was one of more than 200 GFA missionaries and Bible college students taking part in an urban outreach. They were divided into groups and working in a large urban area handing out tracts. Things were going well for the first few hours as most people accepted the literature and listened to the Gospel presentations. But then a few men who had received the tracts accused the missionaries and students of trying to forcefully convert everyone in the town to Christianity.
Seeing that these men were stirring up trouble, the missionaries decided it would be wise to move this team to another area. The missionaries in charge drove one team of the Bible college students to the new location, but when they came back to pick up the remainder, the troublemakers recognized their vehicle. By then the hostile group had grown to 30 people.
When GFA missionary Chetan got out of the vehicle, they chased him down, kicked and beat him with sticks. Chetan sustained severe injuries to his face, stomach, back and head. They also slashed the hand of a Bible college student named Jitendra as he was climbing back into the vehicle.
Amazingly, Chetan was able to stand up to the men who were attacking him. “I was distributing tracts to whoever would receive them, but if you do not want them, I won’t get angry,” Chetan said. “Why are you beating me? You can beat me and kill me if that’s what you want.”
After hearing his words, the angry men left.
By the time the missionaries reached the hospital, Chetan could not even speak properly. GFA leaders in his area filed a report and sought protection from the police.
GFA field leaders request prayer for Chetan and Jitendra’s quick recovery and God’s protection for all the missionaries in this area. Also, please pray that God would change the hearts of the men who assaulted the missionaries.
