Pastor’s Family Attacked in Sri Lanka with No Response from Police

CHURCH IN SRI LANKA NEEDS SUPPORT AS LEADERS ATTACKED AND MEMBERS HARASSED
ICC Note:  
“A tense situation prevails in the area with the minority Christian community fearing further attacks led by persons who are clearly acting above the law.” – National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL)
08/16/2012 Sri Lanka (BarnabasAid)- Vicious attacks targeting church leaders and the harassment of other Christian workers and church members are increasing the pressure on the vulnerable Christian community in Sri Lanka.
…
The week before these incidents, on 1 August, the house of a pastor in Pokunawita, Horana Kaluthara district was attacked in the middle of the night while he, his wife and their four sons (aged 14, 10, 8 and 3 months) were asleep. The attackers smashed all the windows with clubs; broken glass fell onto the bed where the baby was sleeping, but he was not hurt.
The pastor called the police, but they did not come. He had previously been warned of a plot by a Buddhist monk and others to attack him when he visited church members in a nearby village.
The incident has left his three older children traumatised; they are now afraid to be in their home.
The Church in Sri Lanka is growing; Christians comprise around eight per cent of the population, which is 70% Buddhist.
Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director of Barnabas Fund, said:
The Sri Lankan Church really needs our support and encouragement as it seeks to stand firm in the face of hostility and attack. There is an extremist Buddhist element within the country that has no tolerance for Christianity, and church leaders are becomingly increasingly endangered.
…
[Full Story]