Hindu Attacks Fail to Stop Christian Ministry Conference in India
by Allie Martin
December 6, 2005
(AgapePress) - - Despite threats of violence from militant Hindus, more than a thousand Christian pastors met recently in India for Hopegivers International's fall convention, which took place in late October in Kota, India.
Hopegivers, a Christian ministry committed to the transformation of India through the power of the gospel and missionary efforts, holds its fall conference each year for the purpose of training church leaders throughout the nation. This year, however, authorities warned officials with the ministry that militant Hindus had threatened to disrupt the gathering.
Nevertheless, Hopegivers' president, Dr. Samuel Thomas, says the annual training conference for pastors was held with few disruptions, "even though a few [participants] were beaten." He estimates that around 42 pastors were beaten in the three-day period by anti-Christian attackers but notes, "Nobody was so severely beaten that we had to hospitalize."
Thomas says the convention had a total of 1,200 attendees. "The plan was to have ten thousand," he points out, "but then the police asked us, 'Please, Mr. Thomas, for God's sake, tell your people not to come because there will be bloodshed.' The Bible does say, 'Be wise as serpents, harmless as doves.'
"But at the same time," the head of Hopegivers says, "we cannot wimp out. If every other religion in India has the right to worship their god, I think Christians also have the right." Kota has long been a hotbed of anti-Christian terrorism, but the ministry leader says the threat of violence cannot be allowed to deter the work of spreading the gospel and sharing the love of Christ.
Thomas says Hopegivers received warnings from anti-Christian Hindus that, "if the conference takes place, we will beat every pastor like we beat them in February of 2005." At that time, he explains, "Two hundred and eighty of our pastors were beaten and hospitalized."
According to the ministry president, the police and everyone else in authority in Kota are not in favor of Christians. He says these anti-Christian people of power and influence are "all from either high caste or middle caste families of Hindus, and they don't want to see the Hopegivers have a convention."
But in spite of the local opposition, Thomas says the ministry's outreach will continue. To date, Hopegivers International has planted more than 11,000 churches throughout the nation of India.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
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