More Christians killed in India violence

The death toll continues to rise in India’s Orissa state as a wave of violence against Christians shows no sign of stopping. Hindu mobs have damaged more than a dozen churches and homes, and destroyed a Christian orphanage in an arson attack which left one woman dead. The violence has so far left 11 dead, mainly Christians. The violence was triggered by the murder of Swami Laxamanananda Saraswati, leader of radical Hindu group Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), on Saturday.
Saraswati had been leading a campaign against Christians in Kandhamal district over conversions, a longstanding source of tension between Hindus and Christians in the area. The Evangelical Fellowship of India said it had received reports that three adults and one child were killed in violence in Barakhama, one of the worst hit areas. Town authorities have set curfews and ordered police to shoot rioters on sight in 11 towns across Kandhamal, reports Reuters news agency. The violence has been condemned by Christian groups, including Gospel for Asia (GFA) which says that one of its missionaries was attacked whilst on his way to church on Sunday.
GFA said it had received reports of more than 75 separate attacks on GFA-related work in Orissa state.
The group’s president KP Yohannan condemned Saraswati’s killing, which authorities have blamed on Maoists. “We are deeply shocked and anguished to hear of the atrocities and violence meted out to the innocent Christians and churches in Orissa as a backlash of the sorrowful event and we are praying for an immediate halt to the violence, said Yohannan. GFA said that many pastors and their families have gone into hiding in forests, some without food and water.
"What is most disturbing is that these attacks seem to be well organised and orchestrated," Dr Yohannan said.
Archbishop Vincent M Concessao, President of the National United Christian Forum, has urged Christian schools and colleges to close on Friday “as a mark of our solidarity with our suffering brothers and sisters and as a protest against all acts of communal violence and atrocities on the Christian community and other innocent people”.
The NUCF has also declared Sunday 7 September 2008 an official day of prayer and fasting.
Pope Benedict has also condemned the violence and the killing of the Hindu leader, saying, “While I firmly condemn every attack on human life, whose sacredness required respect by all, I express my spiritual closeness and solidarity to the brothers and sisters in the faith who are so sorely tried.”

Now there's an idea!

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - It pays to use a toilet in southern India, as residents are earning close to a dollar a month by using public urinals, a scheme launched by authorities to promote hygiene and research in rural areas.
Dozens of people are queuing up to use toilets in Musiri, a remote town in Tamil Nadu state, where authorities have succeeded in keeping street corners clean with the new scheme, The Times of India newspaper said on Sunday.
"In fact, many of us started using toilets for urination only after the ecosan (ecological sanitation) toilets were constructed in the area," said S. Rajasekaran, a truck cleaner.
The urine was also being collected and tested for its efficacy as a crop fertilizer, an official of the state's agricultural university added.
People relieving themselves in the open is a common sight in India's rural towns and villages, as basic sanitation still eludes millions.





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God works in mysterious ways!

PATNA, India (Reuters) - Hundreds of villagers have flocked to a remote Indian village to see a baby girl who was saved by stray dogs after she was abandoned in a mound of mud by her mother, officials said on Tuesday.
Villagers in the eastern state of Bihar saved the newborn on the weekend after they saw three dogs barking near a baby covered with mud.
"The dogs removed the soil around and began to bark and the baby started crying which drew attention of the local villagers," Ram Narayan Sahani, a senior government official, said on Tuesday from Bihar's Samastipur district.
"The girl is crying but is safe in the lap of a childless couple who have adopted her."
Police said they were looking for the girl's mother, who they think had left the girl to die.
Female foeticide, though illegal in India, is widespread as boys are traditionally preferred to girls as breadwinners, and families have to pay huge dowries to marry off their daughters.
The United Nations says an estimated 2,000 unborn girls are illegally aborted every day in India.

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Christians face persecution in many popular tourist destinations.

Found this article this morning and thought it might be of interest. It is not something one would necesssarily think about when booking a holiday but then, as a christian, wouldn't you go and talk to people there anyway? Julian
See the list where christians are persecuted the most


The Article

Open Doors has urged travellers from the UK to be aware of persecution against the Christian community in their favourite tourist destinations, including India.
The organisation stressed the need to raise awareness among Brits of persecution in India and to support fellow believers in the country, recommending that they write letters of concern to MPs.
Eddie Lyle, chief executive of Open Doors UK and Ireland, said: “‘Sun, sea, sand and persecution’ would be an appropriate adage here. The image many of us have in our minds of these gorgeous locations is one of sandy beaches, palm trees and exotic cultural treasures. But the reality for those people living there wishing to express their faith openly and responsibly is very different from how the brochures portray things.”
He added: “Christians commonly experience discrimination in the workplace and in education, are abused physically and emotionally, cannot hold church services, are thrown into jail and — all too often — murdered.”
Open Doors is not asking Christians in the UK to boycott holidays to India but instead requests them to be aware of the issues and contribute to the saving and serving of the persecuted in the country.
A spokesman for the charity told The Telegraph that an estimated 200 million Christians around the world were facing varying degrees of persecution.
Steve Gaukroger, chairman of Open Doors' council of reference, said: “These days we routinely make decisions about important ethical issues such as the impact food-miles have on global warming. Given the appalling ways that our Christian brothers and sisters are being treated in many places around the world, we need to apply similar criteria to our holiday destinations, too," he was quoted as saying by The Telegraph.
“In the largest democracy in the world, seven states now have anti-conversion laws which are being increasingly used by Hindu ultra-nationalists to harass Christians."
“Reports of threats against pastors, false arrests, beatings and even murder have been increasing, now averaging one incident every three days. Many of the Dalits, the ‘untouchable’ caste of Hinduism, are converting to Christianity. This is one reason why Hindu nationalists are targeting Christians.”
North Korea heads the list of places where Christians face “severe persecution”, followed by Saudi Arabia, Iran and the Maldives. India ranks 30 in the list of 50 offenders; Bhutan 7th; Pakistan 17th.

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