House Church Talk - Fwd: GFA: Missionary Threatened with Death

[Rick Smith]

Hello all,

I am forwarding this both for the prayer of the saints for this man's
situation, and as a reminder to us all that while we may often feel
persecuted for our stand for home church, there are places in this world
where persecution is far more substantial then not being welcome at our
old fellowships, or having our character attacked.  I ask you all to spend
some time in ernest prayer for our brothers and sisters who are contenting
for the faith in the face of overwhelming hardship.  May we all be found
so doing when He returns for His bride.

In His Grip -
Rick

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GFA: Missionary Threatened with Death, Urgent Prayer Requested
http://www.gfa.org/urgent

Saturday, October 2, 2004

Dear Rick and Liz,

Your prayers are urgently requested for Pastor Kumar, a Gospel for Asia
native missionary in the south Indian state of Karnataka, who is right now
facing a life-and-death situation.

After his graduation from a GFA Bible college, he and his wife Sonia moved
to an unreached village and began their ministry together, sharing the
love of Jesus with those who had never heard His name. Over the past two
years the Lord has given them growth: Not only has their baby boy become a
happy little toddler, but today more than 40 new believers gather to
worship the living God in the church he has established.

But Pastor Kumar’s faithful labors and victories have not come without
attack from Satan. He has received threats from anti-Christian
fundamentalist groups over the past several weeks. Yesterday those threats
escalated into a full-scale demonstration.

One of our senior leaders notified me just a few hours ago that a mob went
to each house in Kumar’s village, threatening anyone who went to church
this Sunday—they would break their arms and legs, and kill them. Finally
they came to Pastor Kumar’s home and beat him. Before leaving, they
delivered their ultimatum: If he conducted Sunday services this weekend,
they would kill him in front of his wife and son.

Pastor Kumar reported these threats to his GFA leader, who brought the
incident to the police. However, the police responded that they couldn’t
help; this mob was too large and the pastor should do whatever he wanted
to do.

Please intercede for Pastor Kumar today, and earnestly ask the Lord to
protect his life and those of the new believers in this village of
Karnataka state. Pray God will give our GFA leaders wisdom to know how to
handle this situation. In addition, several other native missionaries
serving in Karnataka are also facing persecution for preaching the Gospel.
These religious fundamentalist groups regularly use such intimidation and
violence tactics. Pray that all our brothers and sisters would have
abundant grace to stand firm for the sake of Christ.

For those who have never heard,
K.P. Yohannan

::: You can help sponsor a native missionary for $30 per month and reach
thousands with the love of Jesus: http://www.gfa.org/sponsor

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