The orders were issued on the 3rd anniversary of a burst of mob violence against Christian in Kandhamal. Many of the refugee victims have not been able to return to their villages because of safety concerns.
Usually, when there is a new village, the government provides land for the place of worship. Refugees who relocated in the wake of the Orissa pogram were promised land to rebuild, but the government never delivered. Then came the order for demolition. According to several media reports, five churches were affected by the ruling.
Dave Stravers is president of Grand Rapids, Michigan-basedMission India. He says while it's discouraging that such a decree was issued, the clamor it prompted has an "up side."
First, senior government leaders said they'd overrule the junior leaders on the implementation. Secondly, "Obviously there is an ongoing public conversation about this persecution, and there are people who are now standing up and saying, 'No, we're not going to permit this.' Where the story has a good ending: it's often the Hindus who rise up and defend Christians."
Even more interesting is the number of people who are turning to Christ in the process. Mission India focuses on training church planters, teaching literacy classes, and holding Children's Bible Clubs. Each aspect of the ministry is reliant upon the other for growth.
For example, church planters complete a year of combined classroom training and supervised fieldwork. During this time, they share the Gospel and establish new worship communities. Church Planters often open doors to communities through Children's Bible Clubs.
Mission India also provides training and materials to their partners who are teaching illiterate people how to read and write as they share the love of Christ. During their 52-week Adult Literacy program, a class of 30 students meets for 2 hours a night, 5 nights a week.
The program is designed for instruction by volunteer teachers who have little formal education themselves. And the Bible-based curriculum introduces students to Jesus Christ.
At the end of the year-long literacy program, 80% of students on average graduate at a fifth-grade level of reading and writing. Many graduates make a decision to follow Jesus and are in need of a church body and pastor--full circle to the church planters.
So, the persecution doesn't mean the Gospel is failing. Rather, it's growing. Stravers says, "The forces that are opposed to Christianity are just desperately tryin, somehow to reverse the trend that's around them." Boldness in the face of persecution is challenging.
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