WARNING:  GRAPHIC IMAGES BELOW

Yes, this web site is about Nkumba, Uganda.

But even more than that, it is about Christians imitating Christ, loving others–all around the globe– with all that we have and all that we are.  Christ has enough love for everyone in Orissa, India and Nkumba, Uganda–and of course everywhere else.  As we imitate Him, we must open wide our hearts also. He has provided for all of their needs through us to whom He has entrusted much.

How do we open wide our hearts?  By opening wide our wallets.  (Matthew 6:21)

Children forced from their homes have little to eat

We’ve been following what’s been happening in Orissa, India since the end of August.  I received the following in an e-mail today, and because of the anger that welled up inside of me (righteous, I think), I decided to post it here in case you haven’t heard.  They need our prayers.  And yes, they need our resources.  Check out yesterday’s post and 2 Corinthians 8.  We have an abundance that is to be shared with them.

BEGINNING OF ARTICLE

Before you spend any time fretting about the drop in the stock market, pray for Indian believers who have been attacked in the state of Orissa.

This week while many people in the United States were fretting over the credit crisis and its effect on their 401Ks, Christians in the Indian village of Sindhipankha were mourning the death of their friend Dushashan Majhi. A bold Christian, he was shot on Oct. 3 by a band of Hindu militants who then cut his body into pieces.

Those whose homes have been destroyed have been forced to flee.

The people in Sindhipankha do not have 401Ks. Many of them, in fact, no longer have homes. Across the state of Orissa, in northeast India, Hindus have ransacked and burned hundreds of Christians’ houses and churches during the last two months. Hundreds have died.

“The violence in August and September of 2008 has been the worst in our 2,000-year history in India,” says John Dayal, an Indian journalist and founder of the All India Christian Council. “Fifty thousand are homeless and 30,000 are hiding in forests, chased like animals by Hindu fanatics who are forcing them to become Hindus or die.”

Christian burned to death

“While we are complaining about high gas prices in the United States, some Indian Christians are being doused with gasoline and set on fire.”

Last week in the village of Hrudangia, in Orissa, an 80-year-old Christian man named Lalji Nayak was attacked by a Hindu mob, according to Compass News. He died after being hacked in the chest with an axe. Later, when his family tried to give him a Christian burial, police would not allow it. (Compass noted that an 8-year-old boy miraculously survived the attack after being hit in the skull by an axe.)

To read the full article, click here.

To see more pictures, click here.

Global Training Network’s (GTN) lead church planter, Sindhu Pani, lives in Orissa.  If you are interested in helping, please contact GTN.

See our sidebar for a link to Voice of the Martyrs (VOM).  More Christians have been martyred in the 20th century alone than have been martyred (total) in all the centuries since Jesus’ resurrection.  Subscribe to VOM’s monthly magazine here.