Rebuilding broken lives

Open Doors teams help rebuild lives of persecuted Christians in Orissa

When Ravi heard the angry clamour of the mob, he knew his worst fears were about to be realised. As the shouts grew louder, Ravi gathered his family to him and told them to run for their lives.

The extremists were merciless. Ravi's home was ransacked and burned, and his livestock stolen. Going from house to house, the gang continued their rampage until the whole village was destroyed. Like Ravi, the rest of the villagers fled into the nearby forest for cover, knowing that to resist would mean certain death.

Ravi's story would be harrowing enough if his were the only village to have been hit by the extremists. But when you understand the scale of these vicious attacks, you begin to realise that the suffering endured by the Christians of Orissa over the past year has been almost unthinkable.

History of violence

Orissa has a long history of violence against Christians. In 1969 the now-deceased Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader, Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, started a Hindu religious centre in Orissa dedicated to countering the work of Christian missionaries. In 2007, violence against Christians incited by Saraswati left more than 800 houses and churches burned and at least four Christians dead.

The tensions reached an all-time high in August 2008 when Saraswati was killed, allegedly by local Maoist rebels. Hindu extremists blamed Christians for the murder and incited rioting mobs again them.  The resulting violence quickly spiralled out of control. Hindu extremists marched ruthlessly from village to village, destroying homes, churches and families. In the ensuing months, 315 Christian villages were destroyed and 4,500 homes burned to the ground. Some 252 churches and 13 schools were demolished. An estimated 120 people were murdered, including seven pastors. And 54,000 people were forced to flee their homes in fear for their lives.

Open Doors' response

Open Doors has been at work in Orissa for many years, but never before have our brothers and sisters in the region needed our help and support on such a massive scale.

As the violence escalated, the first priority was to provide emergency relief. Open Doors teams supported thousands of families, with food parcels and other essential items such as blankets, mosquito nets, clothes and toiletries.

As always, our concern for Orissa's Christians was not only for their material provision, but for their spiritual welfare as well. Open Doors teams were quick to plan specialist trauma counselling programmes.

"The riots shocked us beyond our imagination. I am really thankful to the Lord for the privilege of attending this training. These skills will be effective instruments to counsel those who have lost everything."
- Pastor Paul

Alongside trauma counselling, Open Doors also stepped up its provision of Standing Strong Through the Storm (SSTS) seminars. These courses, which give believers a biblical understanding of persecution and promote forgiveness and reconciliation, have been in great demand across the region and more than 600 believers have attended an SSTS seminar since last September.

Still much to be done

Praise God for all the needs that our teams have been able to meet since the escalation of violence in Orissa last August. But there is still so much to be done!

Today, 4,000 Christians remain in makeshift relief camps and thousands more are still desperate for our care. Please consider how you can support these believers. Your prayers and gifts can help them rebuild their broken lives in the months ahead.