‘I’ll Keep Serving God Till My Last Breath’: Indian Pastor Won’t Back Down After Cops Allegedly Persecute, Beat, and Drive Him From His Home By Billy Hallowell for Faith Wire
Despite a 2021 Pew Research Center survey finding the majority of Indians believe it is “very important to respect all religions,” India has tragically become a dangerous place for Christians.
The nation ranks as the 10th most risky nation in the world for believers, according to Open Doors USA’s 2022 World Watch List, which ranks countries where persecution is most prevalent.
“The persecution of Christians in India is intensifying as Hindu extremists aim to cleanse the country of their presence and influence,” the World Watch List explained. “The driving force behind this is Hindutva, an ideology that disregards Indian Christians and other religious minorities as true Indians because they have allegiances that lie outside India, and asserts the country should be purified of their presence.”
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Open Doors recently shared the heartbreaking and inspiring story of an Indian pastor who was detained, brutally beaten, and driven from his ministry and home.
Pastor Shekhar, whose name was changed to protect his identity, shared how police confronted him and others after they gathered to pray and fast for the sick.
“While we were praying, policemen came. They stopped the meeting and started to threaten us,” the pastor told Open Doors USA. “It was at this moment I realized that our time of persecution has come.”
Shekhar said police took their Bibles and demanded they head to the local station. That’s when the situation worsened, as the group was beaten and tortured; Shekhar was so severely harmed his eardrums burst.
Throughout the ordeal, though, he clung to Christ.
“I got scared when I was tortured, beaten, and abused by people,” he said. “But in the midst of it, I remembered God’s promises: He has promised to not leave us as orphans, but will keep us and sustain us.”
