Persecution Watch: For The LOVE of the TRUTH.

Matthew 10:22
And you will be hated by all for My name's sake, but he who perseveres and endures to the end will be saved [ from spiritual disease and death in the world to come].

Christians brave horrifying massacres
Victims pledge to persevere as mobs rape, maim, burn faithful

Despite brutal and horrifying persecution that has left countless dead and an estimated 50,000 homeless, Christians in India's Orissa state are determined that God will have the victory in their violence-torn homeland. Since the assassination of anti-Christian Hindu leader Swami Laxamanananda Saraswat on August 22, mobs of Hindu fanatics that blame Christians for the leader's death have been roving the Orissa state on the eastern shore of India, torching churches and homes, brutalizing Christians and burning the bodies of those they kill. Reports from missions organization Gospel for Asia (GFA), however, tell of courage and determination in the face of violence. One story reported on Christian Newswire told of a missionary beaten multiple times by a Hindu mob demanding he leave a village where he had been working. "Even if you kill me, I will not make a vow that I will never come back," the missionary is reported to have answered. "That depends not on me but on the Lord. If he wants to send me here, then I will come," he told his attackers. Simon John, a GFA regional leader in India, said, "Christians will stand together in this nation, in love and to lift up the people, even if persecution or death comes. We will not stop doing good for the people." MORE

Laos Forcing Christians to Renounce Their Faith

Authorities in Laos have ordered families of three detained Christians in Savannakhet province to sign documents renouncing their faith in Jesus Christ, rights investigators said Thursday, August 28. Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom said the chief of Boukham village in Savannakhet province gave the order, but added that the family members refused. A crackdown in other parts of Laos continued, with new incidents reported this week in Attapue and Borikhamxay provinces, reported Compass Direct News, a Christian news agency. On Monday, Auust 25, Christians in Donphai village in Attapue province were reportedly fined for holding a church service during local animistic ceremonies. In Toongpankham, Borikhamxay, officials continued to pressure 22 Christian families comprising 150 people in village who have refused to give up their faith, Christians said. Village officials had torn down their church building in January, then in mid-August harassed church members for not meeting in a proper worship facility, according to rights investigators. At least 90 Christians in Laos, including church leaders, have been detained in recent weeks as part of an apparent government-backed crackdown on Christian worship services in several provinces across the Southeast Asian nation. [no further content] LINK