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Tribal animists burn Bibles, church, threaten to ‘chop’ Christians ‘to pieces’:India

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Tribal animists wielding axes surrounded a church building in eastern India and threatened to “chop” Christians “to pieces” before burning the church to the ground amid escalating persecution in the south Asian country.

Animists in Odisha state’s Perigaon village, Rayagada District, staged the attack on Dec. 1 after they raided Christians’ homes where they seizes and burned Bibles five days earlier. Animists worship gods based on ancestors, spirits, and nature.

“After we concluded the prayers and community lunch service on Dec. 1, a batch of around 15 tribal men came with axes, surrounded the church and threatened that they will chop us into pieces,” pastor Bibudhan Pradhan told.

The assailants surrounded the pastor and his wife as they were trying to return to their home in another town, he said.

“They took us inside the village and held us hostage for more than four hours,” Pradhan said. “They abused us in vulgar language, words that I can’t utter with my mouth, and threatened us that their gods and goddesses will swallow us alive for propagating Christianity in an Adivasi (indigenous tribal) hamlet.”

Eventually, the assailants released the couple after ordering them to stop holding worship services and never again enter the village. That night, the animists set the mud-and-bamboo structure on fire, the pastor said.

“Christians from the Adivasi hamlet reside about 1 kilometer far from the church site,” Pradhan said. “But the fire spread faster, and within 10 to 15 minutes the roof made of dry grass shattered, and the bamboos also caught fire.”

A few days earlier, a gang of drunken animists raided the homes of several Christians as they slept, destroying any Bibles they discovered.

“They were horrified by what happened the night before,” he said. “The drunk men abused the Christian families in filthy language and forcefully searched their homes for Bibles. The Christians tried hard to resist them to no avail. They gathered the Bibles from Christian homes at one spot at the center of the village, poured kerosene and lit fire.”

The animists reportedly ignored their pleas to calm down and spare their Bibles, he said, adding that their complaints to the village elders were ignored.

“But the elders of Perigaon village justified the act of burning Bibles and in return abused me in filthy language,” he said. “They said that because of me the village has lost its rich culture and values, and that I had introduced a foreign faith, and that my presence and the Christian prayers in the village had hurt them deeply.

“They also issued threats that they would go to any extent to put an end to the spread of Christianity in the village.”

When Pradhan and the church elders filed a complaint with police about the Dec. 1 and Nov. 26 attacks, authorities ignored their pleas for help and instead forced them to sign a document prohibiting them from holding worship services in the village.

“On Dec. 2 the officer forcefully took our thumbprints on a document that was written in Odiya that there will not be any Christian prayers in Perigaon village,” he said. “He was very biased and refused to listen to our pleas.”

Eventually, police arrested the assailants and briefly held them in custody before releasing them.

“No cases were registered against the assailants, who confessed that they had set the Bibles ablaze, held the pastor hostage and later burned down the church,” one Christian, Hananiyo Lima.

Church members have decided not to take further legal action, Pradhan said, as villagers threatened to expel the Christians’ children from government welfare hostels and forbid burials within village limits.

Pratap Chinchani, an attorney for legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom-India, criticized police for turning against the victims and forcing them to sign official documents saying in essence, “There won’t be Christian prayers in the village — you move out of Rayagada and conduct your worship service elsewhere,” he said.

“How can police restrain the pastor from visiting the village? This kind of approach is illegal, and it must be legally challenged,” Chinchani told Morning Star News. “This inaction of police must be challenged in a court of law. As ADF-India, we are ready to incur the travel expenses for the victims to travel down to Cuttack, where the High Court is located bout 280 miles from Rayagada.”

Odisha’s population of 4.1 million is 93.6 percent Hindu, 2.77 percent Christian and 2.17 percent Muslim, according to the 2011 census.

India is ranked as the 10th worst country when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2019 World Watch List.

Christian persecution has steadily increased across India since the election of President  Modi in 2014 and the rise of his BJP, which is the political arm of the Hindu nationalist organization R S S.

Sources: Christian Post

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കാത്തിരിപ്പ് സമയം വെട്ടിക്കുറയ്ക്കും; ഇന്ത്യക്കാർക്ക് ആശ്വാസമായി 2025-ൽ പുതിയ യുഎസ് വിസ നിയമനം

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യുഎസിൽ ജോലി ചെയ്യാനും യാത്ര ചെയ്യാനും ആഗ്രഹിക്കുന്ന ഇന്ത്യക്കാർക്ക് പുതുവർഷം ആശ്വാസം പകരും. 2025 ജനുവരി 1 മുതൽ, ഇന്ത്യയിലെ യുഎസ് എംബസി, നോൺ-ഇമിഗ്രൻ്റ് വിസ അപ്പോയിൻ്റ്‌മെൻ്റുകൾ ഷെഡ്യൂൾ ചെയ്യുന്നതിനും റീഷെഡ്യൂൾ ചെയ്യുന്നതിനുമുള്ള പുതിയ നിയന്ത്രണങ്ങൾ അവതരിപ്പിക്കും.

ഡിപ്പാർട്ട്മെൻ്റ് ഓഫ് ഹോംലാൻഡ് സെക്യൂരിറ്റി (DHS) H-1B വിസ പ്രക്രിയ നവീകരിക്കുന്നതിനുള്ള പുതിയ നിയമങ്ങൾ വെളിപ്പെടുത്തിയതിന് തൊട്ടുപിന്നാലെയാണ് ഈ പ്രഖ്യാപനം.

രണ്ട് പ്രഖ്യാപനങ്ങളും ഇന്ത്യക്കാർക്ക് അനുകൂലമാണ്, കൂടാതെ നടപടിക്രമങ്ങൾ കാര്യക്ഷമമാക്കാനും അപേക്ഷകരുടെ നീണ്ട കാത്തിരിപ്പ് സമയം കുറയ്ക്കാനും ലക്ഷ്യമിടുന്നു.
Sources:azchavattomonline.com

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ചിക്കാഗോ ലേഡീസ് ഫെലോഷിപ്പിന് പുതിയ നേതൃത്വം

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ചിക്കാഗോ: ചിക്കാഗോ ലേഡീസ് ഫെലോഷിപ്പിന്റെ രണ്ടു വര്‍ഷത്തെ കോര്‍ഡിനേറ്ററായി സിസ്റ്റര്‍ മോളി എബ്രഹാമിനേയും, ജോയിന്റ് കോര്‍ഡിനേറ്ററായി സിസ്റ്റര്‍ ഗ്രേസി തോമസിനേയും തെരഞ്ഞെടുത്തു.
സിസ്റ്റര്‍ മിനി ജോണ്‍സന്റെയും,സിസ്റ്റര്‍ റോസമ്മ തോമസിന്റെയും പ്രവര്‍ത്തന കാലാവധി പൂര്‍ത്തിയായതിനെ തുടര്‍ന്നണ് പുതിയ ഭാരവാഹികളെ തെരഞ്ഞെടുത്തത്.ഫെലോഷിപ്പ് ഓഫ് പെന്തക്കോസ്തല്‍ ചര്‍ച്ചസ് ഇന്‍ ചിക്കാഗോയുടെ കണ്‍വീനര്‍ ഡോ.വില്ലി എബ്രഹാമിന്റെ ഭാര്യയാണ് മോളി എബ്രഹാം.ഗുഡ് ഷെപ്പേര്‍ഡ് ഫെലോഷിപ്പ് ചര്‍ച്ചിലെ അംഗമാണ്.
ഗില്‍ഗാല്‍ പെന്തക്കോസ്തല്‍ അസംബ്ലിയിലെ സീനിയര്‍ ശുശ്രൂഷകന്‍ പാസ്റ്റര്‍ സാം തോമസിന്റെ ഭാര്യയാണ് ജോയിന്റ് കണ്‍വീനറായ ഗ്രേസി തോമസ്.
Sources:onlinegoodnews

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Biblical Archaeology From the Holy Land Revealed: ‘You’re Almost Touching…History’

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An Israeli entrepreneur on a mission to highlight biblical artifacts has brought his “treasures from the Holy Land” to America.

Oded Golan’s “Discovering the World of Jesus: Ancient Treasures From the Holy Land” experience opened Dec. 3 at Atlanta’s Pullman Yards, with hundreds of ancient artifacts surrounding the New Testament on display.

“We are bringing [a] once-in-a-lifetime experience to people to look at items that they will probably not have other opportunities to see,” Golan recently told CBN News. “The 350 items that are presented here, most of them are from the time of Christ. They were all found in the Holy Land in Israel, and they are telling the stories that are mentioned in the New Testament, but in first hand.”

He added, “You’re almost touching the history.”

Golan said some of the items are related to Jesus’ family or people living during his lifetime. These elements allow people to explore life during biblical times, seeing the behaviors and practices that unfolded during the New Testament era.

Already, audiences are loving the experience, Golan said, noting that giving a lens into the past illuminates knowledge and understanding.

“It doesn’t change faith, it doesn’t change belief, but it changed, somehow, how do you feel and how do you see the stories that are mentioned in the Bible — in the New Testament,” he said.

Golan’s story is a fascinating one, as he started collecting antiquities when he was just a child.

What started as a passion project grew into something much more — a collection he calls the “biggest and largest … in the world of biblical archaeology items.”

“When I was young, even, you know, until the age of 16, 17, I had in mind that I should be an archaeologist one day,” he said. “But … in life it was changed … but I kept archaeology as a hobby.”

And that hobby grew as he traveled all over the Holy Land and collected artifacts — relics he brings to audiences in “Discovering the World of Jesus: Ancient Treasures From the Holy Land.”

“In this exhibition, we present only items that came from a very short period of time,” Golan said. “We are talking about the early first century AD, the time of Jesus. A few items are from the 3rd, 4th, 5th century because this was the time when the first churches emerged — the cradle of Christianity.”

He believes audiences will be captivated regardless of their age or religious beliefs.

“It doesn’t matter what age you are, and what [religion] you are, and how strong [a] believer you are,” Golan said. “It’s fantastic.”

The entrepreneur also made international headlines in 2012 when he was on trial after being accused by the Israel Antiquities Authority of forging an inscription on the James ossuary, a stone relic believed to hold the bones of Jesus’ brother, James.

He was acquitted after a seven-year legal battle. The ossuary, which has been a source of contention, has an Aramaic line that reads, “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.” Proponents argue that the inscription pointed to evidence of Christ’s brother, James.

Ultimately, Golan was absolved of the most serious charges surrounding manufacturing elements of this inscription, among other serious charges. Some have since defended the authenticity of the artifact’s inscription, which would be the earliest reference to Jesus. Read more about the history of the matter.

Golan referred to this case while explaining he was in the “later stage” of his life – over the age of 50 — when he read the New Testament for the first time and started to understand it. Wanting to better comprehend the ossuary in his collection, he turned to the text for understanding.

Speaking about the James ossuary, he heralded the importance of the find, which is included in “Discovering the World of Jesus: Ancient Treasures From the Holy Land.” He’s hoping the collection inspires visitors to think more deeply about the past.

“You’re touching the history — almost physically,” Golan reiterated. “And that makes … a big difference compared to any other kind of exhibition. And, as I mentioned, it’s not only the artifact exhibition. It has much more than that.”

After the Atlanta run, Golan hopes to bring “Discovering the World of Jesus: Ancient Treasures From the Holy Land” to other cities across America.
Sources:faithwire

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