Two brothers, Pastor Pramod and Pastor Dilip, lead a group of 17 growing churches, and the members of one of these churches began constructing a new church building. Suddenly, a group of Hindu radicals swept into the location and completely destroyed the newly laid foundation. The radicals identified Pramod and Dilip as active evangelists who are promoting Christianity in that area, and they threatened them with physical harm. Pray for these two pastors’ protection and courage and that the Christians of the area would be comforted and encouraged.
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Xavia, 30, survived a brutal assault eight years ago. During a 2016 attack, rebels with a militant group set fire to numerous homes in her village. Her husband, mother, father and sisters were burned alive. Xavia was tied up and subjected to horrific torture, rendering her unable to have additional children. She doesn’t know how she survived the assault but only remembers waking up in an evacuation truck. She was sent to another country for surgery, but her emotional wounds need additional healing. According to a front-line worker, “She continues to suffer emotionally and has ongoing bouts of depression.” Due to a severe shortage of trained counselors and psychologists in the CAR, front-line workers are currently working to train pastors to provide healing care to Christians like Xavia who have suffered brutal attacks.
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An Iranian pastor who was released from prison in 2023, after serving many years for leading a house church, reported that God enabled him to work as an evangelist behind bars despite constant surveillance. He said that when he started his sentence, “I began to think that this was a dangerous place and that it would not be possible to witness to anyone.” But later he found ways to secretly witness to others and eventually led 13 prisoners to Christ. “During the recreation times, I would walk around in a spirit of friendship with these new believers and teach them how to grow in their faith and answer their questions,” he said. The pastor hopes to somehow continue discipling those prisoners from outside of the prison walls: “I realized that if I had not been imprisoned, these 13 would not have had an opportunity to hear the gospel and believe in Christ,” he said after his release.