Renounce Christ and Return
Pastor Kirade said he received a phone call from Laxman on Friday (March 13) offering him safe return to the village and a promise to rebuild his house if he renounces Christ.
“Laxman told me that he is willing to help me build my house and restore everything back to normal, but I must renounce Christ and stop praying to Jesus,” the pastor told Morning Star News. “I told him that you broke my house because it was a worship place of the living God, but what you do not know is that wherever I build my house, God’s worship place will be established there. So, I told him that I will not renounce Christ.”
His father misses his lifelong home.
“I moved to this village many years ago, long before Lalu was born,” Dildaar Kirade said. “I am saddened, leaving my home and my village.”
Pastor Kirade, who leads three other churches in three other villages as well, said his property was all looted or destroyed.
Only three of 50 chickens are left. Their entire stock of food, given as tithes and offerings by his congregation, was gone: 400 pounds of wheat, 130 pounds of corn, 90 pounds of rice, and nine pounds of lentils, along with onions, garlic and vegetables. Also gone was a large stock of eggs the pastor would sell when short of money, he said.
Local officials have announced that if any villager associates with the Kirade family in any way, they will have to pay a fine, Khargone pastor Bhagirath Sisodiya said.
“Anybody who tries to help Lalu and his family with food, clothing, shelter or is even seen associating with them in any manner will have to pay a fine of 5,000 rupees [US$67],” Pastor Sisodiya told Morning Star News.
After two nights in the jungle, the family found refuge with a church member three miles from Bilood – one small room, so they are still sleeping outside under a piece of cloth strung over them, he said. One of his sons has a chest infection from sleeping in the cold night air, he said.
“At least there is provision of water to cook, drink and do the daily chores, unlike the jungle,” he said.
Kirade’s family managed to survive with rice Pastor Sisodiya donated until the Rev. Jagdish Sahu of the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) reached them with a supply of wheat flour, rice, lentils, fruit and dry snacks.
“It was heart-breaking to see a pastor and his family in this condition, especially the children,” the Rev. Vijayesh Lal, general secretary of EFI, told Morning Star News. “That is why we immediately sent help. We will follow it up so that the family is provided for till they are stable. It is our responsibility to stand with them. We have also asked Lalu to search for a piece of land and hope that we can help him buy the same to build a decent house for his family.”
Pastor Kirade said he is worried about his children sleeping in the chill of night.
“My whole family is dependent on me; we have no other source of income,” he said. “But I am sure God has planned everything for us. I am not worried about me, empty I came and empty I will return, only God’s work should not stop.”
India is ranked 10th on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2020 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. The country was 31st in 2013, but its position has worsened since Narendra Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014.
This article originally appeared here.
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