Immediately after helping lead an AFCI planning seminar in Cambodia, Joe Duthie (Assistant Regional Director for Asia) traveled back to India this week to speak in a pastors’ training seminar in Orissa State. On the way he was followed and attacked. Here is Joe’s first hand account of the incident . . .
“Yesterday on my way to Khandamal (Orissa) for the RIPE (Rural India Pastors Enhancement) we were followed by 2 men in a motor bike for more than one hour. When their town approached they tried to stop us and there was very dangerous chase. In one place they overtook us and stopped our Jeep and begin to assault the driver. Then one man turned toward me. By this time other people from the town also begin to gather around us, suddenly there was some space and the driver started the vehicle through that. We speed from the place and no one followed us. After sometime I started to drive the rest of the journey as the driver was a young boy and very nervous. It was a jeep drive for about 7 hours through a rural area.
This incident took place near the famous place where more than 50+ Christians were killed in the last 2 years. We still do not know the motive behind it. In last year’s training we took the rural pastors to a far off city due to the persecution and from this year onward we thought of having it in Khandamal to reduce the expenditure.”
Please pray for Joe and the India team members teaching this week in Khandamal. Ministering in hostile environments is not easy.
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