The Real Face of Communism

This story below is from one of our missionary partners, Paul Hagelgans, who is evangelizing in the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. His father recently died and he sent us a snippet from his dad's life.

The reminder is this: It is too easy to forget what a travesty Communism was and is. Too many people today, young people who never experienced the Cold War, are casting Communism as “not that bad”, and people like Ronald Reagan who fought it as possibly the actual bad guys. Let this personal testimony serve as a witness that Communism is not a friend to the Gospel nor to civilized humanity.

Here's the e-mail I received:

Dear partner in ministry,

I just want to pass this personal note on to you to let you know our field director of the FSU [Paul Hagelgans] got news while he was traveling with me in the USA that his dad had graduated to heaven. Yesterday I put him on the plane to join his family back in Germany, and I want to ask you to remember him and his family these next few days. I have included a note from him as well, but I wanted to share with you one of the stories he told me about his dad as we traveled these last few days:

Paul's father was 81 years old [when he died]. When he was nine years old, his father and 5 brothers where taken out and shot by the KGB for being believers, missionaries, and pastors. The parting comment of the KGB officer to his mom was "We will make it so that your last son will not even remember who Jesus is." With that his mom, standing tall at 4' 2", addressed the officer with her finger in his face "Who are you? You are not God". Of course, she could have been killed on the spot, but God spared her and she went on to raise her son and died when she was 87. Her 9 year old son, Friedrich, died last Friday at 81 years, 27 days. He will go and see his dad and mom and brothers in Heaven since he did know about Jesus and walked with him as well. He leaves behind a believing wife and 15 children (all but one are believers) Their families-even the family of the unbeliever--all know Jesus, and number just over 120 people. The question that begs to be asked is where is communism and this KGB officer? We know where Friedrich is. Please pray for this family as they celebrate the life of a faithful father.

Mark A. Reimschisel

Executive Director,
Bible Mission International, Inc.

NOTE FROM PAUL:

My dear Friends,

This is to inform you that on November 28, at the age of 81, my father went to be with the Lord Whom he was serving his whole life long.

For me personally and my family, this was not unexpected, we knew it was to happen soon, he had done the ministry the Lord had given to him, and he had kept living faithfully until the last minute of his life. Now he is even more alive than all of us who live here on the earth.On Friday, December 5, as the Word of the Lord tells us, we will give his body to the earth. It will not be a day of sorrow for us, but a day of victory. According to the words of the Apostle Paul in I Thes. 4:13-18, we will not separate from him, but we will be waiting to meet him again.

My father's life has not been easy; he was a faithful servant to God, to his family and to the people. Not all of it can be described in this letter. I will send you more about his life a little later. His example will be kept forever in the hearts not only of his family, but also of hundreds of people who were around him.

We thank the Lord for our father, and for all He did through him. I thank you for your prayers and support.

Yours in Him,
Paul Hagelgans
Field Director

Orissa Finally in the News

Thank God! The persecution in Orissa finally made the U.S.News.

Here is a report in today's Chicago TRibune:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-india-clashes_barkersep28,0,2301134.story

Orissa Is Not Out of the Woods

The violence continues in Orissa. Please watch this video...




You can find out more at: http://www.gfa.org/extremists-launch-attacks-against-christians?cm_mmc=GFA-_-Email-_-377991-_-080915

Pictures From Orissa

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Orissa Update

This is from our Brother Santanu Patro.

-Steve

Dear Brothers and Sisters, The latest information is that the violence is now contained and killing has been stopped. However people are crowding in relief camps and from relief camps they move to the jungles in the nights for safety. They are still under fear and stress. As transportation is made available many are moving to cities away from the actual riots. Vision Orissa [Santanu's organization] has received several riot victims, who are not willing to deny Christ as force is put on them in relief camps. They are put in different houses in Berhampur with the help of the local churches. When we provided shelter to 35 people in a church, Police came and removed them from the church and sent them to relief camps established by Govt.

The people donʼt feel safe and they want to run away. Many are put in houses of believers. Vision Orissa staff are threatened. It is much the same as refugeesin your own land. They need food, clothes, medicine and shelter. We arecollecting from people and distributing to them. No amount of relief would helpthem, but it is a small and helpful beginning.

Again these are urgent but temporary needs. I am advised not to visit Orissa atthe moment, therefore I am going to receive few believers of Orissa and takethem around the churches and church leaders in Chennai to make the churches to move as well as put pressure on Govt. to help Christians who have become refugees. Please write to World Vision International office why they cannot help persecuted Christians. If they think Govt is putting pressure they must find alternative, like channeling their relief through other agencies.

Most of them are coming out as they refuse to be converted back to Hinduism. Itis a very bold step which may have further suffering. They have to start all over again by literally being on streets for the sake of Christ. I am hearing reports that many are refusing to deny Christ and some of them are withstanding all kinds of torture even to the point of death.

Yesterday I had called to a friend with whom I went to the Seminary, a Baptist leader as well as someone who is deeply involved in politics and fighting forthe political rights of the people of Orissaʼs tribes. I could talk to him after the riots for the first time. He now lives in a relief camp. He was saying that the people are planning to retaliate by attacking the high castes Hindus who have come with blue colour jobs and businesses in order to revenge the death and destruction. This seems to be very dangerous. Yes, they are angry, but Christ reminds us the Cross as symbol of persecution and the Resurrection the hope of New Life. If you are led to support our efforts of relief you may send your support to Armitage Baptist Church, Chicago by visiting their website. Or send me money through western union and inform the money transaction details.

Santanu

Rev. Dr. Santanu K Patro

Pray for Orissa

A humanitarian crisis is looming in India, with militant Hindus trying to "cleanse" their province of Christians. I got the following e-mail this morning from my friend Santanu Patro in a neighboring state, begging for wisdom, advice, and help.

Please read it, and pray for the believers, the Hindus who persecute them, and what we might do to help.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Greetings in the most precious name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Thank you very much for your prayers and we rely in God who is going to answer all our prayers. But it is becoming hard and testing for us to understand the faithfulness of God's people. Like me many of us are broken and we want God to intervene immediately.

Today I have got some fresh news and it is estimated 500 to 600 pastors, evangelists and believers are killed. No one is spared including the children. Orissa is one of the most backward states and communication is so poor it is difficult to go into interior parts of the affected district. No media, Christian leader or human right activists are allowed to enter.

I am trying my best by sending mails to the authorities as well as asking Christians to pray. For next few days I will be busy in holding prayer meetings for the persecuted Christians.

I also hear that people who are in relief camps their food and water is contaminated and they are suffering with water born diseases. They come to eat in the relief camps and spend the night in jungles as police express their inability to protect them in the camps at night.

What is shocking is that now no believers are willing to go back to the village as they lost everything and they still fear that they may be killed. Some of them are trying to migrate to other states. I have been contacted to contact some organization if they can help in migration and rehabilitation in Madras.

But this is going to be large scale migration of 500,000 people at least. What is needed is immediate relief to all the Christians in relief camps. I have contacted World Vision and other organizations but they express their inability to help as Gov’t is not allowing them. I also feel when they want to migrate no rehabilitation package would help them settle in their villages.

The Hindu militant groups namely Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal (BJ) and Rashtriya Swayam Sangha (RSS) are now forcing Christians to burn their bibles and convert them to Hindu belief and put a tattoo on their body, a Hindu symbol indicating they are Hindus. Those who refuse are killed.

Out of fear many are becoming Hindu and one cannot blame them. But I am also thinking of politically mobilizing to initiate some action. It is a human rights violation as well as fundamental rights violation of right to religion. It is an ethnic cleansing and genocide. I am praying if Lord leads me to start a public forum. I need his wisdom. Please pray and give your advise.

At the moment I am not going to Orissa as situation is still tense, in fact many of my relatives and friends want to leave Orissa and come. Please continue to pray.

With the persecuted Christians, Santanu
Rev. Dr. Santanu K Patro

And I Thought Hindus Were Peaceful

It seems our illustrious Media have more pressing issues to report about these days:

There's the hot hockey mom who may be President someday who doesn't have enough experience (even though she has more than Obama) whose daughter is pregnant...

Then there's the story about how Hurricane Gustav missed New Orleans and all that didn't happen...

And of course, are American actors manly enough...?

But what I would think is a rather big story seems to be entirely ignored by the American media, and most of the global media: Hindus, supposedly known for their nonviolence, are torching thousands of homes and killing dozens of people in Orissa State, India. People killed with axes and machetes... burned to death... nuns being gang-raped.

How do I know this? A good friend of our church is an Indian national planting churches and building Christian schools and orphanages in Orissa, and he e-mailed us and others with a plea for help. So I checked the Web for evidence of Media attention to this and found mostly blogs.

Here's one:

http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/archives/2008/08/christians_in_i_1.html

Human Rights Watch actually has done some work on this crisis:

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/08/28/india19711.htm

There also seems to be some BBC coverage...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7160164.stm

But the BBC report is from DECEMBER 2007, When these problems in Orissa first started. It seems that Maoists have attacked some key Hindu nationalists in Orissa and the blame has been placed on the Christian minority. The Hindus have retaliated severely, with December's anger still seething, apparently.

So where is the NEWS coverage? Do you suppose if Christians were burning Hindu temples it might make the news? What about if Christians were gang-raping Hindu nuns?

I should stop whining, I suppose. The world is not fair. I just thought maybe the great Watchdog of Justice - the International Media - or at least UN or someone would squawk about this...

And where are the Hindu leaders denouncing the violence? Aren't these the people who won't eat beef because they deplore violence against cows?

Here are their main tenets:

5 PRINCIPLES
1. God Exists: One Absolute OM. One Trinity: Brahma, Vishnu, Maheshwara (Shiva) Several divine forms
2. All human beings are divine
3. Unity of existence through love
4. Religious harmony
5. Knowledge of 3 Gs: Ganga (sacred river), Gita (sacred script), Gayatri (sacred mantra)

10 DISCIPLINES
1. Satya (Truth)
2. Ahimsa (Non-violence)
3. Brahmacharya (Celibacy, non-adultery)
4. Asteya (No desire to possess or steal)
5. Aparighara (Non-corrupt)
6. Shaucha (Cleanliness)
7. Santosh (Contentment)
8. Swadhyaya (Reading of scriptures)
9. Tapas (Austerity, perseverance, penance)
10. Ishwarpranidhan (Regular prayers)

http://hinduism.about.com/od/basics/a/principles.htm


Good thing the cows are not Christians...

Nonetheless, "Pray for those who persecute you". We must pray earnestly for those in darkness - darkness is why they do what they do. So pray for the Hindu extremists and those they persecute.