When Manipur State in India was rocked by ethno-religious violence in May 2023, Pastor Sian* was one of the Christians targeted.
VIDEO SCRIPT
Sian* – name changed for security reasons
Everyone has a story to tell of that night. In the middle of the night we had to run for our lives. We had to flee to the mountain. And from that mountain, we could see the smoke coming from the village. We could see the church burning, our house burning. We were so helpless. We could not do anything. So my church members were scattering here and there in relief camp.
In May 2023, violence broke out in Manipur, India between the largely Hindu Meitei community and the majority-Christian Kukis.
The conflict was tribal but also had a religious element, as Christian churches and properties were specifically targeted and destroyed.
With the churches gone and the Christians scattered, Sian, a pastor of around ten congregations, had to adapt his ministry.
Seeing the way they treat our church and our God is very painful. Half of my churches were turned to ashes. Before the conflict we’ll go to the church and then people will come. But now there is no church, so we have to go to them to their respective houses and their respective relief camps. It requires a lot of traveling a lots of time.
I pray with them, I listen to them their stories. The first day they cannot even share their problem. They just cry. From that time I called them and then I said, we will have church service. I started encouraging them. We are running away from our home. We are running away from our church. But we should not run away from God.
We should stay connected with God. We should have have hope in God and we should be praying. We should be like Job. Job lost everything but he still praised God. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Through local partners, Open Doors has supported displaced Christians in the region with practical aid and spiritual training.
I want to thank our friends who have organized seminar on persecution preparedness. This seminar was not just learning, but we put into practice. And we really used it what we have learned to stay with God, to forgive and also to pray and to those who persecute, to bless those who, are against us.
So this really helped us to overcome the persecution. Thank you so much for, for this, we thank God that we have a living God who can change anything and who through Him everything is possible. I believe that we will grow up stronger if we have God. We will build bigger houses, bigger church. That is the faith we have.
People Interviewed and their Titles
Sian* – name changed for security reasons.
Recording Location
Manipur, India
Organization featured in this Story
Open Doors UK – www.opendoorsuk.org
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