One Missionary Beaten for Sharing the Gospel; Another Threatened by Her Family

By Gospel for Asia Mar 21, 2011

Two Gospel for Asia-supported missionaries in one South Asian state are being harassed for their faith. Jennar Hedge was beaten for conducting a worship service and Jiwanni Reddy’s family is putting pressure on her to turn her back on Christ and drop out of Bible college.

Jennar’s problem began when he and his son were on their way to lead a house prayer meeting in the home of a believer in a nearby village. A neighbor of the believer heard about the planned prayer meeting and confronted Pastor Jennar as he arrived at the home. The neighbor lashed out at Jennar for coming to the village and sharing the Gospel. The neighbor accused him of forcing the people to convert to Christianity. Then the irate man began beating Jennar. The believers in the area intervened and pulled their pastor out of the fray.

In spite of the persecution, the pastor went on to conduct the prayer meeting, at which time they lifted the opposing neighbor up to the Lord, asking Him to touch his heart.

Jennar asks for prayer for the man who attacked him, that he and his family would receive Christ’s love. He also asks for prayer that many in this village would understand and embrace the love of Jesus.

Elsewhere in this state, Jiwanni is at odds with her own family because she wants to serve Christ. Jiwanni is in her second year of Bible college and is committed to serving Jesus with her life. However, her family is angry about her decision to break with their traditional religion. They constantly harass her about her newfound faith, threatening all kinds of evil things unless she turns her back on Jesus and return home. This has caused a great deal of discouragement in Jiwanni’s life.

Additionally, the Bible college Jiwanni attends is in the middle of an area dominated by anti-Christian extremists. The local people have been harassing Jiwanni and her classmates mercilessly when they go out to tell the local people about Jesus and His love.

Jiwanni asks for prayer that God would touch her relatives through her life and testimony. She also needs encouragement, strength and wisdom in order to continue her studies.

All the missionaries working in this state ask for your prayers for safety. There have been numerous reports of persecution in the area. They also ask for prayer that the local authorities would allow them to conduct worship services and share their faith without fear of retribution.