Karnataka: Sangha Parivarists attack a fasting prayer meeting

Karnataka, July 07, 2012: Pastor Mounesh (35) is the pastor in charge of Immanuel Sakineh Church located at Doddakatte in Ramagundahally in Channagiri Taluk of Davanagere District in Karnataka. It is a House Church, and he lives with his wife Hanumakka (25) and their two small children, I boy and a girl. His ministry is about 4 years old and he has a congregation of about 50 believers and he has been actively spreading the good news in all the surrounding villages. One very important practice he has developed is that of holding a whole day meeting of fasting and prayer for his congregation once every month. This month they were having it on Friday, 6-7-12, at his place with a sufficiently large number of believers attending the prayer meeting.

At about 4 pm in the evening when the prayer programme was on, suddenly about 30 Sangha Parivar activists forcibly entered their House Church and began to attack the believers. Kumara and Karibasappa were leading the radical group that attacked them. We understand that the trespassers began shouting at them using the foulest language possible and then beating them up left and right alleging that they are involved in forcible and fraudulent conversion of Hindus to Christianity. They also tore up all the Bibles and other Christian tracts lying in the church and then phoned up to the Basappakatte police station. The police immediately came to the spot and took Pastor Mounesh to the police station for further inquiry. The GCIC is in touch with both the family and the police officials. Praise God that GCIC intervention has resulted in the release of Pastor Mounesh at 12.30am.

Pastor Mounesh accepted the Lord while he was in jail. Implicated in a murder case he was sent to jail 8 years earlier, and it was while in jail he that received the message of Jesus Christ that changed his entire life. Once he was released from jail about 4 years ago and came back home, he decided to dedicate his whole life for the service of the Lord carrying the message of good news wherever and to whomever he can reach out. Please pray for Pastor Mounesh.

The release of Pastor Monesh has infuriated the radicals and today (7th July) at about 2.30 a dozen radicals came and trespassed in the house church and vandalized his church. The savage attack by radicals injured Gurumurthy,Bagyamma and her mother , all three are admitted in the hospital.

– persecution.in