Stories from the Field

Just 10 days after Narendra Modi became India’s prime minister, Pratik and his family were targeted by Hindu nationalists. Reaching Pratik’s house requires a bumpy drive down a narrow dirt road through a forest of sunlit coffee trees. Winding through the 10-acre coffee plantation, the road suddenly takes a sharp right turn before dropping down a steep hill. At the bottom of the hill — away from everyone else — sits his family’s small home. In another part of the world, the house might feel like a peaceful hideaway. In southern India, however, Pratik and his family feel trapped. They’ve felt this way since June 4, 2014, when about 30 Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) members stormed into their house, forced Pratik, his wife, Dharmi, and their elder of two teenage daughters into SUVs and drove them to the nearest Hindu temple to be “reconverted” to Hinduism. Their younger daughter managed to escape the Hindu nationalists, who are working to return India’s population to its Hindu roots. Life as Christians surrounded by 400 Hindu families had never been easy for Pratik’s family, and it has become even more difficult since Narendra Modi became India’s prime minister. Modi is a long-time RSS

A year after facing persecution for the eighth time, 90-year-old Jatya is prepared to suffer yet again. Jatya is eager to share the evidence of his faithful evangelism with visitors. The frail yet energetic man lives in southern India, in a village heavily populated with paid informants for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The RSS, a national volunteer organization with more than 5 million members, intimidates and even forces Christians to return to their nation’s “Hindu roots.” One of Jatya’s most prized possessions is a manila packet stuffed with photos and newspaper articles recounting the eight times he has been beaten for sharing the gospel in his village. It all started in 1992, when Jatya refused to sign a document promising to stop evangelizing. Police officers responded to Jatya’s stubbornness by breaking all of his fingers. Three years later, Hindu radicals beat him and dragged him to the police station, where he spent a week in jail. And the scars on Jatya’s left arm and hand are constant reminders of the third time he was persecuted for his faith; a Hindu neighbor whipped him with a bicycle chain, causing severe lacerations. After each brutal beating, however, Jatya returns home from

Walter was a new Christian, and he was scared. Most people in his village thought anyone who left Hinduism was rejecting Indian culture, so Christians were highly criticized by their neighbors. Although Walter was reluctant to talk about his faith, he admired his pastor’s boldness. Eventually, he decided to visit a neighboring village with Pastor Joseph. When a Hindu family asked them to pray for a sick family member, they gladly entered their home. But when they walked back out, about 50 men were waiting for them. The mob began to beat them and smash their vehicle with sticks. They looted their vehicle and dragged the Christians to the police station, where they were thrown in jail. Pastor Joseph lost four teeth in the beating, and Walter was covered with bruises. But the pastor was undeterred. As he crouched on the dirt floor of the jail cell, still aching from the beating, he couldn’t stop talking about Jesus with other prisoners in the cell. Walter watched as three of his cellmates gave their lives to Christ. Suddenly, something inside him overflowed. He turned to the prisoner slumped beside him. “Do you know that Jesus loves you?” he began. The man