O come let us adore Him! We welcome you who have come to adore Him with us today. May God bless you richly.
Many Christians in India are reportedly now very afraid to celebrate Christmas. This resulted after Hindu radicals attacked believers on at least two separate occasions in recent weeks. International Christian Concern (ICC) and other persecution watchdog groups said that one of the attacks occurred last week in Madhya Pradesh State, where a mob of 25 radicals broke into a private house where 30 Christians were singing Christmas carols. The Christians were dragged into the streets and beaten. The radicals reportedly accused them of carrying out forced conversions in the village. Four pastors were also accused of such conversions and apprehended by authorities.
One local pastor told ICC, “We have carol rounds during the day because of fear of attacks from the radical Hindu groups. The Christians of this area are scared and cannot celebrate Christianity freely.” On December 11, another 20 Christians were beaten with wooden clubs by 30 suspected radicals. One priest explained how the group of Christians, which included women and children, had been singing Christmas carols and that it had provoked the anger of radicals. The priest described the attack which followed as the Christians walked down the street, He said, “While the children ran helter skelter, the women and men were beaten on their hands, legs and backs. They accused them of converting people and shouted in their native language, ‘Victory to Mother India.’ ”
William Stark, ICC’s regional manager, said that these “vicious attacks on Christians are totally unacceptable. Christians should not fear attacks while celebrating Christmas. It is their right to freely celebrate the religious holidays they hold dear according to India’s constitutional protections.” He is calling for more to be done in India’s rural areas to ensure that the religious freedom rights of all citizens are respected.
We give God thanks for the freedom which we still have in our nation to celebrate Christ and Christmas. The devil is still mad over the fact that Jesus came to the earth to give life to man. Jesus told his disciples “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul, but rather be afraid of Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”(Matt. 10:28). Let us pray for our brethren in India that God would strengthen them in this difficult hour.
HAVE A BLESSED CHRISTMAS DAY!
SCHEDULE FOR THE WEEK
LUNCH HOUR HOTLINE/PREEMTIVE WARFARE PRAYER & FASTING FOR 2017
Wednesday, 12:00 noon- Lunch Hour Hotline
5:30 p.m. – Preemptive Warfare Prayer and Fasting for 2017.
PRAISE & ADORATION PRACTICE
Friday, 6:30 p.m.
HOUR OF POWER PRAYER SESSION
Saturday, 7:00a.m.
NO OLD YEAR’S NIGHT SERVICE THIS YEAR
NEXT SUNDAY-NEW YEAR’S DAY
Worship & Ministry Service, 9:00 a.m. (Communion)
NO Kingdom Men’s Ministry Meeting
His Presence is Our Present
Special thanks to all the ministries who participated, those who contributed and labored to make last Sunday’s Christmas Program a success.
“The magic of Christmas is not in the presents. But in His Presence.”
Why We Celebrate
Why do we celebrate
Jesus’ birth at Christmas,
though we don’t know
when He was born?
It was necessary and inevitable
that we select a date
to celebrate an eternal miracle–
the coming to earth
of God in human form…Jesus,
Who changed the entire world
with His message of love,
forgiveness, humility and peace.
Christmas is an obligatory
and indispensable holiday
marking the transformation
from guiltless selfishness
to striving to follow His example
of service to God and our fellow man.
That is worth celebrating.
-By Joanna Fuchs
*~*~*~*~*~
MEDIA MINISTRY
World Overcomers: WSTA 1340 AM station: Sundays at 12:30 p.m. & Tuesdays at 6:00 a.m.
-website: http://www.wom.vi & Email: info@fea.vi
-On our Website you will find: Live Streaming, free copies of our audio message & radio broadcast.
*~*~*~*~*~