Christians in nine districts in the Indian state of Orissa are being targeted with violence by radical Hindu groups. It has been reported that 40,000-50,000 Christians have gone into hiding in Orissa's forests as Hindu radicals attacked some 300 villages and destroyed more than 4,000 houses. The attackers have also burned several schools, churches, convents and presbyteries.

So far, 53 Christians have been martyred.

The violent riots against believers began when a popular, anti-Christian Hindu leader, Swami Laxamanananda Saraswat, was murdered. [A Marxist splinter group has subsequently claimed responsibility for the murder]. His followers blamed his death on Christians, sending Hindu extremists on a deadly rampage. Many people in the state say Orissa's government has mostly turned a blind eye to the violence and offered little aid to those who are suffering.

Read a report on the violence from the Evangelical Fellowship of India

Pray

• for peace and harmony in Orissa and that families will be able to return to their villages.
• for relief work to go on unhindered.
• for the health, safety, and security of the people living in the forests.
• for God to provide new homes for the people who have lost theirs.
• for the Indian missionaries who are obvious targets of the persecutors. The extremists are looking for what they consider to be a high-ranking Christian leader to kill in revenge for the death of their leader.
• that the Christians will remain firm in their faith and that their commitment to Jesus will remain stronger than any fear they have.