A Better, Abiding Possession

Outside the neatly swept, one-room, mud-and-thatch church building, Pastor Philip sat surrounded by a dozen adult members of the community. Curious children peeked over the low half-walls that made three sides of the building. Philip talked with joy about the Lord’s faithfulness and how persecution has given him and his fellow Christians a powerful witness to the community that drove them away.

These church members had been beaten, chastised and boycotted. In 2023, Hindu radicals destroyed Philip’s church building and gave the Christians a choice: They could renounce Christ, return to Hinduism and retain their place in the village, or they would be forced to leave.

Some people turned away from their Christian faith. But nine families, choosing Christ, departed for the jungle to make a new life. Philip led the nine families out of their village to an area of the jungle that one of the Christian brothers had begun to clear for crops.

Suffering and hard living have not stopped residents of the “Church People Village” from what they came to the jungle to do: worship God.

“The first three months was a lot of suffering because there was nothing here, just trees,” Philip said. But members of the global body of Christ helped them drill a well at the edge of their community that provides clean, fresh water.

The Church People Village members still interact with the nearby community. Some family members and former neighbors come at night, hungry for hope and curious about the peace these Christians have found. Others come to receive prayers. Philip said there is a steady stream of such visitors. “Already three have [quietly] come to faith,” he said.

Today, the joy and peace of the Lord that permeates this village of Christian exiles has been a powerful testimony. They share their clean water with those who ask for it, and they share the Word of God and pray with any who come. They know they may face persecution again in the future. Hindu-nationalist informants live in nearly every village in India and report on the activities of Christians, resulting in attacks and arrests. Still, like many Christians in India, the Christians of Church People Village joyfully persevere in faith, knowing that life with Christ is a better, abiding possession.