Terror in Biriguda, Orissa - Church burnt.
On the night of 23rd December, 2006 the Biriguda
Pentecostal Church, the worship centre of the
27 Christian families in the tiny village of
Biriguda of Boriguma block of Koraput District
of Orissa was burnt down by Sangh Parivar activists,
causing the poor believers great financial loss
& affecting their capacity to exercise their
right to worship in freedom, as guaranteed by
the Indian constitution.
Biriguda village has around 150 families out
of which 27 families have come to the Lord till
now since 1998 through the work of the Holy
Spirit and the efforts of Brother Esau Suna,
the Elder of Beersheba Pentecostal Church of
Boriguma, the Block headquarters. Bro. Esau
Suna had purchased 2 acres of land in Biriguda
in 1972. Bro. Suna found the Lord in 1980. In
the same year, he began farming the land in
Boriguda. He shared the gospel with the local
labourers, mostly Dalits, when they came to
work. This became a means for the growth of
Christian believers in the village & in
the other nearby places –
their strong unity in the Lord, many miracles
taking place due to their strong faith, their
changed lifestyles and testimonies of faith.
Most of those who put their faith in Christ
used to practice various rituals, sacrificing
chickens and goats to various gods & goddesses
during local festivals. Witchcraft and black
magic was a way of life. The people of this
village are from the Godwa, Bhumiya, Gouda,
Dalit, Damba & Brahmin groups. The main
work of these villagers is as hired labourers
in the local brick-making units in summer and
as casual landless agricultural labourers during
the rainy season.
In 1998, a miracle took place in the house of
a practitioner of witchcraft, Samuda whose son
Sri Sanu was seriously ill for a very long time
from an unknown disease. None of the witchcraft
methods and no other treatment could heal the
young man. Finally, Samuda gave up and requested
Bro.Esau Suna to pray for Sanu's healing. Bro.
Esau fervently prayed in the name of Jesus,
and a miraculous healing occurred. So Sanu started
believing in Jesus Christ, with his own family
consisting his wife & children. Gradually
others also came to Lord, and they met in each
other's homes for worship. Soon there was a
need for a common worship as the number of the
believers went on increasing. Presently the
strength of the said Church is around 150 members.
A believer called Mukunda, who had vacant plot,
offered it for the construction of a Temporary
Church Building till a permanent Building was
available. In 1999, the believers, contributing
money & labour, built the straw-roofed Church.
They used to hold regular Sunday worship services
from 11 am to 2 pm as well as weekly prayer
& gospel meetings in the building. In 2002,
the believer group negotiated with a believer
called Dhanurjaya Damba to buy a piece of land,
centrally located in the village, and paid an
advance, to have a permanent Church building.
They also constructed a building up to the Lintel
level.
This sign of the Christians' progress was resented
by the other villagers who strongly opposed
the construction of the building. They complained
to the Collector & Tahsildar (Executive
Magistrate and revenue head) of Boriguma. In
total violation of their constitutional duties,
the district and Tehsil administration forced
the small Christian community to sign an agreement
dt.25.10.06 according to which they agreed to
demolish their construction and go back to worship
in the same temporary place as before! The Christian
community being in a total minority and lacking
experience in dealing with such issues, was
intimidated by this biased action of the government
machinery and, in the best Christian tradition,
simply obeyed the Govt. to keep the peace, even
though justice was denied to these poor believers.
But worse was in store for them. Even this act
of humility and compromise did not satisfy their
opponents. Their own fellow villagers filed
a complaint M.C. no.73/2006, under 107,CrPC
against them, which is still in court. And to
add injury to insult, Sangh Parivar members
of Boriguma led the attack and arson against
the church building in the fond hope of "stopping
the spread of Christianity" so that the
believers –mostly poor, landless
and from the socially marginalized Dalit and
tribal community, cannot have any worship and
prayer.Usually many young people stay in the
Church to decorate it for the Christmas Day.
But somehow, that night the youth decided not
to sleep there, but left late in the night planning
to return in the morning. The persecutors had
planned perhaps to burn them together along
with the Building but God was gracious in saving
their lives. Thus only the building was burnt
& there is no loss of life. However, furnitures,
mattresses, doors & windows, the Pulpit
& a large bag of paddy- a believer's offering,
wooden planks & pillars including the straw
roof were completely burnt.
The Christians ultimately filed a F.I.R no.150(5),
dt.24.12.06 under Section no.436 & asked
for the Police protection for 24 th & 25th
Dec. to celebrate Christmas in the village.
It was granted & they hired tents &
P.A. Systems & celebrated Christmas in a
more joyful way inside the village in a centrally
located playground, all the while praising God
despite their trauma, repeated financial loss,
loss of peace of mind, and their place of worship.
The Lord Emmanuel was with them.
Posted by: "grimgargantua" grimgargantua@email.com
 grimgargantua
