It was supposed to be a quiet day. Instead, I found myself on call after call… and honestly, I’m sitting with so much pain after hearing these stories. Have you ever been on a phone call where, even though the person is thousands of miles away, you can actually feel their fear? That’s what happened today.
One call led to another. I spoke to a pastor who had just been released after 18 months in prison. The pain in his voice… it’s hard to even explain. And then another call. And another. Same stories, different people.
Families shaken.
Children living in fear.
No income. No stability.
Just shame, pressure, and uncertainty.
And then I spoke to Brother Sanjay (not his real name). His voice was trembling and at one point, I realized my own hands and feet were getting cold just listening to him. He had just come out of jail. He told me he still can’t hear sirens—they trigger something deep inside him. He didn’t even have his own phone. The police had confiscated it and so he had to borrow someone else’s phone just to talk.
This is not just any man. He’s a leader in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. He organized pastors’ meetings, went village to village, and worked among Dalit communities—people still treated as “untouchable,” because they are from a lower caste. He gave his life to serve them and sharing the Gospel, educating families, discipling believers, and raising leaders.
And then everything changed. I asked him how he got arrested. He said he was trying to help four pastors who were already in jail. The police tracked him, arrested him, and took all his contacts. From there, they traced 48 other pastors. Many were arrested and others ran. Now people are too afraid to even sleep in their own homes.
He told me about prison… the torture… being forced to sleep near the toilet. When he was arrested, his hand and leg were both fractured. What broke him the most wasn’t the pain, but instead it was his family. He has two daughters who are 19 and 15, and a 10-year-old son. His house was on the verge of being taken with his wife and children left to survive on their own. The children’s education was disrupted and their lives were turned upside down overnight.
And the truth is his story is not unique. Even well-known pastors and leaders are going through the same thing. I reached out to a prominent pastor and a businessman, hoping for some clarity. His response was that he cannot even speak right now, because the cases against him are that serious. Everything is being monitored with every move, every conversation all being tracked.
And then there’s more. I received a message from a doctor serving in a mission hospital in a remote tribal area in Maharashtra. These are places where there is already almost no support, no real government help, no systems in place. And now even the hospital there is being targeted and threatened.
When you step back and look at all of this together, it’s overwhelming. Yes, as believers, we know that Jesus warned us, “I am sending you out as sheep among wolves.” But still, my heart breaks, especially for the poor in all of this—the tribal communities, the Dalits—people who are already vulnerable, already forgotten. So many of them are like sheep without a shepherd. And the harsh truth is that even in 2026, many of them are still living without basic dignity. No proper education. No hygiene. No support.
As Easter has passed by, after reports of churches being attacked on Palm Sunday and Easter, this feels heavier. So please pray for the believers, for these families, for the children, for the poor who have no voice. Right now, prayer is not a small thing. It may be the only thing holding them together.
