Our car took a beating for us while we remained safe inside.

Full Story- He Rescued Us!

2 Thess 3:1-3
“Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we ask you to pray for us. Pray that the
Lord’s message will spread rapidly and be honored wherever it goes, just
as when it came to you. Pray, too, that we will be rescued from wicked and
evil people, for not everyone is a believer. But the Lord is faithful; he will
strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.”

HE RESCUED US! ATTACKED BY HINDU EXTREMISTS
As some of you may have seen in the news, this past week on Thursday, 2
bombs exploded and a third was found in the areas where we held cityfest
just 5 days earlier. We’ve been busy praying and communicating with
our church leaders in that area as they minister to those suffering loss or
injuries. Then two days ago on Sunday, 2 young men who were going with
us to the Cityfest After-Party/discipleship meeting were mistaken for two
other trouble-makers and arrested. My dad, Fred, paid their bail and brought
them to After-Party late. We rejoice that ten cityfest decision-makers
showed up for discipleship at the location we were leading!

THE ATTACK BEGAN IMMEDIATELY
We began going over the 4 promises of salvation when after about 20
minutes the owner of the small fast-food restaurant asked us to leave due to
a customer complaining about our “religious activities.” We quickly gathered
our things, paid the bill and went outside. Then within just a few minutes
20-25 angry college-age youth showed up surrounding our car. We all
agreed we needed to exit the scene quickly, so we got in our car and tried
to back out. They blocked our way with motorcycles. We remained calm
even as they assaulted our car kicking the door in, breaking the mirror off,
etc. The two youth in the car with us for some reason bailed out of the car
leaving the back doors open. The mobbing youth held the doors open and
demanded we come out, but to our surprise they did not come inside…as
if angels held them back. We managed to close and re-lock those doors.
About this time two larger brothers in Christ began standing in the way even
though they were getting punched and pushed harshly. Other believers used
that moment to distract so the bikes could be moved from behind us. We
gunned the gas backing up to the road and began heading out. They jumped
on the hood and tried to stop us. With God’s help they eventually fell off and
we thought we were safe.

THE ATTACKERS PURSUED US
But to our surprise, at the first light they were there again trying to stop us
with a suicide move of pulling their bike right in front of the car and then

jumping on the hood again. Once again I was able to back up in traffic and
jerk forward until we broke free. This went on at each intersection until we
got caught in a traffic jam at a large intersection. At that point they used a
bar and shattered our back window. But just at that moment the traffic
started moving and the Lord opened a small gap for us so I was able to get
out from behind their bike and speed through the intersection. Another two
lights down the road and the traffic was stopped again. By God’s grace I saw
it coming so I was able to take a u-turn just before. Then The Lord
reminded me of a police station not far from there. We drove right inside the
compound through the exit gate that “just happened to be open” for
someone about to drive out. Safe at last? Not yet. The boys came in and
began accusing us of trying to convert the youth of their town to
Christianity. They were so confident and bold as if they had been the ones
attacked by us. When we first arrived we showed them the car and
explained that we had been attacked. But when no one seemed to be
listening, so we remained silent until our local pastor and business friends
arrived. With their help we told the police what happened and when they
learned it started in the next town over, we were told to go to that police
station and one officer went with us as an escort. It reminded us of Jesus’
trial when Pontus Pilot sent him to Herod.

WE WERE PROTECTED BY BEING IGNORED
About that time an american friend of ours who has lived in India for over
20 years, Scott Norling, called me and advised us not to press charges due
to questioning about our visa and work in India that would be sure to follow.
So we thanked God for having the police ignore us all that time. From that
point onwards we sat outside the station in the parking lot praying and left
it to the locals to handle it. They did a great job of sorting things out. We
watched as the police chief of that station severely scolded the boys who
attacking us for about 15 minutes. The media showed up, so our friends
snuck us out and brought us to a Christian leader’s home nearby until
they left. At around 11:30pm we were called back to the station but not
questioned about the incident. They took down our US contact information
and our friend pastor Sumanth informed them that dad was leaving in a
fw days anyways, so they let us go without further inquiry. God brought
us safely home without anyone following us. We rejoiced in His obvious
protection. We only wish we could have shared Jesus with those boys before
they were sent home.

WE FEEL SAFE WHERE WE LIVE AND WORK
This place is about an hour drive in the city away from our home, so we
don’t feel threatened and its on the outskirts so we don’t have a need
to go to or through that place. At any rate, we are realigning our plans
accordingly…the next three weeks of after-parties/discipleship meetings in

this area will be done only by the local pastors and in churches where they
will avoid conflicts.

DANGERS ARE CERTAIN IN THIS PART OF THE WORLD
We rejoice that we could suffer a little for The Name and covet your prayers
as we look ahead to what’s next. We’re laying low for a few days now and
meeting with our team to debrief. Everyone agrees these dangers are always
going to be there in this part if the world, but we also can use wisdom to
avoid unnecessary conflicts.

JESUS WINS!
Overall, Jesus won and we were able to be a witness in our peaceful
handling of this. We also saw the body of Christ come together and stand
up for one another in the face of violent men. We are so proud of our Indian
church family who worked nearly till midnight with us at the police station
to make sure we were cleared and the young men reprimanded. Jen and I
spent the next morning talking, reading scriptures and praying to remember
our confession that He has called us here and we are willing to give our
lives for His glory if required. We are praying our kids will grow up and make
that same commitment on their own.

Please thank the Lord as your prayers for our protection have been
answered. 2 Thess 3:1-4 would be good to read related to praying for
our safety and the spreading of the Gospel. We’ll keep you posted as we
dialogue with our Indian team about what’s next. For now know that we
have no concerns over our overall safety and believe this was an isolated
incident in an outlying area that we can avoid for now.

Please pray for continued peace & eternal perspective. We are a little
shaken, but also encouraged by the Lord’s hand.

We look forward to continuing here fully assured of His presence and
protection.
May He continue to make us strong and courageous in the midst of
opposition,

Brad, Jen and Team