Evangelist was traveling with sons from one village to another

By Dan Wooding

Founder of ASSIST Ministries

NEW DELHI, INDIA (ANS) -- Compass Direct News (CDN) is reporting that Hindu extremists beat a pastor and evangelist unconscious in front of his sons earlier this month in Madhya Pradesh state.

Ramesh Devda, 30, from Dhadhniya, Meghnagar district, said he was attacked on Monday, April 4, 2011, after leading a prayer meeting in Chikklia village.

“He said he was on his way to Bhajidongra, at the border of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat states, by motorcycle with his two sons, ages 10 and 8, to lead another prayer meeting,” said the CDN story. “When he reached Raseda village, he said, suddenly three people on two motorcycles blocked his way, forced him to stop and knocked his motorcycle over.”

The pastor then explained, “They were carrying big bamboo sticks and clubs. They started beating me, and then they called and three more men came and started to attack me.”

He said he was thankful that is sons were spared from beating, though his older son sustained a leg injury in the course of the attack. The Hindu extremists “were angry at me and were threatening to kill me and were warning me not to come to their area again,” he said.

CDN concluded its story by saying that Pastor Devda leads congregations in Chikklia, Bhajidongra and Dhadhniya villages.

“The people who beat me up do belong to a Hindu fundamentalist outfit, and some believers in Chikklia know them,” he said. “I can recognize them if I see them again.

For more information, please go to: www.compassdirect.org

Dan Wooding, 70, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 47 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS) and was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. He now hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on KWVE in Southern California which is also carried on the Calvary Radio Network throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK. Besides this, Wooding is a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 200 countries. You can follow Dan on Facebook under his name there or at ASSIST News Service. He is the author of some 44 books. Two of the latest include his autobiography, “From Tabloid to Truth”, which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, press this link. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, has also recently released his first novel “Red Dagger” which is available this link.

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