{"id":5292,"date":"2025-10-27T08:39:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T08:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/?p=5292"},"modified":"2025-10-16T16:46:03","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T16:46:03","slug":"young-indian-believers-ostracized-after-discipleship-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/young-indian-believers-ostracized-after-discipleship-training\/","title":{"rendered":"Young Indian Believers Ostracized After Discipleship Training"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After traveling to a large Indian city to study God\u2019s Word for several days, a group of young Christians returned to their predominantly Muslim village emboldened in their Christian faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The youth, all of whom were related as either siblings or cousins, had come to know Jesus Christ through the witness of older relatives. After studying God\u2019s Word, something impossible for many of their parents who cannot read, they learned firsthand the cost of following Christ in their Muslim community. But when everything seemed hopeless, the Holy Spirit led them and others to boldly stand for Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

False Accusations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While the youth were away for Bible training, neighbors questioned their parents about where the children had gone. Soon, various rumors began to spread through the community, including allegations of sexual abuse that made their way to the ears of Islamists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a small minority in the area, Christians must keep their faith secret. Believers often hide their Bibles, understanding that their discovery by Muslim neighbors could result in violence. \u201cWe know people from this community who have had their house burned down, been beaten, been kicked out of their home and kicked out of their family,\u201d said Aarav, a front-line worker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the youth returned to the village, local Islamists interrogated them, following up on villagers\u2019 accusations that they had been taken to the city for deviant sexual purposes. The entire community shunned the girls in the group, and their parents grew concerned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"street<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One girl\u2019s father, a known follower of Christ, feared that the girls might be taken from them permanently or even killed. In conservative Muslim communities, family members or others sometimes commit \u201chonor killings\u201d of individuals considered to have been sexually disgraced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When pressured by the Islamists, the Christian man, Ali, grabbed a micro SD card and handed it to one of the Islamists. \u201cThis is what it is all about,\u201d Ali said. \u201cThis is why they left.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Islamist took the SD card and reviewed its content, expecting to find pornography. But instead he heard the gospel. \u201cThis isn\u2019t so bad,\u201d another Islamist said. \u201cIt\u2019s about Isa [Jesus].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Encouraged by their reaction, Ali felt emboldened to preach to the radicals. In that moment, he felt the Spirit\u2019s nudge to proclaim Christ. \u201cRepent! Come out of the darkness!\u201d he told the radicals and village elders who had gathered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, realizing the message on the SD card was talking about Jesus Christ of the Bible instead of the Prophet Isa in the Quran, the Islamists grew angry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Determined to reconvert all of the Christian youth to Islam, they took them to a boarding school on their compound. While some of the youth were released or went into hiding, several girls were detained at the school for more than a month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[Jesus] told us this would happen,\u201d a father of two of the girls said, referring to Matthew 10. \u201cHe told us He is sending us out like sheep among wolves. This persecution will happen, and He will be with us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spirit-Led Boldness<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Since the girls had not been allowed to gather extra clothing or other daily necessities before being taken to the Islamic boarding school, they had no toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrush or feminine hygiene products for several weeks. And they had no extra blankets to protect them from the chilly evening air. Eventually, however, the Islamists let the girls leave briefly to obtain basic necessities with money their parents had sent them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone at the school, from students to teachers, called the girls \u201cChristians\u201d as a derogatory term to mean \u201cinfidels\u201d rather than \u201cfollowers of Christ.\u201d But they were prepared; they had learned during discipleship training that persecution is part of following Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The oldest girl told a front-line worker that when she was with the other girls, sharing a windowless room at the school, she didn\u2019t cry. Instead, she tried to display strength to the younger girls; they prayed together to overcome their shared fear and sadness. Then, one day, they were separated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the girls were split up, they were again interrogated by teachers at the school. Although the teachers tried to catch them in a lie, the girls \u2014 led by the Holy Spirit \u2014 always had the same responses to their questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The teachers were surprised by the girls\u2019 consistency and boldness, and the girls were equally surprised by what they heard themselves saying. They often responded to the teachers\u2019 questions with questions of their own, much as Jesus responded to His accusers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One day, a teacher asked the oldest girl if she had a tattoo of a cross on her body. Muslims in the area commonly believe that all Christians have such a tattoo, so the teacher wanted to look for the marking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although children are not expected to question authority in conservative Muslim culture, the girl decided to challenge the teacher\u2019s request. \u201cWe will take off our clothes and let you look for a tattoo of a cross on our bodies,\u201d the girl said, \u201cbut if we don\u2019t have one, you have to agree that you will take off your clothes and show us that you don\u2019t have a cross.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The teacher decided not to search for the tattoo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Persecution Now Normal<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the Christian girls had a severe lung condition, and her parents feared she would die without her medicine. Aware of the girl\u2019s condition, a villager took the girl\u2019s medical papers to the boarding school one day and demanded that all of the girls be released. Otherwise, the villager argued, they would have a death on their hands that would draw negative attention. Finally, 42 days after being taken from their families, the girls were released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The girls\u2019 faith grew immensely as a result of seeing how God provided for them and sustained them throughout their abduction, interrogations, lack of basic necessities, fear and grief from being taken from their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThey are proud to follow Jesus, and they are confident\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey are proud to follow Jesus, and they are confident,\u201d the front-line worker said. \u201cThere is not a struggle to be like everyone else. They know they want to follow Jesus even if that means they are different and not going to be accepted by their community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The girls were still ostracized by their community after they returned, and they have been barred from attending their former schools. But they still participate in discipleship training, both in person and weekly over the phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want them to know what the Word says,\u201d the front-line worker said, \u201cthat this is going to be normal for them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After traveling to a large Indian city to study God\u2019s Word for several days, a group of young Christians returned to their predominantly Muslim village emboldened in their Christian faith. The youth, all of whom were related as either siblings or cousins, had come to know Jesus Christ through the witness of older relatives. After studying God\u2019s Word, something impossible for many of their parents who cannot read, they learned firsthand the cost of following Christ in their Muslim community. But when everything seemed hopeless, the Holy Spirit led them and others to boldly stand for Jesus. False Accusations While the youth were away for Bible training, neighbors questioned their parents about where the children had gone. Soon, various rumors began to spread through the community, including allegations of sexual abuse that made their way to the ears of Islamists. As a small minority in the area, Christians must keep their faith secret. Believers often hide their Bibles, understanding that their discovery by Muslim neighbors could result in violence. \u201cWe know people from this community who have had their house burned down, been beaten, been kicked out of their home and kicked out of their family,\u201d said Aarav, a front-line<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5293,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[22],"class_list":["post-5292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-field-stories","tag-india","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nYoung Indian Believers Ostracized After Discipleship Training - Stories<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u00a0The girls were still ostracized by their community after they returned, and they have been barred from attending their former schools.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/young-indian-believers-ostracized-after-discipleship-training\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Young Indian Believers Ostracized After Discipleship Training - 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