In case you missed it, you can read Part 1 here.

07/22/2019 Washington D.C. (International Christian Concern) – The faith of many of the congregants was not deterred. They wanted to worship, despite the risks, but the financial cost was too much. “My church members needed to travel 20 kilo­meters if they wanted to attend a church,” said Pastor Karthik. “Many of them are economi­cally poor and cannot afford to pay for their fares to attend the worship service. It is simply too costly for them to practice their faith.”

Over the days and months that followed, Pastor Karthik worked closely with the judi­ciary, exploring every avenue which would lead to the reopening of the church.

His problem was not unique. Just 15 kilo­meters away, another church was closed nearly six months after this incident. The circum­stances were similar. The congregants of this church also found themselves isolated, unable to afford the transportation costs of going to a different place of worship.

The pastor of the other church said, “We find ourselves in a hostile condition due to the frequent incidents of harassment and threats and abuses from Hindu radicals, even at times from the police! We can only rely on the jus­tice system of this country; of course, we pray to God.”

His church has yet to reopen. But thank­fully, Pastor Karthik’s church has.

On March 26, 2019, Pastor Karthik placed a key into the lock, carefully unsealing the church. Inside were the remnants of a time capsule. A fellow believer was with Pastor Karthik when he opened the door, and was amazed. “I glanced through the doors of the church,” he said. “I felt the challenge is much bigger than interim relief. The pastor has to start with the rubble that we were surrounded with. Broken chairs, a fully destroyed pulpit, damaged audio and visual equipment, and broken glass walls…”

The courts had given Pastor Karthik’s con­gregation interim relief, allowing them to resume worship in the same location. Allowing them to finally pick up the pieces.

But knitting the congregation back together after such a traumatic experience is difficult. “The entire congregation is so frightened, as the violent attack still hounds them,” Pastor Karthik explained.

It’s not easy to practice one’s faith in India. It is easy to be fearful, to avoid picking up those pieces. But Pastor Karthik’s church has not chosen the easy path. Slowly, the wounds of the attack are being stitched back together again, a healing process made all the more possible through the church’s opening. The looms continue to operate in Coimbatore as the tears in Pastor Karthik’s church are mended.

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