A knife-wielding attacker came for Mangai. Terrorizing her while in the middle of her prayers, she very narrowly escaped being killed. She recalled, “It was in the evening when I was praying with one other person in my house. Suddenly, a person named Tufka broke into my house with [a] knife. Before I could make out what was going on, Tufka tried to stab me. I narrowly escaped the deeper impact of the knife into my stomach, and I ran to the neighbor’s house to protect my life. What frightened me was Tufka yelling at me while he attacked, saying, ‘I will kill you. The entire village warned you to leave Jesus, but you never take note of the warning.’”

Tufka was allegedly hired to kill Mangai after the repeated warnings she received from village authorities. As a result of this close call, Mangai and her two sons—the last Christians in residence in Kokoda Juganar—fled. The light of Christ in the village was gone.

During a recent trip to Chhattisgarh, ICC was able to sit with Mangai. Here, she explained how difficult the path of faith has been for her. As tears rolled down her face, Mangai shared, “I am not sure of tomorrow, but I know my God will make a way for me, I had to leave everything back in the village, my house, household things, my job, and my extended family members, and I can never go back to the village even to collect my household things. I have nothing of my own except my two sons, but I have no regrets of all that happened, God gave me peace in my heart.”

She continued, “Life was not easy at all. Every day was a challenge to live as a Christian in this area, but God gave me grace each day until today. God has brought me this far, and I will never leave him no matter what.”

Just like Mangai, the Christians of Chhattisgarh have experienced continued hardships, social boycotts, and physical assaults for their faith. Just like Mangai, hundreds of thousands need the prayers of the global Church.

For interviews, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: [email protected]