India (International Christian Concern) — When a mob of angry Hindu nationalists stormed Pastor Sanjay’s church during Sunday morning worship on March 23, in Chhattisgarh, India, the pastor, thankfully, knew how to respond.

The attackers assaulted more than 100 congregants, destroyed church furniture and equipment, and called for Pastor Sanjay’s arrest. Their collective anger was based on false allegations that the pastor had forcefully converted local Hindus to Christianity.

Sanjay was able to calmly endure the mob’s ire and confidently defend himself and his congregation before the authorities because of International Christian Concern’s Persecution Response Training (PRT) that he had received a week earlier.

“The training has empowered me so much that I was able to defend myself legally when the entire mob and the police were trying to send me to jail,” Pastor Sanjay said. “I would have been in jail if not for the Persecution Response Training.”

ICC’s one-day Persecution Response Training is designed to help rural pastors defend themselves in the face of persecution by educating them on their rights and preparing them to handle intense persecution situations. The comprehensive training also helps pastors develop a biblical understanding of persecution and teaches them how to obtain practical legal assistance.

More than 5,000 pastors and evangelists have participated in ICC’s PRT in recent years.

Although the training helped Pastor Sanjay stay out of jail, a police report was filed against him and his wife, and police shut down his church. ICC is continuing to assist Pastor Sanjay in navigating the situation.

Looking back on the attack, Pastor Sanjay said ICC’s PRT helped him stand firm amid the violent chaos.

“All that I had learned in the training came alive at that moment, and I boldly talked to the police officer that I had committed no wrong to go to jail,” he said. “I took courage to quote the fundamental rights that the constitution guarantees to all citizens. I felt so empowered in the middle of the chaotic situation. After hours of police custody, the police let me go. They said that they could not find an appropriate reason to put me in jail.”

Another local pastor who completed ICC’s PRT said the training is crucial for pastors throughout India who are increasingly faced with Hindu nationalist attacks.

“This is the need of the hour,” Pastor Virat said. “The anti-Christian violence is on the rise, and the only way to tackle this situation is to train pastors and Christian leaders to be their own guards.”

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