DAWN Fridayfax 2001 #8

India

Does God speak through earthquakes?

Many people's greatest desire is that God would speak to them. But would they be ready to hear what he says? And does God speak not only through the Bible, in the church, through pastors, Bible teachers, evangelists, prophets, dreams and visions, or also through certain circumstances or events, such as the weather, or even the earthquake* on 26 January 2001 in India? Many Indian Christians are convinced that God spoke to a godless people that day. This Friday Fax is dedicated to events in India.

Not everything is coincidence

David Manoraj, pastor and for many years leading staff member of India's largest Christian church, in Madras, is convinced that the catastrophic earthquake in Gujarat on 26 January was no coincidence. "Two years ago, when Australian missionary and social worker Graham Staines and his two sons were burned in his car by Hindu fanatics, the whole world was shocked," said Manoraj during a visit to Switzerland and Germany in February 2001. For many Hindus, the hurricane which brought destruction to almost the exact spot in Orissa on which the murders occurred was a clear answer from the Christian God, demonstrating that he does not passively accept everything which is done to his church. "These are some of the signs of Jesus Christ's return. God is accelerating his plans with the world, even if the majority of humanity chooses to continue to live in ignorance and rebellion against him," says Hyderabad's Rev. Shalem Raj.

Is this God's loud 'NO' to religious cleansing?

Pastor Manoraj sees the recent earthquake in a similar light. Rating 7.4 on the Richter scale, it was India's worst earthquake for 50 years. "Many Westerners are unaware of the increasing trend of 'religious cleansing' in India by the political powers and their far more radical Hindu sub-groups such as the RSS," says Manoraj. There are reports that the RSS, a fundamentalist Hindu movement, is mobilising its followers in a similar way to the Hitler Youth in Nazi Germany. Their declared aim is the 'religious cleansing of India', the eradication of Christians and Moslems. What can happen when fundamentalist groups prepared to use violence are given too much freedom can currently be seen in Indonesia, where thousands of Christians are being killed by Moslem militia. God is not indifferent to these events.

Is the living God indifferent to the Khumb Mela?

The earthquake happened at the same time as the Khumb Mela, the huge Hindu festival on the Ganges, in which 30 million people revere the river and hope for forgiveness of their sins through ritual baths. Thousands die during this event, through drowning, being crushed or, as many children, are simply lost. The earthquake diverted attention from the Khumb Mela to Gujarat.

Has God cancelled the pilot project?

"Gujarat, India's northwesternmost state," says Manoraj, "is also India's most anti-Christian state, with strict anti-conversion laws, all conceivable restrictions on Christian churches and a corrupt Hindu government. It is the testing ground for religious cleansing, a pilot project which was planned to be expanded to cover all India. Even the official Minorities Minister and Bishop, Ezra Sargunam, was hindered from entering his own church in Gujarat, in which radical Hindus had removed all Christian symbols, replacing them with Hindu idols." Manoraj also considers the date of the earthquake to have a symbolic significance: 26 January is Indian Republic Day, on which the people celebrate themselves. Did God call this people to repentance on this particular day?

Is God calling the Indian Christians to repentance?

Mercy Simson, an Indian now living in Germany, sees the earthquake as a call to India's Christians to repent and turn to their God. "Christians cannot afford to stand safe and proud at one side, continuing their purely spiritual battles and boasting that this earthquake shows God to be on their side." "All of God's people in India," she continues, "is called to bow down under the nation's sin, bringing India's need united before God. They must also ask forgiveness of Gujarat: 'we are guilty, in that we did not pray more for you, were poor representatives of God, and did not represent you before God enough'. Only India's Christians can bring India's sin before God, asking Him to turn even this curse into blessing."
The full text of her message can be read at http://www.dawn.ch/MSGujaEx.html
* In the Bible, earthquakes are almost always connected to God's voice and his anger (Isaiah 29:6, Hes. 38:19, Rev. 11:13/19, 16:18), angelic activity (Matt. 27:54 & 28:2, Rev. 2:6 & 8:5), or God's act to release his people from prison (Acts 16:26).

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