{"id":6652,"date":"2020-12-21T09:30:55","date_gmt":"2020-12-21T09:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adfinternational.uk\/?p=6652"},"modified":"2024-01-15T15:41:18","modified_gmt":"2024-01-15T14:41:18","slug":"home-for-christmas-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adfinternational.org\/en-gb\/news\/home-for-christmas-2","title":{"rendered":"Home for Christmas: Hope at last for exiled families in India"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>16 displaced families returned to their village after being ousted in September because of their faith<\/li>\n<li>Families speak of \u201cChristmas miracle\u201d as authorities rebuild homes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>CHHATTISGARH, INDIA<\/strong> (21 December 2020) \u2013 Will there be peace on Earth for India\u2019s persecuted Christians? Thanks to a Court victory secured through allied lawyers of ADF India, sixteen families from villages in the Kondagon district of Chhattisgarh, India, are setting out on their journey home after months of exile for their faith.<\/p>\n<p>The group fled their homes in September after a series of physical attacks, with local women reporting that a violent mob of 500 turned up at their doors, beating them and tearing their clothes. Some of the Christian men were forced to undergo brutal conversion \u201cceremonies\u201d to renounce their Christian faith. The attackers demolished homes and families had no choice but to flee. They will return for Christmas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNobody should have to choose between their safety and their faith. As Christmas approaches, it is wonderful to hear that sixteen Christian families will be able to celebrate with a real hope for peace. We\u2019re thankful for the work of our allied lawyers which led to a positive result. The families told me that they consider their return to be \u2018a Christmas miracle\u2018,\u201d said Tehmina Arora, Director of ADF India.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSadly, many Christians in India will still face severe persecution this season. The violence and mob attacks that drove these families to flee testify to what many Christians and other religious minorities experience in India today. All people should have the right to freely choose and live out their faith,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Hope amidst a dark situation for Christians<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>With a just verdict secured for the Christians at the state\u2019s High Court, authorities have stepped in to secure the safe return of the families to their homes. Though their houses were destroyed, the local government carried out an urgent reconstruction project to provide every family with a new place to live. In an unprecedented show of concern for their plight, a temporary police outpost has been installed in the middle of the area to facilitate their return and rehabilitation.<\/p>\n<p>Despite this glimmer of hope, Christians remain extremely vulnerable across the country. Over 200 incidents of violence against Christians have been recorded in 2020, with the numbers continuing to rise. Christians are the most persecuted religious minority in the world, and receive little support from the international community. Find out more about the work that ADF International is doing to protect their fundamental freedom to believe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe international community must take action to prevent such extreme violations of human rights in India. This story gives us hope that justice can be served and peace restored; but the violence that occurred in this case is a much too frequent example of what religious minorities face throughout the country. It can no longer go unnoticed. All people have the right to freely choose and live out their faith without fear of violence. ,\u201d said Paul Coleman, Executive Director of ADF international, a faith-based legal advocacy organization.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>16 displaced families returned to their village after being ousted in September because of their faith.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":23590,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[736],"tags":[898],"class_list":["post-6652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-uk-en-gb"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Home for Christmas: Hope at last for exiled families in India - ADF International<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/adfinternational.org\/en-gb\/news\/home-for-christmas-2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Home for Christmas: Hope at last for exiled families in India\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"16 displaced families returned to their village after being ousted in September because of their faith.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/adfinternational.org\/en-gb\/news\/home-for-christmas-2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ADF International\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/adfinternational\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-21T09:30:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-15T14:41:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/adfinternational.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/bigstock-Blue-house-facade-in-streets-o-387414580.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philipp Bues\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@adfintl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@adfintl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philipp Bues\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/adfinternational.org\\\/en-gb\\\/news\\\/home-for-christmas-2#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/adfinternational.org\\\/en-gb\\\/news\\\/home-for-christmas-2\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Philipp Bues\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/adfinternational.org\\\/en-gb\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6b776fc8535453c6aad8a6f9d78e6141\"},\"headline\":\"Home for Christmas: Hope at last for exiled families in India\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-21T09:30:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-15T14:41:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/adfinternational.org\\\/en-gb\\\/news\\\/home-for-christmas-2\"},\"wordCount\":515,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/adfinternational.org\\\/en-gb\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/adfinternational.org\\\/en-gb\\\/news\\\/home-for-christmas-2#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/adfinternational.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/bigstock-Blue-house-facade-in-streets-o-387414580.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"UK\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/adfinternational.org\\\/en-gb\\\/news\\\/home-for-christmas-2\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/adfinternational.org\\\/en-gb\\\/news\\\/home-for-christmas-2\",\"name\":\"Home for Christmas: Hope at last for exiled families in India - 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