Gladys Staines to Kandhamal widows: Stay strong, Christ will be your support, your companion

Today, January 22, ten years have passed after Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons were burnt alive while sleeping in their station wagon in Orissa.

Graham Staines, 58, his two children Philip, 10, and Timothy, 8, were burnt alive on January 23, 1999 in Mayurbhanj, Baripada, Orissa State, by a politically motivated mob.

The murderers led by chauvinistic Hindu activist Dara Singh, belonging to Bajrang Dal, reportedly murdered the missionary and his children on allegations of conversions of Hindus to Christianity.

Graham from Queensland arrived Orissa in 1965, to help the leprosy patients in the country. He served for several years at the Mayurbhanj Leprosy Home established in 1895.

The widow Gladys Staines, in an interview to AsiaNews, this week, said: "During these ten years, there have been times of sadness, I feel sad that I do not have my husband to support me, to guard me, but these are just momentary emotions of sadness which also fill me with great hope, the hope of heaven and of being reunited with my husband and children in paradise and seeing the Father face to face. This guarantee fills me with consolation.

"I cannot express that how I felt when I got the news of my husband and sons being burnt alive. I told my daughter Esther that though we had been left alone, we would forgive and my daughter replied, 'Yes, we will'."

Speaking on the recent persecution of Christians in Orissa, Gladys expressed sadness and "pain at their suffering".

"These sisters of mine in Kandhamal who have sacrificed their husbands for the sake of Christ - I tell them be strong, stay strong, and Christ will be your support, your companion, your guide and your strength," she encouraged.

"When God is working with us, nothing can be against us. I am in prayerful solidarity with them, I share their sufferings and I want to encourage them with hope. It is painful and sad but importantly - it is not how we live, but what matters is 'whether we are in the will of God'. Support them with your solidarity and prayers."

She urged, "To the people of the world I say, do not give up hope, pray for India,"

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Burnt Alive: Life of Graham Staines in Orissa