Source: www.csw.org.uk
Date: August 22, 2026
Today is the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief.
As we pause to pray today, we remember people like the Soren family in India.
Jitendra Soren, his wife Malati and their 15-year-old daughter were brutally murdered in January by members of their extended family. They had been to a church service earlier that day, and had returned home for lunch.
Jitendra and Malati are survived by an elder married daughter, a younger daughter who managed to escape the attack, and a son who was away studying at the time. Ask God to comfort and strengthen them today, and in the months and years ahead.
The Soren family’s conversion to Christianity had not been welcomed by their relatives, who accused them of black magic and believed their new faith was causing illness in the family.
For weeks before the murders, they warned them not to go to church or face death. Yet the anti-Christian motive was left out of the police report.
The attack took place amid a surge of violence and hostility towards Christians in Odisha State.
[And it’s not only Christians who are extremely vulnerable in India. There has also been heightened hostility towards Muslims since the Bharatiya Janata Party came into power in 2014, promoting a Hindu nationalist agenda.] Pray for practical measures to protect all religious minority communities, and heal societal divisions.
As we remember the Soren family today, we also remember countless others around the world who have suffered violence because of their religion or belief.
Together, we pray:
Lord God,
Today we remember all those who have suffered acts of violence because of their religion or belief.
Bind up their wounds. Comfort those who mourn. Strengthen those who are weary. Protect all who are in imminent danger. And bring the perpetrators justice.
Help us never to look away from suffering, but to stand with them in faithful prayer and action, as we look forward to the day when you will wipe away every tear, and death will be no more (Revelation 21:4).
Amen.