Assamese Christian Convert Brutally Murdered

Guwahati, July 25, 2007: Assamese Christian convert, who belong to Guwahati Baptist Church was murdered on July 1.

Hemanta Das, 29, was beaten brutally by unidentified assailants, suspected to be the members of a religious fanatic group on June 28 and he was admitted to the hospital. He succumbed to death after four days of struggling between life and death.

On several occasions, he was cautioned by radical groups of the dire consequences that would follow if he tried to convert people to Christianity.

According the news reports, a murder case has been lodged in a local police station; but they failed to trace the culprits.

Hemanta Das was an active member of the Hindutva group known as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) before he was converting to Christianity. He accepted Jesus as his personal saviour on 2002.

The Council of Baptist Churches in North East India declared that Hemanta Das was the first Assamese Christian Martyr.

Christians in lower Assam are the victims of these atrocities.

Pastor who led group from Korea killed by Taliban

Kandahar, July 25, 2007: Korean evangelism questioned as eight of 23 hostages are released while the Taliban set a deadline to execute the rest.

The minister who led a group of South Korean church volunteers on a summer mission trip to Afghanistan has been killed by the Taliban militants who kidnapped the group last week, according to Korean media reports.

Pastor Bae Hyeong-gyu, 42, was killed Wednesday, according to the JoongAng Daily and KBS, a South Korean broadcaster, quoting Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi.

The pastor’s body was tossed on a highway between Kabul and Kandahar in Ghazni Province, bringing a grizzly end to his mission ‑ along with his young parishioners ‑ to bring relief services to Afghanistan. Korea’s Yonhap news agency said the bullet-riddled body had been recovered along the highway. Ahmadi said the man had been killed because Taliban demands ‑ which include a prisoner release and withdrawal of South Korean troops from the country ‑ hadn't been met.

Ahmadi told CNN that the remaining hostages would be killed by 1 a.m. Thursday, local time, if the demands weren't met.

Bae’s death came as negotiations to secure the release of 23 Christian hostages, most of them women in their 20s and 30s, resulted in eight of the victims being freed. The eight have been transferred to an American air base and will be sent back to Korea as soon as possible, Korean government officials said.

The plight of the church workers – the largest group of kidnap victims ever from Korea – has focused attention on the evangelical fervor of Korean protestants, who often send mission workers into some of the toughest places in the world. They were snatched from a bus in largely lawless Ghazni Province last Friday.

Korean mission workers operate in Africa, the Middle East, China and North Korea, where they cross the border illegally and seek to convert their communist brethren in secret. The estimated 16,000 Korean missionaries abroad are the second largest group in the world, after the United States.

Saemmul Presbyterian Church, which sent the group to Afghanistan, has insisted that they were not doing religious work in Afghanistan, but were instead providing social services and aiding relief efforts.

On Monday, the pastor of the church, Reverend Park Eun-jo, apologized for creating difficulties by sending the church volunteers, most of them young women, to the region and said the church would suspend further relief efforts in Afghanistan.

“I am really sorry for causing serious concerns to the nation,” Park said. “Particularly, I apologize to the families of the 23 relief workers for causing them enormous pain.”

The church has been criticized for failing to understand the seriousness of the security situation in Afghanistan and for sending Christian missionaries to a devoutly Muslim country that might easily be offended by the gesture. “We love Afghanistan, and we respect Muslim culture,” Park said, insisting that the church workers were not in the country to try and convert the local population.

Nonetheless, some observers see the fervor of the Korean church as a problem in itself.

“Korean churches often follow the concept of aggressive modernization,” Song Jae-ryong, a professor of religion and sociology at Kyung Hee University in Seoul told the JoongAng Daily. “Appearances, such as how many believers does our church have, how much has our church collected and how large is our church building, are considered important. It is hard to deny that such a tendency is part of the background for Korean churches’ aggressive sending of missionaries abroad.”

Song urged the Korean church to rethink its approach to missions.

“Evangelical churches are engaged in fierce competition as to how many missionaries they send and how much time their missionaries spend in foreign countries,” the Hankyoreh newspaper in Seoul wrote after the church workers were abducted last Friday. “Competition is becoming so stiff that, in some cases, dozens or even hundreds of South Korea evangelists can be found in a single small city, with some even fighting one another over the work to be done.

“Korean missionaries, who have increasingly been sent to Islamic regions at a war, risk putting their lives on the line. They could especially be in danger due to the fact that they work in areas where the conflicts between Christian and Islamic fundamentalism are at their most extreme.”

The Korean government remains in a tough dilemma. Kabul has publicly ruled out a prisoner swap for hostages in any situation and officials here worry that if a large ransom is paid it could increase the risks to Koreans of becoming targets of terrorists elsewhere in the world.

-- Agencies

50 year old Christian stoned and beaten to death in Kerala

Idukki (Kerala in India), July 25, 2007: A group of seven hindu youth forced entered into a Christian house and killed the house owner on July 23 at Helibriya, near Elappara in the Highrange District called Idukki of Kerala state in India.

Paulraj, 50, was brutally murdered on Monday evening.

K.M. Raju, a neighboring hindu led the other people to Paulraj's house to kill him.

Few days ago Paulraj's cow entered Raju's cultivated land. Raju became angry and cruelly beaten the cow. And there was a quarrel going on in between two houses.

In connection with this incident, Prince, the younger son of Paulraj and Soman, the son of Raju had a fight on Monday evening. Suddenly Raju gathered his team and they entered the house of Paulraj to kill him.

Paulraj tried to escape when the attackers came to the house. But they stoned him and he was fallen down. Then the attackers beaten him to death with steel pipes and sticks. Prakash, the eldor son of Paulraj said to the Salem Voice Ministries (SVM) News Service.

Maria Selvi, wife of Paulraj was also severely beaten by the murderers.

The dead body of Paulraj was sent to Kottayam Medical College for the post mortem.

"Raju is fanatic and gathers hindu youths to give training against Christians," says a local christian, who afraid to tell the name.

P.K.G. Simon, the Deputy Superintendant of Police of Kattappana investigating the case. Raju, Balan, Anil Kumar, Pal, Sibin, Soman and Anish were arrested.

Rev. Paul Ciniraj, the President of the Christian Ministers of the Churches of India (CMCI) and the Director of the Salem Voice Ministries and condemned the incident. He visited the victim's house and prayed for the family members that they may be zealed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ for a mighty protection. He appreciated the police for the quick action of arresting murderers.

Source: Salem Voice Ministries

House churches are changing Christian worship

David Haldane, Staff Writer of Los Angeles Times
California, July 22, 2007

Jason Kilp had a short commute to church one recent Sunday. He walked about 15 feet from the bedroom of his Anaheim apartment to a small worship service in the living room.

"It's intimate," the 24-year-old graphic design student said. Unlike the gatherings he and his wife have attended at a 4,000-member mega-church in Irvine, Kilp said, "this is like a conversation. It's somebody talking to you."

The couple are part of a growing movement, mostly among evangelical and born-again Christians, that, depending on who's talking, represents either a second Protestant reformation or a sellout of biblical principles.

The trend goes by several names: house churches, living-room churches, the underground church, the organic church, the simple church, church without walls. Although they disagree on whether it's a good thing, proponents and detractors say that going to church in a home has the potential of forever changing the way Christians worship.

"We are at the initiation point of a transformational shift," said George Barna, author of the book "Revolution" about the changing nature of worship and founding director of the Barna Group, a Ventura-based research firm that tracks religious trends.

A 2006 survey by his firm — tracking developments for use by researchers and the media — concluded that 9% of U.S. adults attend house churches weekly, a ninefold increase from the previous decade, and that roughly 70 million Americans have experienced a home service.

Those most likely to attend house churches, according to phone interviews with more than 5,000 adults nationwide, are men, families that home-school their children, residents of the West and nonwhites, while those least likely to attend include women, people older than 60 and Midwesterners.

"We predict that by the year 2025, the market share of conventional churches will be cut in half," Barna said. "People are creating a new form of church, and it's really exciting."

Not everyone shares Barna's enthusiasm for the phenomenon, however. Some argue that the growth of home worship simply shows the failure of the mega-church, rather than a spiritual breakthrough. One of the harshest critics of house churches is David Wells, a professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary near Boston and the author of several books on modern Christianity. He describes the movement as "empty of biblical substance. This is not real Christianity."

Proponents counter that it's how the church began.

In Christianity's early years, Bible historians say, most worship services took place in homes. That was due to the church's small size, its lack of structure and, perhaps most significantly, that it evolved when religious gatherings had to be conducted away from the watchful eyes of repressive authorities.

"There were no church buildings in the first 300 years of church history," said Dan Hubbell, a former Southern Baptist minister in Winnsboro, Texas, who now "plants" nondenominational house churches worldwide. "The early church was basically a gathering from house to house."

As the church grew, so did its structure, evolving into the mega-churches of today. But somewhere along the way, adherents say, something valuable was lost.

The house church movement, they say, satisfies the craving for a more intimate worship experience lost in the mega-church maze.

"People can get a lot closer to each other than in a formal church setting where everyone sits with their heads facing forward," said Milt Rodriguez, 54, whose nondenominational ministry, the Rebuilders, has started five "first-century style" house churches in Colorado and Missouri since 2002. "It's not just one person preaching with everybody following. Everyone has a function, and everyone shares."

Barna believes the growing appeal of house churches stems from the heightened acceptance among U.S. churchgoers of what he describes as the "postmodern mind-set," which places primary value on relationships and shared experiences.

"We're finding, increasingly, that that's the case," he said, "particularly among young adults. People are feeling disconnected, and when they attend conventional church services, there's not much there to connect them to others present" and to God.

House churches, Barna said, regain this intimacy by meeting in groups of 10 to 20, usually weekly, in members' homes. Their tendency to depend on spontaneous leadership instead of formal clergy, he said, encourages fuller and more personal participation.

"All through his ministry," Barna said, "Jesus never asked anyone to go to church. He asked people to be the church."

Roger Finke, a professor of sociology and religious studies at Penn State University, says this grass-roots approach explains the phenomenon's primary appeal to nondenominational Christians.

Source: Los Angeles Times

Korean Evangelical Churches in Afghanistan in the Spotlight

SVM News Service
July 22, 2007

Kandahar (Afghanistan): The work of Korean evangelical churches in Afghanistan is in the spotlight again after 23 members of a church were kidnapped by Taliban insurgents on Thursday. Last August, Korean evangelical churches were prevented by the Korean and Afghan governments at the 11th hour from holding what they said was a ¡°peace march¡± of some 2,000 born-again Christians.

Churches say some 100 Korean missionaries from a dozen organizations and churches are in Afghanistan. Most are focusing on volunteer activities rather than openly preaching the gospel. The Rev. Kwon Sung-chan, who worked in Afghanistan before the Taliban took power, said, "In the past, foreigners could enter Afghanistan only through Pakistan. But I understand there are more routes into the country these days and it¡¯s much easier to get entry visas, so a lot of Korean Christians are working there."

According to Evangelicals who have been to Afghanistan, many go to Afghanistan despite the danger because there is so much to do. Choi Han-woo, the secretary general of the Institute of Asian Culture and Development who organized last year's rally, said, "The history of Afghanistan is reminiscent of Korea's modern history in that the country has been invaded by foreign forces many times and went through a civil war recently. There are many things we can do to help it in the postwar rehabilitation process." He said missionary work is challenging but rewarding at the same time.

Since the end of the U.S.-led war in 2002, 400 to 500 Korean evangelicals have visited the country every year for medical volunteer work and to offer education for children and youths, advice on information technology, and advice on agriculture. During the vacations, many go on short-term missions. Local missionaries help each church or organization locate the targets. The kidnapped members of the Saemmul church in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province were apparently on such a short-term mission.

In an interview with the Arabic satellite TV channel Al Jazeera on Saturday, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a purported spokesman for the Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, said that the detained Koreans were carrying out "missionary activities." He added, "Afghanistan is an Islamic republic where conversion from Islam or attempting to convert Muslims is regarded as a serious crime in several areas." Islam experts say this is not based on hostility to Christianity itself but because Islam condemns apostasy.

Choi Jin-young, secretary general of the Korea Middle East Association, said, "Due to this rule, Islamic countries ban missionary work although they do not make an issue of faith, be it Christianity or Islam." Lee Hee-soo, a professor at Hanyang University, said, "The Taliban regard missionary work itself as a crime that threatens the foundation of their country and society."

Some Muslim countries even curb Islamic proselytizing beyond certain boundaries, citing a verse in the Koran that says, "There is no compulsion in religion." Last November, the Kazakh government punished an Islamic missionary organization for lecturing at a Mosque without government permission. Even in Turkey, a secular country, open missionary work by other religions is often held in check.

Source: The Chosen Ilbo

Baptist deacon who ministered to ex-cons in Houston murdered

HOUSTON, ABP News , July 17, 2007: Willie Scott, a Baptist deacon who turned his experiences as a crack addict and convict into tools for his ministry, was shot and killed July 10 at his clothing and shoe business in Houston.

Police are still searching for the shooters, who had attempted to rob the 42-year-old Scott.

A deacon at the Rose of Sharon Baptist Church, Scott founded Jails to Jobs, a nonprofit organization that trains ex-offenders to do construction work. Friends remember him as a “spiritual leader” who had helped get many former inmates on the road to a new life.

Elmo Johnson, pastor of Rose of Sharon Baptist Church, said Scott had attended a meeting July 9 where 35 pastors discussed how to help small churches get on their feet and how to help former inmates find work. Leaving the gathering late that night, Johnson said he told Scott, “See you tomorrow.” But the next day, Johnson received a call about the shooting.

He called Scott a “pillar of the community” who had earned the respect of those around him. “He came out of the drug scene and prison … and never faltered,” Johnson said.

Ira Antoine, a congregational strategist for the Baptist General Convention of Texas, called the apparent murder “a tragedy.”

“God was doing phenomenal work in his life,” Antoine said. “After his release from incarceration, he helped individuals in the community so they wouldn’t return back to a life of crime.”

Funeral services are set for 11 a.m. July 21 at Bible Way Fellowship Baptist Church in Houston.
Scott is survived by his wife and two-year-old son.

Lecturer Suspended from Catholic College by Muslim Pressure

Hyderabad (India), persecution4christ, July 17, 2007: Prashanti, woman lecturer of the St. Ann's Degree College for Women in Mehdipatnam in Hyderabad has resigned from the college on July 16 as a result of christian persecution. She was suspended by the management on July 16 by the pressure of Muslim organisations, accused insulting Islam by praising Salman Rushdi in one of her classes.

Some of the students of BA final year alleged that Prashanti during her lecture of political science made certain remarks against Islam on last Friday.

In fact, somebody argued with her about Rushdi and she freely said her openion. But it was a trap and certain students called for a strike.

Immediately Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) legislators Afsar Khan and Ahmed Pasha Khadri and his supporters rushed to the college, barged into the principal's room and demanded immediate action against the lecturer.

A heated argument ensued between the legislators and the college staff. Sensing the mood, Prashanti offered an apology but the protesters were not satisfied and continued to shout slogans like "Allah-o-Akbar" (God is great) and "arrest her". The protestors clad in burqas, gathered in front of the principal's office.

Legislator Habeeb Abdul Rehman of Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) also rushed to the college and lodged his protest with the college management.

Some of the lecturers said to the persecution for Christ that the students had misunderstood Prashanti. She did not make any insulting remarks against Islam. However, the protestors claimed that this was not the first time she had made such remarks.

"A criminal case was registered against Prashanti in the Asifnagar Police Station and she was arrested. A police picket also still continuing near the college," Mohammed Jameeluddin, the Inspector of Asifnagar Police Station told..

St. Ann's College is one of the biggest women's colleges in Hyderabad. It is owned by the Roman Catholic Church. And a majority of its 3,000 students are Muslims.

It seems that some outside powers played trick through some students to remove Prashanti from the college. A judicial enquiry is needed regarding her suspension.

SDA Church members attacked in Guyana

Corentyne (GUYANA), (Stabroek News), July 3, 2007: Bandits on Sunday night attacked and robbed two members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church at Eversham, Corentyne, just after the vehicle they were travelling in developed engine problems.

The robbers, one of whom was armed with a handgun also sexually assaulted the woman during their rampage.

The two, who were attending a religious function in the area, were left abandoned in their car, which the bandits managed to restart and drove some distance away.

Police in a press release said that around 22:00 hrs on Sunday, a man who hails from an East Bank Demerara village and a female member of the Seven Day Adventist Church, who were both attending a religious function at Eversham, Corentyne, were attacked and robbed by two men, one of whom was armed with a handgun.

Investigations revealed that the two victims were in a motor vehicle on their way to visit another church member when the vehicle developed engine problems.

While stranded on the road, they were attacked by the men who robbed them of two cell phones, their wristwatches and $15,000.

The release said it was further reported that the two bandits managed to get the vehicle started, after which they placed the victims in the trunk and took them to an area along the Corentyne where the female was sexually assaulted. They were later abandoned in the vehicle at Bloomfield, Corentyne.

The matter is being investigated, the release added.

Protestant Groups React to Bashing from Vatican
persecution4christ

Tuesday, the Vatican published a document that asserts that Protestant denominations are not true churches. The document, “Responses to Some Questions Regarding QCertain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church,” reaffirmed Catholic teaching that the one true church of Christ is the Catholic Church.

This document from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has caused dismay with several Protestant groups. They are concerned with the text’s assertion that Protestant communities are not churches because there is no apostolic succession.

“Christ ‘established here on earth’ only one church,” said the document. The other communities “cannot be called ‘churches’ in the proper sense” because they do not have the ability to trace their bishops back to Christ’s original apostles.

The Rev. Setri Nyomi, general secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, in an open letter addressed to Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said, “An exclusivist claim that identifies the Roman Catholic Church as the one church of Jesus Christ … goes against the spirit of our Christian calling toward oneness in Christ. It makes us question the seriousness with which the Roman Catholic Church takes its dialogue with the Reformed family and other families of the church. It makes us question whether we are indeed praying together for Christian unity.”

Kasper responded that despite the initial “irritation among Protestant Christians,” a closer reading of the text would lead one to conclude “that the document does not say anything new.” He claims the text provides a synthesis of Catholic teaching.

“The document does not say that the Protestant churches are not churches, but that they are not churches in the precise sense, that is, they are not churches in the way that the Catholic Church uses the term ‘church,’” he said.

Thomas Wipf, president of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe, sees things differently. He claims that preaching the Gospel and administering the sacraments is what defines the Church of Christ.

“That – and no more – is needed to be able to be seen as an authentic expression of the one church of Christ … We recognize the Roman Catholic Church as a church. It is and remains regrettable that this is not made possible the other way around,” he said.

Kasper asserts “that which unites us … is greater than what divides us. For that reason, one should not skim over what the declaration affirms in a positive way about the Protestant churches, and that is that Jesus Christ is effectively present in them for the salvation of their members. The document renders a service to clarity and, consequently, to progress in the dialogue.”

Senior High Court Advocate, Christian, Brutally murdered in Kerala

Kochi (Kerala in India), SVM News, July 14, 2007: Seniour High Court advocate, who is a christian, brutally murdered on 12th of July at Valanjambalam in Kochi of Kerala State in India.

"Advocate M.V. Abraham Mannancheril, 75, was found dead at his office near his residence at about 9 pm on Thursday. The advocate was pushing down by beaten at his head and was pressed at his neck to discontinue breathing. Also there was an attempt of electrocuting him," police officials told the Salem Voice Ministries (SVM) News Service.

The post-mortem examination was done at Alappuzha Medical College.

Fingerprint experts and the scientific investigation team members collected evidence from the spot on Friday. The police team got a brass bangle from the scene of the crime, which is suspected to have some relation to the crime.

The police dog, that was brought to the scene on Thursday, could not find any lead, as the scent trail was lost along the road towards the Ernakulam South Railway Station.

Sources said an examination of the body found minor injuries on the face and neck and a burn mark on the right hand, which is suspected to have been caused by an attempt to electrocute the victim.

No attempt of theft was detected from either the office or house of the deceased. Initial investigation showed that no money was taken from his person or office premises, because there was Rs.15,000 and a golden ring was in his table, which was seen opened . Only his wife Chinnamma was at the residence at the time of the murder.

No one was present at the commercial building complex at which his office was functioning at that time. The deceased owned the building complex.

Advocate Abraham has one son and four daughters. Son, Dr. M.A. Mathew and his wife Dr. Latha Mathew are the surgeons of Kolencherry MOC Medical College, owned by a Christian Church. Another son-in-law, Dr. Peter Zachariah, is a surgeon of Tiruvalla Medical Mission, owned by Brethren Christian Mission.

"Our pappa was a prayerful man and a good supporter of Christian activites. We, the children and our families also working in Christian institutions and supporting christian mission," Dr. Mathew told to Rev. Paul Ciniraj, the Director of the Salem Voice Ministries and the national President of the Christian Ministers of the Churches in India (CMCI).

Local people doubts that either his death is because of christian persecution or related with any of the cases.

P.M. Verghese, the Assistant Commissioner of police investigating the case.

The police also started collecting details of the cases that the deceased was working on at the time of his death. The police suspect more than one person was involved in the crime.

Christians Concerned over Illegally Held Pastor in Azerbaijan

July 13, 2007
Source: www.persecution.org (ICC)

A Baptist pastor is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing today for crimes that more than 25 eyewitnesses say he did not commit, reports persecution watchdog International Christian Concern.

Zaur Balaev, from Aliabad in Azerbaijan, has been accused of attacking five police officers, an accusation denied by the eyewitnesses.

The pastor has already been held for over a month prior to a charge being placed on him by police, which ICC says is “a blatant denial of his legal rights under Azerbaijani law”.

On May 20, Pastor Zaur Balaev was leading a worship service when government officials raided the service and arrested him. They initially accused him of resisting arrest by setting his dog on them, but have since changed their story to accuse him of physically attacking them and damaging a police car door as he was entering the vehicle.

Balaev has now been charged with using violence to resist arrest under Article 315 Part 1 of the country’s criminal code.The Head of the Azerbaijani Government's State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations, Idayat Orujev, denies that the case is about religion.

The prosecutor’s accusation, however, states that Balaev is a threat to society and the country’s security because he is a Christian.

“In addition, government officials have denied registration to Balaev’s church for 13 years. This is no doubt due to the fact that local officials are Muslim and insist that Balaev’s congregation is traitor to their ancestors’ Muslim faith.

Balaev has been in prison for two months and there is now concern that his health is deteriorating quickly.

No members of his family have been able to see him and they can only communicate by telephone.

Balaev should have been released after his first month of imprisonment because he had not been criminally charged yet.

Instead he was transferred to a prison hours away from his home.

His family has gone into debt from unsuccessfully trying to visit him in this new location and giving officials money so that Balaev can eat.”

No Lord, but Jesus: Protester's Voice at Hindu prayer in US Senate

Washington, SVM News, July 13, 2007: Christian religious activists briefly disrupted the Hindu prayer in the US Senate on Thursday, the 13th of July, branding his appearance an "abomination."

Invited by the Senate to offer Hindu prayers in place of the usual Christian invocation, Rajan Zed, a Hindu priest and also the director of Interfaith Relations at a Hindu temple in Reno, Nevada, had just stepped up to the podium for the landmark occasion, the protesters interrupted by loudly asking for God's forgiveness for allowing the ''false prayer'' of a Hindu in the Senate chamber.

"Lord Jesus, forgive us father for allowing a prayer of the wicked, which is an abomination in your sight," the first protester shouted. "This is an abomination. We shall have no other gods before you."

Democratic Senator Bob Casey, who was serving as the presiding officer for the morning, immediately asked the sergeant-at-arms to restore order. But they continued to protest as they were headed out the door by the marshals, shouting, "No Lord but Jesus Christ!" and "There's only one true God!"

Police officers quickly arrested them and charged them with disrupting Congress, a misdemeanor. The male protester told an Associated Press reporter, "we are Christians and patriots" before police handcuffed them and led them away.

"We identified the protesters as three and they are Ante Nedlko Pavkovic, Katherine Lynn Pavkovic and Christan Renee Sugar," officials said to the Salem Voice Ministries (SVM) News Service. "It seems they represent the Christian Right anti-abortion group named Operation Save America," official added to the SVM News.

The Mississippi-based American Family Association has been urging its members for several days to object to the prayer because Zed would be "seeking the invocation of a non-monotheistic god."

Rajan Zed, clad in saffron with a prominent tilak on his forehead, then nervously went through the invocation. "Let us pray," he began, "We meditate on the transcendental glory of the deity supreme, who is inside the heart of the earth, inside the life of the sky and inside the soul of heaven. May he stimulate and illuminate our minds."

He was invited by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to give the day's opening prayer.