Staines widow tells Orissa Christians to find strength in Christ

Ten years after the brutal murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons in India’s Orissa state, widow Gladys Staines is urging persecuted Christians there to turn to Christ.

Baptist missionary Graham Staines, 58, and his sons Philip, 9, and Timothy, 7, were sleeping in their station wagon in Manoharpur village when they were attacked by a mob of Hindu extremists and burned alive inside their vehicle on the night of 22 January 1999. Mr Staines had spent more than 30 years working with leprosy sufferers in India.

In an interview with AsiaNews this week, Mrs Staines admitted there had been times of sadness during the last 10 years.

“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,” she said.

Although Mrs Staines said she missed the support of her husband and was sad that she was not able to see her sons grow up, she affirmed forgiveness for the killers and said that Christ had been her companion over the years.

“God gives me great support, and the prayers of people has been a source of great consolation, and this is the solidarity I share with the widows of Kandhamal. It is Jesus who is the source of every consolation and support. God gives us the strength to be able to carry our cross and to live in His will. Our life and our work here on earth has to go on according to His holy will.”

Mrs Staines went on to express her sadness over the recent wave of attacks against Christians in Orissa but urged women who had lost their husbands in the killings to stay strong “and Christ will be your support, your companion, your guide and your strength”.

“When God is working with us, nothing can be against us,” she said. “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’.”

Mrs Staines returned to Orissa in 2006 to continue the work of her husband in fostering peace and harmony. She encouraged Christians elsewhere to support believers in Orissa with solidarity and prayers.

“To the people of the world I say, do not give up hope, pray for India,” she said.

On Thursday, a mass was held at the site of murders in Monoharpur marking the tenth anniversary, followed by a prayer service on Friday and the inauguration of a new physiotherapy hall.

Mrs Staines has previously stressed forgiveness for the killers. When one, Dara Singh, was sentenced to death and 12 others given life imprisonment in 2003, she appealed for clemency. Singh’s death sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.

In a 2006 interview with AsiaNews, she stressed the importance of forgiveness.

"In forgiveness, there is no bitterness and when there is no bitterness, there is hope. This consolation comes from Jesus Christ."