NEW CASTLE Preacher who was attacked cancels India trip

He now has a new calling -- talking about religious persecution.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Joe Cooper normally spends this time of year preparing for his annual mission trip to India.
But after an attack by Hindu extremists in January left him with wounds to his hand, arm and torso, the Neshannock Township man has decided to stay home.
"I contacted three ministers I work with over there and one said he would pray about my coming and the other two said please don't come, you bring too much trouble," Cooper said this week.
Cooper was attacked by 10 men as he walked through a rice paddy on the outskirts of Trivandrum, the capital city of southern Kerala state in India.
What happened
He had just finished preaching to a group of Christians. They contend he was preaching illegally, but Cooper disagrees. He has said that under Indian law he was required only to get a permit to preach to large groups that might include non-Christians. The group that night included only about 50 Christians.
His attackers were members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a Hindu nationalist organization, whom Cooper likens to the Ku Klux Klan or Adolf Hitler's Brown Shirts, groups organized to keep people in line through fear and intimidation.
Cooper said it's still unclear what has happened to his attackers. News articles in Indian papers last August had his attackers contending Cooper was armed, which isn't true, he said.
After the attack, Cooper was whisked out of India and came home to nurse his wounds.
He still does not have full use of one thumb, which was cut by a machete in the attack. It likely will never be the same, he added.
A new calling
This year, Cooper has found a new calling -- talking about religious persecution.
In June, the Indian Christian Council of North America flew Cooper to its annual meeting in Houston and gave him a plaque. He spoke to the group and another in New York about religious persecution.
"They have meetings to bring attention to the fact that the world is still not safe," said Cooper of the group that is made up of many denominations, including Roman Catholics and Pentecostals.
Cooper said he continues to raise money to support the work of Christians in India, and he would like to return there some day.
cioffi@vindy.com