Month: April 2018

The next day, after leaving the village where the young man was healed, we stopped for a baptism service in another village. It was the same village where, three years ago, our missionary R*, his wife S*, and their 2-year-old daughter were assaulted by Hindu radicals and beaten up. They were humiliated by the Hindu radicals, who tore the clothes of R* and S* and paraded them naked through the village. It was an act of unimaginable cruelty. But our Lord showed favor to them through the actions of some kind-hearted villagers, who stood with them, rescued them from the hands of the Hindu radicals, and gave them clothes to wear. In spite of all that hardship and humiliation, and with the help and support of partners in the USA, they chose to stay there and continue the mission work.
By the Grace of our God, R* and S* were able to reach the villagers and share the Gospel with them, leading hundreds of people to the Lord! Now, three years later, we were in the village to give baptism to 39 people and lay the foundation stone for the church building in the same village where they had been humiliated.

Power Evangelism

As you can see, God has compassion on people, releases His Power, and people give their lives to Him. It’s that simple. Jesus said “Go!” and He confirms the message with signs and miracles. May God challenge all of us to take that step of faith, with an expectation that He will back up His Word. Whether in India, or in America, pray that God will empower us (and you!) to carry this message of Hope to every town, every city, and every state.

This month we see the connection between compassion, healing and the advancement of the Gospel. Sometimes the best way to share our message is through a loving demonstration of God’s power.

Resistance to the Gospel

One of our outreach teams is focusing on a people group in which, according to the Joshua Project, there is not even a single Christian among 5 million people. Twenty-two young people came from a Bible college with a God-given vision to reach this community. The first week was terrible for them. In the first village where they went to share the Gospel, Hindu radicals resisted them and forced them out of the village. The second day the same thing happened, but even worse than the first day. Some village women threw cow dung on them and humiliated them, others slapped them in the face. It was a great disappointment for them. They went to another village and met with the same kind of resistance. When they contacted their leader, he asked them to stay indoors and spend few days in prayer, asking the Lord to give them a passion and burden for the people group.

They spent the following week in prayer, mostly fasting and praying for God’s favor to be with them. After five days they were still apprehensive, but they went out to a new village to share the Gospel. This time the situation had changed. Instead of resistance, the response was very positive! It seemed that the village had been waiting for them. They shared the Gospel with passion and a burden. They said “while we shared the Gospel, we were crying, our hearts were filled with a burden and passion for the people around us. Resistance and persecution never crossed our minds—we experienced such a love for these tribal people that we never had before. We weren’t preaching to them, but showing our love and affection which the Lord had poured into our hearts toward them. People responded with the same passion, and in one day we led 21 people to the Lord, who prayed a prayer of repentance.”

The Incurable Cries out for Healing

That same day, our outreach team went to share the Gospel at another house in the same village. In a small shed outside this house, a 32 year old man was laying in a bed. His parents told me that their son had been ill for 4 years, with huge boils all over his body. His skin would get inflamed and the wounds would grow and get infected. As some boils would heal, others would appear in his body. He was in constant pain. They took him everywhere: to the doctors, hospitals, witch doctors, and temples, but his condition continued to worsen. When our outreach team came to visit his home and share the Gospel, this young man was crying loudly due to pain from the wounds. His parents said “day and night he cries loudly and his wounds smell very bad.” They prepared a separate room for him, in a shed away from the house, where they would feed him. One of our brothers asked whether they could see him. The parents told them he was in very poor condition, and he smelled very bad. They explained “We used to clean his wounds before, but not any longer, because there is no point in cleaning him. We have done everything we know to do. We spent all the money we had, but everyone says there is no cure for this sickness.”
Our brothers once again asked his parents if they could pray for him. The parents led them to the shed outside the house, on the corner of a small farm. As our team approached the shed they were almost overwhelmed by the smell of rotten flesh. They could hear the young man’s cries. Covering their noses, the brothers approached him. When he saw the Bible college students, he began to cry louder, begging for help because he could not endure the pain. They could see several boils on his body that were each about the size of a small apple. His whole body was swollen in various places, and he could not lay down without being in pain, so he spent most of his time each day sitting or standing.

Worship Brings Healing and Salvation

Our brothers stood outside the room and began to sing some worship songs and worship the Lord. The neighbors, seeing our brothers singing, thought that the young man had died, so they came over to console the parents. As the brothers continued singing, the presence of the Lord fell on everyone who stood there, including the parents and the neighbors who had come to see what was happening there! The young man was also filled with the presence of the Lord, and he began to shout and jump with joy. Hearing the noise, more people came to see what was happening. Finally, in front of a small crowd of over a hundred people, our brothers went and touched the young man and prayed over him. The moment they touched him, instantly his pain was gone! He was just rejoicing and kept thanking our brothers. They stood there and shared the Gospel with the people all around saying “Jesus is the one who heals!” Yes, our Lord Jesus heals!

Last week, while their leader was spending time with the outreach team, this young man and his parents came to visit him. He was pain-free and almost all the wounds were healed. He looked good and healthy. He and his parents came and touched the leader’s feet as a sign of respect, and told him “If your people would not have come to our village, our son would be still living in great pain. We had forgotten how to smile. We were living in hell, but today we rejoice. We sing, dance, and worship the Lord! We have been delivered from hell to heaven!” The young man’s father even offered to give a piece of land for a church building!

The Gospel Advances

The following day we visited the village people and they brought their sick people for prayer. Some women who were possessed by evil spirits were brought to be prayed for as well. We had a public meeting in the village, where around 300 people attended, mostly tribal people. Sixty-four of them gave their lives to the Lord.

All the villagers were thanking the team for bringing this glorious Good News to their village!