Sowing Into the Harvest

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“All things are possible to him who believes.”

Mark 9:23 NASB

The Dying Man Finds New Life

After D* shared her testimony (see The Dead Baby Finds New Life), a young man stood up to testify. He came from a Hindu high caste family, and three years ago he came to know the Lord, through the witness of a friend. Since then, his parents were very unhappy—they said he brought shame on his family, and threw him out, asking him to never return. From that day, three years ago, he has had no contact with his family. He tried to visit them but they refused to allow him in the home. Last week he heard from a friend from his village that his father fell ill a few weeks ago. He was resting at home, but his situation was not good. He called the church to pray for his father. Then he and another brother from the church went to see his parents. Prior to this, every time he tried visiting his parents they humiliated him in front of the people, accusing him, cursing him, and using all kinds of abusive words.

As he approached his village he asked the Lord to restore the broken relationship with his parents. He wanted to show his love and respect for them, and most importantly, lead them to the Lord. As he arrived at his village he went to his home without any resistance. They allowed him to see his father, who was very sick. He sat with him, and with much difficulty his father told him “All through my life I served and worshiped our gods and goddesses but I never experienced any joy or inner peace in my life. Now I am very afraid to face the last days of my life. I am so restless, but since the day you came and told us that you received Jesus in your life, you have joy, inner peace, and assurance of your salvation, things I have never experienced in my life. Watching your life, I know you have been changed and transformed. Please tell me about this new God you worship, the One who changed your life.” With tears, he shared the Gospel with his father, and led his father to the Lord. There in his father’s bedroom, he led his whole family in a prayer of repentance and dedication to the Lord Jesus. After the prayer, his father talked quietly with each of the family members. He died in peace a few hours later.

The young man said though it was very painful for him to witness the death of his father, at the same time he was rejoicing in his heart, knowing his father would spend eternity in heaven with Jesus. He finished by saying that today his mother and six other family members were in the service.

The Dead Baby Finds New Life

A few weeks ago, our team was in one of our churches, attending the Sunday service with 100-120 believers. They had gathered on the roof of a rented house in the village where our missionary L* is ministering. L* is from a tribal community, and he came to know the Lord 8 years ago after having received deliverance from a demonic spirit. Just five years ago, he joined our 40-day training school for house church leaders and then took the leadership of the house church in his home. Slowly the house church has grown and since they do not have suitable accommodations, they split and started another house church in another village. This has gone on for some time, and now through multiplication he leads nine house churches in different villages around his home village. We have baptized more than 240 people in these house churches in the last 4 years. That Sunday a few weeks ago, two or three house churches had come together for a worship service on the roof of L*’s house.

Power of the Testimony

During worship that day, there was a time of fresh testimonies, as L* asked, as usual, whether there were any testimonies today. Three people stood and testified of what God has done in and through their lives.

One woman, D*, around 50, became a born-again Christian 5 years ago, having come from a Hindu background. She testified that her six-month-old grandson was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia and was in the ICU for a week. He was in critical condition and having trouble breathing, so she was sitting outside the ICU fervently praying for her grandson.

Divine Appointment

While sitting in the waiting room she had a friendly conversation with a pregnant woman and her husband. They were in their late thirties, and D* found them sitting quietly and weeping. She felt a deep compassion in her heart for them, and went and sat with them and comforted them. As they talked, the couple told her that they had been married for 16 years and, until now, had never been able to have any children. When she finally did become pregnant, doctors discovered the pregnancy had many complications. Things were so serious they told her it would be better for her to have an abortion, for her safety, rather than carry the baby to full term. She and her husband disagreed with the doctors. They had waited so long, and they wanted to have the baby. When D* met them, the woman was at her due date. The doctor informed her husband he would do everything possible, but he wasn’t sure whether he would be able to save both the mother and the child. He told the husband to be prepared, and to pick the one whose life he wanted saved. Both husband and wife were shattered. Both sets of their parents were against their decision to keep the baby, so no one gave them any support.

Comfort of the Holy Spirit

D* comforted the couple and shared with them that she believes in Jesus, who answers prayer, and asked them whether she could pray for the mother and the child she was carrying. With their permission, and in tears, she prayed for her there in the hospital waiting room. She rebuked the curse put on the couple and blessed the mother and child in Jesus’ name. As soon as she finished praying, the lady began to feel uncomfortable and started bleeding. The doctor came and they rushed her directly into the operating room. In surgery they took the baby out, but it was motionless and the doctor declared the baby dead.

After some time, the nurse brought the dead baby out to show it to the father in the waiting room. D* was standing beside the emotionally overwhelmed father, and when he refused to look at the baby, D* took the baby in her arms. She laid her hand on the baby and began to pray in tongues quietly. A few moments later D* felt something moving in her arms! Suddenly, the baby started to cry. The nurses heard the noise, and took the baby back inside to the doctor. After an hour the nurse returned, saying the baby was perfectly fine.

The hospital staff and the doctors were wondering what happened. Finally the father of the child, who witnessed everything, told them it was D* who first prayed for the mother and child. He said “She took our dead baby, put her hands on it, and prayed in a strange language, and it was during her prayer that our baby moved and started to cry.”

As D* shared her testimony in church that Sunday, she paused and asked the father of the baby to stand up. He had come with her to the worship service. He stood there, speechless and in tears, and with folded hands he expressed his gratitude for what the Lord had done.

(Continue to the next testimony here…)

November 2018 Letter

Dear Partners and Friends,

How often do we limit God? Maybe a better question is “how often do we limit what God can do through us?” When I read over the two stories in this month’s newsletter, and did my job as editor, I couldn’t help but think of the words of Jesus: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.” (John 14;12, NASB) So often in America, when we read “greater works” we respond by saying “Salvation of a soul is the greatest work of all.” While that is true, I think sometimes we allow our experience (or lack of experience) to influence our interpretation of Scripture. The thinking goes like this: “I am a faithful, dedicated believer, and I have never raised anyone from the dead, therefore God just doesn’t do that anymore.” But is it possible that this kind of thinking actually limits what God can do through us?

When Jesus was in his hometown of Nazareth, Matthew records that “And He [Jesus] did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.” I love to read testimonies from believers in India. They are new believers. They haven’t had the time (or the disappointments that will come) to develop a framework of what God does and doesn’t do. When they read the Bible, they just believe it, like a little child. So whether they are raising a baby from the dead, or ushering an old man into Glory, it’s all the same for them – God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. (Ephesians 3:20, KJV)

Their childlike faith inspires me to ask “What can God do, if I will only believe?” I hope you, too, are inspired. Let’s pray, stand on the Word of God, and ask Him to do His “greater works” in us and through us. Believe that it is His will, and thank Him in advance that we have anything we ask for, in accordance with His will. And please share this newsletter with as many God-honoring, Bible-believing Christians as you are able. Feel free to photocopy it, send them to our website (https://revivalnow.excitingword.org ), encourage them to email us, do whatever you can do to get the word out. We overcome by the blood of Jesus Christ, and the word of our testimony. The more people who receive this newsletter, the more hearts will be touched, and the more God will provide for our missionaries. Without your help, we could do nothing to promote the Gospel.

Thank you for continuing to pray for all of us here. And thank you to those who support us sacrificially every month. No words can adequately express our gratefulness for your partnership!

Blessings in the Wonderful Name of Jesus,

Thomas