Brother P and his family are from the untouchable community. They lived in the slums with their five children. He used to drive a rickshaw and his wife was selling vegetables in the slum. Their youngest son who was four years at that time had a blood infection. Almost twice a year they had to give the boy a blood transfusion. It was a great burden on their life and their finances. They fell into a lot of debt. The family was dealing with starvation. There was no one to help them. Finally they decided to take their other four children to an orphanage where they would have at least enough food, and security for their young daughters who were 16 and 14 at that time.
One of the volunteers who gave blood for P’s son’s transfusion was from a Hindu radical group. He came to donate blood for P’s son. After knowing the situation he said, “In my village some Christians meet for worship every Sunday. They claim that their God heals sickness. I have heard that many people have been healed by their prayers. Why don’t you take your son to them and ask them to pray for him? Maybe he too will be healed!”
There is Healing Power in The Blood
The following Sunday, the desperate P and his wife took their son from the hospital to the prayer group. It was a house church with 30-35 people jam-packed in a small room. They were singing and worshiping the Lord. Brother P shared with them why their family was there. During the service the church came around P’s son and laid hands on him and prayed for him.
After the service when P’s family went back to the hospital, the doctor was very upset because they had taken his patient out of the hospital without his permission. The next day the boy was discharged. The family returned to the slum. People from the house church visited them and prayed over their son again and again. God in His mercy healed him completely. Since that day they have never had to give their son another blood transfusion. P and his wife attended the house church and they accepted the Lord as their personal Savior.
Five years ago, R was in the slum where P and his family lived. They wanted to have a meeting in their area for the people to hear the Gospel. R says he still remembers when they had that meeting in the slum. It was in a small soccer ground where 300 people came to hear the Gospel. The next day we gave baptism to P and his wife and their three older children. After the baptism P and his family joined our house church leader’s training, completed it and became leaders of a house church.
The Gospel Spreads Through the Slums
Through the public meeting so many people were attracted to the Gospel. Our brothers started a house church in P’s home and gradually people from the slum, each with different needs, began to come and attend the house church. Many were delivered and set free from different addictions. The house church in P’s home became a lighthouse in that slum. For many who lived in utter darkness the house church was a light for them. It was a place of deliverance. Last month R was in that area to lay a foundation stone for their planned church building. They are planning to build a shed for the worship meetings. More than 400 people from that slum attended the meeting. Most of them are born again believers. P and his family took R to five other slums around their town, where very poor, untouchable people, who are the lowest in the society, live in plastic tents. In almost freezing cold weather it was a very sad sight. But as they walked through the slum, people greeted them by saying ‘JAI MASIH’ meaning “Praise the Lord.” They were joined by many people in the slum who are born again and live for the Lord, and they were worshiping Him. In all five slums P and his family have started regular worship services, where hundreds of people meet each week. R and his wife were really touched and moved by the way the Lord is using P and his family to draw hundreds of people to the Lord. P’s daughters, Kajal and Sona, have started six Sunday schools in different slums, where more than 240 children attend regularly. Kajal and Sona attend college, but in the afternoon, when their college classes are finished, they teach the children Bible stories, from 3:30pm to 5pm. They also teach the children how to read and write. If that wasn’t enough, they have also started a women’s meeting in the slums!
Blessed to be a Blessing
In P’s own words, he said, “We went to a house church with a desperate situation because no one could help us. We asked the Lord to bless our son and heal him, but we never thought that we would become a blessing. Today the Lord has honored us and blessed us and made us a blessing to our community.”
The Bible says “The people which sat in darkness saw a great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up.” Hundreds of people living in the slums, who sat in darkness for many generations, are seeing the glorious light of the Gospel through one family’s dedication to the Lord. They are able to do this work because of our Lord, and through your prayers and financial support. Ask the Lord of the Harvest to send more laborers into the harvest field, and to provide them with the necessary financial support to be effective.