One of the tribes who live in Rajasthan has a population of 2.8 million, and according to the Joshua Project, there is no known Christian among them…that is, until now. They live primarily in villages and lead simple lives, following all the Hindu religious practices, including child marriage. Each of their villages has a population of between 1,000 and 4000 people.
The Good News Received, With Trouble
Recently, two young men in a neighboring county, members of another tribe, came to Christ. They received a call into ministry and went to Bible College. During their studies, in between semesters at school, they participated in our Summer Outreach program. There they caught the vision of reaching the unreached, so after graduation, they decided to go to the particular tribe mentioned above and began to lead many young people to the Lord. We facilitated their ministry work. As they led many to the Lord and discipled them, the new believers began to grow in Christ and started living in obedience to the Word of God. Specifically, they opposed the practice of idol worship in their community. Severe persecution began to increase, and our brothers Sanjeev and Ravi were beaten up several times. Many of the new believers were forced to flee from their villages because the Hindu radicals threatened them, vandalized their houses and set their crops on fire. They moved to a low-lying area, where they built new houses and started afresh farming the nearby fields.
First Fruits of the Harvest
Last month our leaders were in this community for meetings and a baptism service. They met Ramesh, the first believer of Sanjeev and Ravi from this community, who had suffered much hardship for his faith. He told them his story: ‘I used to be a village temple priest in our area. I held a very respected position in the village and community. Then my wife became sick. I tried everything I could think of to heal her, but she did not get well. Then one day two young men (Sanjeev and Ravi) came through our village and gave me the Gospel of John. They told me Jesus loves me and can bring peace to my life, if I can believe in the Lord Jesus. I had never heard the name of Jesus before, and I asked them who Jesus was. They said Jesus is God’s son, and that He came into this world to save sinners. That didn’t make sense to me, because all our gods and goddesses come to destroy sinners. But these men kept saying that Jesus came into the world to save sinners. I thought it was an interesting concept, so I took the Gospel of John and began to read it for myself, wanting to know more about this son of God who loves sinners. As I read, I was impressed with its message.’
Ramesh continued. ‘The following day I was waiting for these young men to come to our village. When they arrived, I invited them to my home and asked them to share with me more about this Jesus. They shared the Gospel with me again, and I told them about my wife, who was bedridden. I asked them if they would pray for her, so they knelt down around her bed and prayed in Jesus’ name for my wife. Those young men visited us every week and prayed for us every week, and as the weeks passed my wife began to get better. After several weeks, these young men came and shared with me that they were being persecuted and the villagers were forcing them to vacate the house where they were staying. They asked me if they could stay in my village, so I offered them a room in my house. Through them, we continued to hear the Gospel, and soon my wife, my two daughters and I all believed in the Lord and invited Him into our lives.’
Set Apart by God, And a New Start
‘As soon as they discovered we were believers in Jesus, the Hindu radicals targeted me and my family. They turned the villagers against us, and they burned down our house, thinking we were still inside. But the Lord saved us through one of their own men, who informed us of the attack just in time so that we could escape. We lost everything. We migrated from there and came to this village and settled here with Sanjeev and Ravi.’
Seven Years of Ministry, And Much Fruit
‘Now, for the past seven years, I have lived here with my family, not as a temple priest but as a servant of the living God. Our Lord has given us boldness and courage to share about Jesus, and in the last seven years, our Lord has used us to establish 49 house churches in this community. More than 800 people have received believer’s baptism and thousands of people have been touched by the message of the gospel.’ (That day alone our leaders baptized 49 people from the same community)
Today Sanjeev, Ravi, and Ramesh travel to different villages in the community. Just last year, with your help, our partners, we gave Sanjeev and Ravi a motorcycle that has helped them expand their territory and reach far into the interior villages. Today the message of the Gospel is penetrating deep down in this community. Hundreds are turning to the Lord. While our leaders were with these brothers, they attended 7 meetings in different villages, and 259 people came forward to receive Jesus into their lives and were baptized! The church is growing! PRAISE THE LORD!
Help Us Share the Gospel
Will you help us continue sharing the Gospel in the darkest places of India? Psalm 119:105 says ‘Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.’ You can share in the blessings! To find out how to contact us, and to read more inspiring and exciting testimonies of what God is doing among the unreached people groups of India, click the links on the right, and keep reading!
With your help, the Gospel will be proclaimed, and you will be blessed, along with thousands of others!
Proclaiming the Gospel…
…until He comes,