Regi tells this story of a recent event that brought back painful memories, but also a great blessing.
The Good Samaritan
It was summer, 21 years ago, and I was returning from a village after visiting a few families and praying for a few people. A group of young people (Hindu radicals) stopped me on a bridge and forcefully took my shoulder bag. They took out my Bible, tore it to pieces, and threw it into the river below. I tried to stop them, but they knocked me down and started kicking me with their boots. Bystanders saw me lying on the bridge, but no one came to help. I was very weak when they took hold of my hands and feet, and threw me off the bridge, into the river 150 feet below. At that time, a Swami (a common name of a Hindu religious teacher) came by and stopped the radicals. He fished me out of the river and took me to a nearby house, where he gave me water to drink and put some bandages on my bleeding hands. He apologized for what the radicals had done to me and comforted me. Then he put me in taxi and sent me back home. He was a Good Samaritan and a true neighbor to me.
Swami visited me several times during my recovery and we become friends. He was a highly devoted follower of his religion – growing up with the deep-rooted belief that he would be blessed by his gods if he pleased them. Failure would bring curses on his life, and so, to ensure blessings, Swami regularly offered prayers, sacrifices, and followed all kinds of rituals. I often presented him the message of the Gospel, but he always rejected it, saying he didn’t need to follow it. He felt no need for Jesus in his life.
After five years everything changed, when Swami was diagnosed at 49 years old with stage 4 incurable cancer. He went to different hospitals to continue treatments, but the doctors had no hope for him, and sent him back to the temple where he lived as a Hindu priest.
Without knowing about Swami’s situation, I visited him. Finding him lying in bed very weak, skinny and greatly depressed, I felt sorry for him. Once again I shared the Gospel with him, telling him how Jesus healed the sick, and that Jesus still heals today. After sharing, I asked permission to pray for him. He said he would greatly appreciate that, so in front of his devotees, as this Hindu priest lay dying in a Hindu temple, I laid my hand on his head and prayed for his healing, in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Over the next few weeks, I visited him frequently and shared the Gospel. I even gave him a Bible. Every time I visited, I noticed that his condition was steadily improving. After two months, he came to our house and told me that he wanted to repent and confess his sins before me. I told him not to confess his sins to me, but to Jesus. That day, in front of my family, he repented and received Jesus into his life. After three months, he secretly took baptism.
After this, he said it would be difficult to continue living in this area. He asked me for a favor. He left his family when he was 16 years old and never went back home or inquired about them. He said if his parents or siblings were still alive, he wanted to see them and share the Gospel with them before he died.
We agreed to help him, and arranged for him to travel to his home village. After that, we lost contact with him. We didn’t know where he was, or what had happened to him.
The Macedonian Call
In January we received a “Macedonian Call” from some brothers in a remote area. They had heard about our house church leaders training program, and asked us to come and help them train up house church leaders and start a training center in their area. Earlier this month we took one of our training teams to visit the remote area and meet with the brothers who invited us. They received us with great joy and told us “There was a Swami in our village who taught about Jesus and prayed for us, and led us to Jesus. He died a year ago in his sleep.”
We visited Swami’s home to meet with Swami’s brother. There he told us that his brother had left home to become a Hindu “Saddhu” (A Hindu religious holy person). He said “My brother wandered through the Himalayas for 33 years, learning and teaching Hinduism, but 16 years ago he was diagnosed with stage four cancer. A friend of his, a missionary, told him about Jesus and how Jesus can heal. The missionary laid his hands on him in the temple and prayed for him in the name of Jesus. That same man sent my brother home. After 33 long years he came home, and stayed with us. For the last 15 years he has lived with us, telling us about this Jesus who healed him. He started teaching the Bible, sharing about Jesus and salvation and he led us all to Christ. For the last fifteen years he lived a healthy life. The doctors gave him six months to live, 16 years ago, but instead, he lived 16 good years.”
Swami’s brother continued, “All those years he was going around sharing the Gospel, leading people to the Lord. There are thousands of people in the area who have been miraculously healed or delivered by the prayer of Swami. Thousands of people were delivered from idol worship and the caste system, and now believe in Jesus because of Swami.”
We learned that our Lord used Swami to start 29 churches in remote tribal villages, in a state where preaching the gospel is almost impossible. They told us that 15 years ago there were hardly any believers among the local people, but today there are thousands of believers who truly worship the Lord in Spirit and in Truth. God used Swami to reveal His Glory to them. Over the last five years, hundreds of house churches have been started in the remote villages. Since covid, they have not been able to meet together the way they used to. They are meeting in village churches but they don’t have enough trained leaders.
As he shared Swami’s testimony, I asked to see a picture of him. When Swami’s brother brought a picture, I nearly fell to the ground, crying and praising God. This same Swami was my Good Samaritan, who saved my life! Who was healed of cancer by Jesus!
How can I explain my emotions? We spent two days with the believers in that area, visited many villages, met hundreds of believers, and started two training centers in that area. With man, it is impossible, but the Lord has His own way to reach people He wants to draw to Himself.
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,