The last two months have been a very difficult time for India. People have seen things they never expected to see in their lives. Who would have expected to see people fighting with the authorities over something as basic as God-given, freely available oxygen? But thousands of people are dying because of lack of oxygen.
The infrastructure is being pushed to the breaking point. Because of a shortage of hospital beds, hundreds of sick people are receiving treatment outside, under the trees. And treatment is basic, too, since there are extreme shortages of medicine and medical supplies.
Because of inadequate medical treatment, many are dying. Crematoriums and cemeteries are unable to handle the sheer number of bodies. With nowhere to bury the dead, and no funds for cremation, there are hundreds of dead bodies floating in the rivers. Without hope, people are giving up and abandoning their loved ones in their homes, running away to save themselves. We hear reports of areas where total chaos abounds, and despair and fear are gripping the people.
Amid all this, our pastors, missionaries, and believers have experienced our Lord’s faithfulness every day. Many are stepping forward to care for their neighbors. They are prompted by Christ’s love and compassion to do whatever they can to alleviate the suffering around them.
During this pandemic thousands of people from non-Christian backgrounds have called out for prayer in their desperate situation. Our brothers have prayed with them, comforted them, and many of them were healed and hundreds have accepted the Lord as their personal Savior.
In a small town in Rajasthan, lived our missionary John (name changed) and his family. COVID spread in that small town, and hundreds of people were infected. The government authorities sealed off the town, so no one was allowed to enter or leave. The area where John lived with his family was one of the worst affected areas during the pandemic. Sixty percent of the people were under home quarantine, and more than fifty people lost their lives in that neighborhood alone.
One morning, John was sitting on the roof of his house when he heard a feeble voice calling out to him. It was his neighbor, a man in his 70s. He said “Our children locked us in the house and left us here. Our food has run out, and we have not eaten for days. Will you please give us some food?” This was the same man who had harassed and accused John for the last 7 years, for sharing the Gospel with people in the town. He was the leader of a Hindu radical group. For the last two years, John had wanted to build a church in the town, but this man had opposed it. They could not get the building permit because this man is very influential in that area.
John did not know how to respond, so he went downstairs and shared with his wife and 22-year-old son. Finally, they decided that they would make some food and take it to the family. John and his wife made the food and their son Sajan planned to deliver it. Since PPE kits were impossible to find, he took some plastic grocery bags and sewed them into a kind of coat. The coat covered his body, and he covered his face with another plastic bag (with a small hole to prevent suffocation). Wearing his homemade PPE, he took the food to their house. He climbed up to the window and hanging over the windowsill he lowered the food to the old man and his wife. They were very grateful, and as they took the food and thanked him, they told him more about their situation. They were both very sick, with high fevers and breathing problems. They had called the authorities, their relatives, and their own children, but no one was willing to come and help them. He begged Sajan to find some medicine for them, and said: “Please ask your father to pray for us to Jesus.” This was from a man who had always hated Christians and abused them, now asking for Jesus to save Him.
Sajan felt great compassion for them and stood there and prayed for them. As he was praying, some neighbors who heard his voice came to the window and asked him to pray for them, too. Now Sajan, at 22 years old, found himself in a tight position with people calling out to him in despair and fear of death. He contacted a nurse who is a believer in the church and asked her for help. She said “I am working in the hospital night and day. For the past 7 days I have not been home. I have not seen my husband or my children. I must stay and take care of the people in the hospital, since many of the staff are sick and have been admitted here.” Sajan called some of his friends and persuaded them to help. Now three young men in makeshift “plastic-bag coats” began serving what became over 200 families in their neighborhood, who were isolated in home quarantine. 
They fed them and delivered basic medicines to them, with the help of the nurse in the hospital. With every delivery they prayed for them, encouraged them, and gave them much needed moral support.
Since the day that Sajan and his friends started to help them and pray for them, not a single death has been reported from that area, even as people were dying in surrounding areas. For the past three weeks, day and night, these people worked hard, and others joined them to help. Today the entire neighborhood is COVID free and rejoicing! John and his family and the church in that small town have become local celebrities. In John’s own words, “As I walk through the street, men and women come and touch my feet, ask for my blessing, and thank me for saving their lives, saying ‘because of your Jesus, we are alive.’” All praises to Our Lord who heals!
The Hindu radical who had been opposing John for 7 long years took notice of what the Christians were doing, in contrast with the lack of support from others. Until now, John had built the first floor of the church, but was not allowed to pour the concrete for the roof, because of this man’s opposition. The man came to John, looked at the state of the church construction, and said “I will pour the roof and finish the construction of the church, and I will pay for all of it out of my own funds.”
Like Jesus said when He saw Zacchaeus’ repentance, we too can say “today, salvation has come to this house!”
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,