Month: August 2021

Dear Partner,

I can’t begin to tell you how proud I am of our pastors and missionaries in India, and how encouraged I am in my own personal faith, when I hear of their faith and courage in the midst of extreme difficulty. They might be concerned for the health of their family, but it doesn’t stop them from visiting the sick and praying for them. With shops closed and roads blocked, they might be struggling to feed their own families. Yet they prepare food bags for those who have less than they have.

I had the opportunity to speak last week with Victor, one of our pastors. They are faced with the same personal decisions we have here in America. He said some have taken the COVID vaccine and others have not. And they respect one another’s decisions, whatever choice they make. But regardless of the choice, they refuse to live a life paralyzed by fear. When I asked him about the news reports of a “third wave” of COVID sweeping across India, he said “Oh yes, we have heard of it, but we have cancelled it by the blood of Jesus!”

As a result of their faith and boldness, they are seeing miracles in their communities, along with a remarkably low infection rate. And the unbelievers are taking note of this, and the church is growing rapidly. Please continue to pray for the people of India, that they would come to know the true God, who gives hope, banishes fear, and will wipe away all tears. Pray that the believers in India will continue being an example of Christ’s compassion and mercy, as they distribute food, medicine, and prayer to all those who are hopeless. “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13, NASB)

If you feel the leading of the Holy Spirit, please give financially to support the work, and please pray that God would provide the answers that India needs to survive. We could not do any of this without the generous financial support of you, our partners! We also rely on and ask for your continued prayer support.

Blessings in the Wonderful Name of Jesus,

          Thomas

This may come as a surprise to many, but Christianity is growing faster now among the Muslims than in years past. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims are abandoning their faith and are beginning to read the Bible and to know Jesus. The ‘Isa’ they know in the Quran was born to a virgin, was sinless, performed miracles, and was superior to other prophets. Yet their religion says He was no more than a prophet. It denies Jesus’ divinity, crucifixion, and resurrection.

But now we are seeing a great change in the thinking of young Muslims. The present crisis and economic challenges are forcing the Muslim community to look wider and open their minds and hearts to the Gospel message. On many social media platforms, Gospel messages are freely available. In the privacy of one’s home they can hear the Gospel message. This is significant because they now have access to media that bypasses religious hindrances and reaches their hearts. During the pandemic hundreds of Muslims contacted us for prayers. Currently we have received hundreds of queries from people in rural India wanting to know more about Jesus. As our churches are starting to open up we are seeing many people from a Muslim background coming to the church. 

Healing Brings the Breakthrough

Ramila is a young Muslim woman, only 21 years old. She went to college with Meena, the daughter of one of our missionaries. They grew up in the same village and were childhood friends. Ramila attended a few Christian youth meetings with Meena, but at that time she was not open to the Gospel. Meena, a woman fully dedicated to Christ, prayed for Ramila every day. In the first week of May, Ramila and her entire family of 9 contracted COVID. Ramila’s parents were badly affected and had to be hospitalized. Ramila called Meena and asked her to pray for her parents and family. Meena sent out the prayer request to everyone in the church. Ramila’s parents’ condition worsened, and her two brothers were also admitted to the hospital. The whole family was now in a desperate situation. They had no one to help them. None of their relatives came forward to help them. Nor anyone from the Muslim community. The only person Ramila could share with, trust and ask for help was Meena. Meena visited Ramila’s home, where four of her young children were. They too had tested positive for COVID. Meena visited Ramila’s parents and brothers in the hospital. She brought them food and other supplies, and prayed for them. She made food for the whole family and delivered it both to the hospital and to Ramila’s house. This situation continued for three weeks, and It was a very hard time for Ramila and her family. For three weeks Meena continued to help them without any hesitation. She decided to live in the church hall during this time, since she was concerned about her own parents and wanted to keep herself away from them.

After three weeks, Ramila’s family all recovered and came back to the village. The first thing they asked for was for someone to get them a Bible! After a quarantine period, Ramila and her family invited Meena’s parents to come and pray for them. During that meeting Ramila’s whole family accepted the Lord.  Last week we had a baptism service where Ramila and her parents and brothers from the Muslim community all received baptism.

No Jobs and No Food

Aras is a Muslim dominated village in Bihar. Almost 98% of the people live below the poverty line. Most of the families were supported by a family member who traveled across the country as a migrant laborer. All of them were living hand-to-mouth. In the first week of May the entire village was quarantined when over 36% of the people in the village tested positive for COVID. When they could no longer leave the home for work, they quickly ran out of food for their families. The pandemic became a humanitarian crisis overnight.

In the past our missionaries had visited this village to share the Gospel, but several times they had been humiliated by the Muslims. But they still had a good number of contacts with whom they shared the Gospel through social media.  One of the Muslim women from the village called our missionary’s wife and asked her help to get some medicine for her children who were having a high fiver. Our brothers delivered medicine to them, and found out that they were literally starving! All their food was gone! Our brothers in the area, with help from our partners, prepared food baskets and COVID care kits, and supplied them to more than 370 families. Because of this, our brothers shared the “Jesus Film” on the village cable network. The response was immediate. People were shocked to learn that Jesus really died for the sins of the people. The Jesus they knew was just a prophet. They never knew that He died for mankind. God is moving in the life of the people. Today the entire village is open to the Gospel!

In a report from another small village “Many of our Muslim neighbors have turned to us asking if they can come to the church for prayer. Last Sunday, seven of them came to church, and at the end of the service they came forward for prayer. It is the first time we have seen God working in our Muslim community. Jesus is moving, and the Spirit of God is transforming lives.”

In the last three months in still another area, 160 people accepted Christ. And just last week, 49 new Muslim believers were baptized in an undisclosed location.

The church is growing among the Muslims because they are looking for answers to life. They are not finding answers in their religious traditions. They are looking for new answers. They are not happy or satisfied where they are spiritually. It seems that a large number of these people are actually having dreams and visions about a shining man dressed in white, long before we are out there telling them about Jesus.”

Help Us Share the Gospel

Did you enjoy this testimony? 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.’ Ask our beloved Savior to establish us in faith, hope and love as we strive to be holy as He is holy. 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,