Month: June 2023

Dear Partner,

God loves this world more than we do, much more than we can even imagine. Is it any wonder then, when He moves in a remote tribe who are considered “untouchables” and decides to touch them with His Spirit? This month’s story is about such a tribe, a people group cast off by society, without hope in this world. But God…

What about you? Are you feeling like society has cast you off? Are you feeling like you don’t fit in? Like you aren’t accepted anywhere? Our answer is the same as this remote tribe discovered. But God! God loves you more than you can even imagine. He wants to provide for you, heal you, give you His Peace. He wants to shower you with His blessings. Sometimes we need a reminder of His plan, His purpose, and His character.

Jesus summed it up when He said “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly.” If you are experiencing things in your life being stolen, killed, or destroyed, Jesus says that is the work of the “thief.” If your relationships are being destroyed, your peace is being stolen, your hope is being killed, that is not God at work in your life.

Take a moment to cry out to Him and ask Him to impart to you His promise of abundant life, and He will do it! He wants to give you His abundant peace, His abundant joy, and yes, even His abundant provision. Take Him at His word today and expect Him to answer with showers of blessings on you.

That’s what this remote tribe did, and God began to change their lives. Like what happened to them, your change isn’t going to manifest itself immediately. You may have to listen for God’s direction in your life. You may have to start making different choices. But God tells us that “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Let’s choose to trust Him with that, stand firm, and watch God move and bring the answer.

Thank you for your faithfulness in partnering with us. We could never do what we are doing without your prayers and financial support.

Blessings in the Wonderful Name of Jesus,

Thomas

Ravi is one of our missionaries who has worked among the Musahar community for the last three years. He came to the Lord through deliverance and healing from alcohol addiction and liver cirrhosis, through the prayers of some of the believers who worked in the hospital where he was admitted. His health condition got worse, and doctors asked them to take him to a larger hospital which is 100 miles away. His wife, who was 8 months pregnant, pleaded with the doctors and health workers to keep him in the local hospital and treat him there. Two of the nurses who are believers, seeing her helplessness, led her to a house church where she received care, food, and prayer for both her and Ravi. Ravi’s wife Malathy was touched by the prayer and the care and affection she received in the house church.  God in His mercy healed him and delivered him from his addiction.

Ravi and Malathy are from the Musahar community, a tribal people in Bihar who are known as “untouchables.” Musahar literally means ‘rat-ridder’ or ‘rat eater.’ Their primary former occupation was catching rats, and there are many who are still forced to do this work due to destitution and poverty. They are one of the most marginalized castes in India. By some estimates, as many as 85% of the population of some Musahar villages suffer from malnutrition and diseases such as malaria, with no health centers nearby. Their population is 5 million, and their literacy rate averages 3%. Most of them do not have their own land and come under the poorest of the poor, working as bonded laborers in brick factories. They are not Hindus but follow Animistic Hinduism and are deeply involved in witchcraft and sacrifices.

After Ravi came to the Lord, God gave him a great burden for his own community. He is always praying and asking others to pray for his community. In one of my (Regi’s) trips to Bihar before the covid lockdown, Ravi took me to some of the villages where his community lives, and it was eye opening for me too. They are living in very poor conditions under great oppression, bondage, and poverty. That evening, as we walked through a Musahar village to the house where they planned a meeting, I saw the suffering of the people, their hopelessness, and the demonic oppression they live under. The Holy Spirit impressed on me to speak from Luke 4:18.

I knew I was preaching to myself, but at the same time I saw our Lord delivering many women and children, who had been captivities of evil spirits and alcohol addiction. They responded to the message of the gospel. I was experiencing Mark 16:20 “the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs.” Ravi was translating for me into the tribal language. As he saw what the Lord was doing among his own people, he fell on his knees and began to thank the Lord and cry out to Him. In that meeting he was filled with the Holy Spirit and began to minister to the people. That day the first prayer group started among the Musahar. At that time, there was not a single known church among the Musahar. It is an unreached people group according to the Joshua project.

During the covid lockdown, the Musahar suffered greatly because of poor immunity and lack of knowledge and medical care. Our brothers in Bihar, with the help of Exciting Word, tried their best to help them in some villages with their medical needs and food supplies. Ravi was the one who took the lead in caring for them, standing with them in this difficult time, even helping to burn the bodies of those who died due to covid when no one else was willing to dispose of the bodies. According to Ravi “it was an awful time. No one knew what to do. There was much fear and confusion around, but the Lord gave us grace to serve them and to show His love and compassion to them.”

Another way the Lord used Ravi and other brothers was through music. Since they don’t read and write, the Musahar are very fond of music. Ravi and other brothers took the words of the parables in the Gospels and set them to tribal music. They go to different villages, singing the stories, and explaining them to the people in a simple way. Through the message of the Gospel thousands of people have come to the Lord in different Musahar villages. Over 3,800 baptisms have now been reported from that community. Last year we had our first house church leaders’ training among the Musahar. Thirty-six of them started the training, and some found it too difficult, but 23 of them graduated the training. It was a great achievement for them.

Following on that success, we are planning to give Sunday School Teachers training to 40 Musahar women this month, on June 8th and 9th. We are planning that these 40 sisters will go to 20 villages and reach out to a minimum of 1,200 children between the ages of 8 and 14 in their community. The Sunday school will be held for 6 days, three hours each day. We are expecting God to move in this Sunday school. Through the children, we will be able to reach their parents with the message of the Gospel.

Help Us Share the Gospel

The people of India are searching and open to the Gospel, despite the persecution they face. The fields are ripe unto harvest. Join us in this work with your prayers and financial support.

To find out how your support will help us, click here. 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!

Proclaiming the Gospel…

                     …until He comes,