Last month I was visiting a training center in a village called Dharuwala. The village name means “drinker’s village.” It is an untouchable village where the people are uneducated, and 90%, both men and women, are addicted to alcohol. The village business is making illegal liquor and selling it to other villages, which comes with all kinds of other illegal activities and fighting. For many years we were trying to reach this village and send one of our outreach teams but had always met with resistance. Our brothers were beaten up in the village, put to shame, and threatened. We regularly prayed to the Lord to open the door for us to reach the people in and around that village.
Two years ago, during our Christmas outreach program nearby, two young girls brought their father, Bhagwan Singh, to be prayed for. He was an alcoholic and for the past four months he had been very sick. His liver function was minimal, so they took him to many hospitals, and they all recommended a liver transplant. These girls loved their father very much. The oldest daughter who is 19 was willing to donate part of her liver to her father, but because of his other health issues and the cost of the operation the family could not afford it.
One of their relatives who lives in another village asked some of our outreach members to visit their home. They shared the Gospel and asked if they could pray for the family. The first thing they asked was prayer for this man who was dying.
Our brothers not knowing the seriousness of his health issues prayed for his healing. The family was very touched by the prayer of our brothers. Every religious place they had gone for prayer in the past, the people chanted some mantras which they never understood. Here our brothers were praying in simple words which they could understand, and it was clear that they were expressing in prayer their heart’s desire for that dying man and his family. After the prayer our brothers invited them to the public meeting and told them, if possible, to bring the sick man to the meeting.
With great expectation the family brought him and his family to the public meeting. In the public meeting there were many people who were suffering with life-threatening sicknesses. They heard the testimony of a husband and wife who were healed of AIDS. Another woman who was bedridden for 6 years due to a stroke testified how the Lord healed her through the prayers of God’s people. Her husband and children stood with her in front of the people and thanked the Lord. These testimonies built the faith and expectation of this family. We laid our hands on that man and his family and prayed and blessed the family in the public meeting. During the follow up we came to know that this man was from Dharuwala village, and this man and his family was involved in making illegal liquor. In fact, it was in his house that they locked our outreach team a few years ago and beat them up very badly. Before they left that night, they asked us to visit them in their village.
According to Sobha the oldest daughter “in the public meeting when my father realized it was a Christian meeting, he was very uncomfortable. He felt guilt and shame for beating up the brothers who visited our village. But we were desperate and helpless. This was our last hope. In the public meeting, hearing the testimony of the people and the message that was preached that day was very comforting to our family. We even expected that our father would instantly be healed, but nothing happened. As we went back home, we all, including my father, felt comforted. It seemed that our burdens had lifted, and an inner peace and joy came back to us that evening. We sat together as a family, smiling at one another and enjoying our tea. It was the first time in our lives that we could remember just sitting together in peace, instead of constantly fighting, abusing and cursing one another. As the days went by the brothers and sisters visited us every week, praying for us, comforting us and building our faith in the Lord Jesus. We began to see changes in our father’s health. After many months of being bedridden he started walking around the house without anyone’s help. Within six weeks he was able to eat normal food and do normal activities. We never went to the doctor but we believe our Lord gave him a new liver. As a family we dedicated our lives to the Lord to serve Him and Love Him.”
We then started a weekly prayer meeting in Bhagwan Singh’s home. Because of his testimony, many other families brought their sick and alcoholic relatives. Bhagwan Singh used to make and sell alcohol from his house. Now people come to his house to be delivered from alcohol.
Last November 49 people were baptized, including Bhagwan Singh and his family. Then during Christmas outreach our team shared the Gospel with every household in Dharuwala and its 6 surrounding villages. At the public meeting held in Bhagwan Singh’s field, around 700 people attended and more than 140 people came forward for prayer. Then again during the follow up last February another 41 people were baptized. Again during the Easter outreach we had yet another public meeting under the leadership of Bhagwan Singh with over 1,000 people attending, and in June 52 people were baptized. The last week of June we started a training center in Bhagwan’s former liquor shop, training 32 men and women who were saved and delivered from alcoholism. Most of these people are uneducated, some illiterate, but still they want to learn and share the Glorious Gospel that transformed their own lives.
Recently I (Regi) was in Dharuwala teaching the students. Four men came in, wanting to buy liquor, not realizing that Bhagwan Singh’s liquor shop had been transformed into a Gospel training center. Bhagwan Singh invited them in, and they sat listening to me for 45 minutes. During the break we shared the Gospel with them and served them tea. One of them said “For the past few years we have come and bought liquor from Bhagwan Singh. He never invited us to his house. He always chased us away, but today he invited us to his home, his daughter greeted us with a big smile and respect, and served us tea. You all have honored us, sat with us, talked to us with respect, and that is enough for us.” We prayed for them and blessed them, and in tears they accepted our prayer. Bhagwan Singh invited them to come and join them on Sunday for worship, and they said they would come.
God is using Bhagwan Singh and his family to save, serve, deliver, and transform the lives of the people in Dharuwala.
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