Jesus Appears in a Dream
Satpal Singh came from a Sikh background. His family was devout, and his parents dedicated him to service in the Sikh temple. From childhood, he was trained in the practices of his faith, and by age 25 he had become one of its teachers. Seven years ago, while returning from a religious service with friends, he was involved in a serious accident. He spent nearly seven months in the hospital, mainly alone and without anyone to care for him. He was left almost paralyzed and could not move without assistance. Because no one was available to help him, he was eventually transferred to a care facility for paralyzed patients.
Life in the facility was extremely difficult. Before the accident, Satpal had been respected as a religious teacher, but now he was lonely, neglected, and deeply depressed. He attempted to take his own life several times. Through an attendant who was a Hindu convert to Christ, Satpal first heard about Jesus as a healer. He was given a Bible and began reading the Gospels. Although he had heard of Jesus before, he had never truly understood who He was. As he read about Jesus’ miracles, compassion, and love for people, he felt drawn to the Lord.
According to Satpal, one night while reading the Bible, he fell asleep and dreamt of a man in a long white tunic who came to him and said, “My son, I have come to heal you.” The man touched his hands, and Satpal felt what seemed like an electric shock pass through his body before he lost consciousness. The next morning, when his attendant woke him, he noticed movement in his legs. Then he remembered the dream. Satpal realized he had been healed, and he believed it was Jesus who had touched and restored him.
He wept openly and told everyone that Jesus had come to him in a dream, touched him, and healed him. His testimony quickly spread, and he became a devout follower of Jesus who began sharing his faith with others. He also learned about Sadhu Sundar Singh, a well-known Christian from a Sikh royal family whom God used powerfully in India and neighboring nations. As Satpal grew in faith and in God’s Word, the Lord began to use him, and thousands were drawn to Christ through his testimony and experienced the Lord’s touch in their own lives.
During the Easter outreach, Satpal’s church joined the ministry team and reached 59 unreached villages. In the past month, they also started 24 weekly prayer gatherings across those villages. More than 286 people responded to the altar call.
On May 12, we visited his church to begin a house church leaders training center. More than 62 men and women—mostly young people from non-Christian religious backgrounds—enrolled in the 40-day training program, which meets one day each week. This is evidence of the Lord’s powerful work among unreached people groups.
Forgiveness brings healing
Digra is a large village with more than 650 Hindu families. For several years, our brothers have tried door-to-door evangelism there but have faced strong opposition. A few years ago, some of our sisters were publicly humiliated for sharing the Gospel in the village. Last year, four of our young people were beaten for distributing literature there. During the last Easter outreach, our trainees again met resistance from Hindu radicals while going door to door. By the Lord’s grace, they were still able to visit some families, including a young woman with two children, ages seven and two. Our sisters gave her Gospel literature and introduced themselves. She received it warmly. When they asked whether they could pray for her and her children, she agreed and explained that her husband had been accused and imprisoned for more than six months, leaving her without help. Our sisters prayed for the family, blessed the children, and asked the Lord to release their father.
A few days later, the woman came to a public meeting with her children. At that same meeting, the family who had filed the complaint against her husband also arrived and brought their 12-year-old son for prayer, who had suffered from a long-term bacterial infection. The message that day focused on forgiveness. After the meeting, both families came forward for special prayer. They knew each other, but none of us on the team knew their connection. The young woman shared her request, and we prayed for her family and for her husband’s release. While we were praying, the other family listened. Then they asked us to pray for their son’s healing. We laid hands on the boy and prayed for his recovery, and we also prayed for his parents to receive comfort and peace.
The Lord, who searches every heart and knows every thought, moved in the hearts of that family. The next day, they went to their lawyer and asked him to withdraw the cheating case. At the next hearing, the accused man was released. The 12-year-old boy’s bacterial infection also began to improve significantly, and within three weeks he was completely healed.
These two testimonies—the young woman’s answered prayer for her husband’s release and the healing that followed forgiveness in the 12-year-old boy’s life—deeply impacted many people. Over the past few weeks, several families have begun attending prayer meetings in a neighboring village. Last Sunday, a few young girls were humiliated for attending those meetings.
Children’s Ministry
This month, we are planning several Sunday school teacher training programs in different states, primarily for young people who will lead and teach children in villages and slums. We originally had planned for 10 training centers, with 50 to 60 participants in each, and expected to train more than 500 Sunday school teachers. The actual number was around 1,100 men and women. Trainers from various children’s ministries will lead these programs.
Vacation Bible School (VBS)
Beginning in the first week of June, our brothers plan to hold Vacation Bible School classes in 48 locations—17 slums and 31 villages. In addition, we are planning smaller classes for children in tribal areas. Altogether, we expect more than 10,000 children between the ages of 4 and 14 to attend. The Sunday school teachers currently receiving training will lead the VBS classes under the supervision of other leaders.
House Church Leaders Training Centers
By our Lord’s grace, in the last academic year 721 men and women completed training in 23 training centers. During the program, they established hundreds of prayer groups and house churches in unreached villages. This year, we plan to start 25 house church leaders training centers in six different states to equip local men and women to share the Gospel at the grassroots level. We expect to enroll more than 800 participants. So far, we have already started 11 training centers, and the others will begin in the coming weeks.
These activities require significant resources, manpower, guidance, and prayer. We humbly ask for your continued prayer and support. Despite persecution, hardship, and difficult circumstances, our Lord is building His church in India.