Brother Vijay is from a remote village. He was living a very peaceful life, farming his family’s land. For him, his wife and son, and his parents, it was enough to provide for his family. But suddenly, his father had a heart attack and for his medical treatment, Vijay had to borrow money from a money lender, using the farm as collateral. His father’s medical expenses mounted, and due to other health issues, Vijay could not recover financially and he lost the family farm to the money lender. At this point, he was filled with bitterness, and he fell into alcoholism. His personal life and family life were being destroyed. To provide for the family Vijay came to Punjab to work in construction. Whatever he earned he would send back to his family. In his own words “I did not talk to my wife or my children or parents with love and care, instead, I was always cursing them for everything that happened in my life, always angry with them. My life was full of confusion and bitterness.”
He came to work on a small church building project at one of our mission stations. At that time, he had never heard about Jesus in his life, because no one ever told him. As he continued to work there, he saw many people coming to the missionary’s house where he would lay hands on them and pray for them. At first Vijay thought it was some kind of witchcraft the missionary was doing. Vijay was familiar with all kinds of witchcraft because he used to go to the witchcraft doctors in his village. That evening after work, he went to our missionary and shared with him all the bad things that had happened in his life, expecting our missionary to cast some kind of spell to help him.
Instead, our missionary quietly comforted him and said a prayer of blessing for him and his family. He said “you have been working all day and you are tired. Tomorrow is Sunday – please come tomorrow afternoon and we will talk.” Vijay appreciated how our missionary treated him and blessed him and his family. In Vijay’s own words “no one ever blessed our family and prayed for us with such love and compassion. Whenever we went to a temple priest with our problems or issues, they did all kind of rituals and uttered so many words but we never understood what they were saying. But today every word of the prayer touched my heart—it was full of love and compassion.”
The following day our missionary had an opportunity to share the Gospel with Vijay, who later said “it was the first time I heard of a God who loves mankind. All through my life I have only heard about gods and goddesses who fight with people and kill them. We are told to be very fearful of them, because if the god gets upset he will destroy everything. Today I was taught about a god who is kind and loving and compassionate. I really liked this Jesus! I wanted to know more about him, so whenever I had an opportunity I went to hear about Jesus from the pastor. I can’t say exactly when I fell into His Love. My wife, with whom I talked daily on the phone, asked me almost every day since I began to know the Lord ‘what is happening to you,’ because she noticed a change in the way I talked to her. I had been bitter toward her before, but now I was talking to her with care and affection. I didn’t realize that I was changing. My love for Jesus was growing and the Holy Spirit was transforming my life.”
After two years, a tragedy struck back home. His 11-year-old son was playing cricket with other children in the village when the cricket bat hit him on the back of the head (a cricket bat is very heavy). They rushed him to the hospital, with internal bleeding. The doctors tried everything but he fell into a deep coma. He was put on a ventilator, and finally the doctors declared him to be in a ‘vegetative state.’ When Vijay heard the news, he rushed home to see his son, but it was a two-day train journey.went to the hospital where his son had been taken. After more than a month, the doctors told him there was nothing more they could do, and if he wanted to, he could take him home. They would arrange for local health workers and doctors to come and check on him in the home.
Vijay was confident that the Jesus who loves him and cares for him would heal his son. When he brought his son back home, the villagers came to comfort him. But Vijay had one thing to say: “I came to know that Jesus loves me, He cares for me, and He will heal my son and bring back him to life.” As days passed, thousands of people were praying for him. On Friday, September 11, 2020, we were having a Zoom meeting where around 90-100 people had joined from different locations. Vijay and his family were on that call. During prayer time, he shared his son’s situation and asked everyone to pray for him. As usual Regi asked everyone to stretch out their hands in faith and pray for God’s intervention and heal Vijay’s son. As they all prayed, they asked Vijay and his wife to lay their hands on their son. Suddenly, they lost connection with Vijay. After prayer they ended the meeting. Ten minutes later, Regi got a call from Vijay. As he answered, he heard many people crying. He thought Vijay’s son may have passed away. In great agony he asked Vijay what happened; why everyone was crying (He was afraid to ask him how his son was doing!) Vijay was crying and shouting hysterically, and Regi could only hear “Pastor! Pastor!” After a few moments Vijay told Regi that while they were praying the electricity went off in their house, and an unexplainable flash of light appeared in the room. When the power came back, they saw their son’s eyes were open and he was saying “Papa! Mummy!” Vijay said the sound of crying was tears of happiness and rejoicing. After their son had been in a coma for 41 days, he was awake again! Regi almost fainted, thanking God for His wonderful love and the miracle He did in Vijay’s family.
The following day the local doctor came to visit. When he heard the story of the boy’s miraculous recovery, he advised them to take him back to the medical college (where he had been kept for over a month). The doctors ran tests on him for two days, and finally they were satisfied. On Monday the 14th he was sent back home!
Our God is still alive and active! He touches people, heals them and bring them to life.
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,