Advancing the Kingdom of Heaven
Dear Partner,
As 2021 comes to an end, the leadership team at Exciting Word Ministries hopes each of you have a Blessed and Merry Christmas, and we wish you a Joyful and Happy New Year!
If you have any prayer requests, drop us a note so we can pray with you, believing for God’s answer.
Merry Christmas
&
Happy New Year!!
Tom & Teri
Regi & Sherly
Exciting Word Ministries
Paramjit Singh was born in a traditional Sikh family. His father was a priest in the Sikh temple in his village. Paramjit was brought up according to the Sikh traditions and religious practices. At the age of 7 he was afflicted by psoriasis. He was treated with modern medicine, eastern medicine, and religious rituals, but as the days went by it just got worse. The doctors advised his parents to cut his hair, but their religion does not allow it. Eventually, the skin disease spread over his entire body. All his hair fell out, and at the age of 10 he was completely bald. He was not allowed to leave the house, attend school, or play with other children. He spent most days alone, locked in the house for the next 11 years. Living in deep depression and pain, his body smelled very bad. No one entered his room; instead, they would leave food outside his door and leave. His siblings never talked to him; they all hated him, and cursed him for being in their home.
Three years ago, two young men, students of our house church leaders training program, shared the Gospel in an unreached village to fulfill their practical evangelism during the Christmas season. They passed out literature and shared the Gospel with every house in the village, praying for anyone who gave permission. They came across an old woman with whom they shared the Gospel and asked if she needed prayer. She told them about Paramjit and took them to his house. No one answered the door, so they went around back and called to Paramjit through the window. When he came to the window and saw the students with the old woman, he told them to go away. The old woman said to Paramjit “these people came from faraway and want to pray for you.” At first, he said he didn’t want to meet anyone and had no need for anyone’s prayer. But the old woman politely asked him to allow the students to pray for him. Because of her persistence, he allowed it. The students shared the story of how Jesus healed the leper (Mark 1:40). After sharing the story, they asked him to stretch his hands through the window, but Paramjit said “don’t touch me, the skin disease will spread to you!” But reluctantly he allowed them to hold his hands, which had no skin, only muscle tissue. The students blessed him and prayed for him. While they were praying, Paramjit’s family came around the back of the house. They shouted profanity at the students and the old woman and threatened to break their legs if they came again to meet Paramjit. The villagers heard the shouting and accused the students as thieves who came to loot the house. They called the police, who, after questioning the students, sent them home.
According to Paramjit, he would lie awake for hours every night, scratching his body, but that night he slept peacefully. The next morning, he noticed his body was dry. Until then, he would wake up wet from fluid and pus oozing from his sores. He was astonished by this new development, and knew that it was because of the prayers of the young people. He wanted to share with his parents but they wouldn’t listen. Every day his condition improved. Within 10 days the sores were all dried up, and only the marks were left. Paramjit’s mother noticed that something was going on. One day she opened Paramjit’s room and found her son free of sores and without any infection. For the first time in 11 years, he came out of his room. It was an amazing sight for his parents and family. They had lost all hope. Later, Paramjit’s parents shared in a public meeting that “several people suggested to us to secretly poison him and kill him, because our younger children would be infected with same skin disease, but we could not do it.” Now he stands in front of them healed by the power of Jesus, and they can hardly believe it is true.
Paramjit’s parents found the young students and brought them back to their village, and they, too, could hardly believe that he was the same Paramjit. Paramjit’s entire family accepted Jesus into their lives. According to Paramjit’s father “I was a Sikh priest for 29 years, singing praises in the temple to all the Masters, hoping that one day they would show mercy to my son, but Jesus, whom I have not known, not served, not prayed to, not offered anything in my life, sent His messengers to my family and healed my son. He alone shows Mercy to the afflicted.” Regi had the privilege and honor to give baptism to Paramjit and his family.
They endured physical, mental and emotional persecution from their community and relatives to deny Christ, but God gave them strength to stand.
During the COVID lockdown they were unable to attend any services, so they started a family prayer meeting with 4 members of their family. Every week attendance grew from their family, friends and nearby villages. Hundreds of people came to the Lord, many were delivered from addictions and demonic attacks, many were healed, and hundreds were touched by the Holy Spirit and accepted Jesus into their life.
Last week Regi was in Paramjit’s village to set the cornerstone for the church building they are planning to build. Over 250 people, mostly from Paramjit’s community, were worshiping the Lord. If not for the COVID restrictions, even more people would have come. That afternoon 29 people were baptized. Even during the lockdown, God is working, adding and calling people into the Kingdom of God. God is using this young man and his parents to expand His Kingdom. We need hundreds of Paramjits who have experienced the power of God in their life, have been saved by Grace, transformed by the Holy Spirit, and are transforming the lives of people around them.
We thank God for ordinary people like Paramjit whom God is using for His Glory and the expansion of His kingdom. Today the message of the gospel is speeding into the unreached villages of India through native believers, transforming thousands of lives.
Did you enjoy this testimony? Will you help us continue sharing the Gospel in the darkest places of India? Ask Father God what He would have you do. 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!
Proclaiming the Gospel…
…until He comes,
Dear Partner,
We have so much to be thankful for. As we celebrate Thanksgiving, soon followed by Christmas, let’s remember our blessings. Instead of dwelling on life’s challenges and struggles, let’s remind ourselves and one another of all the good things we have in life. Not everything we experience is good, but even during negative situations, we can find glimpses of good, if we look hard enough. You might love summertime. Instead of complaining that the days are getting colder and shorter, take notice of the brief interlude of warm days between the cold ones. Instead of dwelling on the cold weather, think of hot chocolate by a warm fire.
Travel and family gatherings might be difficult this year but cherish the memories of the past. If you can meet in person, make the most of every moment. If you can’t, remember that video calls can help to bridge the gap you might be feeling. If you or a family member is struggling with an illness or other problem, call out to the Lord for help. And drop us a note so we can pray with you, believing for God’s answer.
This month’s story is about bringing hope in a time of despair. As C.S. Lewis once said, we are all immortal beings, who will spend eternity somewhere. How can you reach out to someone around you, and help them draw closer to God? The message of the Gospel is not simply a message of the future. It’s a message for the present, too. May God to give you His eyes, so you can be His hands and feet for those around you. People need to hear the message you carry, and they need to see a demonstration of God’s love.
God is providing everything we need to continue His work in India. Ask Him how He wants you to partner with us. Keep believing and keep praying.
Blessings in the Wonderful Name of Jesus,
Thomas
The impact of COVID-19 and its affect on our personal and professional lives may be negative, but as we look at our spiritual lives it has impacted us very positively. During the pandemic, we have seen house churches functioning in unity, caring for one another, and showing God’s love to the people around them. More than that, our God used ordinary believers to spread His glory among the unreached people, in some of the hardest areas to reach. We are sharing two stories of how God used ordinary people, and gave them boldness and strength to bring hundreds of souls into the kingdom of God.
When Sonia was a young girl, growing up in a remote mountain village, she was brought up in a family and community with very traditional Hindu beliefs. She came to the nearby town for her high school graduation. While in the town she received a Gospel of John booklet from one of our missionaries. Reading that booklet transformed her life! She started to attend a prayer group, and received Jesus into her life. Her college was temporarily closed in March 2020 due to COVID, and she had to travel home to her village in the mountains. There, no one had ever heard the name of Jesus, and not even her parents knew that she had accepted Jesus into her life. She was feeling very lonely in her village, both emotionally and spiritually, since she had no fellowship and there was no Internet access.
She began spending more and more time in prayer. Her friends in the village were amazed by her way of life, and her love and care for them. Slowly she started to share the Gospel with them. As the Lord used her to spread the Gospel in her village, they began to meet in an open field to learn and worship the Lord. Gradually the message of the Gospel spread to the surrounding village and beyond. Our Lord confirmed His word with miracles, signs, and wonders. Many people came from different villages. They came with different sicknesses and were healed. Many were delivered from evil spirits, and all kinds of addictions.
Over the past 18 months, more than 328 people received baptism and in more than 32 villages, house churches and prayer groups were started. In the first week of September we were in that area worshiping with different house church groups. We baptized Sonia’s parents and two brothers, and started a weekly house church leaders training program for the new believers. In two villages 39 people (mostly young people) joined the training program. What is impossible with man is possible with God!
Monica is a nurse, working in the government health department. She was brought up in a Christian family and her parents were true Christians. She loved the Lord very much, and she chose to be a nurse so that she can show our Lord’s love to the poor and needy, and serve them. During the COVID season, she was transferred to a small remote town with not even a single Christian in that area. She was alone, without any spiritual fellowship, but she served the patients in her hospital with love and compassion. One evening, a group of people brought a young girl to the rented house where she was staying. Both her hands and legs were tied, and she was shouting. The parents were there, and they said they did not know what was wrong with her. They told Monica she had had these episodes since she was 15 years old. They were asking Monica to give her a sedative to calm her down, because they could not control her. At this point, she became more violent and attacked some of the people and injured them. As Monica approached her to follow the medical procedure, the young girl began to cry out “Don’t come close to me! Don’t touch me!” Monica, sensing the presence of an evil spirit in the young girl prayed in tongues (in the Holy Spirit). God spoke to her in her heart, telling her to “lay her hands on the young girl and cast out the evil spirit in her in the name of Jesus.” Monica had never done anything like that in her life, and it was against her medical practices, so at first she resisted the prompting. Again a second time, she heard the voice instructing her to lay her hands on the girl and cast out the evil spirit. With her parents’ permission, and in front of the people, she approached the young girl. (In Monica’s own words “over 100 people had gathered in front of my rented house”)
As Monica approached the young girl, she resisted with all her strength, not allowing Monica to come close to her. As the people restrained the girl, Monica was able to reach her, laid her hand on the young girl and prayed over her. Instantly, the evil spirit left the young girl and she was completely delivered. The people around her, all Hindus, were amazed and wondering among themselves; they thought she had some special divine power. One by one, they came and touched her feet as a demonstration of their respect and reverence for her. She took the opportunity, and introduced Jesus to the villagers. That very night, many believed in the Lord Jesus, and entered the kingdom of God.
It was 13 months ago that Monica started a prayer group in that interior town. Today more than 200 baptized believers worship the true living God in Spirit and Truth. And it was all because of the night when hundreds of people from the neighboring village, desperate to see a young girl healed, came and heard the Gospel for the first time in their lives.
We Thank God for ordinary people like Sonia and Monica and many others whom God is using for His Glory and the expansion of His kingdom. Today the message of the gospel is speeding into the unreached villages of India through native believers, transforming thousands of lives.
Did you enjoy these testimonies? 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,
Dear Partner,
Here in America, we sometimes have an unbiblical view of life. Even as Christians, we often allow our thinking to be influenced by the thinking of the culture we are surrounded by. We think of church as a building we gather in a few times a week (or watch online). We think of our pastor as the primary person responsible for communicating the Gospel message to the world. To carry that idea further, we see our role as that of simply encouraging the pastor in his work and inviting others to come and hear his wonderful sermons.
This is a common view of the Christian life in America, but it’s an upside-down view. Jesus said the role of the pastors was to prepare the “ordinary” believers for the work of the ministry. Communicating the Gospel is the role of every true believer in Christ. And the church is not a building, it is a group of “called out ones” whose mission is to collectively declare and enforce the government of the kingdom of God on the earth. Jesus told us to pray “on earth as it is in heaven.”
I pray that every one of you, as you read this month’s testimonies, gets a vision of your role in God’s kingdom. I pray that you can picture yourself reaching those around you with the glorious message of the Gospel. And I’m asking God to give you a boldness, along with His love and compassion, to step out and let Him use you as an instrument of His love. I’m asking that the mind of Christ be revealed to you, bringing direction and strategies to accomplish His mission through you.
Like the ordinary believers in India, reach out to those around you. Don’t limit God, and you just might be amazed at what He does. “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)
As always, 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,
ThomasDear 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,
ThomasThis 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.
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.
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.”
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,
The last two months have been a very difficult time for India. People have seen things they never expected to see in their lives. Who would have expected to see people fighting with the authorities over something as basic as God-given, freely available oxygen? But thousands of people are dying because of lack of oxygen.
The infrastructure is being pushed to the breaking point. Because of a shortage of hospital beds, hundreds of sick people are receiving treatment outside, under the trees. And treatment is basic, too, since there are extreme shortages of medicine and medical supplies.
Because of inadequate medical treatment, many are dying. Crematoriums and cemeteries are unable to handle the sheer number of bodies. With nowhere to bury the dead, and no funds for cremation, there are hundreds of dead bodies floating in the rivers. Without hope, people are giving up and abandoning their loved ones in their homes, running away to save themselves. We hear reports of areas where total chaos abounds, and despair and fear are gripping the people.
Amid all this, our pastors, missionaries, and believers have experienced our Lord’s faithfulness every day. Many are stepping forward to care for their neighbors. They are prompted by Christ’s love and compassion to do whatever they can to alleviate the suffering around them.
During this pandemic thousands of people from non-Christian backgrounds have called out for prayer in their desperate situation. Our brothers have prayed with them, comforted them, and many of them were healed and hundreds have accepted the Lord as their personal Savior.
In a small town in Rajasthan, lived our missionary John (name changed) and his family. COVID spread in that small town, and hundreds of people were infected. The government authorities sealed off the town, so no one was allowed to enter or leave. The area where John lived with his family was one of the worst affected areas during the pandemic. Sixty percent of the people were under home quarantine, and more than fifty people lost their lives in that neighborhood alone.
One morning, John was sitting on the roof of his house when he heard a feeble voice calling out to him. It was his neighbor, a man in his 70s. He said “Our children locked us in the house and left us here. Our food has run out, and we have not eaten for days. Will you please give us some food?” This was the same man who had harassed and accused John for the last 7 years, for sharing the Gospel with people in the town. He was the leader of a Hindu radical group. For the last two years, John had wanted to build a church in the town, but this man had opposed it. They could not get the building permit because this man is very influential in that area.
John did not know how to respond, so he went downstairs and shared with his wife and 22-year-old son. Finally, they decided that they would make some food and take it to the family. John and his wife made the food and their son Sajan planned to deliver it. Since PPE kits were impossible to find, he took some plastic grocery bags and sewed them into a kind of coat. The coat covered his body, and he covered his face with another plastic bag (with a small hole to prevent suffocation). Wearing his homemade PPE, he took the food to their house. He climbed up to the window and hanging over the windowsill he lowered the food to the old man and his wife. They were very grateful, and as they took the food and thanked him, they told him more about their situation. They were both very sick, with high fevers and breathing problems. They had called the authorities, their relatives, and their own children, but no one was willing to come and help them. He begged Sajan to find some medicine for them, and said: “Please ask your father to pray for us to Jesus.” This was from a man who had always hated Christians and abused them, now asking for Jesus to save Him.
Sajan felt great compassion for them and stood there and prayed for them. As he was praying, some neighbors who heard his voice came to the window and asked him to pray for them, too. Now Sajan, at 22 years old, found himself in a tight position with people calling out to him in despair and fear of death. He contacted a nurse who is a believer in the church and asked her for help. She said “I am working in the hospital night and day. For the past 7 days I have not been home. I have not seen my husband or my children. I must stay and take care of the people in the hospital, since many of the staff are sick and have been admitted here.” Sajan called some of his friends and persuaded them to help. Now three young men in makeshift “plastic-bag coats” began serving what became over 200 families in their neighborhood, who were isolated in home quarantine. 
They fed them and delivered basic medicines to them, with the help of the nurse in the hospital. With every delivery they prayed for them, encouraged them, and gave them much needed moral support.
Since the day that Sajan and his friends started to help them and pray for them, not a single death has been reported from that area, even as people were dying in surrounding areas. For the past three weeks, day and night, these people worked hard, and others joined them to help. Today the entire neighborhood is COVID free and rejoicing! John and his family and the church in that small town have become local celebrities. In John’s own words, “As I walk through the street, men and women come and touch my feet, ask for my blessing, and thank me for saving their lives, saying ‘because of your Jesus, we are alive.’” All praises to Our Lord who heals!
The Hindu radical who had been opposing John for 7 long years took notice of what the Christians were doing, in contrast with the lack of support from others. Until now, John had built the first floor of the church, but was not allowed to pour the concrete for the roof, because of this man’s opposition. The man came to John, looked at the state of the church construction, and said “I will pour the roof and finish the construction of the church, and I will pay for all of it out of my own funds.”
Like Jesus said when He saw Zacchaeus’ repentance, we too can say “today, salvation has come to this house!”
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,
Dear Partner,
This has been a challenging year in the US, to say the least. But what we have experienced can hardly compare with the hardship the people of India have been facing. Their infrastructure has been bending under the weight of COVID and nearing the breaking point. In a normal year, labor strikes and political unrest can wreak havoc on the shipping industry, slowing trucks to a halt for days at a time. But the pandemic has only made matters worse.
Adding to the logistical problems, the widespread panic among the people spreads like wildfire. The average person believes that trouble and distress come as a result of something done wrong in a past life, and suffering must be endured in order to be found worthy of a better life next time. Without the hope and confidence that things are going to get better, people are troubled with fear and despair.
Please 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
Regi tells this story of a recent event that brought back painful memories, but also a great blessing.
It was summer, 21 years ago, and I was returning from a village after visiting a few families and praying for a few people. A group of young people (Hindu radicals) stopped me on a bridge and forcefully took my shoulder bag. They took out my Bible, tore it to pieces, and threw it into the river below. I tried to stop them, but they knocked me down and started kicking me with their boots. Bystanders saw me lying on the bridge, but no one came to help. I was very weak when they took hold of my hands and feet, and threw me off the bridge, into the river 150 feet below. At that time, a Swami (a common name of a Hindu religious teacher) came by and stopped the radicals. He fished me out of the river and took me to a nearby house, where he gave me water to drink and put some bandages on my bleeding hands. He apologized for what the radicals had done to me and comforted me. Then he put me in taxi and sent me back home. He was a Good Samaritan and a true neighbor to me.
Swami visited me several times during my recovery and we become friends. He was a highly devoted follower of his religion – growing up with the deep-rooted belief that he would be blessed by his gods if he pleased them. Failure would bring curses on his life, and so, to ensure blessings, Swami regularly offered prayers, sacrifices, and followed all kinds of rituals. I often presented him the message of the Gospel, but he always rejected it, saying he didn’t need to follow it. He felt no need for Jesus in his life.
After five years everything changed, when Swami was diagnosed at 49 years old with stage 4 incurable cancer. He went to different hospitals to continue treatments, but the doctors had no hope for him, and sent him back to the temple where he lived as a Hindu priest.
Without knowing about Swami’s situation, I visited him. Finding him lying in bed very weak, skinny and greatly depressed, I felt sorry for him. Once again I shared the Gospel with him, telling him how Jesus healed the sick, and that Jesus still heals today. After sharing, I asked permission to pray for him. He said he would greatly appreciate that, so in front of his devotees, as this Hindu priest lay dying in a Hindu temple, I laid my hand on his head and prayed for his healing, in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Over the next few weeks, I visited him frequently and shared the Gospel. I even gave him a Bible. Every time I visited, I noticed that his condition was steadily improving. After two months, he came to our house and told me that he wanted to repent and confess his sins before me. I told him not to confess his sins to me, but to Jesus. That day, in front of my family, he repented and received Jesus into his life. After three months, he secretly took baptism.
After this, he said it would be difficult to continue living in this area. He asked me for a favor. He left his family when he was 16 years old and never went back home or inquired about them. He said if his parents or siblings were still alive, he wanted to see them and share the Gospel with them before he died.
We agreed to help him, and arranged for him to travel to his home village. After that, we lost contact with him. We didn’t know where he was, or what had happened to him.
In January we received a “Macedonian Call” from some brothers in a remote area. They had heard about our house church leaders training program, and asked us to come and help them train up house church leaders and start a training center in their area. Earlier this month we took one of our training teams to visit the remote area and meet with the brothers who invited us. They received us with great joy and told us “There was a Swami in our village who taught about Jesus and prayed for us, and led us to Jesus. He died a year ago in his sleep.”
We visited Swami’s home to meet with Swami’s brother. There he told us that his brother had left home to become a Hindu “Saddhu” (A Hindu religious holy person). He said “My brother wandered through the Himalayas for 33 years, learning and teaching Hinduism, but 16 years ago he was diagnosed with stage four cancer. A friend of his, a missionary, told him about Jesus and how Jesus can heal. The missionary laid his hands on him in the temple and prayed for him in the name of Jesus. That same man sent my brother home. After 33 long years he came home, and stayed with us. For the last 15 years he has lived with us, telling us about this Jesus who healed him. He started teaching the Bible, sharing about Jesus and salvation and he led us all to Christ. For the last fifteen years he lived a healthy life. The doctors gave him six months to live, 16 years ago, but instead, he lived 16 good years.”
Swami’s brother continued, “All those years he was going around sharing the Gospel, leading people to the Lord. There are thousands of people in the area who have been miraculously healed or delivered by the prayer of Swami. Thousands of people were delivered from idol worship and the caste system, and now believe in Jesus because of Swami.”
We learned that our Lord used Swami to start 29 churches in remote tribal villages, in a state where preaching the gospel is almost impossible. They told us that 15 years ago there were hardly any believers among the local people, but today there are thousands of believers who truly worship the Lord in Spirit and in Truth. God used Swami to reveal His Glory to them. Over the last five years, hundreds of house churches have been started in the remote villages. Since covid, they have not been able to meet together the way they used to. They are meeting in village churches but they don’t have enough trained leaders.
As he shared Swami’s testimony, I asked to see a picture of him. When Swami’s brother brought a picture, I nearly fell to the ground, crying and praising God. This same Swami was my Good Samaritan, who saved my life! Who was healed of cancer by Jesus!
How can I explain my emotions? We spent two days with the believers in that area, visited many villages, met hundreds of believers, and started two training centers in that area. With man, it is impossible, but the Lord has His own way to reach people He wants to draw to Himself.
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,