Revival Now!

R* is a young man from a remote tribal village. His family were witchcraft doctors for generations in that area. His parents wanted their son to follow the family tradition, but R* really hated what his parents were doing. When his family pressured him, he took his pregnant wife, left his family and moved to the neighboring state, to a town 200 miles away from his home, looking for a new way to earn a living. They could not afford the rent in a nice place, so they moved into a slum area. Soon afterward, his wife got sick with some kind of infection, and one day collapsed in their home. Their neighbor, a woman who was a new believer for only six months, took her to the nearby hospital. R*’s wife was admitted, and since no one from their family was around, and men are not allowed in the hospital ward where she was admitted, the Christian neighbor woman volunteered to stay with his wife and help her.

The Power of Love

The life of the Christian woman, her willingness to serve them, and also her prayers, touched R* and his wife. This was something they had never experienced. R* and his wife began to come for a weekly prayer meeting in the slum, along with the Christian woman and her family, where they heard the Gospel and accepted Jesus into their lives. It was hard for R*, but as he began to grow in faith and in God’s word, his life was transformed. In R*’s own words “We had never experienced joy or peace in our lives. In our home, we never laughed or even smiled—life was always gloomy in my family; there was always tension. Since we received Jesus, our lives have been changed. My wife and I feel that we were set free from great bondage. Now our hearts are filled with joy and laughter.” It was totally different from what he had experienced or seen in his village.

At R*’s request, two years ago some of our brothers visited the area and saw the spiritual and physical starvation in the area. Spiritual darkness is prevailing in the land and in the hearts of the people, but poverty is another major problem in that area. Our brothers decided to send a summer outreach team to R*’s village, and to hundreds of unreached villages in the surrounding area, with the message of the Gospel. The caste system and Hindu radicals were two big hindrances for people to come forward. But God in His mercy moved among the people, and they turned to Him.

The Fruit of Love

Over the past two years, our brothers have started house churches in 19 villages. Recently, our leaders were visiting that area. They conducted 14 meetings in different villages. These were small meetings, around 40-60 people in each, to avoid drawing the attention of the Hindu radicals. It was a great blessing to meet with the people, get close to them, and pray for them. Many have received Jesus into their lives, and 63 people were baptized in the area.

(Continue to the next testimony here…)

If you enjoy these stories, please let us know. To contact us, go to our Contact Us page. To become a financial partner with us, go to our Donate page.

Share this newsletter with your God-honoring, Bible-believing friends. Feel free to share it on Facebook, email your friends a link to our website, encourage them to email us, do whatever you can do to get the word out. The more people who read these stories, the more hearts will be touched, and the more God will provide for our missionaries. Without your help, we could do nothing to promote the Gospel. With your help, the Gospel will be proclaimed, and you will be blessed!

“All things are possible to him who believes.”

Mark 9:23 NASB

After D* shared her testimony (see The Dead Baby Finds New Life), a young man stood up to testify. He came from a Hindu high caste family, and three years ago he came to know the Lord, through the witness of a friend. Since then, his parents were very unhappy—they said he brought shame on his family, and threw him out, asking him to never return. From that day, three years ago, he has had no contact with his family. He tried to visit them but they refused to allow him in the home. Last week he heard from a friend from his village that his father fell ill a few weeks ago. He was resting at home, but his situation was not good. He called the church to pray for his father. Then he and another brother from the church went to see his parents. Prior to this, every time he tried visiting his parents they humiliated him in front of the people, accusing him, cursing him, and using all kinds of abusive words.

As he approached his village he asked the Lord to restore the broken relationship with his parents. He wanted to show his love and respect for them, and most importantly, lead them to the Lord. As he arrived at his village he went to his home without any resistance. They allowed him to see his father, who was very sick. He sat with him, and with much difficulty his father told him “All through my life I served and worshiped our gods and goddesses but I never experienced any joy or inner peace in my life. Now I am very afraid to face the last days of my life. I am so restless, but since the day you came and told us that you received Jesus in your life, you have joy, inner peace, and assurance of your salvation, things I have never experienced in my life. Watching your life, I know you have been changed and transformed. Please tell me about this new God you worship, the One who changed your life.” With tears, he shared the Gospel with his father, and led his father to the Lord. There in his father’s bedroom, he led his whole family in a prayer of repentance and dedication to the Lord Jesus. After the prayer, his father talked quietly with each of the family members. He died in peace a few hours later.

The young man said though it was very painful for him to witness the death of his father, at the same time he was rejoicing in his heart, knowing his father would spend eternity in heaven with Jesus. He finished by saying that today his mother and six other family members were in the service.

A few weeks ago, our team was in one of our churches, attending the Sunday service with 100-120 believers. They had gathered on the roof of a rented house in the village where our missionary L* is ministering. L* is from a tribal community, and he came to know the Lord 8 years ago after having received deliverance from a demonic spirit. Just five years ago, he joined our 40-day training school for house church leaders and then took the leadership of the house church in his home. Slowly the house church has grown and since they do not have suitable accommodations, they split and started another house church in another village. This has gone on for some time, and now through multiplication he leads nine house churches in different villages around his home village. We have baptized more than 240 people in these house churches in the last 4 years. That Sunday a few weeks ago, two or three house churches had come together for a worship service on the roof of L*’s house.

Power of the Testimony

During worship that day, there was a time of fresh testimonies, as L* asked, as usual, whether there were any testimonies today. Three people stood and testified of what God has done in and through their lives.

One woman, D*, around 50, became a born-again Christian 5 years ago, having come from a Hindu background. She testified that her six-month-old grandson was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia and was in the ICU for a week. He was in critical condition and having trouble breathing, so she was sitting outside the ICU fervently praying for her grandson.

Divine Appointment

While sitting in the waiting room she had a friendly conversation with a pregnant woman and her husband. They were in their late thirties, and D* found them sitting quietly and weeping. She felt a deep compassion in her heart for them, and went and sat with them and comforted them. As they talked, the couple told her that they had been married for 16 years and, until now, had never been able to have any children. When she finally did become pregnant, doctors discovered the pregnancy had many complications. Things were so serious they told her it would be better for her to have an abortion, for her safety, rather than carry the baby to full term. She and her husband disagreed with the doctors. They had waited so long, and they wanted to have the baby. When D* met them, the woman was at her due date. The doctor informed her husband he would do everything possible, but he wasn’t sure whether he would be able to save both the mother and the child. He told the husband to be prepared, and to pick the one whose life he wanted saved. Both husband and wife were shattered. Both sets of their parents were against their decision to keep the baby, so no one gave them any support.

Comfort of the Holy Spirit

D* comforted the couple and shared with them that she believes in Jesus, who answers prayer, and asked them whether she could pray for the mother and the child she was carrying. With their permission, and in tears, she prayed for her there in the hospital waiting room. She rebuked the curse put on the couple and blessed the mother and child in Jesus’ name. As soon as she finished praying, the lady began to feel uncomfortable and started bleeding. The doctor came and they rushed her directly into the operating room. In surgery they took the baby out, but it was motionless and the doctor declared the baby dead.

After some time, the nurse brought the dead baby out to show it to the father in the waiting room. D* was standing beside the emotionally overwhelmed father, and when he refused to look at the baby, D* took the baby in her arms. She laid her hand on the baby and began to pray in tongues quietly. A few moments later D* felt something moving in her arms! Suddenly, the baby started to cry. The nurses heard the noise, and took the baby back inside to the doctor. After an hour the nurse returned, saying the baby was perfectly fine.

The hospital staff and the doctors were wondering what happened. Finally the father of the child, who witnessed everything, told them it was D* who first prayed for the mother and child. He said “She took our dead baby, put her hands on it, and prayed in a strange language, and it was during her prayer that our baby moved and started to cry.”

As D* shared her testimony in church that Sunday, she paused and asked the father of the baby to stand up. He had come with her to the worship service. He stood there, speechless and in tears, and with folded hands he expressed his gratitude for what the Lord had done.

(Continue to the next testimony here…)

This month’s story is the story of how God revealed Himself to two young men born into an untouchable family. Their family was very poor, and was deeply involved in idol worship and various kinds of witchcraft practices.

Younger brother P* was also deeply religious, and he followed in the path of his parents. He was 14 years old when some young people came to his school and, with the permission of the teachers, gave a book to every student. The young people were from one of our outreach teams, and the book was the Gospel of John. He received a book, which he took home with him. He did not have time to read it, but his older brother R* saw the book and began to read it. He was really interested in this story about a man named Jesus. Before this, he and his family had never heard the name of Jesus in their lives.

Who is this Man Called Jesus?

R* was so touched by the book that he took it to the priest in the village Hindu temple. When he showed him the book, he asked “Who is this man called Jesus? Do you know about him?” The temple priest said “Jesus is the God of Christians. We don’t read about him or think about him. We need to concentrate on our own gods and goddesses.”

R* agreed with the temple priest and decided that he would not think about Jesus or read his book. But when he got back home he couldn’t resist, and started to read John’s Gospel again. He told his brother P* about the book, and he too was very much touched by the Gospel. They were both feeling desperate to know more about the man called Jesus. After almost six months of searching, they finally found themselves in a small house church, only four miles from their home.

Fellowship of Suffering

In this house church they received Jesus as their personal savior. As they began to attend the house church, and were drawn closer to the Lord, people in the village misled their parents, and turned them against them. Slowly their parents, friends, relatives, teachers and classmates all turned against them because of their new faith in Jesus. The two brothers went through much persecution for their faith. Their parents locked both of them in a room without food and water. Their parents said “Reject Jesus, go to the temple and bow down to our idol. Then we will give you food.”

The young men refused. They starved for many days. During this time, their parents and relatives beat them repeatedly. They were not allowed in the school, and forbidden to talk to their friends. It was hard on both of them but they endured the rejection, pain, agony, and humiliation with humility. P* said “We don’t know how we were able to endure this. It was truly the Lord Jesus who gave us the strength.” Finally, the villagers forced both brothers out of the village. At only 16 and 14 years old, R* and P* were outcasts. They made their way to the house church, and with the help of some other believers, they rejoined their school and continued their studies.

Power of the Resurrection

During their education, they led many young people to the Lord. They continued their studies in the local college, and they were a great blessing to their fellow students. They started prayer meetings in the college, where students could come and receive prayer for their problems. Our mission leaders have personally heard the testimonies of numerous young people who have been delivered, healed, and touched through the ministry of the prayer groups. Today these prayer groups have grown and spread into several other colleges. They have become instrumental in leading hundreds of young people to the Lord.

By God’s grace, both R* and P* completed their college studies and are now employed by the government as teachers. A few weeks ago, our team was invited by R* to a meeting in his village. He told us that his parents, the same ones who had persecuted them for many months for going to prayer meetings, the same ones who forced them out of the village, now wanted to be baptized! He asked us to come to his village and give them baptism.

The Harvest is Plentiful

A few weeks ago, we were in his village, where around 200-250 people gathered together in the courtyard of his house. During the meeting, we were amazed to hear beautiful Hindi hymns sung by the people with great respect and reverence to God; these same people who have praised idols for many generations. When we shared the Gospel with them and taught them the meaning and importance of baptism in their lives, ninety-two people came forward to receive baptism. These are the same villagers who drove out R* and P*, and persecuted them. Today, R* and P* are the only college graduates in their village. The villagers told us “These brothers are really a blessing to all of us in the village. They show us the way to salvation and eternal life. We want our children to be like them: caring, loving and responsible.”

Today in that village more that 200 people regularly meet to worship the Lord in Spirit and truth. The villagers even donated a piece of land for a church building, and we were honored to lay the foundation stone.

As we traveled back to the main highway, R* took us to a number of villages, where we met several well-educated young men who have come to know the Lord through the prayer groups in the colleges led by R* and P*.

After seeing all this, while driving away, our hearts were filled with joy and gratitude to God. Today we are experiencing the fulfillment of the prayer we prayed many years ago “Lord how will these people hear the Gospel and who will share the Gospel with these people?” Today we know who will share it! Yes, our God is raising up native indigenous young men and women in the villages to be an effective witness of the Gospel. Jesus said “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18 KJV)

Sowing into the Harvest

If you enjoyed this story, let us know. To contact us, go to our Contact Us page. To become a financial partner with us, go to our Donate page.

Share this newsletter with your God-honoring, Bible-believing friends. Feel free to share it on Facebook, email your friends a link to our website, encourage them to email us, do whatever you can do to get the word out. The more people who read these stories, the more hearts will be touched, and the more God will provide for our missionaries. Without your help, we could do nothing to promote the Gospel. With your help, the Gospel will be proclaimed, and you will be blessed!

“I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Matthew 16:18 KJV

In the last two weeks, our team was in an undisclosed location, to attend a meeting and a baptism service. When they arrived, a young girl brought some dessert packets and asked our team to bless them. She wanted to distribute them to the people in the meeting. We asked her what the occasion was. She said, “I have just graduated from nurses training and I got a job!” Then she said, “I am the only person in my community who is a trained nurse.”

The Suffering of the Untouchables

The young girl was M*, the daughter of G*, one of our missionaries. G* and his family are part of an untouchable tribal community. They were very poor and lived in a very poor village.

They had to walk 3 to 4 miles to get water even though there was a well in a nearby village. They were not allowed to draw water from that well because they were untouchables. Most of the time the tension with outsiders remained just under the surface. But almost 16 years ago G* was involved in a violent fight with a high caste person. In that fight G*’s right leg was stabbed so severely that it could not be saved. The doctors had to remove his leg. To make matters worse, during his time in the hospital he noticed that most of the hospital staff treated him and his family very badly because they were untouchables. People thought their presence would make the hospital unsanitary.

G*’s community lives in poverty. They are the largest nomadic group in India, often moving from one place to another. Some specialize in making broomsticks, iron tools, small farm equipment or needles. They may also repair tools or work with stone. Others believe that one does not have to work for a living; they derive income by “religious begging.” They sing and wear special make-up while begging in the name of a specific deity.

After his discharge, the authorities did not allow G*, nor his wife and three children, to return to the village. Having no place to go, they were now homeless, living on the street and sleeping under plastic sheets. He was unable to work, and the whole family began to beg. In tears he recalled “I was a beggar and my wife and children were begging in the streets all day and into the night. We sent our children to the local government school just because the school provided meals for the children. Ten years ago as a one-legged beggar, I was sitting under a tree on a hot summer day when two young men [two of our outreach team members] came to me. They sat beside me, under the same tree, and opened their lunch boxes. They started to eat and then one of them, noticing that I was hungry, shared his lunch with me. They talked kindly to me and gave me a booklet. Even though I couldn’t read I accepted it and took it back to my home. I gave it to my older daughter and she read it to me. It was the Gospel of John. I never heard about Jesus before so I did not understand it.”

The next day at the same lunch time G* met the young people again. This time his wife was with him. Our brothers shared their lunch with them and shared the Gospel with them. G* and his wife did not understand much but they were really touched by the behavior of these young men. After two weeks our outreach team went and visited G* and his family in their tent. G* said they were the first guests to visit their tent in 6 years. The outreach team invited G* and his family to their Sunday prayer meetings. For the first time in their lives they were allowed to sit with other people. (G*’s children had been seated separately in the government school because they are untouchables.)

God’s Mercy on the Untouchables

That Sunday G*’s 12-year-old daughter, M* came forward to receive Jesus as her personal savior. Within a few weeks, G* and his whole family came to the Lord. Since the day G*’s family received Jesus as their personal savior they stopped begging. They began to do small jobs. Soon the Lord opened a door for G* and his family. A high caste Hindu man, who was now a believer in Jesus, hired him and his wife to look after his farm. It felt like a miracle! Now G* and his wife both had good jobs and regular income. The farmer also provided G* and his family with a nice home. God had provided for them in an amazing way!

As G* and his family began to grow in the Lord and in God’s Word, he began to share the Gospel with others. They realized that they were the first Christians in their tribal community, which has a population of 1.5 million people. God gave G* a burden for his people group. When he shared this with the local church, the elders laid their hands on him and consecrated him for ministry.

G* told the farm owner that he wanted to reach his tribal people with the Gospel. The farm owner agreed, and allowed G* and his family to stay on the farm and gave him freedom to focus on the ministry. Over the past eight years, G* has reached out to his community in many different villages. They have ministered to thousands of people, and over that time more that 1400 people have believed and been baptized. Just this year, we assigned two outreach teams to help him reach his community. These two teams started a total of 26 prayer groups in different villages!

The Lord Touches the Untouchables

Today we are aware of a great move of God in this community. Recently, one of our leaders stopped to buy a broom on the roadside, and the lady selling them was wearing a cross. He asked her whether she was a Christian, and she said “Yes.” As she told them, she came to the Lord through G*. She went on to say that, in her village more than twenty-two families attend Sunday service at the village church, and they all came to know the Lord through G*. She continued “We never saw the need to send our children to school, but G* taught us how important it is educate our children, to make sure they learn how to read and write. Because of that, we now send our children to school.”

M* is only the first trained nurse from the community. In G*’s words “We were once beggars, but Jesus transformed our lives! Today we are the richest people, sharing the glorious Gospel which transforms the lives of those who receive it. It is the greatest kind of wealth, when Jesus came into our lives He blessed us with everything.”

Today hundreds of people from G*’s nomadic community travel and share the Gospel with members of their tribe living throughout India.

Investing in Revival

G*’s tribe is experiencing revival, given freely to them by the Lord, and our outreach teams don’t charge them either. But it wasn’t free for G*’s employer to allow him to share the Gospel. Our outreach teams need support, too. We are confident that this support will come, through people like you, whose hearts are touched by stories like G*’s. To become a financial partner with us, click on the Donate link above.

“God’s power has given us everything we need for life and godliness, through our knowing the One who called us to his own glory and goodness.”

2 Peter 1:3 CJB