Revival Now!

Brother P and his family are from the untouchable community. They lived in the slums with their five children. He used to drive a rickshaw and his wife was selling vegetables in the slum. Their youngest son who was four years at that time had a blood infection. Almost twice a year they had to give the boy a blood transfusion. It was a great burden on their life and their finances. They fell into a lot of debt. The family was dealing with starvation. There was no one to help them. Finally they decided to take their other four children to an orphanage where they would have at least enough food, and security for their young daughters who were 16 and 14 at that time.

One of the volunteers who gave blood for P’s son’s transfusion was from a Hindu radical group. He came to donate blood for P’s son. After knowing the situation he said, “In my village some Christians meet for worship every Sunday. They claim that their God heals sickness. I have heard that many people have been healed by their prayers. Why don’t you take your son to them and ask them to pray for him? Maybe he too will be healed!”

There is Healing Power in The Blood

The following Sunday, the desperate P and his wife took their son from the hospital to the prayer group. It was a house church with 30-35 people jam-packed in a small room. They were singing and worshiping the Lord. Brother P shared with them why their family was there. During the service the church came around P’s son and laid hands on him and prayed for him.

After the service when P’s family went back to the hospital, the doctor was very upset because they had taken his patient out of the hospital without his permission. The next day the boy was discharged. The family returned to the slum. People from the house church visited them and prayed over their son again and again. God in His mercy healed him completely. Since that day they have never had to give their son another blood transfusion. P and his wife attended the house church and they accepted the Lord as their personal Savior.

Five years ago, R was in the slum where P and his family lived. They wanted to have a meeting in their area for the people to hear the Gospel. R says he still remembers when they had that meeting in the slum. It was in a small soccer ground where 300 people came to hear the Gospel. The next day we gave baptism to P and his wife and their three older children. After the baptism P and his family joined our house church leader’s training, completed it and became leaders of a house church.

The Gospel Spreads Through the Slums

Through the public meeting so many people were attracted to the Gospel. Our brothers started a house church in P’s home and gradually people from the slum, each with different needs, began to come and attend the house church. Many were delivered and set free from different addictions. The house church in P’s home became a lighthouse in that slum. For many who lived in utter darkness the house church was a light for them. It was a place of deliverance. Last month R was in that area to lay a foundation stone for their planned church building. They are planning to build a shed for the worship meetings. More than 400 people from that slum attended the meeting. Most of them are born again believers. P and his family took R to five other slums around their town, where very poor, untouchable people, who are the lowest in the society, live in plastic tents. In almost freezing cold weather it was a very sad sight. But as they walked through the slum, people greeted them by saying ‘JAI MASIH’ meaning “Praise the Lord.” They were joined by many people in the slum who are born again and live for the Lord, and they were worshiping Him. In all five slums P and his family have started regular worship services, where hundreds of people meet each week. R and his wife were really touched and moved by the way the Lord is using P and his family to draw hundreds of people to the Lord. P’s daughters, Kajal and Sona, have started six Sunday schools in different slums, where more than 240 children attend regularly. Kajal and Sona attend college, but in the afternoon, when their college classes are finished, they teach the children Bible stories, from 3:30pm to 5pm. They also teach the children how to read and write. If that wasn’t enough, they have also started a women’s meeting in the slums!

Blessed to be a Blessing

In P’s own words, he said, “We went to a house church with a desperate situation because no one could help us. We asked the Lord to bless our son and heal him, but we never thought that we would become a blessing. Today the Lord has honored us and blessed us and made us a blessing to our community.”

The Bible says “The people which sat in darkness saw a great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up.” Hundreds of people living in the slums, who sat in darkness for many generations, are seeing the glorious light of the Gospel through one family’s dedication to the Lord. They are able to do this work because of our Lord, and through your prayers and financial support. Ask the Lord of the Harvest to send more laborers into the harvest field, and to provide them with the necessary financial support to be effective.

Christmas always brings joy to our families. But for more than 360 men and women in our house church leaders’ training program, Christmas was also a time of harvesting souls. As part of their practical training, they went out to their neighboring, unreached villages to share the Gospel, starting on December 14th through the day before Christmas. With your help, we provided them with all the resources they needed for the outreach. They shared the Gospel and distributed literature to more than 29,000 homes, in 152 villages, in just 10 days! To wrap up the outreach, they conducted 42 public meetings in different unreached villages, and more than 12,000 people attended these public meetings and again heard the Gospel. For most of them, this was the first time they had attended a Christian meeting. Over 1800 people responded to the altar calls and expressed their desire to follow Jesus in their life.

Everywhere the outreach team went, the presence of God was tangible and they could see the favor of the Lord. In every public meeting, Jesus healed the sick, delivered the demon-possessed, and broken families were reunited.

The Power to Heal was Present

A* has lived in the same village since birth. Until he fell ill, he drove cars for a living, and his mother and two sisters took care of the house and small farm they owned. Unexpectedly, A* became very sick. He was admitted into the hospital 3 times, but none of the treatments worked. His last visit was for two months. The doctors did everything they could to treat him but his condition did not improve. Instead, the family fell into deep debt. They borrowed money from the lenders and got into financial difficulties the family could not repay.

During the Christmas outreach, a few sisters visited A*’s home with literature, and shared the Gospel with A*’s mother and sisters, working in the field. They had never heard the name of Jesus before, but the Holy Spirit moved in their hearts. In tears, they shared their problems with the sisters, including their brother’s sickness, and asked them to pray for them. Our trainees went with them to their home. A* was lying in bed, barely able to get up, a young man who had lost all hope. Our sisters prayed with them for A*’s physical healing. Our trainees felt the presence of God in that place. They invited the family to a public meeting. On December 24th, A* and his family, along with four other families, came to the public meeting, which was held in the neighboring village. They met with the sisters who visited them and shared the Gospel with them and prayed for them. A* was walking energetically, happy, and he testified that he had been delivered and healed. He gave his testimony in that meeting, and on that day, at the end of the meeting, A*, his mother, his two sisters, and 9 of their relatives gave their lives to Christ. The following Sunday, A* brought still more people to church.

(Keep reading…)

R* is a village with more than 300 families, situated in the middle of a field in a remote area. When our team arrived, there were no known Christians in the village. In December, our Christmas outreach team went to each house, systematically shared the Gospel, and gave out literature to everyone. With the village chief’s permission, on December 23rd we had a public meeting in the village. Our brothers pitched a tent and a small sound system, expecting between 100 and 150 people. By 11am, more than six hundred people had come to the Gospel meeting. Our tent was too small, and the sound system was too small for this many people. Humanly speaking, the arrangements were poor and inadequate.

But God was big enough to touch and heal and deliver and meet the needs of the people. The Holy Spirit moved in a special way in the meeting. Many people were delivered from evil spirits; many were touched by the power of God. During that meeting, more than a hundred people responded to the altar call and gave their lives to Christ. In response, our brothers began a Sunday afternoon meeting, where 70 people attended the first week and more than 100 people attended on the second week.

Set Free by the Power of the Gospel

One woman who heard about the meeting was suffering from severe headaches for a long time. She had been to all kinds of treatments, but nothing worked, and she fell into a deep depression. A relative from another village told her about the Christian meeting in the village, and in desperation, she walked 4 miles to the meeting, all the while still suffering with the headache. When our brothers prayed for her, the Lord touched her. She had been tormented by the powers of darkness, but during the prayer, God delivered her completely from the evil bondage, and set her free from the headache. She became very happy, and was overwhelmed with heavenly peace and joy. She shared her testimony with the people, and returned home as a new person.

The Bible says “The people which sat in darkness saw a great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up.” Yes, thousands of people who sat in darkness for many generations were able to see the glorious light of the Gospel through the outreach. This was made possible by our Lord, by your prayers and financial support. Agree with us in asking the Lord of the Harvest to send more laborers into the harvest field, and that He would provide them with the necessary financial support to be effective.

An unemployed person struggles with self-respect and insecurity. When a family’s income is small, they lack food and often go to bed hungry. In order to break this curse and to make our believers independent and provide employment, we started two sewing centers to help local people discover and develop their talent in this area. Our sewing centers provide those in need with tools to increase their income. Our sewing centers have given a new ray of hope for a brighter future, to people who previously had no hope.

Last week two groups of our tailoring center students, 31 students in all, graduated from the program. One group had completed the course four months ago, but had not yet received their certificates. They entered the program as unbelievers, and most are now believers.

Testimonies From The Sewing Centers

Sister S*

Sister S* testified that the sewing center was a blessing to her. She said, “My life has changed since I began attending the sewing center. My husband has been bedridden for the past year and I am now the sole bread winner for my 3 children and husband. We lived in a state of depression because there was no one to support us. After completing the training, you gave me two sewing machines. This enabled me to start my own sewing business in my village. Slowly my sewing skills improved and perfected, attracting many customers from the nearby villages. Now our life is stable, and things are far better than before. Today, prayerfully, and with your help, we have started another sewing center, and 28 students are enrolled so far. More than all this, Jesus has come into our lives and he has transformed our lives and our families.”

Sister T*

T* has now been married for seven years with three children. She lives in a very remote village. The roads are poorly maintained, the people live in poverty, and travel outside the village is very difficult. Her husband works in the nearby town, but he only comes home once a month. Sadly, T*’s three-year-old daughter fell ill and because she could not afford adequate medical help, the child died. Because of this tragedy, she felt the need to earn some money herself, to help the family. She came to our sewing center and completed the six month program. The sewing machine provided by us has been a huge blessing to her family, and now she is able to earn money by stitching clothes and pillow covers. She proudly testified that last week she bought a gas cylinder for cooking. Before that, they cooked with firewood and dried cow dung. She said a gas cylinder has been her heart’s desire for many years.

Sister B*

B*, a Muslim woman, says “I never, ever thought that church would do this kind of social work. It has been my privilege to join the sewing classes. For small stitching needs, we had depended on the tailors who charge a lot of money, which we have been unable to pay due to our financial condition. But from now on, I will save the money, and save for the future of my children. I will also tell others about this training.”

Sister L*

L* says “From my childhood I had a desire to learn tailoring but there was no tailoring center around. Our only source of income has been from whatever my father earns. But now it is a great blessing for me to learn tailoring and help my family financially.”

“Sowing” into “Sewing”

Seeing the life changing impact and the lives that have been touched through sewing centers, we are praying about starting more sewing centers in this area. The only way any of this is possible is through your prayers and financial support. Please consider giving to our sewing center programs. Your investment will forever change the lives of these women and empower them to provide for their families and communities.

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…)