The Banjara people live a nomadic lifestyle. They work as ironsmiths, making and repairing small farm equipment, constantly moving from one place to another for work. They travel in groups in ox carts and live in tents in the fields. In the past, Banjaras were also known as criminal communities, but now many are born again, baptized, and living a life for the Lord Jesus, working hard and living in harmony with the local people.
Our pastor Charanjit and a few other brothers work among the Banjara communities. The Lord has blessed their effort, hard work and sacrifices. In the last few years, hundreds of people from the Banjara communities have come to the Lord. Last March we had three days of meetings among Banjara communities, and more than 250 families attended the meetings. It was eye opening for us to see how these people mingled together, made friendships with one another, and how those friendships turned to into more lasting relationships. Parents found wives for their young boys and husbands for their girls from within their own communities, building young families established by Gods word.
During those meetings, some of the elders from the communities came to us with a special request. Most of the young girls live with their parents and help them in their work, but these young girls have no confidence since they are not educated. In fact, they can barely read. Since they began attending the church services, their parents had seen great positive changes in their lives. So their request was for us to start a skill development program for their daughters. As a result, we started three sewing centers in three different areas among the Banjara communities.
Last week, Sherly and I visited two of those sewing centers and met with the young women. We were amazed to see that in both training centers more than 25 women were being trained to sew dresses and make candles. And the first batch of 69 women had just completed the training in three different sewing centers in Banjara communities. They have already started earning some income from their new skills. They are planning to open shops in different areas where they can sew dresses to make a living and be able to contribute to their families. During one graduation service some elders of the Banjara community came and told us, “When Jesus came to our lives, He not only changed and transformed us, but he also changed and transformed our families and the destiny of our children. We no longer are slaves of our traditions, but we are free from all bondage!”
During this Christmas season, all these sewing center graduates and hundreds of men and women will be joining the Christmas outreach, working together to tell the untold, reach the unreached, and touch the untouchable with the Gospel message.
Another life changing experience occurred in a slum during the last Christmas outreach public meeting, reported in our newsletter from January,2024. As Sherly and I walked from the car to the meeting place, a young, disabled girl shouted at us to stop. Unable to walk, she crawled toward us with her hands, dragging her useless legs behind her through the filthy water along the road. Seeing her struggle, we walked over to her. She greeted us and said she recognized me. She said we had given her a wheelchair several years ago, but her alcoholic father sold it to buy liquor. Here was a young girl in torn dirty clothes, soaking wet in 40° weather, shivering, sitting there looking desperate. In tears she said “I heard that you were coming here to preach, so I waited for two hours by the road, hoping I would see you. I don’t have a good dress to wear to the meeting, so I waited here, just to ask for another wheelchair.” Sherly walked back to the car, opened her suitcase, and got some of her clothes, a sweater, and a light blanket. With the help of another sister, they took her to her one-room house to meet her mother. I sent two of our pastors to a nearby medical shop to buy a wheelchair. Finally, I joined the meeting. By this time, we were late. Over 500 people from the nearby slum were present in the meeting. I preached a simple Gospel message, gave an invitation, and a good number of people responded. We prayed for the sick and needy. At the end of the meeting, I wanted to publicly present the new wheelchair to the girl. My wife informed me that, now that she had a nice dress, she was sitting in the meeting. I asked some of the sisters to bring her to the front. As they lifted her, everyone recognized her and was aware of her condition. There was no life in her legs, but as she was brought to the front, she cried out loudly. Everyone thought she was in pain, but it was easy to see that while the other sisters carried her, she was moving her legs! After a few meters, she took a few steps. As she put weight on her lifeless legs they became strong, and she began to walk on her own. She fell several times, but each time she got up and walked again in front of the people. I fell on my face and people were in tears, shouting “Hallelujah! Glory to God!” I was crying, looking at the wheelchair that I bought for her. The most I could do was give her a wheelchair. I was trying to be kind and caring, but my Lord went far beyond that. He gave life to her legs and lifted her up! All glory and honor to our God alone!
As her healed legs gained strength, the young girl started a Sunday school in her slum. Then she went to other nearby slums and started more Sunday schools. Now she and her brother, along with a few other young belivers, are overseeing 7 Sunday schools on different days. For the past year, through her testimony and young people sharing the Gospel, we have baptized 89 people in that area. They all live in the slums, are poor and uneducated, but now they rejoice in the Lord. Last week I was in the slum for a meeting. They told us they wanted to build a church and asked us to help them buy a small piece of land, (1800 sq. feet.) and build a prayer hall for them to come together to worship. God is building His church, in the highways and byways, in the mountains and in the valleys, in the villages and in the slums.
Help Us Share the Gospel
As we conclude the 2024 Christmas outreach and look toward 2025, please pray for us that our Lord would give us directions and lead us and guide us to reach the unreached with the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Please prayerfully consider helping us to reach the unreached. Without your prayers and support we would not be able to bring in the harvest.