Manu Shankar lives in a remote village. Thirteen years ago he received a Gospel of John booklet while he was visiting another city. As a young man of 24 years old, he read the booklet over and over. It surprised him and touched his heart, but as far as he knew, it was a moving story of just another Hindu Holy man. After a year he got married, and he asked his wife to read the booklet. She, too, read it and was very emotional about the man Jesus. They had never heard about Jesus before reading the booklet, and even after reading it, they continued to think he was some holy saint of Hinduism. Today Manu is 37 years old, and a father of two young children. Last April, his 12-year-old son brought home a Gospel of John booklet he received from our outreach team and handed it over to his father. When Manu saw it, he realized it was the same booklet he had received 13 years ago, which incidentally he still reads occasionally. His son told him that they were invited to a meeting in the neighboring village the following Sunday if they are interested in knowing more about this book.
Manu and His family went to the meeting the following Sunday, where our outreach team had arranged a small public meeting. Regi was there in that meeting and preached the Gospel. He told them that Jesus is the only Savior who can save and forgive them from their sin. That Sunday, 21 people responded to the Gospel call, including Manu and his family. Last June, Manu was baptized in water along with others.
Regi was in Manu’s village for a meeting last December. They had told him it was for the dedication of their house, but when he reached the village he saw that alongside their house they had built a meeting room which was 40 feet long and 25 feet wide. With the help of local believers, they built the room using bricks for the walls, dry grass for the roof, and cow dung for the floor. When Regi arrived, it was not even finished, but since they don’t have any other place to worship, they asked him to dedicate it for the Lord’s Glory. They had their first worship in that room that day. It was so full of people that there was not enough room for everyone to sit inside, so some of them were sitting outside the room and worshiping the Lord.
During the nine months after that first public meeting, hundreds of people came to the Lord in that area. The Lord empowered Manu and other brothers to share the Gospel with many people who had never heard the good news. In Manu’s own words, “we lived from generation to generation under the curse of idol worship. I heard the Gospel 13 years ago, but no one told us who Jesus is. It was 13 years later when someone finally came and explained to us who Jesus is, and what He has done for the remission of our Sin. Today we are saved by the grace of God, and we now live to tell the people what Jesus has done for mankind.”
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”
The Gospel Light Shines in the Darkness
Looking at the entire ministry, the year 2019 started with lots of apprehension: the news regarding the restrictions that the pro-Hindu government is trying to bring on the churches; news about the growing number of attacks on house churches in different states by Hindu radicals; and in general, the religious liberty our brothers had been enjoying for years was now under a threat. Many missionaries were arrested and sent to prison. Everyone in the mission field was feeling the impact of the news coming out every day.
In the midst of all this, the Lord was doing great things, revealing His glory by moving mightily among the people, touching the lives of thousands of people, healing them, delivering them, and drawing them closer to himself.
By God’s grace and favor, 2019 was one of the greatest harvesting years in our ministry. As most of you know, reaching the unreached is the main focus of our ministry. Last year, due to the combined efforts of our brothers in the mission field and our outreach teams (this includes Summer Outreach, Christmas and Easter Outreach teams), we reached hundreds of unreached villages and thousands of unreached homes. Our teams shared the Gospel and distributed “Gospel of John” booklets and New Testaments. By the grace of God, Exciting Word started 900 prayer groups (where people from all religious backgrounds get together once a week to pray, learn and worship Jesus in someone’s’ home. Thousands of people received Jesus as their personal savior and made a public confession. We baptized thousands of people in different states. We trained hundreds of men and women in our 40-day training centers. We ran thirteen sewing centers and through these sewing centers more than 300 poor women and widows were trained to sew clothes, make dresses, and support their families. We distributed 16 motorcycles to our missionaries, and 72 bicycles to our house church leaders. Over 24 church buildings are under construction right now.
Regarding the challenges, twenty-nine of our missionaries and house church leaders were beaten up by Hindu radicals. Nineteen were arrested by the police while sharing the Gospel or conducting a prayer meeting, all under false allegations of forced conversions. Thirteen of our temporary house church buildings were burned down or demolished by Hindu radicals, and 27 new believers and their families were forced out of their village for believing in Jesus.
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,