M* is a young man from a village. He came to the city looking for success, but instead met with failures in his life and ended up as a drug addict. A friend of his brought him to one of our house churches, where he shared his life story with the church. They prayed for him and promised him that they would be continually praying for him. He regularly began to come to the church, and with the help and fellowship of the believers he was slowly able to overcome his drug habits. A year after being baptized he felt that he needed to go back to his village in the mountains. He knew he needed to share the Gospel with them, because at that time no one had ever heard the Gospel in his village.
The church prayed for him and sent him to his village. After being away for many years, he was now visiting his village as a totally transformed person. He slowly began to meet with people and began to share the Gospel with them but they couldn’t seem to understand anything.
Some of his friends from the church visited him in the village. One evening they were sitting together, singing hymns in their native language. Hearing the songs, the neighbors all came together to listen. The villagers still didn’t understand; they mistook the friends to be wedding singers, and invited them to come and sing for a wedding. Usually in a village, a Hindu wedding ceremony lasts for 5 days. On the first day they stood to sing in front of 150 to 200 people, but the Christian brothers were worried – what were they going to sing? At that moment they prayed, and God brought to mind a worship song they would sing in church. After the prayer, they sang that song and people really appreciated them and wanted them to sing that song again and again. They continued to sing for 2 hours and worship the Lord. This continued every day for the entire 5-day wedding. People from other villages were also attending the wedding. They too liked the hymns the brothers sang and invited them to sing in their weddings as well without realizing that they are worshiping the Lord among the heathens.
As they began to sing in more Hindu marriages, people began to get delivered, healed and touched by the power of God. This opened the door for them to share the Gospel with them and lead them to the Lord.
Today M* and his surrounding villages have 22 house churches with over 350 baptized believers. They meet together for worship in the evenings, in fields near the village. They are pooling their money together to build a church building for the village. They rejoice that they have come to know the true living God. Through Hindu marriage ceremonies, of all places, they have now become members of the Bride of Christ!
Two weeks ago, we were there in one of the house churches to celebrate Holy Communion with 150 to 200 believers!
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” Romans 12:2a, NASB