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What is God
Doing in
India? |
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India
Population: 1,048 million
Capital: New Delhi
People Groups: 2,329
Main Religion: Hindu 80%
All Christians: 5% |
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ANDRHA PRADESH |
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"Two of our full-time
evangelists were looking for accommodation for the night," reports
German missions agency "Stimme der Zigeuner" (Voice of the Gypsies).
"When they eventually found a place to stay in Khamman, Andra Pradesh
State, the house owner refused to let them in because they were
Christians. The housewife bravely decided to let them in. The unfriendly
owner, a rich landowner, suffered from diabetes, and had open wounds on
his feet. His doctors had prescribed various medicines to prepare him
for an amputation the following week. His wife asked her guests for
prayer for herself and her husband. The evangelists told her that she
too should pray to God. The healing was rapid; the surprised doctors
cancelled the amputation, because the man was completely healthy. When
his wife told of her husband's healing in the nearby store, the store
owner, who suffered from cancer, also started praying to God. She was
healed too. The thankful landowner donated land, on which a church
building was opened in April 2004."
Stimme der Zigeuner, July 2004 |
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UTTAR PRADESH |
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Operation Agape reports
that 800 Muslims in Northern India recently became Christians. Over 100
house churches have been planted in various districts of Uttar Pradesh
State in the past six months alone and every member used to be a Muslim.
Many of the new believers are already actively sharing their faith with
friends and relatives in their surroundings. In West Bengal State, 15
Islamic priests and their families have been baptised, and there is a
growing church planting movement among the region's Muslims. Source:
Operation Agape, July 2004 |
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HIMACHAL PRADESH |
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Manoi learned black magic
and sorcery from a Hindu priest in Himachal Pradesh. For eight years, he
served as a priest in the famous Chamunda Temple, which made him rich.
He lost his fortune, though, so returned to his hometown. His sister
spoke to him regularly about Jesus, but Manoi said that if this God
existed, he should appear to him personally. The following night, Jesus
appeared to him in a dream, saying "Today, you will become my son," and
giving him a New Testament. The next day, a pastor visited, who had had
the same dream. Manoi gave his life to Jesus, and now plants churches in
Himachal Pradesh. Kingdom
Ministries News, June 2004 |
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HIMACHAL PRADESH |
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G. Singh was a very
well-known witch doctor in Himachal Pradesh, India. He 'healed' many
people, but the healings only lasted a short time. One day, he became
seriously ill himself, and nobody could help him. Finally, he called on
a Christian for help. The Christian, K.N., prayed for him, and he was
healed instantly. The first thing he did was burn all his spell books,
then he was baptised, along with the rest of his family. In a short
time, he won 15 other families for Jesus, including his previous guru.
Kingdom Ministries News, June 2004 |
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The Lord has recently
worked miracles in the lives of three practitioners of black magic,
bringing them to Christ. One of the magicians, an elderly man, worked as
a magic healer for many years. Although many sought his cures, he
could, ironically, do nothing for the illnesses from which he and his
family suffered. After years of suffering and questioning his own
practices, he requested prayer from a native missionary. When the
gospel was explained to him, the magician placed his faith in Christ as
his Savior. Both the man and his wife then experienced miraculous
healing in their own bodies. Now he shares his testimony of deliverance
with those who visit him, as well as pray for their healing in Christ's
name. The wife of another magician became ill and was unable to speak or
eat. After four days, the magician sought help from native Christians
who were fasting and praying. When Indian believers prayed earnestly
for her, she was again able to speak and eat. Finally, there is the case
of Devadas, who practiced sorcery for 30 years and strongly objected
when some of the village families accepted Christ. He planned to attack
the native missionaries who worked in his community. However before he
could execute his plan, Devadas was struck with malaria and became very
weak. His black magic and witchcraft were of no avail. Neighboring
witch doctors were equally powerless. Devadas' health deteriorated and
eventually his kidneys began to fail. He was taken to the hospital, but
even the doctors lost hope. One evening, in desperation, he called his
Christian neighbors and asked them to pray for him. Within a few hours
after they prayed, his kidneys began to function. Having gained faith
in Christ, he requested prayer for his full recovery, and this too
occurred. Devadas and his entire family have placed their faith in
Jesus Christ and committed their lives to Him.
Missions Insider, May 2004 |
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JAMMU AND KASHMIR |
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The Northern Indian state
Jammu and Kashmir, previously mostly unreached, consists of 14
districts, 6,000 villages and has some 18 million inhabitants. "In the
past five years, thousands of people have decided to follow Jesus
Christ, and hundreds of new house churches have formed," reports Agape
Voice. Whole families regularly come to faith, as in Badaol, a village
in Doda district. "Our church-planting team encountered a whole family
lying sick in bed. None of them was able to fetch the doctor. Our team
explained the Gospel, and prayed for them. Jesus healed every single
person, and the entire family decided joyfully not only to follow Jesus,
but also to open their house for regular church meetings." Northern
India is also home to one of the fastest-growing revival movements on
Earth. Last year alone, 200 new house churches were planted in Hariyana,
which was long considered to be one of India's least evangelised states.
According to an April 2004 report, the number of house churches in
Northern India has grown to around 30,000 in the past 7 years, with an
additional 28,000 regular home prayer meetings. Experience shows that
these rapidly become house churches. Church growth adviser Joshua Pillai
reports that there are a further 10,000 house churches in Southern
India. Agape Voice, Joshua
Pillai and others, Friday Fax, May 2004 |
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PUNJAB |
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Indian
missionaries are fervent in their quest to spread the news of Christ. In
April 52 missionaries, trained as church planters, graduated from a
Bible college in Punjab assisted by Christian Aid. One of the first
tools new missionaries require in India is a bicycle, which will enable
them to cover many villages each day. Many times the wives of
missionaries ride alongside their husbands during the day, because in
the Indian culture only women can evangelize other women. "On foot I was
able to cover only two to three villages each day. Once I got a new
cycle, I was able to go to many more villages, some of them over 30
miles away. And I can return home each day now," reports an Indian
missionary. The native Christians are boldly evangelizing in villages
and towns throughout India, in spite of the fact that attacks against
Christians have increased in the country. In Madhya Pradesh 65 homes
and churches were burned, causing 30 gospel workers to flee the area.
In Orissa a gang shaved the heads of six Christian women, some of whom
were also stripped and tortured for not returning to Hinduism. "We have
surrendered our lives at the foot of the cross so that we can take
Christ's love to the hurting, dying and crying humanity," writes an
Indian ministry leader, "We know the price that we may need to pay, but
for us, to live is Christ and to die is gain."
Missions Insider, June 2004 |
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"In April 2004, at a
conference in Nagpur, central India, I met a very special man," writes
Susanne Gmur from Switzerland. "Abandoned by his parents, he grew up a
gypsy, and ended in a children's home. One day, a preacher came, took
him out of the home, and helped him. His parents were jealous, because
he earned a wage. They took him back home, but he ran the 25 miles back
to the preacher. At 15, he started evangelising, and baptised 6,000
people in the following years, but failed the exam to become a pastor
seventeen times (really!). At a conference in Hyderabad, he met Dr.
Victor Choudhrie, a strategic church planter, who explained that it is
not about the number of baptisms, but about disciples! He immediately
left his denomination and started planting house churches. Today, his
disciples include several professors from the Brahman caste. His heart
for children is particularly impressive; in addition to his own two
natural children, he and his wife have adopted seven street kids. Two
days before we met, he slept at the Nagpur railway station beside a
7-year-old girl, who knew neither her own name nor her parents. He asked
her if she would like to stay with him. She agreed immediately, and
wouldn't let her 'new father' out of sight. He bought her clothes, and
named her 'Hope'. The adoption took only five minutes. He had not even
informed his wife. You should have seen the girl smile!" Susanne
Gmur, Friday Fax, May 2004 |
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The Lord is
working miracles in the lives of practitioners of black magic in India,
bringing them to Christ. One of the magicians, an elderly man, worked as
a magic healer for years, and although many sought his cures, he could
do nothing for the illnesses from which he and his family suffered.
After suffering and questioning his own practices, he requested prayer
from a native missionary. When the gospel was explained to him, the
magician placed his faith in Christ as his Saviour. Both the man and his
wife then experienced miraculous healing in their own bodies. Now he
shares his testimony of deliverance with those who visit him and prays
for their healing in Christ’s name.
Christian Aid, Missions Insider, May
2004 |
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Every month our
pioneer missionaries share the Gospel with more than 250,000 families in
India, generating over 10,000 responses! Among the new believers in
Jesus is a man named Suresh who suffered from severe epileptic attacks
for many years. Two EHC workers appeared on the scene. “They came to my
house and introduced themselves as messengers of the good news of God.
They explained to me about Jesus Christ the Savior and gave me
literature. I received a strange peace of mind and asked them if Jesus
can answer my prayers. They said yes and prayed with me. When they
prayed, I was surprised because they were not chanting some words or
phrases, but were talking to Jesus as if He were right there. I felt the
presence of God at that moment and prayed with them in my heart. I slept
well that night and the epilepsy attacks never returned from that day! I
am writing to you with joy that this Jesus is now my Lord. I am grateful
to the EHC workers who introduced me to Jesus!”
E-vangelism Update, April 2004 |
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Tens of thousands are turning to the Lord in
India as gospel teams are professing Christ openly in many parts of the
country. Native missionaries recently saturated a town with the gospel
in a weeklong series of open-air meetings held nightly in a city of
100,000. Average attendance at the meetings was about 1,000. The gospel
was preached, and by week's end more than 200 attendees had come to
Christ. This crusade was combined with numerous evangelistic activities
with student teams handing out printed Scriptures in some 80 surrounding
villages. Through follow-up efforts, local missionaries planted several
new churches.
Christian Aid, Missions Insider, March 2004
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WEST BENGAL |
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A West Bengali
witch doctor was recently healed of his afflictions through the
intercession of a Christian missionary. The witch doctor had an
established clientele, with many local people coming to him for
remedies. But his craft was of no avail when he himself became mentally
ill, nor was his own guru able to help. In desperation, a local
Christian missionary was called in. The man of God prayed and through
Christ's intervention, the curer was instantly healed. Duly impressed,
the witch doctor destroyed the altar of his Hindu god and he and all his
family accepted Christ. Missions
Insider, February 2004 |
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GUJARAT |
It really wasn't Leela's fault. She lives in a region of
India that is under control of radical Hindus, who severely oppose
Christian missionary work. Paralyzed for seven years and unable to
walk, this village woman was miraculously healed through the
intercessory prayer of two Christian missionaries. However, when one of
the Christians later returned to strengthen Leela's faith, he was
unexpectedly attacked by a gang of 25 villagers led by the village
leader. They severely beat the man of God, breaking three of his ribs.
The missionary lost consciousness, was revived with water, and was taken
out of the village to be finished off. Fortunately, the missionary
escaped from his captors, hiding in a lake until he could give them the
slip. The ministry of these missionaries continues to impact nearby
villages.
Missions Insider, February 2004
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BIHAR |
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Bihar, a State
in northern India with 87 million inhabitants, was known as "the
missionaries' graveyard". In the past five years, though, the picture
has been a little different - some 1,000 church planters were trained in
the area, according to the Dawn Report. What happened? "Most important
was training new believers and established Christians to spread the
Gospel in an oral culture. The results are better than we could have
dreamed," say Rev. Jim Bowman and his wife Carla. In 1998, they started
training 120 evangelists and pastors in oral communication, with
astonishing results, as the participants started putting that which they
had learned into practice: one pastor has planted 30 new churches,
another 20, others 5, 15 or 17 - unheard of in Bihar! Traditional
evangelistic concepts such as tracts and Bible studies have little
effect, because many people in tribal societies and villages are
illiterate; written information has very little value for them. The
evangelists were trained to use stories, songs and metaphors to
communicate the Gospel. In five years, over 1,000 church planters have
been trained, who are leading thousands of people to Christ, and
planting new churches. Some of the characteristics of the church
planters: 80% are Biharis, 20% missionaries from other Indian cultures;
60% are full-time church planters, 40% part-time; 80% are directly
involved in church planting, 20% in social ministry; 80% are less than
30 years old.
DAWN Ministries, March 2004 |
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Work by local
missionaries is bringing the light of Jesus Christ to temple prostitutes
and their families in several states of India. Devadasis, is a Hindi
term attributed to women who serve as "maid servants" of one of the
Hindu gods. They usually begin their profession as temple dancers, but
very often become prostitutes because of the money they can receive from
patrons. Several government programs instituted to stamp out this
practice failed due to lack of motivation and proper follow-up. No
measures were put in place to provide alternative employment of the
ex-prostitutes. Local Christian ministries, however, have helped fill
this gap. Native missionaries question prostitutes at yearly temple
festivals, and initially the women pretend to be enjoying what they do.
When further questioned, however, they cry and express their
hopelessness and despair. Aware that earning a livelihood needs to be
addressed, the Indian missionaries provide monthly food and medical
support for the women who abandon their sordid life. Several ministries
purchase sewing machines in order to teach former devadasis how to
stitch clothing and thus earn a living. At the same time they are
taught the gospel of Christ and his power to transform the lives of
those who believe. As a result many former prostitutes are now radiant
Christians. Where possible, these women are also being prepared for
Christian marriage, and children of the former prostitutes are being
instructed and cared for by Christian teachers. Much remains to be done
because thousands of temple prostitutes are still enslaved by this
practice. But through the efforts of gospel workers, "maid-servants of
god" are becoming the maid-servants of Christ.
Missions Insider, March 2004 |
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A poor woman in
India had a goat that had fallen ill. Despite all the medicine and
murmured mantras, the goat could hardly breathe and was obviously about
to die. Everyone in the village gave up the goat for dead -- except the
poor woman who owned him. She went to the local Christians, members of
the Yadav shepherd tribe, who prayed. When the goat stood to its feet,
the whole village was astonished, and about 25 people opened their
hearts to Christ. Shout to the Lord for proving his power before the
whole village. Ask him to mature these new believers into multiplying
disciplemakers. Pray that the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ
will spread throughout the region.
Advance, March 2004 |
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Native
missionaries in Asia's remote villages are presenting the gospel through
an evangelistic film that reaches where "The Passion of the Christ" is
unable to go. Despite all the buzz and controversy surrounding "The
Passion," millions of people in remote villages in
Asia have yet to hear about Jesus for the first time. But a ministry
called Gospel for
Asia has equipped native Asian missionaries to reach their people
with "Man of Mercy," a film about the life of Jesus. The film, which was
made in
India, is not shown in theaters, but is set up by missionaries outdoors
and draws large crowds. Many viewers shed tears in response to the
gripping film, and Gospel_for_Asia reports that tens of thousands of
conversions to Christian faith have already resulted from these public
showings. Nevertheless, 500,000 villages in India alone remain
unreached. Gospel for
Asia, March 2004 |
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ANDAMAN ISLANDS |
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A recent trip by
native Indian missionaries to the Andaman Islands resulted in several
unreached tribes hearing the Word and numerous professions of faith.
During a four-day gospel meeting in this remote island region of India,
attendance grew to 2000 with some 300 professing faith in Christ for the
first time. Two bedridden women were cured and several deaf and dumb
people were healed of their afflictions. As these and other deliverances
occurred, many Muslims and Hindus who attended came forward to accept
Jesus as their Savior. At another meeting held in a marketplace, over
90% of the attendees were non-Christians. Several individuals who
watched from a distance noted that many in attendance rushed to the
missionaries when miraculous healings occurred. One man who could not
move his hand or leg was delivered and healed by prayer and some 60
souls were saved. Contact with the tribal members ranged from large
meetings to individual interactions. During the month-long crusade,
some 500 people professed faith in Christ.
Missions Insider, March 2004 |
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Christians
interested in teaching children's Bible clubs in India are coming
forward in large numbers and overwhelming Mission India of Grand Rapids,
Michigan, reported mission spokesman John DeVries. He says the
organisation has never seen a greater response in 30 years of ministry.
"We've trained 70,000 children's Bible club teachers in a two-year
training programme. That's the real good news. The bad news is we had to
turn away 215,000 more," DeVries explained. "We lack the funds for
bringing them to their localities for training, and we lack the funds
for producing that many course materials." The 70,000 newly trained
teachers taught 3.5 million young people. "We would have had an
additional 6 to 8 million children had we had the funds for the training
and for the Scripture supplies," said DeVries. The outreach is
increasing despite growing persecution against Christians across India.
"It seems like the higher the risk of persecution, the higher the demand
grows. The tighter it gets and the rougher it gets, the more volunteers
come out of the woodwork to want to reach the children."
Mission
Network News, January 2004 |
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A ministry in
northern India has gained a positive response to its presentation of the
Christian message as a way of life on a higher plain. In recent months
the ministry has presented a moral message to three public schools, at
two open-air meetings on public grounds, and even to a special meeting
of the city police (arranged by the Hindu police chief himself). The
principal of a 1,000-student school even requested a Bible when he was
approached about the possibility of presenting the message at his
school. "The meetings were welcomed because they stressed right living -
no smoking, no drinking, no drugs," the leader told Christian Aid.
"These moral values were presented as being based on the claims of
Christ. New life through salvation in Jesus Christ was shared as the
way. Some tried to disturb the meetings, claiming that conversion to
Christianity was the purpose. Generally, however, most people
appreciated the moral life message. One purpose, admittedly, was to
present Christianity in a favorable light." Those responding to the
message may request a free copy of the Gospel of Luke video and a Bible.
Personal follow-up is being planned. Christian
Aid, Missions Insider Report, January 2004 |
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Ishwar Das is a
young man who was strongly into drug consumption and smoked hashisch.
Gasram, a church planter from central India, came to Ishwar's village
one day. Some people greeted him, shaking his hand, including Ishwar.
When Ishwar shook Gasram's hand, something strange happened; he received
an electric shock. He was instantly freed from his drug addiction. He
asked question after question the whole evening, and was baptised the
next morning, together with several of his friends. Of the village's
1,500 inhabitants, 275 have been baptised, and themselves reach the
surrounding villages with the Gospel.
Operation Agape, January 2004 |
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A poor woman had
a sick goat. Despite all the medicine and murmured mantras, the goat had
obviously reached the end of its life, and could hardly breathe.
Everyone in the village had already given the goat up for dead - except
the poor woman. She went to the local Christians, from the Yadav, a
shepherd tribe. They prayed, and the goat stood up, instantly healed.
The whole village was astonished, and some 25 people were baptised. "We
now have a goat church in the village,"
Agape Voice, January 2004 |
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CHATTISGARH |
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The gospel is
having a delivering effect upon people of the Mariya tribe that inhabits
about 230 villages in India's state of Chattisgarh. Mariya are
illiterate and typically provide food for their families by hunting and
primitive farming. The India census counts tribes people as Hindus, but
they really follow folk religion or witchcraft. Masu and Sukie were
members of the Mariya tribe, but Sukie was suffering from a demonic
spirit. One day she and her husband, Masu, heard the gospel preached by
an Indian missionary and came forward for prayer. Both accepted the Lord
and Sukie was set free from demonic oppression.
Christian Aid, Missions Insider Report,
January 2004 |
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CHATTISGARH |
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Among the Mariya
tribal women was a woman named Sabi, who was possessed by an evil
spirit. She sometimes had uncontrollable fits, and once lapsed into an
eight-day comatose state. The family members took her to many forest
gods and goddesses, witch doctors and temples, but nothing helped. Then
one day Masu heard about her plight and with some fellow believers
visited her house and shared Christ. Sabi was touched in her spirit and
accepted the Lord. After this, Masu declared three days of fasting and
prayer and invited Sabi to attend a prayer meeting on the third day. As
they prayed, Sabi experienced full deliverance through the Lord Jesus
Christ and became normal again. This greatly impressed the other Mariya
people who were present and ten of them accepted Christ that very day.
The village church continues to grow at the rate of two new believers
per month. Christian
Aid, Missions Insider Report, January 2004 |
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"We have never
seen such rapid church growth as in India," says Elwira Howald of Swiss
mission agency Kingdom Ministries. "Take Haroon, for example, who works
with his wife as an evangelist in northern India. By 1998, they had led
around 800 people to Christ and baptised them, but there were no house
churches or leaders. When they started working with people like Victor
Choudhrie, Haroon trained 24 men and women as 'Master Trainers', who
themselves trained another 30 trainers. These 30 trained 65 others, who
trained 300 church planters. These church planters have started over
1,000 house churches. The chain looks like this: Victor Choudhrie -
Haroon - trainers of trainers - trainers - church planters - new
believers. This multiplicative process keeps the missionary work in
local Christians' hands from beginning to end and can grow explosively,
because each person teaches others what they know," she says.
Elwira Howald, Kingdom Ministries,
January 2004 |
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ANDRHA PRADESH |
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Those familiar
with the Christmas story may not realize how much it impacts those who
hear it for the first time. A ministry in the Telegu-speaking area of
India invited 200 non-believers to its Christmas observance held in a
tent in front of its office. It was the first time most of the audience
heard the story of the birth of Christ. One woman suffering from chronic
arthritis and low blood pressure said, "This is a great day for me. I
heard about a God who loves me." Several women surrounded the minister’s
wife and shed tears of joy as they said, "We are blessed. We came to
know about a God Who knows about us and loves us." Missionaries
conducting similar programs in outlying villages reported similar
results. One missionary said because of drought people in his area had
to purchase drinking water brought from the city only once every ten
days. Ten litres of water costs $US1. "Poor people cannot afford it,"
the missionary said, "so they use any water from gutters or anywhere
they find for drinking, which causes many health problems. Many farmers
committed suicide because of dry fields and inability to support their
families. People are running after any god or goddess looking for hope."
Among those who accepted the Lord were many children and a 90-year-old
Sadhu. Christian Aid, Missions
Insider Report, January 2004 |
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In northern
India, a ministry in northern India let their light shine over Christmas
despite fog and cold. The leader of a Christian ministry told Christian
Aid it was able to bring the Christmas message to more than 4,000 Hindus
and Sikhs through its school Christmas programs. The ministry operates
several schools, including a school for 1800 children. About 4,000
relatives and friends attended the program put on by the students over a
three-night period. The ministry also reached out to a home for 116
children of leprous parents. "We could not afford to give our children
Christmas cakes," the leader said, "but they did not miss the Christmas
joy, as many heard the Christmas story for the first time in their
lives." Christian Aid, Missions
Insider Report, January 2004 |
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The president of
a ministry that works to plant churches and spread the gospel to
unreached nations says God is moving powerfully in India. Recently
officials with World Help visited the city of Allahabad in northern
India, where two years ago 60 million Hindu pilgrims gathered at the
Ganges to purify themselves in the sacred river during a massive Hindu
festival. But during this last visit, World Help president Vernon Brewer
says he saw more than 40 thousand former Hindus singing, praying, and
responding to the gospel of Jesus Christ. He describes the growth of
Christianity in the region as "just an unbelievable move of God," and
says even though the ministry is helping with resources, prayer, and
funding, the visitors from World Help largely just sat on the sidelines
and watched the spirit-filled Indian Christians worshiping, praying, and
sharing the word of God. "It was led entirely by nationals," Brewer
says. The ministry president points out that there is much work to be
done in terms of evangelizing in this region. "This is the least-reached
part of the world," he says. "As few as one in ten thousand are
Christians." But Brewer says ministry partners in northern India have a
strategic plan to reach 175 million lost people with the gospel and to
plant one million house churches throughout northern India.
Agape Press, January 2004 |
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Evangelist Joel
Marandi of the Brethren In Christ Church in Purnea, northern India,
reports: "The Safa Hor are a group within the Santal people living in
Mohini village in the Araria district. They worship the Hindu god Rama,
and celebrate a fire walking ceremony each year: they dig a pit, in
which they lay a fire, and then walk over the burning coals - without
burning their feet. I've been evangelising in this village for two
years, without visible result. I realised that this fire walking ritual
was demonic, and the reason why I was not making progress. "This year, I
called some Christian colleagues to help. Together, we walked around the
place where the ceremony was to be held, praying that God would break
the power of all demonic idols in the village. Only a few villagers
showed up for the ceremony. One tried to walk on the fire, but burned
his legs. I then told the people about Jesus, the true God. Following
the clear demonstration of his power over their own ceremony, 25
villagers decided to follow Jesus. Isn't God great?"
Friday Fax, December 2003 |
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BENGAL |
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The team showing
the JESUS Film in West Bengal was exasperated as an old man continually
interrupted by loudly proclaiming Hinduism. They packed their equipment
and prepared to leave the village. A shadow of a man moved to one
driver's door. "Pssst," he whispered. It was the rowdy old man who had
interrupted the film. "What can I do for you?" the driver queried.
"Can
your Jesus heal my back?" the aggressive man pleaded. He now seemed
nearly desperate with pain. "Yes," the Campus Crusade team member
smiled. The team prayed. The Lord touched his back. He was instantly
delivered from his searing pain. He ripped the talisman from around his
neck and was filled with such joy that he ran home praising Jesus as his
savior, and telling everyone that he had been saved and healed! The old
man now stood upright when before he was bent and stooped.
The
word spread through the village like a fire. Even the man's guru became
converted. The guru had 500 followers to whom he began to preach Jesus,
saying "I didn't know the truth before. Now I do. Follow Jesus, he is
the only way." Global
Prayer Digest, December 2003 |
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DELHI |
India's capital
New Delhi has over 1,000 slums, in
which mostly itinerant workers have their home. Some 6 million people
live there - but the children are often simply abandoned when their
parents go looking for work. The German missions agency Inter Mission
started and supports 130 slum schools for children from non-Christian
families. In the Alaknanda slum, they started a school in the toilet
complex: 15 teachers teach 650 children. The Bible teaching and
teachers' personal care for the children has opened many for the Gospel.
When
Ravi prayed for his uncle
Ravi, one of the pupils in a slum school, had an uncle who was very ill.
The doctors said that he would not survive. They took him to many
hospitals, but without success. One day,
Ravi simply knelt down
beside his bed, laid his hand on his uncle and prayed for three hours.
Jesus answered his prayer and healed his uncle. The miracle prompted a
change of heart in
Ravi's mother, who had
previously forbidden him to attend Christian services. She has now
decided to follow Jesus herself. Inter-Mission,
December
2003
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JHARKAND |
|
Birender Ram
Bali, from the Munda, previously unreached people group in the northern
Indian state Jharkand, witnessed his wife's 18-year fight against
cancer. Her condition deteriorated steadily, and the entire village
expected her death soon. In August 2002,
Bali visited a nearby town on business. In the marketplace, he heard
a man proclaiming something which he had never before heard: "Every one
of you can ask Jesus to help you with your problems and sicknesses. He
will answer your prayers because he is the true and living God." Those
words echoed in
Bali's head as he travelled back to his village. He asked himself who
this Jesus could be. Knowing that his wife could die any moment, he
decided to call on Jesus that night. He said "Jesus, I don't know who
you are, but the man in the marketplace said that anyone can call on
you, and you would help. Please heal my wife." That became his daily
prayer. Over a period of three months, his wife's condition improved.
Everyone in the village was astonished, and asked how she had been
healed.
Bali told them "I heard a man in the marketplace say that we can ask
Jesus to solve our problems and heal our sicknesses. I started calling
on Jesus that night. I called on him every day and night until I saw
that my wife was healed." Many people in the village then wanted to know
who this Jesus was, because they, like Bali, had never heard his name
before.
Bali told them that he did not know who Jesus was, but that he
believed that he was a God with the power to do anything. The people
started bringing their sick to
Bali,
so that he could pray to Jesus for their healing. To his astonishment,
Jesus repeatedly answered his prayers. Finally, two Christian
missionaries arrived in the Munda village. They had prayed that God
would send them to a people group which had not yet heard the Gospel,
and God led them to Bali. Bali was very touched that God had sent them
to him, and became a devoted follower of Christ after hearing the
Gospel. Following a thirty-day training, Bali is now a missionary in his
own village. In the meantime, two churches have been started among the
Munda. Inter-Mission,
December
2003 |
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ORISSA
|
Severe persecution against church planting ministry in
India's
Orissa
State was interrupted with a sign from heaven when a meteor crashed to
earth near the
Bay of Bengal. Missionaries with an indigenous church-planting ministry had won to
Christ and discipled 15 families in a certain village. So in early
September the ministry sent builders to construct a church building on a
piece of land donated by one of the local believers. Suddenly on the
third day of construction about 50 Hindus gathered about 50 yards away,
placed a stone there, and said that someone had dreamed they should
construct a Hindu temple there. The next morning about 300 people
gathered at the site and attacked the laborers working on the church
building. They snatched $220 from the builder's pocket, beat him
mercilessly, and ordered him to stop construction. At that time the
pastor and the president of the church arrived to see what the trouble
was. The angry crowd dragged them both and ordered them to turn over 50
bags of cement and iron rods to them. The next day, two missionaries
with the church planting ministry arrived at the site and they, too,
were beaten, but managed to escape by motorbike. Then the tide began to
turn. That very same night, one of the villagers who had forcibly taken
four bags of cement died. Two days later a meteor streaked across the
sky, spreading flaming fragments as it went. Witnesses said the meteor
lit up the night sky and others reported hearing a deafening roar. It
crashed into a house and news reports said at least 20 people were
injured. Local citizens were terrified. After this, the leaders of the
militant Hindus apologized to the Christians and said they wanted to
return the materials they had taken away. "The police authorities were
not helpful at all, but the situation is under control," the leader told
Christian Aid.
Christian
Aid, Missions Insider Report, October 2003
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|
Hindus, too, are
being touched by the supernatural. One sweltering, humid morning Saral
Singh, an EHC worker, came to Kashinath’s village. Saral explained that
only through Jesus Christ could one find eternal salvation. All
Kashinath had to do was believe. But believing seemed impossible for the
well-trained Hindu. Surely, he reasoned, salvation had to be earned by
worshipping many gods, and required far more than the simple faith this
evangelist described. So Kashinath rejected the message of Saral Singh.
But then Kashinath had a dream in which he saw a man standing before him
dressed in beautiful white clothing. "Kashinath," asked the Man, "how
many parents do you have?" "One father and one mother," he replied.
"Why, then, do you worship so many gods and goddesses? I am Jesus, the
true way to God the Father." With that, Kashinath awoke from his deep
sleep. It was early morning, and he set out immediately to find the EHC
evangelist. Saral Singh had not yet left the village, and he listened
intently as Kashinath described his unusual dream. Then, the evangelist
explained once again the message of the Good News. This time, when he
spoke about Jesus, Kashinath knew exactly whom Saral was referring to.
He had seen Him in his dream. And before mid-morning, Kashinath had
placed his trust in Christ. Why? Because his life-changing dream had
confirmed to him the reality of the Gospel.
Every Home for Christ, E-vangelism
Update, October 2003 |
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ASSAM |
|
The Hmar
Christians of northeastern India are extending the "love of God" to
their "enemies" - the Hindu Dimasas, who they say have recently killed
many of them in a violent tribal conflict. Dr. Rochunga Pudaite, a Hmar
believer and the founder and president of Colorado Springs-based Bibles
for the World, says the organisation is planning to supply food and
also to give tribal members the God's Word as a sign of Christian love.
Pudaite recently stepped into the middle of the conflict by calling on
both sides to stop the violence. He said that troubles were started on
March 3 when what he called "Naga political revolutionaries kidnapped
three people from a neighbouring Dimasa village and demanded ransom."
The violence continued until many on both sides had been killed. "Our
friends in the area where the killings took place have just bought rice
to be given to the Dimasas," he said. "I have asked that they also give
them something to eat with the rice, so they bought some dal which is
like a split pea." When asked why he thought it was important to show
God's love the Dimasas people in this way, Pudaite replied, "We are
commanded by our Lord Jesus Christ to love everyone, including our
enemies. We have to demonstrate that love by our life and by our
actions." Advance!, September
2003 |
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UTTAR PRADESH |
Mohan Philip was a fighter pilot until the age of 30. He
then build a weapons factory for rockets, which made him rich. At 40, he
suffered a severe heart attack; his coronary arteries were 90% blocked.
He planned a five-fold bypass operation in a special clinic in the
USA. In the meantime, his wife and daughter came to faith in Christ. "You
won't need an operation," his daughter told him, and prayed for him on
the telephone. A subsequent x-ray revealed that the blockage of his
coronary arteries had receded so much that an operation was no longer
necessary. Mohan decided to follow Jesus too. Today, four years later,
he is one of the main leaders of the UP Project, an almost unique church
planting project in the Indian state Uttar Pradesh.
Friday Fax, October 2003
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UTTAR PRADESH |
|
Around two years
ago, Uttar Pradesh - previously a Hindu stronghold - with its 175
million inhabitants, began to open for the Gospel. This had been
preceded by many Northern Indian Christians' intense prayer. Since then,
tens of thousands have come to faith; some 2,700 new house churches have
been planted in Northern and Central India alone since January 2003.
Around 1,800 church planters and house church leaders are involved in
the UP Project - a long-term missionary initiative aiming to plant 1
million new churches by 2010. Pairs of church planters go to pray in
villages, typically visiting ten villages each day. They introduce
themselves to the mayor, and ask whether there is anything for which
they can pray. They then pray, fast and preach the Gospel until they
find a 'house of peace' - one of the villagers opens his house as a
house of prayer. This often happens following a healing or deliverance
from demonic possession. When the first people come to believe in Jesus,
they are immediately instructed how to follow Jesus. There are already
around 24,000 'houses of peace' in 4,000 of Uttar Pradesh's villages.
These houses of peace are only then called 'house churches' when the new
believers seriously follow Jesus and have been baptised.
Kingdom Ministries, October 2003 |
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Are illiterate
women more effective missionaries than educated women? Bindu Choudhrie,
Dr. Victor Choudhrie's wife, reports "It used to be normal for the wives
of men in full-time Christian ministry to work within their husband's
ministry, but their contribution was never really noticed. In courses
over the past 13 months, we've been encouraging women to live out the
full potential which Christ has put in them. Many of them knew that in
theory, but had never experienced it. However, the fruit was immediately
visible when they were confirmed in their role. Of the 2,063 women who
took part in these intensive courses, 30% became church planters,
themselves leading people to Christ, baptising and discipling them. They
have planted 728 new house churches. Interestingly," says Choudhrie,
"the women with little or no education were much more effective
missionaries than educated women. One of our main strategies is prayer
walking in advance of church planting." Victor Choudhrie's report about
Jayaker is a typical example of prayer's role in evangelisation and
church planting: "Jayaker was an active young man, but became enchanted
with a group of naked Sadhus (itinerant monks) in his village. He fell
into a trance, and then left with them. For 10 years, he lived naked,
taking hashish and harder drugs, filling his life with occult practices.
Later, he joined the more occult Rajnish Ashram in Poona. He finally
heard the Gospel from someone, and woke up, becoming a dedicated
disciple of Jesus. One day, he was in
Ujjain
with his friend Raju, where he discovered a Hindu priest with a tray
full of things used for idolatory: oil lamps, flowers, coconut and so
on. Jayaker asked Raju for prayer covering while he neutralised the
priest's mantras - which he knew by heart - in Jesus' name. The priest
was astonished, because he was suddenly unable to move his arms to
sacrifice to the idol. 'Another power is at work here,' he said. When
the priest tried to move again, the tray fell out of his hand. Jayaker
and Raju belong to a team of Indian Christians in Ujjain preparing for
the Kumbh, a festival which twenty million Hindus are expected to
attend." Choudhrie family,
Madhya Pradesh, India, October 2003 |
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“It’s the rainy
season in India, which means more snakes - and more demonic activity,”
writes Dr. Victor Choudhrie. “The farmers go about their work, asking
the Gods for special favour. The Saperas - snake charmers - appear
everywhere with their poisonous Cobras in bamboo baskets. Hindus
sacrifice milk, among other things, to these Cobras - many not realising
that Cobras can’t drink milk because of their forked tongue. During the
Hindu festival Dev Uthani, in which the local God ‘sent to sleep’ by the
Hindu priests are ‘woken up’, millions of idols are made. But the Living
God does not sleep. Millions were expected to attend a Hindu event in
Nasik near Bombay in August 2003, but God sent a flood; the whole temple
complex was under three feet of water, so that only the most dedicated
came to celebrate. In northern India, minor and major miracles are
happening as never before. When Jesus delivered a demonised man, the
Christians told the demon to leave a clear sign that it had left the
region: it left a large whole in the roof. Concerted prayer is making a
growing number of religious centres ineffective, and some have even been
closed,” says Choudhrie. Victor
Choudhrie, Friday Fax, September 2003 |
|
|
"'Thomas', an Indian church planter, lies in a dilapidated
hospital after being severely beaten for preaching the Gospel. He has
only one thought: 'How quickly can I get out of here to preach again?'"
writes Jim Montgomery, founder of the Dawn Movement. "One of the
highlights of my life was meeting Dr. Donald McGavran, the father of the
church growth movement. He taught me to measure the growth of churches,
and to find out how to accelerate that growth in a healthy manner. Not
long ago, ten percent growth per year was exceptional - for example a
church growing from 100 to 110 or from 600 to 660 in one year. Today,
though, we're experiencing something which far exceeds that, like
throwing an old typewriter away, replacing it with the newest computer,"
he writes. "In traditionally unreached nations, but also in evangelised
nations, we're seeing movements in which that which used to take decades
is happening in years, months or even weeks. One recent report from
Thomas' region, for example, tells of 32 missions teams which started
with 2,616 house churches on
1 January 2002. By 31 December that year,
there were 8,784 house churches - a growth of 236%! The number of
Christians grew from 43,676 to 128,665."
DAWN Report, August 2003
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NAGALAND |
Nagaland, one of the world's most mysterious lands tucked
in the mountainous, jungle-covered northeastern corner of
India, has 10,000 missionaries poised to take the gospel to nearby lands,
said Nagaland's Christian president, Isak Chishi Swu, while visiting
California Saturday, August 23. "We want to penetrate
China,
Cambodia,
Myanmar,
Vietnam,
Laos and
Nepal with the gospel," he said. "We have 10,000 missionaries who are ready
to go." Swu said the outreach is being held up by the finalisation of
peace talks between the Indian government and the 4 million people of
Nagaland - an Indian state established in 1961 - that borders
China,
Myanmar and
Bangladesh. "We want to request the whole world to pray for us that the peace
process with
India will be successful so that God will then release us to preach the
gospel around the world, particularly in the neighbouring countries. We
are not demanding our independence from
India, but we do need recognition." The soft-spoken 73-year-old president
was born in a hamlet called Chishilimi in the Sumi region of present-day
Nagaland. "In 1921 my father was one of the first converts in Nagaland,"
Swu said. "God used him mightily, and he and some colleagues converted
our whole tribe during a period of four or five years. Before this, our
tribe was pagan." He says that 95 percent of the Naga people are
Christian.
Assist News Service, August 2003
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ORISSA
Pioneer
missionary Laban began sharing the Gospel among the Kui people in the
state of Orissa. Laban was surrounded by a hateful mob and beaten, his
gospel literature destroyed. Then the mob forced him to his knees before
a Hindu idol. Laban refused to worship the idol, and was finally thrown
out of the village, with a warning never to return. Others might have
gone on to another village. Not Laban. With a new supply of gospel
literature and a prayer, he went right back to the Kui village. The
villagers admired his courage and some decided to listen. One by one,
people began to believe, including the village priest. Before long, an
entirely new village was formed of the new believers who had turned to
Christ. E-Vangelism Update,
September 2004 |
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"I was recently
reminded of a story in 1 Samuel chapter 5. The Philistines took the Ark
of the Covenant and put it in their god's temple. The next morning, the
statue was lying on its face in front of the Ark. They lifted it back in
place, with the same result the following morning. A Tamil woman was
brought to the service last year because she had bad asthma. She asked
us to pray that she would be healed, and afterwards came regularly to
the service and converted from Hinduism to Jesus. In her apartment, she
had many pictures of Hindu gods; one day, they all fell to the ground.
Her husband hung them back on the wall and fastened them with sticky
tape. When the woman returned home after a service, they were all on the
floor again, even though nobody had been at home. Her Hindu husband was
naturally amazed, but at the request of his wife, they threw the
pictures away." Daniel
Rutschmann, November 1995 |
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One Christian
girl was married in her village. On the wedding day a great storm arose
with strong winds. All the wedding guests fled in panic. Heavy rain
drops fell from the black clouds overhead. The people thought that the
tent that had been erected for the ceremony would be blown away and all
the food would go to waste. At that point three young Christians – the
only believers in the whole village – decided to pray to Jesus since
they had seen on the Jesus movie that He has all authority over the
weather. They knelt down on their knees and started praying. In a short
time the storm was completely gone and the sky was clear. They started
loudly praising the Lord. This event stood as a powerful witness to the
community and many came to faith in Christ.
Cooperative Outreach of
India, May 2001 |
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RAJASTHAN |
|
Two Christian workers entered a village
in India's Rajasthan state and were asked to pray for a man who had been
bedridden for 20 years. After praying, the workers left the village with
a promise to return the next week. When they came back, the formerly
bedridden man walked out to meet them. "I have accepted Jesus Christ
with great faith!" he cried. "He has helped me and given me a new life.
My whole family believes in him, and we will praise him all our lives!"
Praise God for his wonder-working power, which heals both body and
spirit. Ask him to mature these new believers and use their testimony to
start many more churches in Rajasthan state.
Advance, April 1998 |
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TAMIL NADU |
|
Sunder, a
pharmacist in Madras, India, grew up as a Brahman and knew nothing of
Jesus Christ. At the age of 30, he was diagnosed as suffering from
Leukaemia. The doctors saw no hope of recovery, and Sunder was soon
unable to leave his bed. Shortly before his expected death, he had an
unusual experience: he saw his two white angels carry his spirit out of
his body on a sort of stretcher and place him on a table. Lying there,
he could see nothing other than a very bright light, and heard a voice
say "I am Jesus." That was all. Immediately, he felt his spirit return
to his body. He sat upright in his hospital bed and astonished his
relatives by proclaiming "Jesus is Lord!" and starting to remove all the
needles and pipes from his body. The doctors and his relatives assumed
he was delirious and had lost his mind. Sunder, however, insisted that
he was healthy and wanted to go home, so the doctors, unable to do
anything else, tested his blood again. To their complete surprise, they
found no more indications of Leukaemia and could do nothing but release
him from hospital. Sunder then decided to become a Christian, married a
Christian woman and now lives with his two small children south of
Madras. He has not had any relapse since the event and continues to work
in a pharmacy. Sadhu Chellappa,
August 1995 |
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The new
Christian, an ex-Hindu, was shocked: his rice field was full of weeds,
and he was in danger of becoming the butt of village jokes because his
harvest looked so poor. In tears, he went to the Indian missionary
Ravikumar Kurapati. "I encouraged him with the Word of God," says
Kurapati. "The next day, I went with him to his field, watched by almost
the entire village. I took a bucket of fresh water, and prayed. I then
asked him to take the water and throw it over his crop. When the harvest
time came, he was amazed: he collected an incredible 30 sacks of rice
from his narrow strip of land. It also opened the other villagers' eyes
to see that Jesus Christ is the true God," says Kurapati, who planted a
new church in the village. The newly-saved farmer donated some of his
land for the church. Gospel for
Asia, October 1996 |
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TAMIL NADU |
|
On
12th October 1996,
the Indian evangelist Sadhu Chellappa held a crusade in the previously
unreached town of Kandarvakkottai in Tamil Nadu. The pastor of a
church-planting project had obtained permission for the event from the
local police which was then withdrawn after he and the police chief
received threats from the fanatic Hindu RSS party. The event could only
take start at 6:30pm after the intervention of a local member of the
Legislative Assembly. 1,000 of the town's 6,000
inhabitants came to listen, but the RSS was not so easily put off: they
had the seemingly good idea of cutting off the town's electricity
supply. They hadn't reckoned that the Christians had brought along a
diesel generator able to power the lights and 32 loudspeakers. For the
duration of the event, there were no other sources of noise, and the
preacher's voice could be heard clearly throughout the town. According
to Chellappa, hundreds accepted the gospel that evening. The
newly-planted church is now attended by over 150 people.
Sadhu Chellappa, October 1996 |
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ORISSA |
|
Lalit from
Orissa state was, as he describes himself, "a worldly singer" before
contracting a fatal illness. He lay on his death bed for 3 months before
seeing a vision of Jesus at around noon one day. "Jesus was carrying
something like a rod in his hand, and touched me on my bed. I was
healed. I have been serving him since then!", he says. To start with, he
became a preacher and tract-distributor with Every Home Crusade. One
day, his leader sent him to distribute tracts near Kulpani, which Lalit
describes as having many fanatical Hindus. One of the villages to which
he was sent was infamous for its Kali-Mandal, a temple to the goddess
Kali, to whom human sacrifices are still made today. He hadn't been
there long before people started warning him "Babapriest, the head
priest, is already searching for you. They want to sacrifice you to
Kali. Run away quickly!" Too late - 500 armed men captured the small
team, beat them and dragged them to the Kali temple, where the priest
was waiting with a large sword. "Deny Jesus and turn to Kali, or Kali
will drink your blood today!" They gave Lalit cow dung mixed with water
to drink, but he said to his Lord "If I die, I am with you. If I live, I
will continue to serve you. My life is in your hand." The priest lifted
his sword, but was interrupted by a woman shouting "Let him go. We don't
want to see that any more." Other women took up the cry, and Lalit could
escape. Today, he is a modern David: when he plays his flute (the 'rod'
he saw in Jesus' hand in his vision), people are healed and demons
driven out. He and his team of 25 have planted 110 churches since 1992,
and have baptised almost 3000 people. Smiling broadly, he says "There
are now 3 churches with a total of some 150 members in the Kali-Mandal
village now." Lalit Kumar
Nayak, December 1997 |
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RAJASTHAN |
Dunger is a village on the border between the northern
Indian states of Rajastan and
Gujarat. A 6-year-old boy drowned there recently and was to be buried later
the same day, as is normal in many hot countries. But according to
Parthing Matchar, the boy's father, pastor Duad, a Christian called Manu
and a number of other members of the Indian Pentecostal Church (IPC) got
there first. They prayed in Jesus' name and placed their Bibles
symbolically on the child's body. "Then the child opened his eyes,
alive. We could find no words to express our feelings as we experienced
God's power raising the dead as he did in Acts."
KY. Geevarghese, September 1997
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HIMACHAL PRADESH |
|
"At first,
Randeep didn't want to pray for the girl. She was lying on the ground,
possessed by demons, and the Hindu Pujari (witch doctor) wanted money
and goats to drive the spirits out. God spoke to Randeep: 'If you don't
pray for her, I will ask someone else.' Randeep obeyed, prayed, and the
girl was delivered. The people were greatly shocked. The next morning,
others came to knock on Randeep's door, to ask him to pray for them as
well. Thousands heard the gospel, many people were freed of demons and
repented of their sins, and the Christian churches grew. Then came the
opposition: Randeep was hung head down over a river with his feet tied
together, and was told that he would be drowned if he did not promise to
leave the district. He replied, quietly, that they should let the rope
down, because he wouldn't leave - but his persecutors decided not to
drown him. Instead, they stabbed him in the stomach. He didn't have to
go to hospital, though, because Jesus healed him. Randeep's young wife
told him 'If you die for the Lord in Kinnaur District, I will raise our
son and pray that he will take your place.'"
NIHN/Concern, August 1997 |
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TAMIL NADU |
|
Just like a
predecessor in the New Testament, a woman in Tamil Nadu state, India,
had been suffering from haemorrhaging, reports the mission agency Gospel
for Asia. "Her illness was so severe that she was no longer able to
work. As she heard that Joseph, a local evangelist, would be preaching
in a nearby church, she asked friends to carry her to the meetings on
her bed. Joseph noticed the woman as soon as he started preaching.
Nothing happened on the first day, but Joseph was filled with joy on the
second day as God touched the woman wonderfully. She got up from her bed
and jumped for joy. 50 people decided to become Christians that day, and
25 have already been publicly baptised."
Gospel for
Asia, June 1997 |
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RAJASTHAN |
|
Raju (name
changed for his protection) was a newly-saved Christian who listened
carefully as his pastor spoke of the healing miracles Jesus performed.
Suddenly, the stories became reality for him: he noticed that a tumour
from which he suffered was vanishing. His personal experience of how
Jesus is healing people today caused his faith to grow in leaps and
bounds. A few days later, he passed through a village in Rajastan, where
he heard that a local politician belonging to the fanatic Hindu party
RSS had just died. Raju offered to pray for the dead man. The dead man's
relatives told him to go away, but Raju insisted that Jesus can raise
people from the dead. He pushed his way through the people, laid his
hands on the dead man's body. As he prayed, the man's hands started to
move, frightening the others present. With that, Raju became even more
bold: turning to the others, he told them that they must declare that
Jesus is Lord and Saviour of all people before he continued to pray.
Everyone present did so, and as Raju continued praying, the dead man
rose in front of their eyes. As a result, all of the politician's family
members decided to become Christians. Other members of the politician's
party reported them to the police for breaking the anti-conversion law,
which forbids anyone to convert to another religion. When the police
arrived to investigate and arrest the accused Christians, they found a
prayer meeting. Some of the people present asked the police to wait
until after the prayer if they wanted to arrest anyone. The group then
went to a nearby pond, where 350 previously orthodox Hindus were
baptised in front of the police. "Hey, you really are converting!" said
the police, to which the new Christians replied "No, we are already
Christians. We are simply taking a holy bath. Surely you can understand
that!?" With that, the police left.
Rev. Rajamani, Mission Director of the
Assemblies of God Churches, May 1997 |
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PUNJAB |
|
The public
cheered as a previously mentally ill man was led onto the platform
during an evangelistic event at the end of April 1997 in Ferozpur in
Punjab state on India's border with Pakistan, reports evangelist Dale
Sexauer. The man was known throughout the town, and his illness was so
serious that he had been kept on a chain like a wild animal for the last
8 years. The crowd could hardly control their excitement as they saw the
man walk onto the stage without his chain, which an assistant was
carrying. Jesus Christ became the talk of the town, and Sexauer says
that around 50,000 people attended the last event of the 18-day mission.
Now, 2 or 3 weeks after the meetings, hundreds of people are still
waiting to be baptised. People in the surrounding villages have also
become open for the gospel after hearing the reports of the healings.
Sexauer reports that over 1,000 people experienced some form of healing
or deliverance, including 191 suffering from Polio, 94 deaf and dumb
people, 35 with various tumours, 25 blind people, 15 deaf, 14 lame, 12
dumb and another 12 with kidney stones.
Dale Sexauer, May 1997 |
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UTTAR PRADESH |
|
Dr. Sam Thomas,
head doctor at the
Herbertpur
Christian Hospital in Dehradun at the foot of the Himalayas in the
Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, told us of new evangelistic
breakthroughs. In the village Andheri, 140km away from the hospital in
the almost completely unreached state Himachal Pradesh (with 5.5 million
inhabitants and less than 100 known Christians), the head man
experienced how his second son was healed by an operation and prayer by
Christians. He invited the team to visit his village. A doctor's visit
is very exciting for such a remote village, so the news of their arrival
spread very quickly. Men from another village in the area brought a
severely crippled man, whose legs were set in a sitting position. To
bring him to the doctor, they had to carry him over three mountains in a
basket. Dr. Thomas examined the man, but the diagnosis was hopeless. He
prayed for the man in Jesus' name, and the man was healed in front of
their eyes. Since then, a church has been started in Andheri with
between 35 and 40 members. 7 churches have been planted in recent years
due to the hospital's evangelistic work.
Dr. Sam Thomas, February 1997 |
|
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UTTAR PRADESH |
|
Ramesh, a
ex-Hindu, has become a Christian through the hospital's work. "I have
been persecuted and avoided, simply because I became a Christian," says
Ramesh. He now gets up at 3am every day to pray and ask God what he
should do that day. One day, God told him to go to a particular village.
Ramesh thought to himself "I've already been there. I'll go to another
one." On the way, though, he asked himself "Why should I follow my
flesh?", and went to the village God had shown him. When he arrived, he
spoke to a woman outside her home, who was interested in the gospel, but
her husband came and chased him away. He went on to the next house. The
woman followed him secretly, because she suffered from very strong
headaches. Ramesh prayed for her in Jesus' name, and simply stated that
she was being tormented by a demon, which vanished after prayer, along
with the headache. As a result, the woman's husband and many other
villagers came to hear what Ramesh had to say about Jesus. According to
Dr. Thomas, Ramesh has been able to convince many people to become
Christians. Dr. Sam Thomas,
February 1997 |
|
|
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PUNJAB |
|
He told me
almost in passing "Oh yes, last year we experienced how God raised five
people from the dead through prayer." 'He' is pastor C.M. Rustam from
Ferozpur in Punjab, northern India, close to the border with Pakistan.
The hospital in Chandigarh regularly sends people to the church for
"prayer treatment" after seeing people healed of tumours and crippled
limbs through prayer. Rev.C.M.
Rustam, February 1997 |
|
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MUMBAI |
Gracy is married to a Bengali man, and lives in the Bandra
district of Bombay. Her life was hard; her husband mistreated her,
sometimes beating her daily. One day, he brought home something wrapped
in a red cloth and hung it in their apartment, and also hid a silver
image of Kali, the goddess of revenge, in the wall. In her desperation,
Gracy began attending a Christian church, and one day invited some
Christians to pray in her home. They not only prayed, but prophesied:
'Something is hidden in the wall'. They broke through the plaster and
found the image of Kali, and also opened the red cloth, which concealed
a coconut containing a dry bone - a symbol of black magic. As they
prayed, a cooling fan on the table fell over without cause. Some
non-Christian neighbours who watched the prayer out of curiosity were
very astonished, particularly those who fell down because they could no
longer stand. It was clear that Jesus had more power than black magic.
New Frontiers, February 1998
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BIHAR |
|
The Malto tribe
lives in the north of India, in the state of Bihar... It's an area
"saturated" with the worship of Satan and hundreds of false gods... A
"JESUS" film team approached the Malto tribe. But the resistance was so
stiff that they bypassed the area and went on to more receptive
villages. A few days later, a 16-year-old girl died in one of the Malto
villages... They were about to bury the body when the girl suddenly,
miraculously awoke. In stunned disbelief the people [heard her say,] "I
went to the place of the dead. But God told me I must come back and tell
you about the real God, the true God." Still astonished, the villagers
began to ask her, "then who is the true God?" She went on to tell them
it was the God proclaimed by the film teams they had turned away. "God
has given me seven days to tell as many people as I can that He is
real," the girl said. The next day, she sought out and found the film
team in another village... For the next seven days, they showed the film
to the now receptive Malto villages. (Needless to say, word had spread
everywhere about her return from death! ) Before every crowd, she
fearlessly proclaimed, "I was dead, but God has sent me back to tell you
that this film is about the true and living God... You need to believe
in Him." Then, after the seventh day, although physically she appeared
fine, she collapsed and died... Hundreds of people who were bound by the
chains of Satan turned to the living Christ. As a result, at least six
churches were established. Certainly, God was glorified!
Paul Eshlemann, JESUS Film Project
Newsletter, June 1998 |
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TAMIL NADU |
|
It was going to
be a literally hot party in Madras. A Hindu celebration called the Holi
festival was scheduled for Sunday, 15 March 1998, including 'holy fire walkers', Hindus who are respected as
being particularly holy. To demonstrate their holiness, they walk
bare-footed through a 6-meter-long bed of burning coals. The
loudspeakers had been blaring Hindu music for the whole week leading up
to the festival. In missionary circles, the talk is increasingly of
so-called 'power encounters' in which two spiritually very different
worlds collide. I had asked the local 'Christian Fellowship' to pray
that the truth about the event should become visible, which they did,
praying that Jesus would stop the power of the demons hidden behind the
Hindu gods' names, so that people would realise what sort of fire they
are playing with. At
2pm that Sunday,
the flames in the bed of coals were several meters high, and at 5pm,
everything was ready for the promised spectacle. Accompanied by the
sound of drums, the first of the fire-walkers set off in front of
hundreds of spectators. "But hardly had his foot touched the coals, he
fell face first into the fire," reports Satsama, a Christian who was
watching. "It took 6 men to lift him out. Exactly the same thing
happened to the second fire-walker - he also fell into the flames. The
others who tried did manage to walk through the fire, but they were
screaming with pain as their feet were burned, and left the ceremony
very quickly to escape the shame. The spectators left disappointed."
Satsama, DAWN Friday Fax, March
1998 |
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|
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HIMACHAL PRADESH |
|
21 years ago,
brother Chacko had a burden and vision for HP. He left the army, and
moved with his wife and 7-year-old daughter Mercy to Palampur in
Himachal Pradesh. They received a cool welcome; nobody wanted to rent
them a house, so they spent the first three months in a chicken coop,
but rejoiced as they remembered that Jesus was born in a stable. Their
work advanced slowly: in March 1980, they baptised 15 people, and 25
more in April. God gave healings, and some possessed people were freed.
They also experienced resistance: some people wanted to kill Chacko, but
the killers always left without success, complaining that there were
always too many people around the house. The Chackos heard the reports
through their children, but could not remember having any visitors. It
must have been angels. God punished other people who caused them
problems, so many people were filled with a fear of God. Today, 350
people have been baptised and 40 sent out as missionaries from this one
church, which has become a spiritual center.
DAWN Friday Fax, July 1998 |
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HIMACHAL PRADESH |
|
In November
1994, Shakuntala Mathews had a vision telling her to move from Shimla
District to Kinnaur. She had a good job in a nearby hospital, and her
husband Rev. Mathews had been a deacon until 1992, before becoming an
official. She told her husband of her vision, and they prayed together
for a sign. Two days later, they received a postcard from a Hindu asking
Christians to come to Kinnaur District. Later, Mathews went to the
address on the postcard, but has been unable to find the sender to this
day. A few weeks later, they were already in Kinnaur. Their son Randeep,
then 22 years old, went into the bazaar in Poo, Kinnaur's main town,
where he came across a crowd of 500 people standing around a woman
rolling around on the ground screaming, as a magician tried to drive a
demon out of her. He walked past, thinking that nobody would listen even
if he said something. Then he heard a voice speaking to him, saying "Randeep,
Randeep, Randeep. If you don't pray for this woman, I will use someone
else." As he returned to the woman, he had a vision of her past. 10
paces away from her, he raised his right hand and prayed, and the demon
left the woman immediately. Randeep, in front of the woman's parents and
the onlookers, then spoke with the woman about her past, astonishing
everyone. The following day, many sick people came to the Mathews' house
for prayer, from 6 in the morning until 10 at night. Everyone was
healed, the local hospital literally emptied. In the last 3 1/2 years,
Mathews has baptised 600 people, but the work has only just begun. All
of Himachal Pradesh must hear the gospel, and many more churches must be
planted. Dr. Alex Abraham,
DAWN Friday Fax, July 1998 |
|
|
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HIMACHAL PRADESH |
|
We received the
following report from a reliable source: "A 4th-grade girl was recently
bitten by a venomous snake, and died in hospital despite the doctor's
best efforts to keep her alive. The staff left the dead girl's room. A
few minutes later, two Christians from a church in Mandi, Himachal
Pradesh, heard what had happened and went into the room. They prayed for
half an hour, calling on Jesus to restore the girl's life. The girl
started to breathe, and her life returned. They quickly called the
doctor, who was naturally perplexed by what had happened; he removed the
venom from the wound on the girl's leg. The girl is now completely
healthy. The news spread not only in the local church, but also
throughout the hospital." The report continues: "In the Lak valley in
northern India, a poor family brought their seriously ill little
daughter to the local hospital. The doctors had no idea what to do, and
wanted to send the girl to the nearest city for treatment, and told the
father that it could cost US$7,000. Sam Chand, the girl's father, was in
a desperate situation, because he, like most others in India, had no
health insurance. After hearing of his need, the staff of a local
mission agency went to the hospital to pray for the girl. God performed
a miracle: she is now healthy and has returned home." DAWN
Friday Fax, October 1998 |
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TAMIL NADU |
|
"God can do
extraordinary things through ordinary people," says David Mohan, pastor
of the largest (15,000 members) Assemblies of God church in Madras,
India. "Only a few days ago," he told me, "Rani (name changed), an
elderly woman, came to tell me something exciting. She only recently
decided to follow Jesus, and can neither read nor write. While visiting
a Hindu village, she noticed a lot of activity: a pregnant woman was
apparently dead after falling into a well. Attempts to resuscitate her,
including blowing acrid smoke up her nose, had failed. Rani felt that
she may be able to help; she had heard that Jesus had raised people from
the dead. Hesitantly, she asked if she could pray; she was given
permission, so laid her hands on the lifeless woman and asked Jesus to
touch her. As she did so, the pregnant woman opened her eyes, started to
move, coughed and sat up. Since then, a large number of people in the
village have also decided to follow Jesus."
Pastor D. Mohan, Newlife AOG church,
April 1999 |
|
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JAMMU & KASHMIR
|
"I find Christianity better than other religions," said
Bashir Ahmad Shah, an elder in Mamusa, a predominantly Muslim village
some 7 miles from Pattan on the road between
Srinagar
and
Jammu. "Christ's teaching contains more honesty, and he preached against
the unjust treatment of the poor." The unusual thing about this comment
is that it comes from the
Kashmir valley: the area around Baramulla in Jammu & Kashmir state has been
an important Muslim and Buddhist center for centuries, and there have
never been more than a handful of Christians in the valley outside
Srinagar.
Is the situation changing? According to Law Kumar Mishra, a reporter for
the Times of India News Service, Ahmad Shah played a key role in 50
Muslims' decision to become Christians over the last few months.
According to the report, Bashir also contacted people from other
villages in the area who also decided to become Christians. Ghulam Ahmad
Shah, a village doctor with the same name, said that he also supports
the spread of Bible teaching, because Christians "are, in comparison,
more honest and devoted than followers of other religions," and
commented that the inhabitants of the
Kashmir
valley would gladly accept Christianity, because they do not follow
their traditional religions particularly closely. When asked what he
thought of the conversions, Shabir Shah, separatist leader and President
of the Democratic Freedom Party replied "We shouldn't get so excited
about it. Everyone should have the freedom to follow the religion of
their choice."
Times of
India newspaper, March 1999
|
|
|
|
"Signs and
wonders happen all the time," reports Kingdom Ministries. In one
village, a woman crawled around on her hands and knees, eating grass,
just like King Nebuchadnezzar in the Bible. Doctors were unable to help
her, and she was generally considered possessed. When A, a church
planter, arrived in the village, he explained that he could not help the
woman himself, but that Jesus could free her. He prayed for her, and she
became normal again, with the result that many of the villagers decided
to become Christians. Kingdom
Ministries, August 1999 |
|
|
ASSAM
|
Rochunga Pudaite, who belongs to the former headhunting
Hmar tribe of northern
India, is hoping to re-ignite the "Welsh Revival" that took place 100 years
ago. Pudaite, founder of Bibles for the World, plans to send 100,000
Living New Testaments to the people of
Wales as a "thank you” gift. He says, "It was a Welshman, Watkin Roberts,
who was brave enough to come to our headhunting village following the
Welsh Revival of 1904, and because of that I also found Christ." Now the
transformed tribe wants to minister back to the Welsh people. Today less
than 3 percent of the residents in
Wales attend church. "In view of this, I felt we had to do something about
it, so we are printing these New Testaments with a red Welsh insignia on
the cover. We're excited about that! It's our prayer that this will
re-ignite the flames of revival in
Wales and then spread to
England and
Scotland and then maybe across the world." Pudaite said the outreach to Wales
is the first step in the ministry's new "Billion Bible Campaign" that
will be officially announced at the ministry's office in Colorado
Springs, Sunday, March
7.
CMDNet Weekly Update, February 2004
|
|
|
HIMACHAL PRADESH
|
|
We received the
following report from a reliable source: "A 4th-grade girl was recently
bitten by a venomous snake, and died in hospital despite the doctor's
best efforts to keep her alive. The staff left the dead girl's room. A
few minutes later, two Christians from a church in Mandi, Himachal
Pradesh, heard what had happened and went into the room. They prayed for
half an hour, calling on Jesus to restore the girl's life. The girl
started to breathe, and her life returned. They quickly called the
doctor, who was naturally perplexed by what had happened; he removed the
venom from the wound on the girl's leg. The girl is now completely
healthy. The news spread not only in the local church, but also
throughout the hospital." DAWN
FridayFax, September 1998 |
|
|
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|
|
"It was a
vision of a man in white robes, his face shining and full of glory." The
vision that had come in the night was disturbing to 23-year-old Dinesh,
a devout Hindu who worshipped Shankar and a host of lesser gods. He felt
the vision was important, but he didn't understand its meaning. Then a
second vision came. This time he saw a man preparing a place in the open
sky, with someone directing him to follow a pathway leading to it
through the clouds. As Dinesh thought about the visions he remembered
seeing two Christians who had been sharing the Gospel in the village.
Dinesh found
them and shared
his visions, hoping they might be able to help. The two Every Home for
Christ workers, David Chhetri and Marcus Masih, eagerly shared the
Gospel with Dinesh. They explained to Dinesh that Jesus had been
reaching out to him through the visions, inviting him to enter His
kingdom in heaven. "My heart was filled with joy!" Dinesh said after
meeting the EHC workers. "I started studying the Bible and other
Christian literature. Then I accepted Jesus as my Savior and was
baptized. Pray for me that I may become an effective witness for Jesus
Christ."
Every Home for Christ,, November 1998 |
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MAHARASHTRA |
|
A Christian radio program saved the life
of a Hindu family in Maharashtra, India. Eknath Shelke planned to kill
himself and his family because he was despondent over his poor financial
situation, Gospel for Asia said. He had operated a successful clothing
company but began to have financial problems because too many people
didn't pay their bills. His daily prayers to the Hindu gods at the
temple didn't help, so he told his wife he was going to commit suicide.
She was also depressed, and agreed to poison their two children so they
would not be left as orphans, then commit suicide, Gospel for Asia said.
On the day they planned to carry out the plan, their 17-year-old son
turned on the radio. At that moment they heard a man say, "Brother, if
you are going to commit suicide, stop. Jesus is the way. Don't be
disappointed in life, Jesus is inviting you. Cast all your burdens on
Jesus, he is the only one who can deliver you from anxiety, poverty,
sicknesses, and debts." The couple decided not to go through with the
plan, and wrote a letter to the ministry asking for more information
about Jesus. In a few weeks, a native missionary from Gospel for Asia
came and told them about Jesus. The whole family became Christians and
is preparing to be baptized, GFA said.
Religion Today, August 1998 |
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BIHAR
|
|
Eight
families preparing for baptism were branded as traitors for their
Christian faith. The village elders aimed their anger at Sanduh, the
Christian leader, challenging him to stand on red hot coals for ten
minutes. As the villagers watched and the believers prayed, Sanduh
calmly stood on the coals for not ten, but 20 minutes. When the God of
Shadrach, Mesach, and Abednego kept Sanduh's feet from harm, believers
broke out in praise. That same day, 47 villagers accepted Christ as
Savior and later were baptised.
OMS Outreach magazine, July-September 1997 |
|
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PUNJAB
|
The One who desires that all men be saved stretched forth His hand of
healing to draw 580,000 people to hear the Gospel during our spring
crusades in north India. As the Holy Spirit lifted up Christ, multitudes
called upon His name for salvation during the three open-air crusades
held in the cities of Guru Har Sahai, Faridkot and Moga. Hundreds of
people testified publicly of miraculous healings, including 127 who were
deaf and/or dumb, many from birth. Most of these were both deaf and
dumb; a few had speech impediments. During the same crusades,
seventy-six people who had been lame testified that Jesus had touched
them. Most of these had suffered from polio, usually from a young age.
Some threw away crutches or sticks and began walking unaided for the
first time in years. Some were able to stand for the first time in their
lives. Several said that their legs were not only lengthened but that
their legs and/or feet actually grew in size and became larger, as the
Spirit of God made them whole. A number said that their twisted legs had
become straight.
Sixty-three people testified that the Lord had healed their eyes. Some
of these were completely blind; others were blind in one eye or had eye
defects. Some had cataracts, which melted away like water. Several who
had worn glasses said they were able to read fine print without their
glasses. In particular, an unusual healing was that of a boy who said
that he had a hole in his neck, where water would run out when he was
drinking. During prayer, God sealed up the hole in his neck. You could
still see a mark on his neck, where the hole used to be!
One day a lady, who had a tumor on her hand, was at home talking with
her husband against the crusade in Faridkot. They had attended the
crusade and the husband was in favor of it, but his wife was speaking
against it. While she was talking, the tumor on her hand instantly
vanished! She immediately became a believer and began to tell everyone
what had happened. Altogether there were 42 testimonies of healings of
tumors/goiters. One man had five tumors, which all disappeared at the
same time.
One Sikh man said he had heard a voice telling him that he must listen
to us that God had given us a message for him. Some people said they saw
angels during the meetings on the crusade grounds, and others saw fire
coming down upon the field.
One night a group of local doctors, who were concerned because their
business had plummeted, stood at the foot of the stairs. They were
interviewing and examining the ones who gave testimonies of healings, as
soon as they walked down from the stage. After discussing it among
themselves, they agreed that miracles were indeed happening, and there
was nothing they could say against it. In spite of negative newspaper
articles, God brought around 275,000 people to the 12-day crusade in
Faridkot. There was such a rush of people on the last night who wanted
to testify of their healings, that the platform began to break and we
had to stop the meeting. The rickshaw that was supposed to take us home
also broke, and we rode home in the back of the police truck! One week
after leaving Faridkot, when we were in Moga, the Faridkot pastor came
and told us that his church had grown from 25 to around 1,400. He said
that about 200 people had given testimonies in his church of having been
healed at the crusade. One was a man who for 40 years had practiced
witchcraft in the city, and was known by many. He gave his heart to the
Lord during the crusade, and is now following Christ. In the city of
Moga, God gave us great favor with a local businessman. He provided a
squad of about 50 young men, armed with bamboo poles and shotguns, to
guard the crusade field. One night a group of Hindu fanatics came to
disturb the meeting, but after being confronted by our guards, they left
in a hurry. However, we do not put our trust in any man, but in the
living God, Creator of heaven & earth!
US Prayer
Track/World Harvest Ministries, May 1998
|
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PUNJAB
|
|
Around 122,000
people came to hear the Good News of Christ during the March-April
open-air crusades which were held in three small unreached towns in the
Punjab state of north India. Thousands called upon the Name of the Lord
for salvation. Hundreds testified of miraculous healings, including
those who were blind, deaf, dumb, and lame. One (leprosy sufferer) said
his sores had dried up. Legs which were skinny because of polio were
made whole, and many received deliverance from demons. The largest
crusade was the second one, in Sri Hargovindpur, where the crowd reached
around 10,000 on the last night. A notable miracle took place on the
first night, when a pastor's daughter (known personally to us) who had
suffered with polio for many years was instantly made whole. Her foot
was crooked, which had caused her to walk with great difficulty, but
now she was walking perfectly. On the night of her healing, she could
hardly talk, testifying with tears streaming down her face. There was an
unusually large number of demonic manifestations which took place every
night in Sri Hargovindpur, with demons screaming, people rolling on the
ground, shaking and moving uncontrollably. During the crusade, many
testified, with smiling faces, that they had been set free from the
torment of the demons, and were now experiencing the peace that comes
from Christ. One lady said that she had tried to kill her own children
because of the demons that had control of her. God revealed Himself to
some during the crusade in dreams and visions. One man, who was born
totally blind, saw a vision of Jesus feeding the multitudes. In the
vision, Jesus came to him and asked, "What would you like Me to do for
you?" The man replied that he might receive his sight, and his eyes were
opened that night. A lady who could not use her hands had a dream one
night in which she was picking up the baby Jesus. He was wrapped in
swaddling clothes, just as she had heard at the children's meeting
during the crusade. When she woke up the next morning, her hands were
completely healed. During the three small crusades, there were 55
testimonies given by people who were delivered from evil spirits, 35 who
were blind or had serious eye defects, 31 who were deaf and/or dumb, 31
who had tumors, and 26 who were lame.
On the last Sunday of the crusade, we had a morning meeting in a
village church near Sri Hargovindpur. Hundreds of new believers from
the crusade attended the church for the first time. The pastor was so
happy, he was jumping up and down during the service! Another pastor had
a list of hundreds of people who were healed during the crusade, and was
in the process of starting a new church in the city. He was excited that
there were so many people of non-Christian background who were now
professing Christ. Joel News International,
February, 1999 |
|
|
|
RAJASTHAN |
|
It was past
midnight in Rajasthan when Sahib (names have been changed) was awakened
by a fervent knocking at the door. Outside, he found a man and woman
cradling a dying child in their arms. He knew they needed his prayers.
The Hindu couple had pleaded with their gods in vain. The village
doctors had also done all they could do, but the little boy kept getting
worse. The grieving parents were ready to give up hope when someone
remembered there was a Christian in the village who prayed for people.
Quickly, the parents ran to find him. Sahib anointed the child with oil
and began to pray in the name of Jesus. Then he told the parents to be
at peace and to take their child home. The next morning, startling news
spread through the village-the child was completely well. "The miracle
compelled the child's parents to believe in Jesus," reported EHC
Director M.M. Maxton. "Brother Sahib continued to counsel the couple and
now they are firm believers in Jesus. They even donated a piece of land
for the village Christ Group to build a church upon."
Fax of the Apostles, May 1999 |
|
|
|
ORISSA |
|
Deeply moved
by the crucifixion of Christ as depicted in 'Jesus', a Hindu priest in
Orissa, India, realized Jesus' sacrifice was sufficient atonement for
sin. He burned his idols and asked a pastor to cut off the long braids
that identified him as a Hindu holy man. Now he shows 'Jesus' in
neighboring villages. Jesus
Film, May 1999 |
|
|
|
|
|
The stillness
of the night was violently shattered by loud, impatient poundings on
Raju's front door. The young evangelist awoke from a sleep in an
instant, his heart pounding. As he quickly made his way to the door,
Raju wondered if the local Hindu fundamentalist had come for him at
last. He had spent the entire day sharing the Gospel with many in the
area; and a few believers had gathered together in the evening for
prayer. And now, with this incessant beating on his door at midnight,
Raju couldn't help but expect to encounter a crowd that was ready to
retaliate. As he pulled the latch back and opened the door, he was
surprised to see only two people---the village Hindu priest and his
wife. They looked anxious, but Raju calmly and politely invited them in
and served them tea. Did you have some men praying with you earlier
tonight? The priest queried. Surprised, Raju admitted that he had been
praying with several believers earlier that evening. "Then it is true!"
the man exclaimed. "What is true?" The priest explained, "Just a half
hour ago, I woke up from a dream. I saw four witch doctors, fully armed
with deadly weapons, headed for your house. These men were ready to
destroy you. But as soon as they tried to enter your compound," the man
continued, "an amazing thing happened! As each of the witch doctors put
their foot forward, they were pushed back by some unseen force. They
panicked as they realized they were up against a higher power. It was
useless to try any further, and they finally fled into the night." As
Raju listened in amazement, wondering what to make of the dream, the
priest continued. "I woke up and could no longer sleep. I believe your
God is the only true God. My wife and I are here because we want you to
baptize us as soon as you can." Later, after asking around, Raju learned
from the villagers that everything the priest had seen in his dream had
actually taken place that night. It was such an encouragement for Raju
to realize the protection of the Lord on his life. He greatly rejoiced
when he found that the priest and his wife were sincere in their
decision to give up their old life and follow Jesus only. Their
conversion became a significant testimony
for the Lord to the entire
community! Gospel for
Asia, January-February 1999 |
|
|
|
GUJARAT |
|
Sukarbhai, a
great sorcerer had great influence over the villagers in Gujarat. The
villagers were afraid of him because he had power to bring sickness on
people and had power to heal the sick. Every Home Crusade workers faced
opposition as they began sharing the Good news in that
village. One day
Sukarbhai became very ill but discovered that he had no power to heal
himself. The EHC team approached the sorcerer and told him about Jesus
and His healing power and they fasted and prayed for him in Jesus' name.
Praise God that Sukarbhai was healed and immediately left all his magic,
sorcerer and wicked ways. One day he committed his life to Christ
completely and his family followed his step of faith and villagers also
started coming to the Bible studies led by the EHC team.
India Mail, March 2000 |
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MANIPUR |
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More than
1,500 members of the Mao tribe in Manipur state professed faith in
Christ during a three-day visit by five American missionaries in March.
Manipur is in eastern India on the Myanmar border. The missionaries held
evangelistic meetings and services in Mao churches, Brent Knapton of
Houston-based Window of Opportunity told Religion Today. About 5,000
people attended the daily meetings held in a large field, and 2,000
attended the church services, he said. About 900 people received dental
and other medical care....The Mao were challenged to forsake spirit
worship to follow Jesus Christ. "We didn't make it easy on them,"
Knapton said. "We told them that they must totally renounce their old
religions and that they would face persecution. We weren't interested in
having a large response, but [were interested in] the eternal destiny of
each person." ...Scores of Mao reported being cured of physical ailments
after receiving prayer, said team member William Lau, a veteran
missionary and pastor. He told hundreds of Mao believers that God wanted
to empower them to preach and to perform miracles in His name. He prayed
for those who asked to receive God's power and told them to pray for the
sick, resulting in many healings, he said. ...An error in timing
resulted in 17 Indian Army officers becoming Christians. Manipur is
restricted for travel by outsiders because of tribal wars and rebel
activity, and the team's visit was limited to certain days, Knapton
said. When the missionaries arrived at the airport a day early, a squad
of airport security soldiers threatened to keep them in jail
overnight....A medical missionary offered to give the soldiers dental
checkups if they would let them stay in a hotel. The team held a clinic
for them and other airport security personnel the next morning, and 16
Hindus and one Muslim professed faith in Christ and received Bibles,
Knapton said. When they returned the next week a guard told Knapton that
he was reading the Bible every night and was happy to be a Christian, he
said....The team's visit is an answer to prayer for a small number of
Mao who have been asking God to bring a spiritual revival, Knapton said.
Church leaders, including Lorho Pfozhe, a prominent physician, have
fasted, prayed, confessed sins, and established retreats where
Christians can pray, he said. ...Knapton had made several trips to other
regions of India and felt God was calling him to go to Manipur, but
"everybody I talked to told me it was impossible to go there," he said.
...In a series of "divine coincidences," Knapton met Pfozhe, who took
his application papers to state officials. The application was denied,
but Pfozhe appealed until it reached the state's second-highest
official, who is a Christian. He approved the application and, in an
unprecedented move, agreed to let them travel into the mountainous area
to visit the Mao village, Knapton said. Additional trips are scheduled
for later this year and coming years, he said.
...It has been a
slow awakening for the Mao. American Baptist missionaries William and
Elizabeth Pettigrew brought the Gospel to them in 1894, but most
rejected it, Lau said. Mao who converted did so "just to get the
material blessings from the Lord" that they saw other tribes that
converted to Christianity enjoy, Lau said. Tribal elders who were not
Christians were appointed pastors and, because they lacked solid Bible
teaching, "their Christianity became just another thread in the fabric
of their animistic culture."
Window of
Opportunity, April 2000 |
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We received the following report from a
reliable source: "A 4th-grade girl was recently bitten by a venomous
snake, and died in hospital despite the doctor's best efforts to keep
her alive. The staff left the dead girl's room. A few minutes later, two
Christians from a church in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, heard what had
happened and went into the room. They prayed for half an hour, calling
on Jesus to restore the girl's life. The girl started to breathe, and
her life returned. They quickly called the doctor, who was naturally
perplexed by what had happened; he removed the venom from the wound on
the girl's leg. The girl is now completely healthy. The news spread not
only in the local church, but also throughout the hospital." DAWN
FridayFax, October 1998 |
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"It was a vision of a man in white
robes, his face shining and full of glory." The vision that had come in
the night was disturbing to 23-year-old Dinesh, a devout Hindu who
worshipped Shankar and a host of lesser gods. He felt the vision was
important, but he didn't understand its meaning. Then a second vision
came. This time he saw a man preparing a place in the open sky, with
someone directing him to follow a pathway leading to it through the
clouds. As Dinesh thought about the visions he remembered seeing two
Christians who had been sharing the Gospel in the village. Dinesh found
them and shared his visions, hoping they might be able to help. The two
Every Home for Christ workers, David Chhetri and Marcus Masih, eagerly
shared the Gospel with Dinesh. They explained to Dinesh that Jesus had
been reaching out to him through the visions, inviting him to enter His
kingdom in heaven. "My heart was filled with joy!" Dinesh said after
meeting the EHC workers. "I started studying the Bible and other
Christian literature. Then I accepted Jesus as my Savior and was
baptized. Pray for me that I may become an effective witness for Jesus
Christ." EHC's gospel outreach in India has helped point millions of
people to Christ. More than 461 million EHC gospel booklets have been
distributed in India, reaching every home two times. Including Dinesh,
6,836,381 people have responded to the Gospel and 20,209 village
fellowships called Christ Groups have been formed.
Fax of the Apostles, November 1998 |
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Prasad Shiva, a well-known Indian artist
and Hindu, had agreed to illustrate Mark's gospel for a children's
Bible. While reading the text, he was so gripped by the message that he
decided to become a Christian. In spite of the anger of some family
members over his decision, his mother and two brothers have also decided
to become Christians. They are now working together to illustrate the
gospel. Advance Newsletter,
August 1998 |
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RAJASTHAN |
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Workers were raising a church building
in India's Rajasthan state, where less than one in 1,000 knows Jesus as
Lord, when electrical power to the site was cut off deliberately. As
believers prayed, power went out in the rest of the village as well, and
a heavenly light appeared over the new church building. Astounded
villagers were told about Jesus, the Light of the World, and many turned
to Christ. Rejoice in God's power to glorify his name and draw people to
Christ. Pray for the sweep of God's spirit across Rajasthan state.
Advance, September-October 1998 |
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RAJASTHAN |
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A Hindu businessman in India's
Maharashtra state was despondent because of financial problems. Daily
prayers to Hindu gods at the temple failed to help, so he and his wife
planned to poison their children and commit suicide. On the day they
were to execute their plan, their son turned on the radio. They heard a
voice say: "Brother, if you are going to commit suicide, stop. Jesus is
the way. ... He is the only one who can deliver you from anxiety,
poverty, sicknesses, and debts." The family wrote to the ministry and
asked for more information. When a worker came and told them about
Jesus, the whole family accepted Christ. Praise God for rescuing this
family from destruction. Ask him to preserve them and mature them in the
faith. Pray they will lead many in their community to Christ.
Advance, September-October 1998 |
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MAHARASHTRA |
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A native missionary in Maharashtra,
India, has led 105 people to Christ. Savita is a former Buddhist who
became a Christian after a missionary prayed for her to recover from an
illness, Gospel for Asia said. "Jesus, you are the living God. If you
heal me, I will commit myself to serve you for the rest of my life,"
Savita prayed. Since then, she has established one church and three
mission stations in a rural area. She prays for the sick, encourages new
believers, and relates the story of God's work in her life to residents
of 10 villages. Ten people were baptized recently after becoming
Christians through her ministry. Her goal is to convert enough people in
each village so a new church can be established in each one, Gospel for
Asia said. Religion Today,
September 1998 |
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HIMACHAL PRADESH |
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We received the following report from a
reliable source: "A 4th-Grade girl was recently bitten by a venomous
snake, and died in hospital despite the doctor's best efforts to keep
her alive. The staff left the dead girl's room. A few minutes later, two
Christians from a church in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, heard what had
happened and went into the room. They prayed for half an hour, calling
on Jesus to restore the girl's life. The girl started to breathe, and
her life returned. They quickly called the doctor, who was naturally
perplexed by what had happened; he removed the venom from the wound on
the girl's leg. The girl is now completely healthy. The news spread not
only in the hospital, but also throughout the local church."
Friday Fax, October 1998 |
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ORISSA |
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On the morning of
October 29, 1999, a terrible storm that had
been developing for several days over the
Bay of Bengal headed toward the coast of
India.
Meteorologists proclaimed it the largest storm of the century and gave
it status as a "Super Cyclone". The storm hit land over the coast of the
state of Orissa. Winds of up to 300 km/hour (185 mph) smashed into
thousands of exposed coastal villages. Because most of the people are
very poor and live in simple homes made of mud and straw, thousands were
instantly killed and had no chance of surviving the onslaught. Tall
trees were snapped in half like match sticks. Some parents, fearing the
worst, tied their children to the ground with ropes in the hope they
would not blow away. The sound of the wind was so loud that it was
described to us as "like standing directly behind the engines of a jumbo
jet." Soon after, tidal waves 35-feet high started crashing through the
villages, drowning everything that the wind had failed to destroy.
Thousands of villages were smashed to pieces during the two-day
onslaught. When the storm finally subsided the true impact of the damage
was revealed. A stretch of coastline 400 km (250 miles) long and up to
100 km (62 miles) inland had been affected. The lives of as many as 14
million people had been severely hampered. Later figures revealed about
60,000 Orissans were killed. Everywhere human and animal corpses lay
strewn about in the fields, or stuck in tree branches where they had
been washed by the huge waves. For those living nearest the ocean, only
a great miracle could save their lives. When we visited Orissa after the
storm, we were told some remarkable stories of God's protection.
In the village of Batiagon in Jagatsinghpur District, just 4 km from the
sea, there were just two buildings made of concrete: a church and a rich
man's house. The rest of the buildings were straw and clay. People
rushed into the two buildings for shelter. About 300 people, both
Christians and non-Christians, jammed into the church. They cried out to
the Lord for His protection. At around 11 a.m., a massive tidal wave 30
feet high slammed into the village, instantly destroying the shacks and
sweeping away the rich man's house. Witnesses inside the church say the
wave seemed to split and go around both sides of the building. All 300
people who had taken shelter inside the church survived. Just a few
hundred yards away was a village named Dhobei. Every inhabitant of
Dhobei was swept away to the sea except one 14-year-old boy named Sania,
who somehow managed to survive. On the other side of Batiagon was a
village called Bartola where just 14 people survived. All the people in
Batiagon village confessed that God had graciously saved their lives.
The Hindus declared they would never again oppose Christianity. After
the storm, many of the secular newspapers and magazines in this part of
India wrote that this calamity was the judgment of God on the State for
the killing of Graham Staines and his two sons. The people feel they
have experienced the awesome wrath of the Almighty God and many are
humbled, especially as the rescue and aid efforts for the survivors were
once again spearheaded by Christian organizations. Churches all over the
state report growing numbers of inquirers and more of an openness to the
Gospel than before. Through this disaster and the loving response of the
Christians a clear witness has been given about both the holiness and
righteousness of God, as well as His love and grace for all those who
will humbly call on His Name.
Asia Harvest, November 1999 |
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German