During the month of July I served alongside a local Christian organization in India who focused on the power of worship in an individual’s daily life. Through this [worship school] I was able to come alongside the individuals leading and serve at their first women’s [worship school]. The vision behind adding a women’s [worship school] to their ministry is to raise up women worship leaders in India!
Raising up women worship leaders may not seem like that big of a deal, but in India it is a HUGE deal! India is one of the most difficult places on earth to be a woman. More than 50% of men believe the proper way to discipline their wives is to beat them. Many husbands are alcoholics, leaving the women entirely on their own to provide money for food for their families and education for their children. Female children are often sold as prostitutes to get needed money for their families. Young women are considered a burden to their families because the family must pay a large dowry to the husband’s family upon marriage. The girl once married, will traditionally become the husband’s mother’s servant to help ease the burden of her many years of servitude in her own family. Some people even feel it’s better to abort baby girls and let them die, so that there is actually a shortage of women in India. If you are a baby girl born with any sort of disability, the chances of neglect and abuse are almost guaranteed. So the cycle of struggle and abuse for women in India goes on and on with no end in sight.
Or so I thought!
Through the [worship school] centered around raising up women worship leaders I met 8 incredible women called out of the normal cultural customs and traditions who bravely said “Yes” to what God was calling them into. These are my sisters and these are the testimonies of what God has done in their lives and the lives of their families through the power of the Holy Spirit because of their simple obedience.
[In order to protect the organization, the women, and their families I have edited some of the identifying information without taking away from their individual victories through the power of the Holy Spirit and God’s abundant love for them.]
[Sister 1]
My name is [Sister 1]! I grew up in a large family with 8 members in my household including my mom and dad. My family has been Christian all of my life. We had difficulty with money when I was growing up. My family was poor and it brought stress to my parents, so there was fighting often in my home.
My siblings and I all moved to [City] for our education. I studied fire & safety engineering in school but was not passionate about it. I found myself spending most of my time with friends who were not a good influence. My relationship with God grew distant during this time.
Because money was still something we were hurting for I decided to start working in the film industry. It was something God told me not to do, but I didn’t listen. I didn’t really enjoy working in the film industry, but I needed money. My family was having a lot of challenges and I wanted to help, so providing money was what I did!
I felt very lonely inside, even though I had a lot of friends. I started praying to God about what was happening in my life. My family decided to get baptized together in 2014 and we started to notice God’s love and blessings in our lives. I still faced difficulty when I was spending time with friends who were not behaving good.
My brother heard from a friend about [worship school] and told me I should go. I really love to dance and sing so I was really excited to attend the [worship school]. I joined in July 2017. God has brought so much peace and joy to my spirit since being here. My hope is to be a worship leader after finishing the school. I would really love that!
I have learned so much here about reading and understanding the bible. Something very valuable that [worship school] has shown me is how to love people and about true forgiveness. It has brought me such happiness to have Christian friends and a community who supports me. I know God has brought me here for such a purpose!
[Sister 2]
My name is [Sister 2] and I was born into a Christian family. My greatest blessing is that I was chosen by God from the time I was in my mother’s womb. My mother’s parents did not support her so she struggled a lot growing up. When she was pregnant with me she challenged God saying, “If you are a real God give me a baby girl without disability.” While she was pregnant with me she was in a situation of death and the steroid treatment given to her was very strong. They told her that the treatment would abort me in her womb. When she challenged God she promised that if He answered her prayer and kept me safe, she would serve him throughout her life.
For 25 years my parents have been completing the good ministry that God gave them. I am now 27 years old. I have finished my BSCMLT (Medical Laboratory Technology) and worked for 5 years. God spoke to me in October of 2016 through Isaiah 43:1 saying “He called me.” So I am now firmly standing in Him and focusing on the Kingdom of God. During a conference in October this word was prophesied over me and from that day I have decided to stand for God Almighty Jesus Christ. I thank Him and praise Him throughout my life for his Grace.
Following my call in 2016 through Isaiah I attended a Holy Spirit Training in March of 2017. This conference was centered around curse breaking, the power of tongues, and anointing knowledge. It was a month of strength for me. By learning to speak to God through the power of tongues my worship went from weeping to strength. I was prophesied over once again at this conference in front of 200 others. The sister said, ” I know you sing and do worship but you need to learn to play the keyboard.” She gave me her keyboard book notes so I could learn. Following this prophesy I was given the opportunity to come to [worship school].
During my time at the [worship school] God has spoken to me saying, “I will lift you up and show you the glory and your future.” He told me that He was holding my hand originally but now He is leading me. Through [worship school] God is giving me a foundation to stand on. I enjoyed the Tabernacle Training taught by [Sister J] God has given me the word “Skekina” throughout my life. During her training I learned that this word means “the powerful Glory of God.” I have also been able to learn to play the keyboard fulfilling God’s provision in my life. One way I have grown is by stepping out of my comfort zone and translating the Word of God into English. When given the opportunity to translate previously at churches in my community I was too scared to do so.
By coming here something miraculous is happening in my life. I don’t know what it is yet, but I can feel it. A valuable lesson I have learned here is that without His will I wouldn’t be here at [worship school] or in this world at all. I am continuing to learn to obey God’s plan for my life. God has called me out into the nations and into [Country] specifically. Please be in fervent prayer for my ministry, my future and the provisions God has put in my life.
[Sister 3]
Praise God
My name is [Sister 3]. I’m from a [Religious] family. When I was 8 years old my mother suffered from severe leg pain. Due to that pain she couldn’t walk. My father took her to many hospitals and temples trying to find healing. Nothing worked. My sister came to know Christ through my Aunt and she suggested that we take our mother to church. After many failed attempts at finding healing my father agreed to take her to church. He wasn’t ready to believe so he dropped her off and left.
My mother kept going to church and eventually was completely healed by Jesus Christ’s great love! Through this I realized that Jesus is the only God. No doctors or any other gods could heal her, but Jesus did! I came to know Jesus more by continually going to church. When I was 10 I accepted Jesus as my personal savior. I decided to live my life for Christ. I was baptized when I was 18. Now I am truly living for Christ! Because of God’s everlasting grace and his unlimited love, my family has also come to Christ. I thank God for all the blessings he has given me and my family.
Glory to God forever and ever! In Christ, [Sister 3].
[Sister 4]
My name is [Sister 4]. I started following Jesus when I was 19 years old. My mother was sick and could not get any better. She needed something in her stomach area taken out and was having so much pain and constant sickness. My family had taken her to temple after temple to worship the idol gods in hopes to heal her, but nothing was working and she was just as sick. Once seeing the doctors we were told that it would be more than we could afford for the surgery. Shortly after a woman came to our house asking to talk to us about Jesus Christ. The woman told us that our mother could receive healing through Jesus Christ if we pray to Him and have faith. Two weeks went by and my family started taking my mother to a church and asking the Lord to bring healing to her. After going to church my mother was healed following years of suffering!
My family believes in Jesus because of the miraculous healing He has given my mother. My family is still struggling with my brother-in-law and wishes for prayers for him. Since being at [worship school] I have learned so much more about God. I feel that He selects people specifically like my mother for miracles. I value [worship school] because I have gained peace in my heart and come to know that God can do ANYTHING in my life. Nothing is impossible.
[Sister 5]
I grew up knowing about who Jesus was, but I did not receive salvation until I was in 10th grade.
My brother-in-law was a police officer and a family man, but there became witchcraft on him and he suffered from 4 demons. One demon kept him from talking to our family, one demon made him shout, one demon made him jump, and one demon made him dance. He would stay home from work and stay in his room and scream, jump, and dance. When we went to check on him he would tell us to go away.
My family lost a lot of money when my brother-in-law stopped going to work and eventually he lost his job. We lost even more money when we took him to all of the idol temples to pray to the gods hoping that they would heal him.
My brother-in-law was about to die when my family took him to one last temple. He got to the entrance and started rolling around on the ground. He physically couldn’t go inside! Then a sweeper who worked outside the temple approached my family. He told them that he was a Christian and that my brother-in-law needed to go to a pastor so Jesus could cast the demons out.
The demons slowly left my brother-in-law’s body. Even though he believed Jesus was real, he continued to worship idol gods at the same time so it took 6 months for the demons to leave.
My brother-in-law came to my family and tried to get everyone to go to the Christian church, but my family was so angry at him for losing all of our money that no one wanted to go. Finally, my sister said they would go one time. They went once and on that day, God healed my brother-in-law completely and his whole family received salvation!
My brother-in-law went back to work and shared the gospel as a police officer. Now he is a full-time pastor! He is the one who told me who Jesus is and asked me if I wanted to receive salvation. I was saved in 2015 and now I go to [worship school].
At [worship school] I have learned how to grow spiritually, how to worship, about the life of Jesus and the Bible, my spiritual gift of prophecy, how to live in the world but not be of it, how to love, and a little bit of English. I valued learning how to play the keyboard and will use all of these lessons after school to become a worship leader at my church.
[Sister 6]
I’m from a Christian family but we used to worship other gods. Back then my sister was suffering from a demon spirit. That’s when my family remembered the word of God and we took her to church. At the same time, my brother saw a vision from God. In the vision God said, “Lift your hand and pray for your sister and I am going to heal her.” He prayed for God’s grace and my sister got healed. That’s when we all came to know about Jesus Christ and got baptized. Now we are all living with Christ. Praise God!
[Sister 7]
My name is [Sister 7]. I am from a [Religious] background. My sister married a Christian and she was the one who told me about Jesus! When I was 11 years old and in 5th standard I was suffering from a problem with my appendix. After prayer and by God’s grace, the report came back normal! Before that the doctors said to my parents, “she will die if we don’t do the operation immediately.” Our God is so loving and merciful, I didn’t need any operation. God completely healed me from my sickness! Afterwards I decided to accept Jesus Christ as my personal savior. I was baptized and I’m now living for Christ!
I’ve made the best memories of my life at [worship school]. I’ve learned about Christ in deeper ways and learned different ways to worship.
[Sister 8]
Hi, I’m [Sister 8]. I come from a [Religious] family. I didn’t know about God and I never learned about Jesus. In the 5th standard I saw that my Aunt would sometimes read the Bible, but I never felt like reading it. In the 8th standard my math teacher told me not to believe in Jesus because he was a foreign god.
Later, I was told some foreigners were coming to my home to interact with me but not to believe what they said about Jesus. Around that time, I was cleaning my house and saw my Aunt’s Bible. At first I tossed it away and paid no attention to it, but when I saw it again I decided to read it. I love reading books so I thought, “maybe I should read this one.”
I started to read in Genesis about how God created the world. After that I had 3 questions to ask God:
1. I don’t know about you and haven’t seen you. I want to see you. What do you look like?
2. How do I pray to you?
3. I know about temple, but I don’t know about church. How does it look? What is church like?
After 3 days of praying these things, God answered me with a miracle. (At the time I was also looking for a job and computer classes.) On the third day, I got a call from the Disability Office telling me they had a job for me and they would train me for it. That’s when I moved to [City].
In the place I moved into there were 6 rooms and in each room there was a picture of Jesus. I got to see what he looked like! Then one day, the leaders came in to pray in the hall, I was shocked. They prayed for me and my team and we were all moved to tears. The next day, the director told me I could go home and that I had a good future ahead of me. She told me about Jesus and I realized that God had answered all of my prayers!
Afterwards anything I ask of God he answered. When I moved to [City] and I was looking for a good church, he provided a good church and great pastor.
I am the only one in my village that has salvation. Thank you, Jesus!
On August 4th, all 8 of these sisters graduated with a better understanding of the truth of who God is and His love for them. They are all equipped and empowered to go out into their own cities and share the gospel using the power of worship to reach the unreached.
Please be in prayer for these amazing women, knowing there is nothing that can come against them that God cannot protect them from! These sisters are going to change the world through worship and I am abundantly blessed by the time I got to spend with them.
Love,
K
