For the past 8 days we have been in a village of India sharing the gospel. We sleep on the floor of a church that was planted by the current Pastor. Himself, his wife, and two children have been hosting us.
There is persecution of Christians in this area by a terrorist group. The pastor shared his story of how he has been tied to trees and beaten for his faith. Could you imagine? It is illegal here to hold church in your home. A couple of men our pastor knew were at a little girl’s birthday party last year sharing about Jesus. Someone over heard and went to tell the terrorist group who ended up coming to the home and murdering them.
You realize just how powerful the name of Jesus is when you hear these things. Why would you kill someone over something unless you saw power in it? Unless you were afraid it would take a foothold and overthrow belief in the Hindu “gods” that they worship.
During the day we are not allowed outside the compound. It is not safe for us and would draw too much attention to our pastor. He has planted and raised up 64 pastors and 64 churches in this state of India. He continues to host Americans even though it is a risk to himself and his family. All of the pastors have held a meeting and agreed to keep the teams like ours coming in, and it is for the most selfless reason ever.
It’s not like white people are common out here in the bush. So when they see 7 of us piling out of a car and gathering in a church, yard or on a porch their curiosity gets the better of them. Christian or not, they gather around. They sit on walls, look down from roofs, peek around corners and over the fences. By the end of the night, with the aid of an amazing translator, they end up hearing our testimonies and preaching of the gospel. We are always sharing about who Jesus is and what He has done to give us life through him. You see, these pastors would rather put themselves at risk of persecution to have us drawing in larger crowds to hear the Bible rather than playing it safe. “Bold” is the word that comes to mind.
Each night when it is safer, we travel one to three hours to do this. A different village each time. The first night, a member of our team lead many young people in praying to accept Christ. Whoo-hoo! Also, several come up for healing prayer after the services. God has worked fervently through this. We have prayed for sicknesses, knee pains, fevers and more and seen them healed immediately. One man came to me with a hurt back. Unable to bend over far at all without sharp pains. He had spent $10,000 over the past year trying to get it fixed medically. 5 prayers later he was touching his toes and putting his palms on the floor.
“I am freed”, they say. Freed of pain and sickness by Jesus. In the midst of persecution and pain, Jesus is performing healings while His people grow stronger in faith. Did you know India is the most unreached country? On top of that, nearly 20% of the world’s population lives here. India has many different forms of beauty. Watching people worship Jesus instead of the thousands of idols that line the streets is my favorite.
