In this blog I’m going to be writing from the perspective of my teammate, Hannah. Just Hannah’s story through my words. The Lord has been doing huge things in these past few days and my sweet friend got to witness it. She’s allowed me to share this story and I’m so excited to write what has happened. I cannot emphasize enough how perfectly God divinely orchestrated this day according to His will, not by the will of the people He used. Hannah and I both want this testimony to be shared because it holds so much power and goodness.
Hannah’s story:
A few days ago, the village we’re living in celebrated a Hindu festival, and basically the whole day is dedicated to the Hindu gods. Families spend days setting up altars and shrines in order to sacrifice and honor these Hindu gods they put their trust in. On the morning of this holiday, as my friend, Claire and I walked to the meal tent for tea time, we passed all of the shrines with blaring music, feeling the weight of the spiritual darkness that was so apparent. As we walked, we came across some of the sweet little girls we’ve become friends with, and they invited us to be apart of their Hindu ceremony at 11 that morning. We had been warned against partaking in anything associating with this festival, so we told the girls no. A feeling pressed on us that we should reconsider going, so we prayed about it and asked our leaders and base host to make sure it would safe and also culturally appropriate. It was approved for us to be able to attend the Hindu ceremony at 11. At the exact same time without us knowing, our squad mate, Hansue had gotten a feeling that she needed to stay back from ministry to intercede and pray all morning. Hansue got a group together to pray on behalf of Claire and I going to the ceremony (for safety and for the lord to guide us with wisdom and to work through us)
From my perspective (Molly): being apart of this group of intercessors while Hannah and Claire headed out to attend the Hindu festival felt as if we were headed into a spiritual battle. We prepared with worship and thanksgiving, asking the lord to work through Hannah and Claire, for Him to bring people away from these false gods and into His love. We encouraged and prayed over them as they were about to leave. During this time while they were gone we read scripture aloud, declaring that the God who sent fire down from heaven to defeat the prophets of baal in the Bible is the same God we put our trust in today. We talked with each other about how the lord’s heart was so sad on that day of celebration, and how He earnestly seeks out each and every one of the people in the village. We declared that His mighty hands would break through the walls that hold the people in ignorance and darkness. We prayed for healing, so that the people celebrating false gods could see tangibly who they should actually be putting their faith in. All these things we were able to use in spiritual battle and every bit was used.
Back to Hannah’s perspective: Something we prayed for was to have someone there to either translate from Hindi or to have someone speak English. As we were leaving to go join the celebration, one of our friends Abigail, offered to go with us, and just happened to know perfect Hindi and was able to translate for us the whole time we were at the celebration (thank you Jesus for Abigail!). The little girls who we were invited by met us on the path and led us up to their house and we went inside. Feelings of darkness and heaviness continued and Abigail suggested that we could offer prayer to the family. The family was receptive to prayer and so they brought in the children’s grandmother, named Sunni. She could barely make the step up because she had so much pain and immobility in her hip and knees. Her entire left side was disabled, she couldn’t lift her arm, or move her neck, back, fingers or toes. We prayed and then asked her if she believed that Jesus could heal her, she replied with a yes. We then asked her to see if she had any improvement, and she was able to lift her arm slightly. We prayed a second time, and by that time her daughter and grandkids had gathered around to see what was happening. After the second prayer her mobility increased and the whole room began to fill with excitement and the whole family and Sunni began to praise Jesus. The whole room lifted up shouts of praise to God for what He was doing right before our eyes. This Hindu family was seeing the tangible power working in their own grandmother. We prayed a third time and Sunni was able to lift her arm above her head and squat down fully and stand back up on her own. Her pain was subsiding and her daughter and grandkids were in shock of their grandmother being able to move.
From Hannah’s journal: “I am in awe because I am simply a vessel. A creation set apart to be used however God deems best. I am but one part of God’s master plan”
Pictured: Sunni!
Later on, a woman we had befriended named Gwen and a few of the little girls got us to come into the house next door. We began asking Gwen if she had any questions about Jesus because typically in the Hindu religion, they believe in so many gods that they just lump Jesus into the rest of their gods that they pray to. Gwen shared that since she hadn’t been baptized it had been holding her back from giving her life to Jesus. Claire and I took her by the hands and asked her if she wanted to make Jesus the only one she put her faith into and to ask for forgiveness. She said yes and so we all prayed. When she looked up from praying, joy spread across her face and tears were in her eyes, and she said, “I saw Jesus’ face when I prayed to Him!”
God is working in India, He isn’t done with these people. He’s the same God that sent fire down from heaven, that split the seas and raised the dead to life. He still heals, He still changes lives.
Hannah and Claire have been able to go back daily to these families to continue building relationships. We only have two weeks left in this village so joining us in prayer would be very appreciated for these people and for God to continue to work and grow in this community.
