Our contact this month was a bubbly pastor who adores his wife and three children. Yes there were some bumps in the road!!! We struggled with probably mostly cultural things… like expecting money from us constantly, getting us to pay for personal items, men being preferred among women at all times, or staring at us for long periods of times like we were entertainment. Even learning that all the Christian families in this region marry only within their own family-not immediate, but uncles,cousins, etc, because they think it is biblical, was hard to grasp. Sure it was different and hard, but getting to know his family was truly a highlight of this month.
The pastor and his wife had an arranged marriage (99% is arranged). She was 14 yrs old and he was 28 yrs old. She was a christian and he was hindu. He worshipped the snake god, was doing drugs and drinking a lot, got in a lot of fights, and as a result was in jail often. His wife was faithful and prayed to Jesus. He saw her conduct and her loving conversation and it made an impact on him. Finally, he saw a vision of Jesus coming to him and telling him that He is the true God and he should worship Him. He cleaned out his house and threw everything having to do with idols into a river. He has been devoted to Jesus ever since and is now a pastor and evangelist.
(Drew,Rebecca(daughter),Maggie,Mami,Naveen(nephew who lives with them),Pastor, and his father-in-law)
Everyday this man goes to a different village spreading the gospel, bibles, and prays for everyone in the village that is willing. He doesn’t come home until 1am often times. He is faithful, he is loving, and he is bold and courageous. It can be dangerous here in India. I have heard of people being “stoned”- where they have thrown rocks at them. (thought that was only in the olden days)! There are what our contact calls “antiChrist” that try to poison Christians. In fact, one day this man who was an antiChrist, accepted prayer from the team for the first time. After he wanted to give the team tea. Long story short, the pastor said that was great, but he would need to try it first. They talked for 10 minutes and he wouldn’t let him try it, so the team just left! There are magicians and witch doctors who really do have satanic power and because of that have a big influence. This is something I hadn’t thought too much about before, but there are people who can heal and do crazy things because they have devoted their lives to Satan.
For example, one Christian in another state told the story that a witch doctor sent Elephants to destroy his house, but because he is a Christian he prayed and the elephants went back and destroyed the witch doctors home. I spoke with a man who got bit by a viper and went to a magician and was healed. In the state above us there are witch doctors who kidnap babies and sacrifice babies and have even more power because of their evil sacrifices. There is so much spiritual warfare here that I feel for those that live here long term. Women here who are Christian may be divorced or beaten for believing in Jesus. People who are in a higher caste who become Christians may be excluded from their society because they are mixing with people who may be meat eaters.
What amazes me though, is how much victory there is in Jesus. He says the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Here, you can see with your own eyes that the harvest is plentiful. The pastors in our organization have started around 7,000 churches in the last 10 years. They are praying on their people’s behalf and are willing to put them selves out there day in and day out to share the love, hope, and freedom in Jesus Christ! They exude with the joy of Jesus and it is contagious! Oh how I pray I can learn how to love like these!
