Tigers and lions are almost synonymous with the word courage. Africa was known for lions but now, in India, they have tigers.
As a young kid one of my favorite films was the Jungle Book. There was a tiger named Shere Khan. He was the bad guy of course but tigers can definitely harm you if you’re not careful.
Ok, so why am I talking about tigers?
Well, I believe that the pastors that my team and I encountered not only have the hand of God upon them but the eye of the tiger.
They have courage.
They have a fight in them spiritually.
The Pastor we stayed with left everything he knew to go to a village to bring the Gospel. Before getting a home, he and his family lived under a tree.
When did you last leave your home to live under a tree and preach the Gospel?
The spiritual warfare the pastors fight in India is heavy in some areas.
They know the power of God. They have services every night, twenty-four hour prayer services, and healing services.
They know that there is power in the name of Jesus.
They don’t just know all of this but they believe it and live it.
God uses them in mighty ways and we were able to be apart of what they do everyday.
It is illegal to preach in India especially in heavy Hindu areas.
Pastors get beaten and stoned often every month by Hindu believers.
One of the pastors told a story of how he had gotten taken out of the church and beaten so severely they threw him into a pit thinking that he was dead.
But God had a different plan and as the other pastors prayed over him, he came to and came out of the pit. God had revived him and gave him more strength.
The pastor said that he had more of an excuse now to preach even more and spread the Gospel than he did before getting beaten for Christ.
His zeal was uncanny.
He had the fight in him that he needed to spread the Word of God.
And that is just one of many stories of the pastors who give up their life in India for God.
As Christians we talk about giving our lives to Christ but do we actually mean what we say?
Will we give our life for Christ or will we just live in our comfort of a four walled church and a nice padded pew?
How far are we willing to go to spread the love of God and preach the good news?
The Christians in India have the eye of the tiger, the thrill of the fight for God’s Kingdom.
Do you have it in you?
