No Longer Hopeless

Deepu and his wife at worship.

           Deepu struggled to stay sane. His parents both dead, greedy relatives circled like buzzards, ready to swoop in and seize the sizeable acres of farm land he inherited. Even his wife’s relatives saw him as a soft target. All his hopes and dreams depended upon planting and harvesting good crops.

Deepu offered sacrifices to evil spirits in a bid to gain their favor in his work, but the expense caused him to mortgage the fields to landlords. The bondage caused by such worship increased Deepu’s stress, leading to mental and emotional struggles. Deepu feared he would lose everything. Not only was he helpless—he was also hopeless.

A gospel worker trained in the Jharkhand, India, School of Evangelism visited Deepu’s village one day, and the farmer decided to welcome the man into his home for prayer. The relatives were outraged, threatening to further ostracize him if he permitted a Christian in his house. Deepu was faced with a choice: Would he continue to serve the evil spirits and struggle to keep his failing farm, or would he allow the Christian to pray for his deliverance?

Deepu receives baptism.

Deepu chose well. He invited the evangelist to pray for healing and his mind began to clear. He received Christ as his Savior and was baptized. Deepu began to be discipled and soon he was fully recovered. This year he planted his fields and the monsoon rains promise a bumper crop. If all continues to go well, he will have enough rice as food for the entire year and excess to sell.

Deepu and his family in front of their home.

Through hard work, Deepu has been able to pay back loans on three of his fields. He has also begun to witness to his friends and relatives about the blessings and help Jesus brings. The door to his home displays the cross of Jesus on both sides. Deepu’s hopes are high.

Please pray for the people of India, and many other nations around the world, where people must overcome trying circumstances to come to faith in Christ. Pray for the unreached people groups of the world—more than 7,000 of them, in which the percentage of Christians is too small to support a reproducing Church.

Pray also for the School of Evangelism students and graduates trained by Evangelism Resources as they go forth to impact people with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

A Message Without Words

  
     Peter* stood out among the Portable Bible School trainees in China. Steve was first impressed by the man’s stature; though not very tall, the pastor had a stocky, muscular build that exuded strength. He was a fruitful shepherd of God’s flock, pastoring a family church network numbering more than 2,000 believers.
     The PBS training consisted of marathon 12-hour days. One day, Steve noticed tears streaming down Peter’s face. Steve could not ask what troubled him without an interpreter, but as the day went on Peter recovered, and Steve did not feel led to inquire about him, trusting that God had met his need.
     The next day, Peter approached Steve clasping a piece of paper in his hand. Touching Steve gently on the arm, he showed him the message, which consisted of four images he had drawn.
     The first was simple numbers: 9-11. Because of the intensity of the PBS training, it had not occurred to Steve that the prior day had been September 11. The significance of that date in American history immediately came to mind.
The next image, though crudely drawn, could clearly be recognized as a broken heart. Peter tapped his own chest, covering his heart, and then reached over to do the same to Steve. Hearts connected.
     Glancing at the paper, Steve could see a third image. Two eyes wept. Tears then filled both men’s eyes as a message of compassion was sent, received and understood without an exchange of words.
     The fourth image cemented a relationship  formed in Christ. Pointing to the praying hands he had drawn, Peter then clasped his hands together in prayer.
     The Word of God says that the Church of Jesus Christ is one body, and “if one part suffers, every part suffers with it” (1Cor.12:26). Peter’s compassion for Americans hurt by the terrorist attacks of September 11 illustrates that truth in a powerful way.
     The challenge to Americans who are also a part of that body is to ask ourselves if we are affected to the point of tears when we think about the suffering of Chinese Christians like Pastor Peter. Hebrews 13:3 exhorts us, “Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.”
     Pastor Peter and the Chinese Christians risk imprisonment for the cause of Christ. Many Chinese Christians have been jailed, and some remain in bonds.

Join us in praying for them:
 

Escape from Certain Death

The news was alarming. B*ko H*ram terrorists would soon arrive in G*lak, a northern Nigeria city where Adam* ministered. A graduate of the ER School of Evangelism in Jos, Adamu felt called by God to live and work in the war-torn region in spite of the dangers.

In haste, Adam* and Cecilia gathered their five children together and charged their eldest son with helping them flee to safety. Though their hearts were torn, they felt they could not abandon their spiritual children who would need help if persecution came.

 

All too quickly, they heard men shouting, and it was apparent that they were searching for Adam* by name. They surrounded Cecilia and demanded to know his whereabouts, but he had already escaped, running through a corn field. Frustrated and angry, the terrorists left the home and continued their rampage.

For three long days the couple could not find each other. Finally, by the grace of God they reconnected and began a trek on foot for nine days. They traversed hills, valleys, and forests on a path to neighboring Cameroon. They ate grass, raw corn and peanuts. Their beds were piles of leaves under the stars. Along the way they fended off wild animals and were constantly on the lookout for violent gangs who patrolled roads and occupied cities.

Adam* and Cecilia constantly wondered about the safety and whereabouts of their children. It is not uncommon in Nigeria these days for children to be permanently separated from their parents. Hundreds of orphaned or separated children have been taken in and cared for by Christians, creating a crisis within a crisis. They gathered their courage and re-entered Nigeria to search for them.

The couple crossed the border, weaving their way around terrorist camps, and began to search near the city of Yola, where the family had last lived before moving to Gu*ak. Huge crowds of refugees flooded the city, and Adam* and Cecilia prayed fervently as they searched face by face, hoping to see the children. Miraculously, and beyond any reasonable hope, they eventually did find all five children and had a tearful reunion. Together again, the family continued on to Bwari, a town about 40 miles outside of Abuja.

Adam* and Cecilia are not wallowing in despair, although they lost everything but the clothing they wore when they escaped. They are thankful to God for reuniting the family and helping them to escape death. God is providing for their needs through the generosity of His people.

What are they doing? Adam* is actively involved in a newly planted church. He is fulfilling God’s call on his life in spite of all the upheaval! The couple believe that they have been spared from certain death so that they can continue working in God’s harvest fields, bringing souls to Christ and discipling them in their faith.

Government forces have re-taken G*lak from the control of B*ko H*ram, and are urging the couple to return following national elections which will take place in the next few weeks. It is likely that elections, no matter the results, will stir up even more violence.

Please join Evangelism Resources in praying for this precious family, and for the many other graduates of the Jos SOE who face similar dangers. Pray for the thousands of other refugees (most of whom are Christians), and for the Christians who remain in the north of Nigeria who yet suffer tremendous persecution.

For My Musahar People

2015 Bihar SOE graduation

“Please pay for me and for my Musahar people.”  This heartfelt plea came from one of the graduates of the Evangelism Resources School of Evangelism in the Indian State of Bihar on February 3, 2015. He was one of seventeen young men launched into the harvest fields after receiving nine months of training in evangelism and church planting.

Why was this young man pleading for his people?  The Musahar are among the neediest of all the castes of India.  In the local language, the name for their group is literally translated “Rat-eaters.” They subsist on very meager rations of food and can often be found scavenging in fields or dumps.

A Musahar girl does the dishes

The founder of one non-governmental organization that works for the welfare of the community said "The condition of Musahars is the worst of the lot. Some of the lower caste communities work as bamboo artisans, cobblers or cleaners, but Musahars are unskilled laborers. This is the reason that they are the lowest rung in the caste hierarchy even in the scheduled castes."

India has provided assistance for “scheduled castes,” people groups recognized by the Indian Constitution to be especially disadvantaged because of their past history of inferior treatment. They are therefore entitled to certain rights and preferential treatment.

But there is one caveat—when a Musahar, or any other person from a scheduled caste, becomes a Christian they lose their government assistance. For many, this is tantamount to a death sentence. Most have no jobs, no income, no property…their survival is gravely threatened. The Church is rising to this task, pairing evangelism with financial assistance when possible.  Still, the challenges are daunting.

Musahar children gleaning in a field

Into this vast field of need, this brave SOE graduate goes forth to witness and plant churches. He said, “I was much blessed during my days at the School of Evangelism. The Lord enlarged my vision for my people. I dedicated my life to work for the welfare of my people by visiting villages and teaching the Bible. I want to see thousands of Musahar people come to know the Lord. I believe that Jesus is the answer for all the problems that my people face and I believe that gospel will lift my people out of  poverty and blind faith.”

This young graduate is not alone. The Bihar SOE has embraced the paradigm of sending evangelists among Unreached People Groups for many years.  In fact, the 2015 graduating class represented five different people groups. The school is especially adept at training students to plant churches among oral learners (people who cannot read). This skill is vital to those who would work among the “lowest of the low.”

Please pray for this young man as he puts his training to use, returning to the Musahar people to shine the light of the gospel.

To learn more about ER’s Schools of Evangelism:

 

To learn more about ER’s efforts to evangelize Unreached People Groups:

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From Graveyard to Vineyard

For many years the Indian State of B*har was known as the “Graveyard of Missions.” Christians from many denominations in the 19^th and 20^th century placed a high priority on reaching the region, and soon the southern part of B*har was mostly evangelized with hundreds of indigenous churches.

 But in other parts of the same state, these missionaries were viewed with skepticism and fear, seen to be a part of the Western efforts to bring colonialism. Only a very few people responded to the gospel. After India achieved independence, almost all foreign missionaries had to leave India. Since there was no strong indigenous Church most missions were closed, leaving behind only missionary graves, a solemn reminder of the blood, sweat, and tears sown with little apparent fruit.

But this picture has changed in recent decades! B*har fell into despair and hopelessness as the state lost some of its former glory. The people were looking for a source of hope and change, and they began to find it in Christ.  ER’s School of Evangelism Director, S.D. P*nraj was among the wave of visionary Christian leaders who re-energized missions in B*har, and in the decade between 1999 and 2009, more than 50,000 people were baptized and 5,000 new churches were planted.

This validates the missions philosophy of Evangelism Resources—training indigenous workers to reach their own people with the gospel is the best, most cost-effective approach to church planting. 

In late August of 2014, forty-five women and fifteen men were baptized in one service. They represented five villages in one local district of B*har, and at least four people groups.  P*nraj writes, “We continue to see the move of God in B*har, and this is ‘His time’ for the 105 million people of this needy state. We need to strengthen our partnership to reach out to these ‘most receptive’ people. There is an urgency in reaching them with the gospel while there is no organized opposition or persecution in B*har.”

Please continue to pray for these new believers, and for the hundreds of missionaries, church planters, and evangelists laboring in B*har with the vision to make it a fruitful “Vineyard of Missions.”

The Blood of the Martyrs

In July of this year, D____ was murdered for his Christian faith by a group of radical Hindus, hung from the rafters of his own home while his wife was forced to flee. This chilling story roused concern, prayer, and support for his young widow, who was nine months pregnant at the time of the murder.  You may read the former blog by clicking here.

Second-century Church father Tertullian famously wrote, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.”  The history of the early Church illustrated this fact—persecution, even killings, served only to fortify the faith of believers and caused the church to grow even more rapidly.

What was true then is true even now.  Recent news from Odisha tells, as Paul Harvey used to say, “the rest of the story.”  S_____ (name withheld to protect her from further persecution) refused, even in the earliest moments, to recant her Christian faith. Though she and her husband had only been Christians for less than a year, S____ insisted on a Christian burial for him.  Family and neighbors pressured her to follow Hindu tradition: anyone killed by hanging must be cremated.  Indeed, this was likely the intention of the murderers when they chose that method of his death.

An intrepid pastor conducted a Christian funeral and burial, which certainly inflamed the ire of some Hindus. But others, touched by her tremendous courage, must have wondered what would make her so staunch in her beliefs.  As is often the case, that curiosity provided an opening for the gospel message.

To date, 40 people have professed faith in Jesus Christ and have received baptism!  This is in contradiction to the intent of the Hindus to intimidate and stamp out Christians in the small village. A vibrant church has been planted, and worship is now being led by their pastor, a graduate of ER’s School of Evangelism in Odisha.

S______’s faith, her courageous obedience to the cross, and her stalwart testimony has brought transformation to the lives of many people and the light of the gospel where once there was only darkness.  Will you join Evangelism Resources in supporting S______ and this fledgling church in prayer? Pray for protection as they continue to stand against the onslaught of hatred from persecutors, and pray that even some of the murderers might come to faith in Christ.