With 1,4 billion, India is one of the most populous countries in the world. This means that every 6th person comes from India. Despite the 2000-year history of missions, which began with the apostle Thomas, India is still unrivaled today (Hinduism >80%, Islam 14%). In a time of prayer and fasting in 2020, we saw that the time was ripe to reach the many people groups in India with the gospel. That's why Pascal traveled to India to get a first impression.
Contents
- Family comes to faith
- Villagers are healed
- Social Children's Programs
- Fulfill the Great Commission
Pascal spent the first days in India with Nehemiah, the main leader of a house church movement. It was an exciting insight into the existing work. The movement was created by his father. He was evangelistically strong and experienced again and again how whole villages came to faith after his preaching. Nehemiah received the vision for multiplicative discipleship in his ministry. So he said: "My father made believers, we make disciples now!" In the next few lines we would like to report something from the days with Nehemiah.
Family comes to faith
During the time on site, Pascal visited many of the existing house churches and ministered to them in word and power (this means preaching the Word of God and ministering in the power of the Holy Spirit, such as healings and deliverances). One evening at a house church, Pascal felt he was offering prayer. Many have taken advantage of this. Among them was a man in his 50s. As he prayed, he manifested instantly and fell to the ground like a sack. The next day, the house church leaders from the village reported that they had been evangelistically with the man for three years and he came to faith that evening with his whole family.
Since the evening at the house churches was getting very late and Pascal and Nehemiah would have had a long journey home, they stayed with a friend in the neighboring village. It was a special experience for Pascal to walk into someone else's house in the middle of the night and find the family's wife and children sleeping on the carpet so that there was a bed available for the guests. Pascal experienced this generous hospitality again and again in the following days, and it is a great strength of the Indians.
Villagers are healed
The next day, Nehemiah and Pascal drove to another village to meet their house church leaders. Word of the healings and releases has spread through the movement, so Pascal was asked by a leader to visit a home with a family. The wife is plagued by demons and the children have health problems. Once inside, Pascal prayed for the woman who manifested and was set free. They then visited a few more homes and prayed for many of the families. The people were very grateful and invited Pascal to preach at their service on Sunday. It was a great joy when they personally reported on Sunday that they were all healed.
Social Children's Programs
Nehemiah's movement works with children in over 20 villages, among other things. Many of these children are from affected by poverty or illness or have even lost their parents. This work is very important for Nehemiah, because especially when they are young, they can easily reach the children with the gospel. You'll remember it later in life, too. So often whole families come to faith: first the children and later their parents. Some of the leaders in the house churches and villages are from these children's programs and affirm the importance of this work. Nehemiah is looking for partners who would like to support him. If you are from a church or organization that supports social projects, please feel free to contact us.
Fulfill the Great Commission
During the days together, Pascal and Nehemiah kept talking about the many unreached ethnic groups. One morning Nehemiah received in prayer that he should travel together with Pascal in the future. That evening, the two shared strategy, and Nehemiah invited his key leaders over for the next day. Pascal presented the vision of multiplicative discipleship movements and how - through training and sending teams - the many people groups can be reached. The Managers welcomed the vision with joy and wanted to get started right away. Now we pray that God will open this door completely and that the cooperation will be confirmed.
At the end
The time in India was intense: the new culture, the long days and the many impressions. We are happy about many things from the bottom of our hearts, and we were also allowed to take some things with a lot of humor: for example the challenges of eating, which showed up in several stomach upsets, the sometimes exaggerated hospitality, in which you always eat a plate more than you actually do like, the stray dogs that fell victim to one of Pascal's shoes when he tried to escape on his scooter, or the funny moment when Pascal was given an Indian name. Because Christians in India are threatened, discriminated against and persecuted.
