Gospel for Asia Articles

 Three Bible college students and a missionary
leader were severely beaten in Asia.

Kamik Sandbahor, who serves on the staff of the Gospel for Asia state office, was
leading a team of students from a local Bible college as they visited
villagers in a rural community. Kamik, Jatrinda, Ajmal and Sanjavin were
handing out Christian literature when they were attacked by a gang of
about 25 young men wielding iron rods and sticks.

People in one South Asian village accused Dhevan Das of forcefully converting people to Christianity—a
serious allegation, which landed him in jail. But he didn’t sit in his
cell grieving about the situation. Instead, he saw it as an opportunity
to share God’s love with his fellow inmates.

The Charges against Him
The accusations came after a believer in his church expressed interest
in attending a Bible college. Pastor Dhevan was helping her enroll in
the college when villagers began accusing him of forcing her to become a
Christian.

He was arrested July 28 and formally charged with forced conversion.
Initially, the police were going to release him on bail until a group of
30–40 people gathered in front of the police station shouting, “Do not
release him! He is destroying our religion.” They also filed a complaint
against Dhevan.

His heart pounding, Rasul Gupta hurried into hiding to escape from
angry family members who wanted to beat him. What did they have against
him? He chose to follow Christ.

A few months ago, Gospel for Asia-supported missionary Pallab Singh
met Rasul, a member of the Brahmin caste, and the two struck up a
conversation. As they talked, Pallab had the opportunity to share about
how Jesus had touched his life. He also explained the gospel to his new
friend. After thinking about Pallab’s words, Rasul ended up deciding to
surrender his life to the Lord. At the church where Pallab serves as
pastor, Rasul testified that he wanted to follow Jesus, and he joined
the congregation.

But his new faith sparked frustration from his family members.
Staunchly devoted to their traditional religion, his parents, in-laws
and even his wife chastised Rasul for his decision to serve Christ. Like
many other Brahmins, they believe any connection with Christianity,
which is often considered a low-caste religion, would make them impure.

Widows like Swati Baidya and Mridula Das don’t often hear that
someone loves them. Swati and Mridula live in South Asia, where being a
widow is something like being a pariah: Widows are kicked out of their
homes, rejected by society and often find themselves begging for even a
little something to eat. In spite of their lot in life, Swati and
Mridula have found real hope in their lives.

Mridula’s Story
Mridula is only 33, but she felt as though her life was over. This young
widow was left alone with three children to feed when her husband died.
And her society did not do anything to help. Rather, it blamed her for
causing her husband’s death.

As if Mridula’s status in society wasn’t bad enough, her life got
worse when she started having serious health problems. She had to spend
more and more of her meager earnings on medicine, but she kept working.
She tried to work, but after several years of fighting her weakness
left her unable to work.

When GFA-supported missionary Kerketta Rai started a prayer
fellowship in her village, Mridula started going. She heard the gospel
and began to understand the power of prayer. So she asked everyone who
attended the prayer meetings to pray for her. As a result, she was
completely healed. Slowly, she began to understand the truth about Jesus
and she chose to give her life to Him.

Two church buildings in one area of South Asia were recently targeted
by anti-Christian extremists. Both churches have GFA-supported
missionaries serving as their pastors.

The first, a brand-new church building, was vandalized, and construction was halted on the second.

Ayukta Reddy’s new church building was finally complete and the
congregation was preparing for the building dedication when vandals
broke the windows and the glass in the door. They also painted the name
of a local god on the door. The vandalism occurred on Wednesday.

Scorching summer temperatures in Chhattisgarh, India, left the majority of one village’s water resources depleted.

Villagers struggled to find a well that wasn’t already dry. The
government also tried to help by supplying as much water as it was able,
but there was never enough to go around.

Makul Pillai worshipped many gods and goddesses, but his spirit still
wasn’t satisfied. When he fell sick one day with severe breathing
problems, he didn’t even bother petitioning his gods for help. Instead,
his family took him to the hospital.

He was diagnosed with a severe lung infection that would require
three days of treatment. After being discharged from the hospital, Makul
happened to meet Gospel for Asia-supported missionary Siraj Rangan who
was serving in his region. Makul shared the agony of his health problems
with the missionary, and Siraj assured Makul that it was Jesus Christ
who could take away his infirmity.

Siraj then prayed for him and invited
the distraught man to attend a Sunday worship service.

The people of Kanohraj* village wanted to kill Daruka for sharing God’s love until a dead cow changed their minds.

The Gospel for Asia-supported missionary often encountered hostility
from the villagers when he went out to share Christ, but he remained
steadfast in prayer and fasting to see the village reached.

His faithfulness paid off when he met Santosh Singh, who owned a farm
with many cows. Daruka shared the gospel with him and gave him a tract
called “Heart of Man.” Santosh soaked in the message of salvation in
Christ, and from then on he invited Daruka to visit his home every
Tuesday to pray for him and his family.

As Santosh learned more about Jesus and listened to the Word of God,
the Lord opened his heart to receive Him. But when a tragic incident
happened to Santosh’s livestock, he began to question his newfound
faith.

Gospel for Asia-supported missionary Murli Ghulam was released from
prison, but he is restricted from traveling outside his own village.
Additional details about Murli’s ministry and the events leading to his
release are also being reported.

Murli was arrested on July 2 as he was leading a prayer meeting in a
believer’s home and charged with bribing and forcing people to convert
to Christianity. The charge was brought by anti-Christian extremists in
his village.

Murli lives in an area with strict laws that make it
difficult to share the love of Jesus with people from the area’s
traditional religions. These statutes, which are often used as a basis
of arresting Christian pastors, are known as “freedom of religion laws”
and outline what steps must be taken to change one’s faith. In some
places where there are “freedom of religion laws,” individuals are
legally obligated to submit paperwork to the government before they are
allowed to publicly follow Christ.

God has shown His power to numerous people in South Asia who are
still refusing to follow Him, despite His miraculous power at work in
their lives. Even after seeing God bring healing and deliverance to
their family members, many have hardened hearts and continue to reject
Jesus.

Blessed, but Not Yet Believing
Gajendra Verma, touched by the love of God, has still not chosen to give his life to the One who healed him.

This man’s life was going well, until one day he began having severe
pain in his eyes. Within a few days, he was totally blind. After
visiting many hospitals and trying various treatments, he was still in
the dark. Gajendra worships traditional gods and goddesses of his area
and is strong in his religious practices. So he turned to these idols,
offering many sacrifices in hopes of being healed, but nothing helped
his condition.

One of Gajendra’s friends led him to the home of a man known as “one
who heals.” This man is really a Gospel for Asia-supported missionary
who is well known in his area for praying for the sick. After listening
to Gajendra’s situation, the missionary felt compassion and prayed for
his healing. By the grace of God, Gajendra’s eyes were healed and his
pain left. He could finally see again! Gajendra was overjoyed and
seemed interested in choosing to follow Christ.