Church Planter Accused and Arrested for “Forced Conversion” Witnesses to Captors

Falsely accused of the “forced conversion” of a tribal Hindu family, a church planter in India shares his testimony of spending two weeks in jail while witnessing the love of Christ to the guards and trusting in Jesus despite the worst of times. 

 

The prison guard asked me right away, ‘Why do you suffer for a god not born in India and who never visited India? We have millions of gods to worship, and if you worship them, you will not have criminal charges on you nor be thrown in prison.’ I was able to share my testimony of how Jesus visited me right in my little hut. 

 

I was a Hindu man following many generations who worshiped Hindu gods and goddesses, hoping to see them. But no god has ever appeared, and there has been no true vision I’ve ever heard.

 

Only a few Christian converts in our area have claimed to have seen Jesus. Many in our community, including myself, strongly opposed this type of vision. We thought, ‘Jesus is a foreign god. How can he appear in a vision to the people in India?’ I did not understand how Jesus could connect with people in India. Slowly, a spiritual hunger arose in me, and I developed a heart to see Jesus.  

 

One fine morning I saw the radiant face of Jesus in a dream. Jesus’ face was full of glory and took me by surprise. Oddly, I was able to see the reflection of my face on Jesus’ face. My face looked gloomy, sad, and broken. I wondered how I was able to see my face on the face of Jesus. All around me was dazzling light, while my face was sad.

 

I spoke with a Christian who lived in another village. He explained to me Jesus is the true light, and those who truly look to him will understand how dark and sad their lives are because of sin. He explained to me that without Jesus, we can never be clean nor satisfied.

 

“Jesus loves you, so he visited you in the dream,” the Christian explained. “He will lead you from darkness to the light.” Great comfort and peace came to my life.

Daily Sharing Testimony Until I Was Released

Each day, I shared my testimony with the guard, little by little. After one week, they moved us into a different prison cell. While we were in prison, we were harassed much, but with great joy, we experienced the real love of Christ in our lives. We did not stop praying, singing in the Spirit, and enjoying the joy of the Lord.

 

The people treated us as untouchables since we were Christians. We thought we might be in prison longer, but we were thrilled to get the news that through the prayers of so many and through the work of our regional leaders, we were released and reunited with our families! Our enemies continue to keep their eyes on us, and our meetings are held in secret. Still, we continue to enjoy the joy of serving Jesus!

 

There are thousands of thousands of people in our country who need to hear the Name, Jesus. We are also praying that the radical persecutor will become the radical follower of Jesus like Paul. Pray for salvation in our region and for our house churches to thrive amidst so much hatred and animosity.