The story below is an example of what God is doing in India!

The Father’s Conversion

My father worked in construction as I grew up. One night, he and 8 others were sleeping inside a new house construction. In the early morning, they saw part of the building had fallen down only on the opposite side of them and none of them were harmed. One worker, who was a Christian, told the fellow laborers that it was Jesus who protected them.

This was the first time the Christian man shared his faith with them. As he explained the gospel in detail, my father gave his life to Christ.

My father came back home transformed like a new person. He began to share about his miraculous experience with Jesus and as a family, we were deeply touched with his story. He told us we can’t live one more day without Jesus and He is the only Savior and true God. As a family, we surrendered our lives to Jesus.

The Father Martyred

After we accepted Christ, the village people came to know of our faith and began to target my father and family. They persuaded my extended family members to persecute and disassociate from us. My own relatives falsely accused my dad of stealing from his work supervisor causing him to lose his job. As we continued to be falsely accused, our financial situation got difficult as my father was unable to provide our daily bread.

A few Christians heard about us coming to Jesus and began to visit. They would come to encourage, fellowship and pray with us, but the village people caused conflict and threatened us saying, “Are you going to convert us to your new religion and continue trying to get support from other villages since you can’t get the support here in this village? We will never let this happen and you will face severe consequences.”

One day, my father was confronted by the villagers saying, “How dare you convert to Christ. It will not be tolerated and severe consequences are awaiting you.” My father replied, “Brethren, I could have died after the building collapsed where I was working and sleeping inside along with 8 other workers. I was miraculously saved and heard that it was Jesus who protected me. A fellow worker helped me understand that Jesus is the Savior.” The village people got angry and said to my father, “Are you trying to persuade us to become Christian?” In the midst of their conversation, one of my cousin’s brothers very angrily ran to his house and got a wooden axe. He hit my dad on the head causing him to die instantly.

It was very hard for us to believe that my father was gone. We reported this incident to the local police, but the police authority manipulated the case and our plea had no effect.

Villager people influenced the police with Hinduism and money to change the case recorded at the police station. They reported that my father was caught attempting to steal and felt ashamed to walk around the village so he committed suicide and died. This was very strange and a complete lie!

Becoming a Bold Witness for Christ

It was very hard for my family losing my father. We were new Christians, but the Christians from other villages were no longer allowed to visit us. Lord Jesus our Master never left us as He said in Matthew 28:19, “I shall be with you until the end of this age.” My father’s simple faith and boldness to live for Christ inspired me and I began to pray more. The Spirit of the Lord told me that He has called me to follow the footsteps of my father and proclaim Jesus as the Savior to those who do not know Him and who persecute Him.

My love for the persecutors and the village people grew and my desire was to become a missionary. The Lord continued to work in my life deeply and gave strength to our family. The village people tried to cause more trouble for me and through their dark practices; they put curses on me to inflict my body. My whole body began to feel like it was burning and I was bedridden for weeks, but the Lord Jesus healed me.

Keep Praying

I praise God for the Christians in the other villages who were very kind to us, prayed for us and gave us encouragement secretly. They also risked their lives a few times to visit us.

As I was praying to become a missionary, other brothers and sisters helped equip and encourage me. The Lord gave me boldness to begin working right in my village. There are secret Christians following the Lord in my village now. I am able to spread the fire of the gospel all around. The risk is still present, but Jesus is with us.

Thank you so much for praying for me, my family and ministry in my village.