Dear Friends,
We at the church are experiencing an abundance of the grace our Savior has bestowed upon us, and we hope and believe that you are also holding fast in your faith and experiencing the same grace in your day-to-day life. Life can be painful at times, and we can struggle to find refuge- but we must understand that our Savior is loving and caring, and He never leaves us, even in the most difficult of our times. I hope that we, as the Psalmist says in Psalm 46:1, can say,
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
Psalm 46:1
We visited a church in G*, a small town about 36 K.M. from K* city. K*is 71st district of the Indian state Uttar Pradesh. It is in the division of Aligarh and consists of Kasganj, Patiali, and Sahawar tehsils. It is about 350 K.M. from Lucknow and actually closer to Delhi, the national capital of India. Brother Rehum S. is a pastor in this town, and is faithfully teaching his congregation the Word of God. Just like the entire world, this area is also infected with the disease of the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel, which is truly no gospel at all. Amid this chaotic spiritual situation, our brother is laboring in the proclamation of the true gospel, even though other false teachers frequently steal people away. Our brother is happy, as he believes that the work is of God, thus, He will keep those whom He has chosen.
He has finished preaching through the book of Acts in his church, and is now preaching through the book of Romans. There are about 35 faithful followers of Jesus Christ who gather for the Sunday service at this church. In this area, the people must travel quite a distance for work and normally don’t get Sunday’s off. The clear teaching from the Word of God is not the biggest attraction around this place, yet, we have seen about 2-3 new conversions recently. Clearly, the power of the Holy Spirit has been evident among them. For example, let us tell you about one faithful lady, who even with all her physical struggle, remained firm in her faith. As a result, she was able to get her non-believing husband to listen to the Gospel.
Her name is Deepa, a mother of 2 daughters (3 and 1.5 years old). A woman who believed in Jesus for the redemption of her sins, and confessed that she is in desperate need of salvation. Her husband remained unmoved by her confession. Now Deepa, despite her faith and being a strong believer, was diagnosed with a stone in her gall bladder at the age of thirty. This allowed her husband to doubt her faith in Jesus. However, she remained firm and stood the ground of her faith.
Deepa was faithful, but her husband was almost cursing her for not turning away from Jesus and asking the idols for healing. The church had her see a good doctor. The doctors examined her, prescribed medicines, and eventually figured out that her stones must be removed through surgery. She went under the doctor’s knife with the hope of either surviving, or meeting her Creator. By His healing grace, our Savior fixed her problem. By the wisdom given by God, the surgeon was able to remove the stone, and she is fine now and functioning perfectly normal. Through the testimony of her unwavering faith, her unbelieving husband had a change of mind. He is now coming to the church, and seeking to understand the providence of God.
We praise God for his mysterious ways of bringing people to Him and adding to the sheep. Deepa still finds her rest in Him, and shares the Gospel with all whom she can share it with.
Please pray for Brother Rehum S. as he struggles in the midst of false teaching, false healings, and the prosperity gospel. Pray for new families to come, and the current families to be strengthened.
Stephen began working for HeartCry in 2015. As coordinator for Asia, North America, and Western Europe, he currently oversees the missionaries over 10 countries. He currently lives in Virginia with his wife and four children.
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