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Background:

My name is Surai G., and I am from a village called S_. My wife’s name is Victory. I have three children, two sons and one daughter.

In 2004 I was helping my friend sell raggery, when someone gave me a book. It was a storybook, so I decided to read it. That night I started to read the book. I came to know that it was a very nice story, but I was not really able to understand it. So, I stopped reading that book. I was involved in politics, and I had a friend who was also involved in politics. Many times, this friend tried to tell me about Jesus, but I told him not to talk about Jesus.

I was worshipper of Lord Hanuman Hindu god. During that time my son was sick, and I took him to many hospitals and many temples, but it didn’t work out. His condition was very bad. So, one day I went back to that brother. He shared with me the gospel again. He told me that God gives rest through Christ. The next day I went to church with my son. In that church service people were singing songs. My son liked the songs and he was so happy. After that service, they prayed for my son. That night my son slept very well, and we were all very astonished to see that. That night, I was remembering Matthew 11:28 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Matthew 11:28 

I believed in Jesus. He is greater than all gods whom I was worshipping. That day, I received Jesus Christ as my Savior. Since that time, I started to speak about Jesus- that there is no one is like Him. I started helping the brother in the ministry as I could, and praise the Lord, all of my relatives also come to know about Christ. In 2013, I also started a church and from that time I am doing ministry in the church.

Church Ministry:

The house church used to have around 100 people coming every Sunday. But in 2017, we faced opposition. They told us to close the church, and forced a girl to speak falsely against us. Many of the people pressured the owner of the house, bringing false accusations against him. Therefore, he no longer allowed us to meet in his house. Because of this opposition, we lost our place of worship. We were then forced to move around 35 km from my hometown. We now have around 40-50 people come every Sunday. All the people cannot come because it is very far from the place where they live. Therefore, they are not consistent. If everyone comes, we have around 85 in attendance, but 80% of those are women. There are five brothers in the church, whom I am preparing for ministry. Every Thursday we meet for Bible study in different homes.

Biggest Challenges/Issues in Ministry:

The village people who are not believers are against me. When their relatives come to church, they get angry at me, accusing me of taking their family and converting them.

Special Needs/ Prayer Points:

We need a church building. We have many believers, but because we don’t have church building, we face many problems. Please pray for this. Pray that my bike continues to function properly.  It is very old causes many problems when I try and visit the villages. Pray for 12 people who recently received Jesus Christ as their Savior. They got baptized on Good Friday; please pray that they may grow every day spiritually. Pray for my family’s health, especially for my son. Pray for my neighbors who oppose Christianity. They always try to fight with us. I have been beaten once. Pray for them: that God would open their heart, and change their life. Pray for the evangelism of new people. Pray for me that I may understand the Word of God better and live my life in holiness.

Surai G.