NAGERCOIL: On bended knees
Our CTC missionary Manex was talking about the power of God in the village Mathiyalagam in October. His listeners had never heard before of the truths he was conveying and they listened, open-mouthed and awe-struck. Thereafter, when the missionary was distributing tracts, one of the listeners Mathi, called Manex aside, then burst into heart-rending sobs, after which he took the speaker to his house, and introduced him to his family: a son who was mentally unsound, a daughter who was paralyzed and whose wife was bed-ridden because of being afflicted by a stroke some months ago.
“You talk about peace? Can a man who lives in a family like this experience peace?” asked Mathi.
Manex immediately identified the symptoms of a curse over the family. Without getting into theological intensity, but in the simplest language possible, Manex explained to Mathi about the repercussions of a curse.
‘What is a curse?’ Mathi wanted to know.
Manex explained that a curse is an evil happening that comes against a person or persons. If a person or a family is under a curse, according to the Bible, evil comes upon them in a big way through sickness, tragedy or bad circumstances occurring in their lives.
Mathi listened in rapt attention. Then he asked in desperation, “Does this mean I have to suffer for the rest of my life?”
It was at that point that Manex shared the good news that if we have been affected by a curse, we can be set free from demonic oppression by accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, and actually have authority over the devil and his curses, instead of his spirits having power over us and our family. Manex opened his Bible and shared the verse from Luke 10:19 – “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
Mathi wept, first emotionally; then in the spirit – he began to cry in repentance and with intense yearning: “I need this God, please tell me how I can embrace this Lord as the God of my life.”
Manex and the repentant sinner went down on their knees, the former led the latter through the sinner’s prayer, and the rejoicing in heaven was undoubtedly magnificent. The man immediately felt free within himself, so much so that he began to plead with him to lead his family to the Lord Jesus Christ. Manex prayed with the family as a unit, then individually with each member. The wife felt better immediately after the prayer; within a month she got up from her bed. The psychiatric department of the hospital in a miraculous manner began to take personal and consistent effort on Mathi’s son’s case, and the boy is on the mend. The daughter has yet to be healed, but the family has great faith that healing is around the corner.
The whole family has accepted Christ, and so vocal are they in their jubilation that neighbors and relatives have come to hear their testimony, and a fair amount of visitors have accepted Christ.
Manex knows that transformation is becoming a reality in the village, and he prays and thanks the Lord on bended knees every day.
MANJAMEDU: A Different type of rehab program for this drunk
The man’s face looked like it got into a fistfight with life. His eyes were red, the sockets sunken and dark. There was a missing front tooth, and every now and then he burped so ungraciously that it sounded like he was being strangled.
That was the condition of Kumar when CTC missionary Gideon first encountered him. It would be impossible to minister to an alcoholic without the grace of God. Kumar was too inebriated to respond to any type of conversation; Gideon somehow got hold of his address, and took him home.
The next day, Gideon went to see how Kumar was faring. While Kumar tried to surface, the neighbors (who had come in surprise to find out more about this visitor to a ‘shunned man’s’ filthy home) filled in the details. An elder of the village Thopur, said: “Kumar is a disgrace to us. He is not only a drunkard but he is a very wicked man and even though people buy his toddy, no one wants to associate with him. He commits adultery and fornication, our wives and daughters are not safe when he is around. He has quarrelled with every single person who has tried to help him. He does not have any friends or family.”
From that day, on a daily basis, the CTC missionary and his wife visited Kumar. They would get to him immediately as he was closing his shop; thus Kumar was prevented from getting drunk. After chatting with him and providing good, home-cooked food for him, they would share the Word of God to him - “The voice of the Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is majestic. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars. The Lord splinters the cedars of Lebanon.” Psalm 29:4 & 5. after telling him about heaven and hell, they began to also warn him about the judgment of God. As they ministered to him, Gideon and his wife interceded and prayed for the soul of Kumar.
Kumar’s hardened-by-alcohol heart began to thaw and turn into a heart of flesh. One night, he broke down and told the missionary, “I have always been shunned by people. You are the first persons to treat me as a human being. I want to change my life but I do not know where to begin.”
Gideon told Kumar about Jesus Christ who could change everything. Embedded in lifelong rejection, Kumar was skeptical, but because the missionaries persevered in prayer, intercession and extending love towards Kumar – the day came when after they had discussed life after death, Kumar was ready to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. He has given up alcohol and now regularly attends a cell group initiated by our CTC missionary Gideon.
The incredible evidence of the change in Kumar served to convict many others in the village, and also persons from neighboring villages, and dozens of persons have been led to Christ and are being readied for baptism.
CUTTACK: Healing Rain on Broken People
This happened recently in Buxy Bazar in Cuttack. Following the unpredictable floods in September this year, many families lost their homes, and some died in the floods. CTC missionary Ramarao saw how great their suffering was, how unconcerned the government was, and he began to feel a deep burden for them.
He began to visit the victims of the flood, one at a time. Among one of the places he visited was the home of Kantamma who had lost her house and was living with her daughter Rajeshwari on the streets since the administration had provided no other shelter for them. In fact, the daughter Rajeshwari was going through a severe bout of diarrhoea. Ramarao was aware of the linear growth retardation caused by uncontrolled diarrhoea in childhood – children turn out to be shorter than others their age, and their health remains in ‘delicate’ shadows ever after.
Knowing that the mother had no money to do what was essential, the missionary took the daughter to the hospital, paid for her treatment. After three days, the medical authorities were able to get the diarrhoea under control.
The mother Kantamma was very suspicious about Ramarao’s attempts to help them. “What really is your objective, and why are you being kind to us? What do you want out of us?” she asked bluntly.
In a straightforward manner that was seasoned with salt, missionary Ramarao told Kantamma about the love of Jesus Christ. He said, “Sister, I was on the street myself, but one angel from heaven came and helped me. Like you are asking me, I too asked that man, ‘Why should you waste your time helping me?’ He told me about the love of Christ that motivated him. He spent so many days and hours helping me to stand on my feet and get a good job that I too wanted to have that same love of Christ. I committed my life to Jesus Christ and now I have joy and hope.”
It took some time, and several days of ministering kindness to Kantamma, her broken and despairing heart began to mend. She began to ask him questions about Jesus, and as he patiently explained and prayed with her, it was not long before mother and daughter accepted Jesus as Lord of their lives.
They began to attend a prayer cell regularly. It was not long before the government authorities stepped in and they were given a new house; small and functional, but at least it was a roof over their heads. As she praised God for His goodness, she also got a job to clean homes and look after little children.
Kantamma cannot stop talking about Jesus. Are you surprised?
Byreddypalle : Will the real God please stand up
It is a strange festival. The ‘Gangamma Jatara’ is a religious celebration that takes place in South India. During the weeklong festivities devotees criss-cross the streets, and a peculiar tradition of the festival is that the devotees who walk along the roads to the temple mouth certain ‘obscene verses’ as is the tradition and people do not take offence but look on the bad words as a blessing from the goddess Gangamma! The festival concludes when the priests smash the huge earthen statue of the goddess erected outside the temple at the appointed time. There is a scramble among devotees for a piece of the clay, which they consider is the elixir for all their physical, mental and economic ills.
This is what our CTC missionary encountered in the village Kellapalle where young, vulnerable virgins of the village were donned in yellow apparel with Neem leaves that men tied around their waist. The men would walk barefoot on fire while the women would dance into the night sacrificing animals to the Gangamma goddesses. The village folk practiced all kind of immoral acts and even went to the extent of selling their bodies, some performing a ritual which required them to be naked to gain special favors from the gods.
Kellapalle was exactly like the city of Ephesus mentioned in the Bible, all enslaved by idol worship and sexual immorality for the goddess Diana. The CTC missionary knew that sharing the Gospel in Kellapalle would be a challenge but believed that this village was as entitled as any other village to hear the Gospel. He first started sowing the Gospel seed among children. He taught them scriptures and worship songs. The little children were so excited and started singing those songs everywhere. Whenever they sang Christian songs, some people in village would convulse and fall to the ground and beg them to stop taking name of Jesus. The villagers were shocked and angered to discover that the name of Jesus was having such a strong effect on the people. The villagers were furious and enraged, and they prohibited the CTC missionary from setting foot in their village but the Christian songs could still be heard. The singing was unstoppable.
Gradually strange things began to happen in Kellapalle. The gods were not visiting their people and the fortune-tellers could not see anyone’s future. All spiritual activity came to a standstill. Suddenly finding the missionary became their mission and this time he was welcomed with love and garlands. They asked him numerous questions about his God and the missionary was only too happy to openly speak about Jesus. He elaborated on good and evil, light and darkness, angels and demons; the people were intrigued and fascinated that Jesus had so much power. Many of them came forward desperately wanting to serve and pray to such a mighty God. Many people came to accept Jesus that day. And thus one missionary helped dispel the darkness in an Indian village by simply sharing the truth and being a shining light.
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