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GOD AT WORK IN BIHAR, NORTH INDIA

GOD AT WORK IN BIHAR, NORTH INDIA

By The Rev. S.D. Ponraj,
Special to Virtueonline
www.virtueonline.org
September 26, 2013

400 people are baptized every month (50,000 in ten years) and 3 house churches are planted every day in Bihar.

This spring forty-two more people were trained as lay leaders in two Portable Bible Schools. On May 5th, twenty men and women completed their 40 days Portable Bible School and graduated at Khurda in Koshy Region. Among them there was a lady by the name of Meena Kumari (age 27) who committed herself to serve as a full time evangelist-she is leading five women's fellowships which are in the process of becoming house churches.

On May 7th we had one more Portable Bible School graduation at Madhurapur village in Magadh Region. 22 people were graduated completing their 40 days of study. Among them there were six people who serve as volunteers in conducting the Youth Clubs. Among the 13 women there was one Muslim young lady who has committed herself to work among the Muslim women. Among the 9 men there was a business man who committed himself to serve the Lord through his business. Praise the Lord.

Meena: Rescued from Death, Now an Evangelist

Meena Kumari was born into a traditional carpenter's family where she grew up worshipping many Hindu idols and practicing many rituals. She studied up to 9th grade, but after that her family felt that girls should not study any further and planned for her marriage. When she was 15 years old, she got a wound in her leg that she did not take seriously-she put some medicine on it but it never healed.

The wound continued to bother her and by the time she got married at 17, the wound had become more serious. She was taken to different doctors but wasn't cured; she was taken to a witchdoctor but again, it was no use. When her husband learned that the wound was not curable, he suspected it to be leprosy or cancer and decided to leave her after just two years of marriage.

So Meena was divorced at the age of 19. She went back to her parents' house completely broken and without any hope. Her parents spent a lot of money for her treatment but felt helpless after no doctor was able to cure her. The wound became so serious that it affected her whole leg and she was bedridden. Finally, even her own family members left her alone to die.

While she lived such a hopeless life waiting for death, a lady evangelist named Sanju came and shared the gospel and prayed for her, giving her hope that Jesus had the power to heal her. Later, a pastor named Goner Sah came and prayed for her as well. In her desperate condition, Meena trusted Jesus for her healing from the serious disease that the doctors couldn't heal.

After the prayers, Meena started feeling the healing touch of the Lord and the wound started healing. Within a few months the wound was completely healed and she started walking. She was saved from the jaws of death; praise the Lord. She started attending church and along with her parents and family members accepted Christ and was later baptized.

After the baptism, she joined the evangelist Sanju to visit the villages and share her testimony. Because of her testimony, many people trusted in Christ and some of them were baptized. For the past year she has been visiting villages and conducting women's fellowships, and over fifty women are attending these weekly fellowships. Recently she was trained in the forty-day Portable Bible School. She plans to work as an evangelist with Bihar Christian Church. Please pray for Meena.

Testimony by Neeraj Kuma, 18

My name is Neeraj Kumar and I am 18. My father became a Christian some years back, but I refused to accept Christ. My father used to invite me to the church but every time I gave an excuse. But one day I went to the church and I felt the presence of God and I got the desire to regularly attend church. Later I accepted Christ confessing my sins.

In January this year I came home from school and my father asked me to attend the Portable Bible School being held in our village. So I attended the PBS and learnt many things about Christian faith and practice.

I learnt how to study the Bible and listen to God's voice. During the weekends I visited the nearby villages and shared the gospel. Now I have decided to conduct the Youth Fellowship in my village and also start new clubs in the nearby villages. Please pray for me, my studies, and my ministry among the youths."

Pastor Arvind Kumar's Story

Pastor Arvind Kumar was born in a Hindu family and brought up in the worship of Hindu gods and goddesses. As a young man he lived his life without any purpose and peace and followed bad friends and indulged in bad habits.

In 2001 Arvind's mother got sick and was bedridden. The family took her to the doctor but she was not cured. During that time Arvind's uncle who was a Christian came and prayed for her and immediately she was healed. When the family members saw this miracle they all believed in Jesus and accepted Him as their Savior and Lord. Later they started attending the church and after some Bible teaching the whole family was baptized.

Arvind attended the Bible training at the School of Evangelism at Patna in 2003. Immediately after the training he joined the ministry and became an evangelist working in his area. The Lord has blessed him with a good voice and so he ministers in leading in singing and also composes his own songs in Bhojpuri language.

In 2007 he did the leadership training at the Nehemiah Institute for Strategic Mission and took up the leadership of his mission. He was ordained by Bishop Ezra Sargunam in 2008. In 2010 Arvind was appointed as one of the Area Pastors in Bhojpuri Region in charge of twenty churches with four pastors and one lady evangelist.

Pastor Arvind is married to Radhika Devi and they have four children-three daughters and one son. Please pray for him and for his ministry and his family.

Nandan: God Healed a Broken Leg

Nandan Ram is 42 years old and hails from Kauri village in the Jahanabad District in Bihar. His wife, Maiti Devi, is 36 years old, and they both come from Hindu families. They worshipped many gods and goddesses. Last year they heard the Gospel, and Maiti Devi accepted Christ and was baptized. However, her husband was not interested in accepting Christ at that time.

A few months ago, Nandan was working in a factory and fell and broke his leg. His friends in the factory took him to the hospital and he received treatment, but the leg did not completely heal and he was suffering with severe pain. He had to leave the factory and come home, and was not able to work properly because of the pain.

This January, Maiti Devi asked her husband to believe in Jesus for a miraculous healing and she brought him to the church for prayer. The whole church joined in prayer for Nandan for a complete healing. Later the pastor and some of the church elders went to their home and prayed for Nandan. The Lord did a miracle and his leg was healed. He threw his stick aside and started walking normally. Many people in the village saw this miracle and believed in Jesus. In February Nandan was baptized, and now the whole family attends the church and they are very happy in the Lord.

-testimony from Pastor Shashi Prakash

Birendra Prasad: From Drug Pusher to Area Pastor

Pastor Birendra Prasad is the Area Pastor in Bhojpuri Region. He is 40 years old and he is married to Mantravati Devi who is 30. They have four children, three boys and one girl. Birendra Prasad was born and brought up in a Hindu family and he lived a miserable life addicted to drugs and also selling drugs in the villages. In 2002 he heard the gospel through Pastor Ramesh. One day while his mother was seriously ill with evil spirit possession and he called Pastor Ramesh to come and pray and the Lord miraculously healed her. So the whole family believed in Christ and accepted Him and was baptized.

After a year he started assisting his pastor in the ministry. Later he took three months training at the Bihar School for Evangelism and the Nehemiah Institute for Strategic Mission. During his ministry as an evangelist he planted five churches and baptized over 200 people. In 2008 he was ordained for pastoral ministry and in 2010 he became an Area Pastor, in charge of ten pastors and evangelists and twenty-five churches. He travels widely and visits the churches and supervises the pastors and evangelists. Please pray for his family and ministry.

The Rev. S.D. Ponraj, Sr. is the senior Pastor of Bihar Christian Church

Pray for Bihar

We request your prayers for the following ministries of Bihar Christian Church:

* village outreaches by pastors and evangelists,
* the Bihar School of Evangelism,
* the Bihar Theological College in Patna (which just opened this June),
* Portable Bible Schools in five centers,
* Bihar Christian Church Leadership Team and the Regional and Area Pastors.
* church elders training,
* women's seminars,
* children's ministries,
* provision for field equipment such as bicycles, motorcycles, Hindi Bibles, musical instruments, and prayer sheds for villages.

Long known as "The Graveyard of Missions," Bihar is being transformed into a "Vineyard for Missions." For more information, go to www.newwineskins.org/content/ graveyard-vineyard-transformation-bihar

Reprinted from ReachOut, Fall 2013, with permission from New Wineskins Missionary Network.

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