Church Planters

Vijay, a church planter has a fascinating story of coming to the faith.  But it does not stop there.  He went on to share the joy he had found with his family and friends. That small attempt is becoming a big blessing to the people of that place. Hear his story in his own words.   

“My wife had a sore in her leg that would not heal in spite of all our efforts.  We were tired of all our efforts, until someone led us to a small hut.  People were singing songs and were also praying for people.  Apprehensive at first, I went in with my wife and they prayed for her passionately. I was asked to come again the next week and I agreed to it, even though it meant taking her almost ten kilometres on a bicycle.  The next morning, Dungu, my wife reported healing in her legs.  We could not wait the next six days.  Within one week, her wound had healed and she was able to walk with the same legs that the doctors had said would be amputated.”

The next week at the cottage, it was a time of great rejoicing and praising.  When Vijay asked the church planter family how much he owed them for this service, they replied, “Yes, our fees is that you would invite us to your village and to your home to pray.”  He did it the same day.  Missionary Jumde and his wife and another sister began visiting Vijay’s home every fortnight for prayer and visiting.

Every time they would reach the village, Bedre, there was a small crowd ready to hear what they had to say.  Dungu’s healing had created a stir and there were other cases that needed healing.  They could not hold the people in the small space outside their two room thatched roof hut. During the rains, people would not move, even when they were soaked in the rain because they wanted to listen with rapt attention the story of this Creator God.

It took almost three hours for church planter Jumde Yama and his wife to reach Vijay’s home each time they visited him.  Soon they were not able to come every time when there was a need in the village. 

One day Tokamunda, a prominent person in the village, got sick. His whole body had swollen and he could not move.  They brought him to Vijay’s home to be prayed.  But this was not the day the missionary family would be visiting. What could Vijay do. Before he could think, they had brought the sick man on a stretcher of bamboo poles to Vijay’s doorstep.   There was nothing else he could do.  As he had seen them do, he laid his hands on Tokamunda and began to pray in the name of Jesus.  His eyes were getting wet with tears.  But he did not hold back.  He prayed for complete and radical healing having learnt that God is no respecter of persons.  Nothing much happened then.  But the swelling had gone down considerably the next morning. In Vijay’s words “I clearly saw the swelling go away.  I was surprised, shocked and joyed to see what had happened when I prayed that simple prayer.”  The next week when the missionary couple came, he had one story to tell.  That day itself the couple encouraged him to pray for others and also to conduct regular meetings in his home.

 What began with a handful of people in the small area outside his hut, is now a regular church gathering with over 60 people in attendance.  About six months ago, they collected enough bamboo from the forests and put together a simple building, which they proudly call church today.  God did a miracle and someone donated money to buy the tin roof sheets.  It is one happy place, with men, women and children dancing and singing while worshipping this Jesus who gave them this new lease of life.  Transformation has touched their lives, their homes, their cattle and the soil of the land also.

“We were so poor that when the right season came we did not have the money to buy the seed and when we had meagre savings available, the weather did not help us.  But today all of us have vegetable gardens that feed our families and some of us are able to sell our products in the local market also.” 

They have gone through persecution, abandonment, harassment at the hands of local witch doctors, but today Vijay and his church are growing daily both in the Word and in the Grace of our Lord Jesus.  Visiting their home, they were proud to show their first ceiling fan and I was asked to inaugurate it with prayer!

Simple faith, simple people, awesome transformation, Great God.