Its been a year and a half since we started a small fellowship in our home. I must say, there’s been a mixed response to it.. Initially it started with only 3-4 people. My mother was going to the weekly meeting of a nearby Prayer Tower one day when the Lord spoke to her heart very clearly –“ where are you going? Why don’t you just start a prayer group of your own?” She said – I don’t know how to do that, and we basically know nothing about preaching and teaching. But the conviction came to her again – collect a few people and start a worship service. When she came back, she shared it with us, of course we dismissed the idea and said we cannot do that.
This was a phase when we were contemplating selling our home due to constant trials and tribulations from neighbourhood because of having accepted Jesus. But again – God’s plans and ours do not match! For two years our home was open for sale, but we couldn’t get the right price. One day an Uncle ( who is an architect/civil engineer and an old family friend) suggested that since we are not getting any good offer why don’t we just demolish the whole structure and reconstruct it? For us it was a big decision – here we were trying to sell and go away and now comes this proposal. Uncle proposed that we sell a floor and invest in another plot, i.e. he was offering us to be partners with him. This was a tough decision for us. But my mom and dad together prayed about this, and finally decided to take a step of faith. Soon we shifted to a nearby place and the construction work began in our home.
My mother soon had another vision – she could see a room with pink interiors and some people praying in it. She could not understand it much and never told any of us. In a little more than an year, we were ready to shift to our new home. I wanted to have beige interiors in drawing room but my Uncle had insisted on pink i.e on upper half of the living room. Lower half was covered by marble. Well I gave in. It was then that my mother shared her vision with us, about a pinkinsh room with some people praying in it. She said this is the same room that the Lord showed her. I of course wanted to dismiss it as a mere coincidence but something in me told me its more than that. Well I was still working full time then, so I was least bothered. Soon we met two punjabi converts and when mama shared her vision with them, they encouraged her to go ahead and start a fellowship. I still remember the first Saturday, there were only five of us. Another step of faith was taken – all glory to Jesus.
Slowly the word spread around and people became aware that there is a Satsang ( Indian term for prayer meeting) in our home. One day an inquisitive neighbour, Mrs Gupta, a staunch Hindu lady, asked my mother about the prayer meetings and the moment my mother shared the Word with her, she agreed to come the following Saturday. Sure enough Mrs Gupta came with her son, and soon the Lord spoke to their hearts and they gave their hearts to Jesus in no time! In a matter of days they did away with all idols in their home. Not only that they started spreading the word in the street that Jesus is the only Saviour. This is something my parents were hesitant to do so initially ( when they came in faith) but there was no stopping the Gupta family! They were on fire for the Lord. So God gave us support in form of the Gupta family. Praise Him for His mercies! Soon Mrs Gupta’s relatives started coming to the prayer meetings and experienced the miraculous touch of the Lord, by way of answered prayers and healings.
My mother counselled a relative of Gupta Aunty for a long period and finally after much prayers and blessings from God, her business has started prospering and she goes to the church sometimes. Not only that , her hubby after seeing the transformation in her life, offered to drop her to the bus stop for catching the Church bus. A sure change from his earlier ways when he would ask her not to go for fellowship! Praise God.
Soon some neighboring ladies started coming to the fellowship. Many of them were delivered of sicknesses, evil spirits, family situations etc.. The Spirit of the Lord would touch them and they would experience instant healings sometime. Two divorce situations were turned around – miraculously. In their words, they felt peace – a peace and calm that was unknown to them. They openly admitted that there is something about this Jesus of yours – that gives them peace of mind. So our living God He answered our prayers and more people started coming. But yes people admitted that they find it hard to take a step of faith and accept Jesus, only because they are scared of being cut off from the society. Well some of them only come for healing I know but we pray that soon they would open their hearts to Jesus and go beyond the healing doctrine – and aim for something higher, eternal life.
I wanted people to know about the true Saviour. As the Bible says : Go ye into the world and preach the Gospel - I shared the Gospel with almost everyone I came in contact with. And I loved doing it! So I started carrying some tracts, Bibles, cassettes with me and at any given opportunity I would share the Word with shopkeepers, autowallahs, slum dwellers, taxi drivers, rickshaw pullers. It wasn’t easy but I found out many people listened with genuine interest. They were intrigued that someone wants to pray for them, without charging a penny! Many a time I shared it even with Policemen - when my car was towed away, and another time when my car cd player was stolen. I had gone to the Rajouri Garden police station to lodge an FIR. (I was very emotional about my cd player since I am fond of music and it was so beautiful too – with purple n pink hues n organic displays etc.) So the minute I entered the room where SHO and his assistant were taking down the complaints, I was asked to wait. There were also some thieves who were recently arrested.
The SHO, when he heard my complaint said that may God curse the guy who took away your CD player. Suddenly this was the opening I was looking for! I told him that I would pray for God to rain blessings on that thief. He and other policemen were shocked and said this is the fist time we are meeting someone who is not cursing his enemy. I then quickly told them about my beloved Jesus and shared my belief with them. They listened with interest. When I told them that we pray for people and that they are welcome to attend our Saturday prayer meetings, all of them said they would love to come and then I asked the SHO, “ can I pray for you?” He said he was hoping I would say that since he is so heavily burdened with work and has no time for rest. When I prayed I asked everyone to close their eyes, even the thieves did so – I was a little frightened I must admit! So when I prayed for the Lord to give them peace and rest, they said they felt quite relieved. I am thankful that God gave me the opportunity to share the Word with them. In that little moment of praying they felt the touch of Spirit and peace- His peace.
Many such incidents have happened and I can’t describe them all here. When I see people begging and if I have time, instead of giving them money, I try to buy them something to eat. And then I tell them that this food is being provided not by me but my Lord Jesus Christ. So I ask them to thank Him. Sometimes I have a tough time making them memorize the name of Jesus but in that short time I tell them to lay all their burdens, all their worries on Jesus and Jesus alone. I tell them Jesus will always provide for your every need, not any human – so ask Jesus. The satisfaction, the innocence on their faces says it all! For me its an evangelistic opportunity and a chance to share the message of my beloved Jesus.
It pains my heart to see so many people in pain and distress all around – be they rich or poor. And they are spell bound when you tell them that God loves them, he sees their tears, he cares for them, he wants them to be happy and rejoice. Yes, many of them find it hard to believe. But look at the irony , all their lives, these people have been worshipping and no one ever told them God loves them and cares for them! Even I did not know that when I used to go to gurdwaras, temples, mosques – no offence meant. Only the Spirit of the Lord can reveal this to you.
I have only one thing to say to people from different faiths – ASK JESUS. I tell them they have a need? Just ask Jesus. Only He and He alone can help them. And I have had many people come to me and say God actually met their needs, and answered their prayers. Cause our Saviour is a living God.
I met an elderly gentleman Mr Seth, (in his 70’s) in the local park, he sells Ayurvedic medicines in mornings near a Hindu satsang worship, that has been going on for years. After finishing my jogging, I shared the Word with him and he in turn told me he is very spiritual and very close to God. I invited him to our home fellowship and to my surprise he turned up the very next day, and was very open to the Lord. He testifiers Jesus has touched him immensely and healed his arthritis pains. He has really taken my slogan “ Ask Jesus” like a child. When he doesn’t get a rickshaw, he calls out to Jesus to help him and a rickshaw appears in no time from somewhere. When he feels pain in his knee joints, he asks Jesus to give him relief and God answers him. Mr Seth has bought quite a few friends to our home and one of them has become a regular – an sardarji gentleman (Mr Inder) in his 60’s. Pastor Santar Singh and his team had the opportunity to counsel a few people at our home on 11 December.
Mr Inder does not even wait for a Saturday. He walks in any day of the week and loves to hear about Jesus – from me, from mama. A gentleman who used to frequent Gurdwaras all his life says he has found the peace that eluded him all these years. Of course he is amazed that we pray and we do not charge anything! Are religious scribes listening? Last week he bought his married daughter to us and he wanted a prayer for her family situation. But Mr Inder admits that the process of giving his heart to Jesus is taking time. We tell him its ok, God works in His own sweet timing. But the hope that he comes with every Saturday makes my heart melt and I pray to God to answer all his needs. Mr Inder even went to Church twice, on his own! Not only that last week, he bought another Sardarji friend of his for prayers. It’s the same story in every home. People have money, but no peace. Their kids, sons in laws, daughter in laws do not respect them. Husbands having regular tiffs with wives, lack of understanding even after many years of marriage. In the park I find people discussing all these things. Now mind you, all these people are very religious and follow daily reading of their scriptures but still that peace eludes them.
No wonder when they come to know about Jesus, the peace, the hope that Jesus offers, they are quite surprised and relieved. In the words of a lady who stays in neighbourhood, she says,” I have been going to temples, gurdwaras for many years but my heart is devoid of peace. “ She no longer comes to our home fellowship because she is scared of society. Well she had a choice – but she chooses to please men even if she gets no peace from it. God bless her.
First and foremost I tell people to try and not associate Jesus with conversion. The idea is for them to open their hearts to an everloving God. The moment they hear of our belief in Jesus,. They say “ Oh , you have converted and become Christians?” We tell them, no! We have given our hearts, minds, souls to Jesus. Is there anything wrong in that? We have found the true Guru, or better still He has found us! And this true Guru Jesus Christ gives us peace and when we ask anything, according to His will to dear Father in heaven, He listens. He has given us a hope that eluded us earlier. More importantly, we believe that there is only one way for the soul to be saved from eternal damnation. And that is to accept Jesus in our hearts. Only Jesus has the power to transform lives and people can see that transformation in our lives, and in their own their lives when they accept Jesus.
Uncle Jain, who stays nearby and whose family accepted Jesus some years ago agrees that something so simple has been made so complex by people. Whenever someone questions him that why did he leave Jainism and accept Christ, he simply says “ Jesus Christ came to save sinners, and I am a sinner, and I wanted to be saved – so I have embraced Jesus!” Wow! Uncle sure makes it sound so simple. And believe you me it is. You just have to belive in your heart and confess that Jesus is the Lord. The rest follows. We still pray in the same way we used to do earlier. But now we know God listens to our prayers. He cares for us. Coz our prayers are directed to Jesus now.
The promises found in Bible are not to be found in any religious book. And we found out that when we started claiming and believing on these promises, our lives have been transformed. There will always be trials and tribulations as long as we live, as Bible says, but In Jesus we have a hope. A hope that we never had before!
There is something about Jesus. That’s why I tell people, you have a problem, you want peace…anything? Just ask Jesus! Ask him to come in your heart and see the miracle! Recently when a car mechanic accepted Jesus in his heart, he said the peace he felt in heart (when we prayed for him) was way beyond words, Its not us, we are nothing….its the Holy Spirit that was touching him and the joy he felt in his heart he had never felt before, in his very own words.
Some months ago, I went to my dentist ( a sikh lady) and she had to attend an urgent call. Of course I had shared the Gospel with her earlier, she asked her assistant to attend to me for some time. This assistant was a young punjabi Hindu girl and seemed sad. I asked her , “Sister, why so sad? Is there something wrong?” She said her second hand maruti car had been stolen for some days, and the insurance had expired and her in laws & hubby were blaming her for it. I asked her to pray to Jesus. She cut me short and said “ oh , I have been praying daily to God about this now and there is no hope now. I listened patiently, then asked her, “Sister, have you prayed to Jesus about it?” She said,” what can Jesus do now?” I told her there is nothing impossible for Jesus. I told her to pray to Jesus about the stolen car and I think i muttered a small prayer for her while sitting on the dental chair. I gave her my phone numbers also, just in case she needed prayers. In the evening, my phone rang and she was too excited to speak! She said her stolen car had been found! She got a call from police station as soon as she went home that day and they asked her to come over and collect the car. And she admitted that your Jesus did it! I told her “Sister, its not my Jesus – Jesus Christ is for everyone. He is yours as much He is mine.” She was so so so happy to hear that.
Well, Jesus can touch and transform lives. Just one more instance before I finish. Sometime ago, i was having ice tea in a mall when I noticed 3 teenage girls sitting next to me, One of them was crying real bad. The other two were trying to console her. I said a small prayer in my heart as I approached them and asked them what’s wrong? Now in India you just can’t approach young gals without raising suspicions! They suddenly appeared very protective and said,” you mind your own business mister.” I apologized and said I am sorry but your friend seems to be in some problem. I told them “Sister can I pray for your friend?” That broke the ice, the word Sister I mean! So out of sheer curiosity they asked me to sit next to them and I shared about Jesus.
They said everyone is seeing our friend cry and laughing at her but you are the only one who is not finding this funny. I told them of course not, why would I even think of laughing when someone is crying! Twinkle, (the girl who was crying) was having problems with her boyfriend, who was threatening her and would beat her often. She wanted him off her back for good.
So together we prayed for her and Twinkle also said the prayer of confession after me. After some days I received a call from Twinkle that a miracle had happened and her boyfriend called to tell her he was no longer interested in her! – much to her relief! I mean something happened and he broke off from her for good! Twinkle thanked me, but I stopped her and asked her to thank Jesus instead. Once again my Saviour proved that He is a living God, who sees our problems and answers prayers.
God bless you all. Till next time.
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