The Gospel is unstoppable and uncontainable: like a river, it flows despite obstacles and barriers. It penetrates the hard-to-reach places, seeping in because the spreading of the Gospel has nothing to do with man and EVERYTHING to do with God. In this story from the field, our team in South Asia give us a glimpse of how the Gospel continues to spread despite persecution and resistance.
Soma sent us a couple of voice messages last week. One was a recording he took of a conversation he had had with a leader who has been with us almost since the beginning. This man was part of the second group we ever trained. Only two men from that group applied, but–oh, what fruit they have borne! So many generations!
At some point this year, this brother was forced to leave his home. The Hindu radicals in his village simply ran him out. Here’s a brief summary of that conversation between Soma and the leader:
Radical Hindu groups are forcing their way into Christian homes, searching for Bibles. They threaten the people when they find something. They also bring cameras with them and take photos of the Christians in the homes. Discovery Bible Study is proving to be really powerful because it is so simple. But, we must continue to keep it simple. People must just learn the Stories, then the method gets passed along. People must memorize the Stories, instead of carrying a Bible. [In other words, the whole thing must be done orally or with speakers, not with actual Bibles.] When these radical groups find no Bibles, they treat the people better. How great it is to simply discuss a Story, even without a Bible!
I did not hear defeat in their voices. They were just stating the facts while declaring that the Work is continuing/will continue. Hallelujah! It’s a precious thing to realize illiterate followers of Jesus know more Scripture than we do. They’re memorizing the Stories because they have to! We are also praying about how to get more audio speakers (hand held devices with select scriptures and story sets) distributed. Historically, we’ve paid for Bibles and audio speakers from the same fund. Right now, that fund has dropped to the lowest it’s ever been. We’re not sure what that means. Are we to stop buying Bibles because owning one causes trouble for people? Having a speaker in their homes seems to be more innocuous. So, is it time for us to raise more funds to purchase as many speakers as we can? We invite you to pray with us for this.
Join us in prayer for these innovative and resourceful leaders. Pray that we will be able to raise funds to buy more speakers and pray that like a mighty, unstoppable river, the Good News of the Gospel will continue to flow despite the opposition and persecution.