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Satish* has planted churches in several villages. A retired army colonel and his family live in one of these villages. Because of the colonel’s connections, the family has more money than many in their village. The colonel has a son about the same age as Satish, who spent much of his time working out. However, this young man became ill, and remained so. The family paid for medicine and saw doctors. They prayed to idols and offered sacrifices. They visited pilgrimage sites. But the son did not improve.
After many weeks of fruitless effort, the son told his mother, Anjali*, that a person of faith (Satish) was routinely coming to their village, meeting with others in a local home for worship. “Well,” Anjali responded, “you should go see him. Maybe he will pray for you.” The young man followed his mother’s suggestion and attended the worship service. Satish prayed for him and he was healed! He went home and joyfully shared with his mother the news of his healing. Soon afterward, Anjali became a disciple of Jesus.
Then she told her husband, the colonel. He was livid. He couldn’t believe she had become a follower of Jesus. He was so enraged that he pulled out his rifle, aimed it right at her, and pulled the trigger. He didn’t just threaten her; he actually pulled the trigger. Amazingly, he missed. The bullet flew right past her head. When the colonel saw that he’d missed, he flipped the rifle around, took hold of the barrel, and swinging it like a club, began beating his wife mercilessly. He broke one of her legs and severely injured the other.
For months, one of Anjali’s legs was in a full cast from toes to thigh, and her other leg was useless. She pulled herself along by her hands as she went about her daily household chores. Her husband continued seething, but she never stopped talking to him about Jesus. He hated it, but she was determined. Finally, she told him, “Kill me if you want, but I know Jesus is the truth.”
After a year of this, the colonel finally believed and became a disciple of Jesus. Today, this couple have turned their home into a place of worship. Each Sunday, about 90 people gather in their home to worship Jesus. Anjali now works with Satish, and has planted seven other house churches.
Thank you for helping make it possible for us to train people like Satish to go into villages that have no prior Christian presence, and see whole families changed. Please join us in praying for these families. As they change, villages change. The Kingdom of God is advancing!
*pseudonyms
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