Reaching Hindus with the Gospel

Balking at Baptism

Feb 19, 2026 | Stories

Three thousand people believing and being baptized in one day?! It sounds too good to be true, yet we know it is. The second chapter of Acts records this supernatural event. Thousands of people “from every nation” heard the loud arrival of the Holy Spirit and came to investigate. Filled by the Holy Spirit, Peter’s words pierced the hearts of 3,000 people. Answering their stricken question, “What should we do?” Peter responds, “repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.” In verse 41, we read, “Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all.”

Perhaps you can think of other instances of groups of people believing and being baptized the same day or soon thereafter? (Cornelius, Lydia, the jailer, etc.) Actually, in the book of Acts, there are only three times when a lone individual comes to faith in Jesus. The vast majority of people who came to Christ in Acts came as part of a group.

And we see it happening today.

In North India, the Banjara are a poor and marginalized people. They live in tents next to open sewage at the side of the road. They eat leftovers that people throw to dogs. They get run out of town. Their children don’t attend school. Society has taught them that this is what they deserve. Life is very difficult for them.

But through Sanjay, a movement catalyst in India, many Banjara have heard the Good News and become disciples of Jesus. Among them are a man named Arjan and his family. Soon after believing, Arjan’s entire family (he, his wife, and their three young children) were baptized. In a nearby town, however, other Banjara believers had reservations about being baptized. As baptism is a public declaration of loyalty to Jesus, many feared retribution from their neighbors and their old gods. They wondered, too, if God would test their newfound allegiance with trials they could not bear. They were afraid. Wasn’t life already hard enough?

Wanting to embolden them to take this step of obedience, Sanjay brought Arjan to speak to this Banjara community about his baptism experience. When Arjan spoke about Jesus, he pointed out that Jesus Himself had experienced testing. He was tested by the devil for 40 days in the wilderness. And He prevailed. He was not defeated by His enemy. And so, because He has already been tested and come through victorious, we, too, can face our fears, our potential tests or trials, knowing that anything we face is nothing when compared to what He faced. He walked the road of testing before us so that when our turn came, we’d be able to walk it, too. We have nothing to fear. He went on to say, “I thank God that when my child was about one year old, my whole family, came to God together,” Arjan told them. “From the oldest to the youngest, we came . . . all five of us took baptism together. And you would think that after this, we would have fallen into big (troubles). But no. Not at all. Everything changed. For the better. We felt joy.”

Far from regretting his decision, Arjan shared that his family was only glad they had been baptized. The terrible tests and pressures that he thought would come never materialized. Their greatest fears did not come true. In fact, the opposite happened. Blessings came. “And so I am telling you,” Arjan concluded, “you should absolutely remove from your minds any thoughts that after baptism, insurmountable (afflictions or persecution) will occur . . .. Please do it. Because Jesus has already given proof of his superiority, (and) you have already put your faith in Him. We are left with absolute life. Hallelujah!”

An announcement was made that a baptism would occur in three days. When the day arrived, more than half of the families were baptized together as a proclamation of their faith and allegiance to Jesus. Hallelujah, indeed!

*pseudonyms used

A Tiny Spark Can Set a Great Forest Fire

Jun 25, 2024 | Stories

The apostle John tells us that after following Jesus for a short while, Philip went to find his brother Nathanael to tell him that he and Andrew had found The One the prophets had written about. He said, His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth. Nathanael, like brothers everywhere, questioned his brother’s announcement with, Nazareth! Can anything good come from Nazareth? Instead of arguing with him, Philip wisely invited Nathanael to come and see (John 1:43-49). How we wish we could extend to you the same invite. Great things are happening in India! Here is one example.

There was a Hindu family in K Village in North India. After eight or nine failed attempts at making a marriage match for their eldest son, they despaired of ever seeing him married. The disgrace of so many rejections clung to the mother like ivy on a tree. Like good, Hindu mothers everywhere, the mother in this family believed that marriages occurred at the pleasure of the gods. Why did her god not care for her? Why could he not see their plight?

Disheartened, the mother stopped worshiping at the local temple. She watched her eldest son become depressed, and then start to drink. Meanwhile, her second son, Mohit*, was despairing for his own future. How would he ever marry with this shame hanging over not just his brother, but the whole family?

One day, a friend of Mohit’s invited him to come with him to visit another village where a house church was meeting. Mohit had never taken part in a Bible study discussion before. At first, he was shy, but soon he grew bold to not only answer questions posed to the group, but also ask his own questions. He loved it. Mohit’s friend finally said, “You can speak boldly and you know many things and speak well. Why not join this group?”

Why not, indeed? Mohit returned the next week. He loved the give-and-take of the Discovery Study process. When he arrived home that night, he told his mother about that night’s discussion. She asked, him, “What are you doing? Where is this meeting? What do you do there?” Mohit told her all about it, confessed to really enjoying the discussions, and ended with, “You should go because many good things are there. Our whole family should go.”

And so they did. Mohit’s whole family attended the house church worship service with him. However, on their way home after the meeting, his mother seemed unfazed. No reaction. Had she enjoyed it? Was she offended? Mohit said, “Ma, we should call the leader to come pray for us. My friend says these are good people. I believe all our problems will go away [if they pray for us].”

Little did Mohit know, his mother was quiet during their walk home because she was thinking about an unmarried girl she’d seen at the meeting. After some time, Mohit’s mother and father admitted that they didn’t want to join the group, but they did want to meet with the leader. He visited them in their home, and then, yes, he helped them with the match. Seven months later, Mohit’s older brother married the girl from the meeting. Mohit’s mother exclaimed, “This is a good miracle!” Soon after the wedding, Mohit’s entire family were baptized!

Today Mohit’s mother is excited. She shares with anyone who will listen about Jesus and the changes He made in her family. She tells them, “You don’t have to put your faith in Jesus or believe, but you do have to hear these stories!” To date, Mohit’s mother has shared about Jesus in five other villages, seen 20 Discovery groups started, and has seen whole families baptized together.

In the grand scheme of things, the story of Mohit’s family is pretty small. What is one family compared to a population of 1.3 billion? I read recently that if 1 second is 1 second, 1 billion seconds is 30 years. That’s a huge difference! So, what is one family’s story worth?

Jesus’ brother, James, wrote about small things. He said, a tiny spark can set a great forest fire (James 3:5). Please join us in praying that families like Mohit’s will cause a “forest fire” of love and joy to sweep over the peoples of South Asia.

*pseudonym

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El Roi – The God Who Sees Us

Feb 14, 2024 | South Asia, Stories

This story comes from *Jenny, a seasoned Church Planting Movement practitioner who has seen thousands of people come to know the Lord and has seen the start of several hundred movements. She shares this story of simply listening to the Holy Spirit and obeying.

“Last week I discovered my elevator card wasn’t working, an uncommon and concerning enigma. I knew I needed to go down to the management office to ask why it wasn’t working and felt the Lord’s prompting to share a story with the office manager, *Rita while I was there. I had shared with her a couple times before, just simple verses or whatever *Shema statement came to mind in the moment. I hadn’t met with any resistance but also couldn’t tell if there was any real interest there. So, I went down the 10 flights of stairs to ground level and then walked over to the building next door and up two more flights of stairs to the management office.

Rita was there as always, with a big smile on her face and a warm welcome. We took a couple minutes to sort out my elevator card issue and then sat down to chat for a few minutes. I asked about where she lived and she said that she and her son were living with her mom, not too far away. She went on to share about her difficult decision of whether to divorce her controlling husband or to give the separation more time.

I shared with her what had been my prayer verse for the preceding week: “The Lord says, ‘I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.’”(Psalm 32:8) I told her that I would be praying this for her and she seemed really grateful. She continued to share, especially about how painful it was being cast out by her husband and how she felt that she always had to put up a brave front for her son and others and not let people know her pain and fears about single-parenting.

Immediately it struck me what story I needed to share – just that morning, a friend had suggested I read the story of Hagar, in relation to something totally different that we had been discussing. I had meditated and prayed about that story for over an hour that morning before I decided to go down and deal with my elevator card. As I shared the story of Hagar – a woman with a small child, cast out by her husband, alone and afraid in the desert, but seen by God, taken care of by God, Rita began to cry. I told her, “God sees you, Rita, He sees your pain and your fears for your son, and He will help you.” She thanked me several times for the story and the encouragement. Please pray for me as I go back in the weeks to come to visit with Rita again and share with her about God’s love and His infinite mercy for her.”

*pseudonyms

**Shema is the Hebrew word often translated “hear” but better translated “hear and obey” in Deuteronomy 6:4. Among movement catalysts, “shema statement” or “shema lifestyle” is often used as a shorthand description for a spiritually fragrant word or deed which invites but does not force a spiritual response to God

MENTIONING GOD …
God instructs His people to talk about His commandments “when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. read more …

DESPERATE TO BEAR MORE FRUIT
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I AM NOT CHRISTIAN. I’M THAI
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The Quiet Guy Disappeared

Oct 18, 2023 | South Asia, Stories

A few years ago, Sanjay* and John*, national partners of BEYOND’s South Asian field leaders, conducted a series of disciple-making trainings in Northern India. One of the participants was a man named Satish*. He was a quiet person. He listened intently to the discussions but didn’t say much. He was not the kind of man that many people noticed.

The trainings occurred monthly. After eight or nine months, Satish disappeared. Sanjay and John didn’t know why, but knew that this happens sometimes. People return to their home state or move to find work.

Then, about a year after the training, Satish suddenly reappeared at a training event. And he had a testimony to share. He had indeed been home (he is from one of the poorest states in India), but not for work. He had gone home to share with his people all he had learned in the Bible through Sanjay and John’s trainings. In all his years as a Christian, no one had ever told him that, as a disciple of Jesus, Matthew 28 was his to obey. He had never heard that making disciples of Jesus is not only for paid professionals.

Satish had been so overjoyed to learn this truth that he’d decided to go home and share the good news with his family and neighbors. He couldn’t believe it, however, when no one seemed interested in listening. He even asked one pastor, “Who will lead your church if you die suddenly? What will happen to your work?” The man had no answer. Did no one care that Jesus’ commands are for all of us — not just a few?

Then Satish met Krish*. He was thrilled when Krish wanted to hear more. Soon, the two men were partnering together. Krish is a truck driver. He and Satish began traveling through their district village by village, proclaiming the Kingdom (Luke 10) as they went. They began to see fruit. Along the way, Satish learned Krish’s story (read Krish’s story at the bottom of the page).

To date, Satish and Krish have had the privilege of seeing churches birthed in three different districts in their home state. Those churches are birthing new churches. In one area, they have already reproduced to the fifth generation!

Disciples are formed through obedience, and we make disciples by teaching them to obey Christ. What is a disciple? Is there a difference between converts and disciples?

*pseudonyms used

MY LIP HAS FALLEN OFF (KRISH’S STORY)
Krish grew up in a devout Hindu family. For six years, he had been an active member of a radical pro-Hindu group. read more …

FRIEND, PEON, MANAGER
In the West, it is the general practice for a business owner to hire a manager if he or she doesn’t have. read more …

IN SPITE OF THE BEATINGS
The two men shared a Bible story with the family. The family liked the discussion. The men didn’t preach, but simply shared the story, read more …

Sharing the Gospel with Hindus

Nov 26, 2020 | Stories

Reaching out to Hindus with the love of Jesus requires some understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities they present. Here is some guidance as to things to consider when sharing the gospel with Hindus.

1. Offer Jesus’ forgiveness: Bakht Singh, an evangelist and Indian convert from Hinduism, said, “I have never yet failed to get a hearing if I talk to [Hindus] about forgiveness of sins and peace and rest in your heart.” Since the Hindu system is based on karma, forgiveness is not available to Hindus.

2. Keep God’s personhood in mind: A personal God is able to empathize with and respond to our suffering, something an impersonal ultimate essence (Brahman) is unable to do. Hindus need to know that a personal, fulfilling relationship with a holy and loving God is available to them.

3. Ask and listen: Hinduism is a very tolerant religion because of its widely diverse beliefs, so it is important to listen to your Hindu friend’s particular beliefs about God, sin, salvation and so forth. You will probably hear the word “enlightenment”, the Hindu version of salvation—you may want to discuss with your friend the difference between salvation based on human effort versus that based on God’s grace and forgiveness.

4. Be humble: Because of their sacrificial lifestyle, Hindus often consider themselves spiritually superior to Christians. Humbly share your life with them and let them see the peace and love your relationship with God gives you.

5. Focus on Jesus: Even Mahatma Gandhi said, “I shall say to the Hindus that your lives will be incomplete unless you reverently study the teachings of Jesus.” Encourage your Hindu friend to discover Jesus for themselves, and to read the New Testament, particularly Luke or John.

6. Be aware of differing definitions: Be especially careful of the term “born again”. To a Hindu this means reincarnation, something from which they want to be liberated.

(Adapted from Hinduism: A Religion Profile by International Students, Inc.)