India (MNN) — It’s become harder for ministries to share the Gospel in India since the government started closing the door to some foreign NGOs. But the people who can’t be kicked out of India are the Indians themselves. Recently, an e3 Partners’ team was in the country to train locals how to plant churches and disciple others.
Trip to India
The group on the trip, led by Frank and Sarah, spent three days in a home, training nationals. These were locals who had already accepted Christ as their Savior and were being trained in how to share their faith and start churches or small groups in their communities.
Photo Courtesy e3Partners via Facebook
“The thought there is disciples who make disciples, churches that make churches, so that it’s this constant multiplication,” e3’s Jeff Johnston explains. “So that’s what the focus was during these three days that they spent there.”
Then, on the third day during training, a man came to the house and loudly demanded to know why Westerners were in the home and why they had stayed for so long.
“But he was speaking in Hindi, and so Frank and Sarah and most their team couldn’t understand what he was saying. And so, their thought was just to immediately start praying. So, they were praying, and then one of the locals, that was in there listening to the training, he kind of stepped in and started talking to the man. And his name is Abhi,” Johnston shares.
Power of Sharing Christ
Abhi talked with this man for about five minutes. But, in the conversation, it seemed like Abhi was doing most of the talking. And as their conversation ended, the man gave a loud shout and threw his hands up in the air. Still, the group of westerners had no idea what had happened.
“Then Abhi turned to the rest of the group and he said, ‘I shared the story of the Gospel with him, and when I finished he said I have no other choice but to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior,’” Johnston says.
“So, then the man went back across the street to his own place, and brought his son and asked them to share the same story. And so, they did, and they shared the story of the Gospel with his son as well. And both of them professed their faith in Jesus that day.”
(Photo courtesy of e3 Partners)
The new Christians spent several hours that day, reading the book of John in the presence of their newfound brothers and sisters in Christ. They were elated with their new hope in Christ. And while not every situation turns out with an immediate acceptance of Christ’s love, planting the seed is still worth it.
“It tells us in Mark 4 when you plant seeds, it’s God who makes the seed grow. I think when you really trust that, and you just focus on planting the seeds and continue planting and sowing the seeds, and trust that God’s going to make it grow, that He will eventually make it grow in their hearts,” Johnston shares.
Be Prayerful, Be Active
Pray for this man, his son, and for the other Christians in India, that they’d reflect Jesus in their communities. Ask God to keep growing them to a maturity in Him and to give them encouragement and perseverance. Also, pray for India, there’s still so much of the country that doesn’t know Jesus. Pray that people would rise up and carry the Gospel to those who have yet to hear it.
“Everyone should have the chance to hear the Gospel,” Johnston says.
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