Awesome notes of healing and salvation to end the year!

Pastor Paul and team have just wrapped up a week of prayer, fasting and evangelism in an area of India devastated by landslides earlier this year (the deadliest in Kerala's history). BBC News covered it here: The scenic  Indian villages devastated by deadly landslides.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel carrying the body of a victim at the site of a landslide in Wayanad district [Handout/National Disaster Response Force via AFP]

As usual, our Bibles for Mideast ministry leader has an exciting report to share as the week wrapped up.

“By God’s grace, our ministry’s seven days of prayer, fasting and evangelism was a huge success,” Pastor Paul reports. “Hundreds of people attended and experienced the love of our Lord. The Holy Spirit moved throughout the services, with more people attending each day. We also visited houses in the evenings and conducted corner meetings. Many experienced the salvation of Jesus Christ.”

On the fourth day, some of the attendees brought a paralysed Hindu woman, about 26 years old, and placed her in the middle of the prayer meeting. The young woman had been the only of her many immediate family members who had survived the disaster, which she had done, barely, by grabbing onto the branch of a tree for two long, wet, muddy days. More than half of her body had been held fast beneath the heavy mud and water as more mud and mess cascaded down, taking all and everyone with it.  

When rescuers finally found her, badly paralyzed and barely alive, they rushed her to hospital. When released, the young woman, still paralyzed, spent the next four months bedridden at a relative’s home.

This ‘just happened’ to be around the same time Bibles for Mideast had arranged for the seven days of prayer, fasting and evangelism in the devastated area.

So on that fateful fourth day, the young paralyzed woman ended up smack in the middle of the praying people.

“I asked everybody to pray for her,” Pastor Paul recounts. “I saw the Holy Spirit was moving throughout the service.

“When all were praying for her, I held her hand and commanded in the mighty name of Jesus our Lord and Savior that she get up from the floor. Immediately I could see her whole body was shaking violently. And I could actually see blood flowing through her veins.

“Then she stood up from the floor, praising and thanking Jesus! I asked her to walk, then run. She did both, right in the midst of all the prayerful people.

“She then stayed with us and attended the rest of the services and prepared herself for baptism.

“May our Lord’s Name be glorified! She has no house and no land, for it was all wiped out. We pray for her to have a house and a life partner who must be a faithful believer of Jesus Christ.”

The believers held a final worship service Sunday morning, then on Monday the new believers—137 in all—received baptism. Among them were 46 former Muslims and several former Hindus—including of course the formerly paralyzed young woman!

Please pray for all of the new believers: for their spiritual growth, divine guidance, boldness and protection in witnessing to our Lord of lords.

All of us here at Bibles for Mideast pray with Director Pastor Paul that “you have a joyful and faithful season for our Lord’s glory, and a prosperous new year.

“May our Lord be with you, hold you in His nail-pierced hands, and keep you as the apple of His eyes throughout the year and until the end of your life,” he continues. “Amen and hallelujah!”

Challenging but victorious mission trip to Tamil Nadu

Pastor Paul recently led a secretive and dangerous evangelical mission to the southernmost Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

“The ministry was successful and many people accepted Lord Jesus as their personal savior and Lord!” he reports, and thanks all who prayed.

An evangelist working with PAstor Paul

As in the rest of India, the vast majority of the population of Tamil Nadu follow Hinduism, with Christians and Muslims forming small religious minorities. Christians face persecution on all sides, from Hindus, Muslims, police and government officials.

With so much persecution and so many resulting restrictions, we cannot reveal much about the exact locations and details of this latest adventure, except to thank and praise the Lord for His help and guidance as so many new citizens joined the heavenly ranks.

“We badly need prayers and support from the children of God for our precious ministries,” Pastor Paul adds.

Baptisms in Tamil Nadu church and river

Summer PROGRESS AND PRAYER report: help us keep going!

We apologize for the months of seeming silence here, but want you to know that the mission and work of Bibles for Mideast continues apace. Following is a brief update on some of our boldest and bravest missionaries and their activities. All need prayer to keep going, and in some cases, to stay alive.

As reported a few months ago, our Pastor Ashwin had been hospitalized after a brutal attack by radical Hindus (Hindu festivals always mean trouble for converts from Hinduism: Please pray for Pastor Ashwin in India). After sixteen days in ICU and a week or so in a regular room, he was finally released in mid-May. He thanks all who prayed for his recovery!

Not to be kept down or out—and not that he had anything to prove but God’s goodness and saving grace—our indomitable Pastor Ashwin was soon back in frontline ministry.

In June we got the tremendous report that he and his team had ministered in a small rural village in western India, and the entire village came to faith in Jesus! With your help and prayers we are trying to supply him with the needed Gujarati language bibles for the many new Christians.

Rejoicing unfortunately soon turned to more struggle when the team began feeling sick with what they at first thought was simple stomach flu. Unbeknownst to them, the village they had just spent time ministering in had been in the midst of a cholera outbreak. Their symptoms turned out to be cholera as well, and the pastor and two of his team ended up needing hospitalization. While they were released a week later, by then Pastor Ashwin’s children had also come down with cholera and likewise spent a week in hospital.

Being the prevailing warrior he is, the recent trials have only strengthened Pastor Ashwin’s will and determination. He has returned to ministry with even more spiritual power, proving yet again the amazingness of our ‘upside-down Kingdom’.

Stranded people being evacuated following heavy rains in village of Chhara, Uttarakhand State,India [Reuters]

Intense monsoon rains across India have caused heavy flooding and landslides in many areas. Nineteen of our Bibles for Mideast families lost their homes but thankfully, managed to escape to the safety of refugee camps. With much prayer, fasting and hard work, church members—including Pastor Paul and his family—rebuilt the homes within two weeks. All the displaced families have now returned to their restored homes.

We have two more urgent prayer requests from this past week. Pastor Subhash, one of our pastors in North India, was brutally attacked by extremists while sharing the gospel with a group of villagers. They then handed him over to the police, who charged him with ‘forcefully converting people to Christianity’. The officers refused to allow him to be taken to hospital for proper treatment. It took Pastor Paul three days (while church members prayed and fasted) to get the police to finally release the pastor, who was then admitted to hospital. He, his family and his church are all poor—please pray for them.

Our Pastor Ram Behadur in Nepal has also suffered a brutal attack and been hospitalized. He had actually been praying for the sick, sharing the gospel and giving away New Testaments in a Nepalese hospital when a group of Hindu militants caught wind of it. Enraged, they grabbed him, dragged him outdoors, tied him to a tree and ruthlessly beat him. When someone let the police know, they fortunately had pity on him and brought him back into the hospital. Please pray for this brave pastor, his church and his family. He is still hospitalized.

Please also keep Pastor Paul, his wife Mercy and myself (Susanna) in your prayers. We all have had some health challenges but know God hears the prayers of faithful friends like you.

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“But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.”
—2 Cor. 12:9, Berean Study Bible

“I can do all things [which He has called me to do] through Him who strengthens and empowers me [to fulfill His purpose—I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency; I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace.]”
—Phil. 4:13, Amplified Bible

Hindu festivals always mean trouble for converts from Hinduism: Please pray for Pastor Ashwin in India

Hindu festivals always mean trouble for converts from Hinduism, especially in increasingly radical and authoritarian Hindu nationalist India. Hindus across Kerala and some neighboring areas of India celebrate Vishu, the beginning of their traditional new year today (the day is celebrated elsewhere but called by other names).

While some prepared for the festival in a home in Karnataka State yesterday evening, they overheard Bibles for Mideast Pastor Ashwin sharing the gospel and his testimony nearby. Enraged on learning he had converted from Hinduism to Christianity, they left with steel pipes to find and brutally attack the pastor. He suffered serious injuries and is now in hospital, desperately needing our prayers. He has three little children. The church where he has been ministering is as rich in the Spirit as its members are poor.

Please pray for Pastor Ashwin, his family and church and our many other converts from Hinduism: that God would protect, guide, and provide for miraculous growth.

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UPDATE ON PASTOR ASHWIN (April 30)

After spending 16 days in ICU, Pastor Ashwin has been finally moved to a regular room and is now able to speak—and praise and thank our Lord! Thank you to all who have prayed … please keep it up, for him and all of our workers.

Cardiac surgeon says his young patient opened his own heart

Angela* had been a long-awaited addition to the family for a formerly Muslim couple now worshipping Jesus at an ALG (Bibles for Mideast) church near their home in North India. Born 13 years into their marriage, little Angela was only six when doctors discovered a serious problem with her heart. Blood clots were forming and interfering with her heart’s functioning, so her parents took her to a renowned cardiologist for further assessment.

After a thorough check-up, the specialist advised immediate open-heart surgery, but warned that it came with only a 30 percent chance of success.  

“What will happen if we don’t go for the surgery?” the concerned parents asked. 

“She will not live more than three months,” the surgeon answered.

After much prayer and consideration, the parents opted for the surgery.

“You do understand I can give you only a 30 percent assurance on her life,” the doctor reminded them. The parents nodded; they would stick by their decision.

The day for surgery arrived, and Angela was prepped for the procedure. She spied her surgeon getting ready too.

“Doctor Uncle, Doctor Uncle!” she cried out [an Indian expression showing her familiarity with the doctor—Ed.]  “I heard you will tear into and cut my heart!”

“Don't worry, my child,” the doctor assured her kindly. “I promise, you won’t feel any pain or discomfort.”

“It’s not that, Doctor Uncle! My mommy and daddy taught me that my Lord Jesus is living in my heart … and I do believe that! So Doctor Uncle, when you tear into and cut my heart open, please don't cause any pain and discomfort to my Lord, who sits there. Also, please, if you do see my Lord, tell me what he’s like!”

The caring doctor smiled at his young patient’s innocent—but surely ignorant—faith. As an atheist, he had long believed all of his success and accomplishments were his own doing, due to his own great intelligence and ability.

The operation finally got underway. But within 40 minutes, the young patient’s blood pressure, pulse rate and oxygen levels all began plummeting. As good as he was, the surgeon could see his efforts would be in vain, so he handed the operation off to his junior associates. Better leave than admit failure, he figured.

Still, this little girl had gotten to him somehow. He headed for a quiet, empty corner of the operating room, sat down and slowly sipped some water.

Just what was it about Angela, and especially, her words? He couldn’t get those words out of his own heart and brain.

“Lord God Jesus,” he found his heart praying before it could properly register in his brain. “If You are true and really dwelling in Angela's heart as she believes and says, please do a miracle now in her life.”

Within moments, the younger surgeons rushed over to him.

“Doctor, we don't know what is happening! Her blood pressure, heart rate and oxygen saturation levels are all miraculously heading to normal! Blood has just now started pumping in her heart!”

The senior surgeon leapt up and rushed to the child’s side, beginning to fathom the fact the Lord Jesus must surely have worked a miracle in his young patient’s heart. He took over the reins of the operation and four and a half hours later, could declare it a complete success.

A few days later, feeling well and almost herself again, Angela had a few questions for her surgeon.

“Doctor Uncle! Did you happen to see my Lord Jesus when you cut into my heart? Did He say anything to you?”

“My dear child,” her cardiac surgeon answered, close to tears. “Over the last 30 years, I have opened many, many hearts. But, my precious little patient, you, YOU, were the only one who opened MY heart to see Lord God Jesus.”

Angela, now 18 and with a perfectly-functioning heart, is in university studies and doing well.

Please keep her and her continuing witnessing efforts in your prayers. Please also pray for the surgeon. While he knows and believes in the Truth of Jesus, he has kept his faith mostly hidden due to fear of retribution.

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*name changed for security reasons