Did you know that Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world today (behind Christianity, which is the largest, and Islam, which is second)? Just under 900 million people on earth subscribe to Hinduism.

In India, October brings with it several major Hindu festivals, fervent celebrations of an empty religion and demonic forces. I invite you to join with me in praying for the Hindu people of India who are trapped in darkness this month. As a help to this endeavor, feel free to download this Hindu Prayer Guide (click the link), put out by the International Mission Board.

In the midst of the spiritual darkness and deception in India, God is at work in powerful ways. Let me share a recent story with you from Sindhu and Minnie….

A few short weeks ago, Sindhu and Minnie Pani (along with four of GTN’s church planters) traveled to Saera Village, a community which is a little over four hours away from where the Pani’s live in Serampore (just outside Kolkata). This jungle village is made up of 19 different families, who are Bengali Hindus and Tribal Santalis. Both of these people groups are day wage laborers, and economically very poor.

Upon arriving in the village, Sindhu and Minnie learned that the people were extremely interested to hear the message of the Gospel, and they gathered together to listen to Sindhu preach.

One of the Hindu families had a twelve-year-old daughter who could not walk and had to be transported by wheelchair everywhere she went. The picture above shows the mother sitting with her daughter on a bamboo mat, and her eyes speak the depths of the suffering she has experienced as the parent of a disabled child. The girls’ parents had taken her four separate times to Vellore Christian Hospital in south India, in hopes that she would be healed, but sadly, the treatment never allowed her to regain use of her legs. On one of these trips, her parents heard the message of the Gospel for the first time, although they did not become believers.

The day that Sindhu and Minnie came to their village, Minnie immediately went out in search of the girl after people told her about the family. Minnie prayed for the girl on the spot, and encouraged her to come join the gathering outside where everyone was waiting to hear Sindhu preach. The parents brought her outside, and Sindhu and Minnie prayed fervently for the girl. When the service was over, the parents of this little girl trusted Christ as their Savior!

The service was filled with prayer and songs, along with Sindhu’s message. There were over 30 people with children who sat for more than two hours to listen and observe, while more people stood at a distance on the road. When the service was over, many people asked them to return to their village. Minnie and Sindhu plan to go back and show them films about the Gospel in the near future. This is “discipleship evangelism” in action! Sindhu and our church planters don’t just come into a village and preach the gospel and leave. They continue to invest their time and energy in explaining what the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Bible are all about. So when these former Hindus do come to know Christ, they know more than the simple gospel message so their faith has some “roots.” It’s in villages like this, all over India, that new church plants are sprouting up on a daily basis! God is moving mightily all over this country that has been blinded for so many years by Hinduism.

Please pray for this young girl, and her family, and all the individuals who live in Saera village . . . pray for their hearts to soften as they hear the Truth of Christ and His life-giving Word.

Blessed to be a blessing to all nations on earth,

Paul

Psalm 67:1-7