Many rumors have spread like lightning about the Quiet Hour/ShareHim evangelism teams who ministered in India, February 1-16, 2008.
To those inquiring as to what happened to those who went to Vellore and Tiruvannamalai areas of India:
First, we are all safe and sound. God has providentially protected us when some were faced with challenges of militant villagers and the authorities.
India constitutionally guarantees freedom of religion, but there are regions and cultures on this subcontinent that resist religious proselytizers.
We were able to share the good news of Christianity in the various sites through Night 13 (of 16). This was true pioneer evangelism in villages where there was no Adventist Christian presence. The village people appreciated the attention and love being given by our teams. Some villages received medical assistance that was so much appreciated. Many of our teams were able to visit practically everyone in their respective villages. Though not everyone was coming to the meetings, the people were listening from their homes. The light of truth penetrated all 50 sites.
Ten of the villages came to one central location close to the city of Tiruvannamalai, a Hindu sacred city. Leaders of a couple of Christian groups shared that this was the first meeting of its kind to have ever taken place. It was nothing short of miraculous to witness hundreds of people coming to evangelism meetings each evening. We were told that Christian believers from these same church entities were praying for our meetings and safety in Norway and the Netherlands. Several sites had miracles of healing take place. Demons were cast out, and village leaders were drawn to our message.
A highlight for me was the baptism of Hindus from various villages from the work that the Bible workers had been doing for several weeks. Because of the advice to North Americans not to openly attend the baptisms, we kept a low profile. I did witness two baptismal sites and handed out Bibles. It was a thrill to see a former Hindu priest being baptized into Christ — and this event ultimately led to some disruption in the town.
Up to this point [February 20], 1200 people have been baptized from the two areas where our evangelism teams ministered.
At no time were the lives of our teams in jeopardy. There were only three villages where on the thirteenth evening a disturbance by one or two militants brought authorities into the villages. Four of our team members were brought into the police station and questioned. The police officers were polite; however, one of the militants, a lawyer, was verbally abusive and wanted our people to be arrested, but it didn’t happen. The officers did temporarily take projectors, computers, and cameras, and a Bible. However, except for one camera all of the items did get back in the hands of our teams later. Only the chips from the two cameras were kept for their investigation purposes.
The police asked the four team members (two husband-and-wife couples) to get into a vehicle when more militant Hindus began to create a stir. They brought them to the hotel and kept police at our hotel to maintain peace and safety of the area. Our group who had been detained were no worse for the wear of three hours of police custody. We were advised by our church leadership in the area that we needed to be ready to leave the area within a few hours so as not to create a worse scene, potentially escalating tensions.
When we boarded two buses, police came and made sure that no militant would get close to us. The 12 or so of the militants were chanting, and wanted the media to get their pictures and footage of their views. When the police asked them to move aside so the buses could leave the hotel area, they wanted to lie down in the way. However, finally the police put them into a “paddy wagon.” Some didn’t go voluntarily, so they were forcibly placed inside and taken away. We then were given a police escort all the way to Bangalore.
We were saddened by not being able to say goodbye to the new friends and brothers and sisters from all of the villages. However, the Bible workers will continue to work in these villages, and many more are preparing for baptism. Quiet Hour chapels are being constructed in several of the villages and more will be built in the coming weeks.
Continue to keep each village and new member in your prayers. Our people in India face these challenges with the opposition on a regular basis, but God has done a marvelous work that has created waves of light throughout many villages. India will have the continued blessing of God’s miracle working power in the days ahead.
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