Gospel for Asia

Gospel for Asia-supported missionary, Gobesh Manranman, was arrested July 3 on his way to church. He is in jail, charged with being a member of a murderous rebel group that is the target of a government crackdown.

Gobesh, who is pastor of a small congregation in a village near a large city center, was taken into custody while walking to church Sunday morning.

Pastors are often charged with being associated with this rebel group because they openly minister to individuals who are part of the group. They do not condone their rebel activities.

Rather, they want to introduce them to the Savior. Other times, local people who are angry becuase many in their village choose to leave their traditional faith to embrace Christ, make false allegations against them.

Two Gospel for Asia-supported missionaries in India were arrested over the weekend. One was released later that same day, but the other remains behind bars.

Pastor Accused of Being Member of Rebel Group
Rahul Akkunj was arrested on Saturday and is charged with being a member of a well-known rebel group. Rahul is not part of the group. Rather, he is the pastor of a church in the village where he was arrested.

The allegations came after a fasting and prayer meeting Rahul led at his church. Several villagers who heard about the event were distressed, saying that if Rahul's church continues to grow at the rate it has been, their traditional religion will be wiped out.

Throughout South Asia, many of Jesus' followers—especially those who have recently committed their lives to Him—face persecution from their communities. Within the past year, the following Christians have experienced threats and abuse because they claim the name of Jesus:

Man's New Infectious Faith Provokes Village Unrest
Kantimoy once devoutly followed the religion traditional to his people group. He, his wife and their three children got up early every day to worship their deity. Kantimoy was even in charge of maintaining the property of the temple in his village.

But the gods and goddesses he worshiped couldn't heal his three children. His 10-year-old son, Jugnu, suffered from seizures, his 8-year-old daughter had a hole in her heart and his youngest daughter experienced night terrors that disrupted his entire household, robbing them of sleep.

Hundreds of people used to go to Sampat for healing. His witchcraft would temporarily rid them of their ailments. Yet when Sampat fell sick, he wasn't able to heal himself.

He tried using his powers to find a cure, and when that didn't work, he sought the help of doctors. But the doctors weren't able to do much. Instead, they gave him the bad news that his kidneys were failing, and he didn't have much longer to live.

In deep discouragement, Sampat was awaiting his death—that is, until a Gospel for Asia-supported missionary visited his home and prayed for him. It was after that prayer that Sampat began to feel "a little free inside, like some burden was removed from his body," said a GFA field correspondent.

Sukhra Chauhan was unknowingly possessed by a demon for almost six years. After an arduous search for deliverance, she unexpectedly came to the right place—her relative's house.

Sukhra's torment robbed her entire family of peace. Desperate for a solution to her problems, they spent a lot of money going to magicians who could supposedly heal sicknesses.

None of them could help Sukhra. But when she went to another state for a religious festival, she ended up visiting a relative, a Christian woman who belongs to the congregation of GFA-supported pastor Vibhas Jaiteley. Sukhra's relative realized she was demon possessed and asked her to stay in her home for a few days.

Gospel for Asia-supported missionary Sunil Damral was shocked when the police came to his house with a search warrant. Sunil, who serves on a GFA film team, had no choice but to allow them to search through his equipment. The police did not find anything out of order, so they left.

Sunil later learned that someone had filed a legal complaint against him, saying he was using force, fraud and allurement to get people to convert to Christianity. The state where Sunil lives has legal statutes, known as "freedom of religion laws," which have strict guidelines that a person must follow when they want to change their faith. In reality, the laws mostly target Christian pastors and laypeople who share their faith.

The police told him the complaint against him indicated that he was also carrying illegal weapons with his film equipment.

In an area plagued by darkness, Gospel for Asia-supported pastor Josiah Munda is working to proclaim the name of Christ.

People in this region hold to traditional beliefs and superstitions. If a person dies, the people in the community often blame a widow or an older woman for the death, accusing her of witchcraft. Sometimes they will even kill people over such matters.

Last August, a local newspaper reported that nine people took part in murdering a 56-year-old woman. A pregnant young woman in their village had died, and they suspected the older lady had committed witchcraft against her.

Although this woman was falsely accused, Munda knows from personal experience that people in his area do practice witchcraft. When he was a young man, he followed the traditional religion of this region.

One day, he had a stroke that left him paralyzed. His wife consulted a magician who told them that if they did not offer goats to their deities, Munda would die. Because he could not afford to sacrifice goats, Munda went to a doctor instead. He took the medicines prescribed by the doctor and experienced complete physical restoration.

When a pastor shared the good news with Rajendra, he refused to listen—even though he and his family were in a desperate situation.

Both frequent illnesses and a financial crisis plagued Rajendra—only 25—and his family. Worst of all, his 5-year-old son, Sanam, had been suffering from severe stomach pain for almost two years. Rajendra had spent almost all his money on the boy's medical treatment and visited many temples, but Sanam's health only grew worse. His stomach started to bulge out.

Sanam's unrelenting ailment left the family deeply discouraged. Yet when the pastor told Rajendra about Jesus and His power to heal, Rajendra's hatred of Christianity made him reject the pastor's message. He refused even to let this missionary pray for his son.

Pintan Khundir's family moved from a congested urban area of South Asia to a small village because they thought the rural area would offer a better life. Pintan and his wife have three children, and they wanted them to be raised in a more traditional environment where, among other things, they would learn to follow the family's customary religion.

But then disaster struck—Pintan was paralyzed. He could not walk or work or interact with his children like a normal father does. His family, ever faithful to their traditional gods, carried Pintan to the temples and offered sacrifices on his behalf. They also took him to several doctors and hospitals for treatment, but nothing worked.

Believers in South Asia are often persecuted for their decision to follow Jesus, but many are staying strong and holding firm to their faith. Despite opposition and threats on their families, these believers are choosing to trust Jesus even in the face of fear.

A Gospel for Asia-supported missionary, Padmesh Chopra, risked his life to share the gospel with a woman in one South Asian village. After hearing the good news, this woman, Gajra Dutta, and her family chose to follow Jesus.

Christians in one South Asian village are desperately trying to bear persecution hurled their way by their unbelieving neighbors.

On March 18 the believers were having a home prayer meeting when a man named Kushal Mehta vandalized the roof on the house while the Christians were still inside. He then stormed inside and broke many items there.

The believers didn't say anything to him, but when they came out of the house, they saw he had defaced property outside as well. To prevent Kushal from escaping without legal consequences, they detained him.

Gospel for Asia-supported missionary Sukhwinder Das, who has been serving in a village for four years, started experiencing serious opposition a few weeks ago. In the past week the persecution has escalated into threats and even violence.

On June 4, all the villagers called Sukhwinder to a meeting, where they tried to force him to abandon his faith in Christ and his ministry. Sukhwinder refused.

Just a few days ago, the tense situation reached its climax. At 8 p.m. on June 8, the village elders stormed into Sukhwinder's home and attacked him, his wife, their three children and his elderly father. They even hurled stones at the children.

Sukhwinder's father was beaten until he lost consciousness and suffered serious injuries.

Badri Kapur, a first-year student at a Gospel for Asia Bible college, was recently involved in a vehicle accident that left him with painful injuries.

Badri was crossing the road by the Bible college when a car suddenly hit him. He saw the vehicle headed his way and tried to run for safety, but he was unable to avoid the collision. Badri was immediately rushed to the hospital for treatment.

He sustained multiple injuries to almost every area of his body.

Days after the accident, he even fell unconscious as a result of a head injury. He is in serious need of surgery, according to the doctors.

Badri needs prayer for the doctors who will be performing the surgery–that God's hand will be upon them and the procedure will be successful. Also, pray for fast recovery from his wounds and injuries.

God is using Gospel for Asia-supported film teams to radiate His light in the midst of political unrest in one region of South Asia. Challenges do not deter the film team missionaries from showing movies about Christ to hundreds of people—many of whom were once antagonistic to the good news.

In October, two film team missionaries, Petras Yadav and Stephen Chauhan, showed two movies, Man of Mercy and Repentance, in a village. A crowd of more than 100 people gathered to watch the films.

Among the audience was Muktananda Khan, a boy who had grown up following his culture's traditional religion. Touched by the movies' message, Khan wanted to find out more about Jesus and approached Petras and Stephen when the films were over.

Many South Asian believers face intense persecution and trials, but that has not stopped them from following God's call.

Gospel for Asia-supported missionary Vajra Pillai recently started his ministry in a small village. Around 15 people began gathering for prayer and worship services. However, opposition from a fanatical group began to surface.

Pillai was warned to stop having worship and prayer meetings and to not tell anyone else about Jesus. When confronted, the pastor simply walked away, refusing to be drawn into a confrontation.