Participants:
Series Code: JFAN
Program Code: JFAN000046A
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00:22 Hello, and welcome to Jesus for Asia Now.
00:24 I'm Natalie Wood 00:25 and today my husband Jon and I want to talk to you again 00:28 about some of our Bible worker stories. 00:30 Hello, love. Hi, darling, you look lovely. 00:32 Oh, thank you. 00:33 Our story today is about a Bible worker now, 00:38 but it starts with a disobedient housewife. 00:42 It goes way back, back in 2006 00:45 we were looking around this area, 00:47 we found a several different churches that had been built 00:50 but were locked 00:51 because there weren't any pastors or Bible workers 00:54 to take care of them. 00:55 The local unit, the local conference at that time 00:58 didn't have the manpower to keep them going 01:01 so they've been locked. 01:02 And the villagers were complaining, 01:04 says, this church is here, but it's never opened. 01:07 And so we thought, you know what, 01:08 we're gonna do evangelistic series. 01:11 Why go to place that we'd have to build a new church 01:14 when we can just come and start the churches 01:16 that are already built. 01:17 So we brought six teams 01:19 and we did evangelistic series in six different churches. 01:23 Right. 01:24 And the thing is so that this was all around 01:26 one main town Udumalpet. 01:28 In that town there was no church. 01:31 So the president of the conference came to us 01:35 and says, "Can we please do something 01:37 for the main city of Udumalpet?" 01:40 So we added an effort in the town area 01:43 and so we all took turns to speaking there and... 01:48 And it was in a big marriage hall, 01:49 rented hall, and a lot of people came. 01:51 One of our Bible workers that had been with us 01:54 from the very, very beginning, 01:56 she used to be a Muslim 01:57 but she had married a Christian, 01:59 but the Christian in order to marry her 02:01 had to become Muslim, 02:02 so he converted to Muslim 02:04 but he told her a little bit about Christianity, 02:06 and then he kind of went crazy 02:09 and came at her and stabbed her with the machete, 02:12 hacked her up. 02:14 And they carried her to the hospital, 02:16 you know, pieces of flesh and stuff like that. 02:19 She only knew one promise, 02:21 and she claimed that promise over and over again, 02:23 and the doctor says you will die in three hours, 02:26 three days later she walks out of the hospital. 02:28 Yeah, God is good. And then she became our... 02:31 Bible worker. Yeah. So she went out... 02:33 She and her daughters went and knocked on this one, 02:36 in the houses in the neighborhood, 02:37 and this one house she knocked on, 02:39 she met Jennifer. 02:42 And she invited them to the meetings. 02:44 Yes. 02:45 But Thomas, Jennifer's husband said, 02:47 "No way, we're not going." 02:48 That's right. 02:50 They had their faith 02:51 and that was good enough for them, but she... 02:53 They were Christian, right? Yes. 02:55 Of another faith. Right. 02:56 He used to be a Hindu priest and converted to Christianity 03:01 but a different faith. 03:02 And so she started coming to the meetings... 03:04 She was sneaking out. Sneaking out at night. 03:06 She wasn't coming when he knew. 03:07 Right. 03:08 And then she got so excited about it, 03:10 she started sharing with him 03:13 what she was learning and his heart was softened. 03:17 And so they started coming as a family. 03:19 And at the end of those meetings... 03:21 They were baptized. Yes. 03:25 And I remember the pastor saying this is a special couple 03:30 because they're from a caste that is very unusual, 03:34 very few of them actually have become... 03:37 And there's many, many castes, 03:38 like 2,000 unreached people groups in India 03:41 and that's because there are so many different castes, 03:44 and so many different castes 03:45 that have not heard the gospel yet. 03:46 Right, and things don't cross caste barrier very well. 03:49 No. 03:50 So they were converted, 03:53 and then they learned more and more of the truth. 03:57 And, of course, the church that came out of those meetings, 04:02 we had to continue renting a marriage hall, 04:04 and even to this day 04:06 we're still praying for funds to build a church. 04:09 So back to their story... Yes. 04:11 They learn more and more of the gospel 04:15 and they loved it more and more. 04:17 And now, then they became... 04:19 Bible workers. Yes. 04:20 They both quit their good jobs. Yeah. 04:22 And became Bible workers. 04:24 Now, we're gonna show you some of the stuff 04:26 that he does as a Bible worker. 04:35 I go in the morning, I buy vegetables 04:38 like carrot, beet root, tomato, onion, 04:43 brinjal, and then also cabbage. 05:48 And then I go to the grocery shop 05:50 to buy needed groceries like dahl 05:55 and then powders, coriander powder, chili powder, 05:58 sambar powder, turmeric powder for the cooking, 06:04 and various items like that, and then these vegetables also, 06:08 so that is what I take to the evening school. 06:34 For the evening schools 06:35 weekly, once, I buy all these things 06:38 and take it on my bike 06:39 and put it in 4 or 5 evening schools. 06:44 This is what I'm doing regularly. 07:04 So how did you like his transport vehicle? 07:07 It looks like he has to be very careful 07:09 to keep everything on there with him when he is going. 07:13 Yeah, you notice the big motorbike 07:15 wasn't as efficient as the little motorbike. 07:18 The little motorbike is actually stronger, 07:20 its frame is stronger, he can carry more with it. 07:23 Right, and the seat is more square, 07:24 it's not so rounded, 07:26 so the boxes like didn't fall off. 07:27 And there is dip in front of him so he can... 07:28 Yeah. 07:29 But that's how he delivers to all six evening schools. 07:33 So not only does he have the churches that he cares for, 07:36 he has all these evening schools that he oversees. 07:39 He also make sure that they have 07:40 proper spiritual oversight as well. 07:45 So he's like the principal 07:47 and make sure everything runs smoothly 07:49 and the teachers are teaching and all that, 07:52 so, he's got a lot of work on his hands. 07:55 And all this came from having those, 07:57 that evangelistic series. 07:59 Yeah. That's awesome. 08:00 I wonder how many more workers out there like him 08:04 would come into the truth 08:05 if we did more evangelistic series. 08:08 But now the country is starting to close up 08:10 to that kind of thing, 08:12 so we need to pray harder. 08:14 Yeah. Yeah. 08:15 This next video shows 08:16 what an evening school looks like. 08:18 Okay, awesome. 08:34 These children, they have the mark of their Hindu gods 08:39 on their forehead, 08:40 but when you see they kneel 08:42 and they pray to the living God 08:44 with their god's mark on their forehead. 08:48 They recite memory verses. 08:50 They tell these stories 08:53 which they have heard before through their parents! 08:58 It's so amazing that God is doing a miraculous thing! 09:01 And these children are being taught 09:04 that for everything they have to go 09:06 pray to the living Lord Jesus Christ. 09:10 When they lose something like a pencil or a pen or an eraser, 09:15 they immediately pray: 09:17 "Oh, Lord, I've lost my thing, please give." 09:19 And the mighty thing is God is answering 09:22 those little things for these children. 09:24 So their faith has been growing day by day. 09:28 I thank the Lord for that. 09:30 Even if the teacher forgets to pray, 09:31 the children will remind the teacher 09:33 to pray before the food, 09:35 you know, because they have been taught that way, 09:37 and it is blessing to have these programs, 09:40 and it has brought a big impact on the children 09:44 who attend these evening schools. 09:46 There were a couple of people from the society, 09:50 from the community came and told the teacher 09:53 that the children who come to the evening school 09:56 are better than the children 09:58 who don't come to the evening school. 10:01 God is doing mighty things. 10:03 He is working through these young people. 10:06 Our intention is the coming generation will be a generation 10:12 which fears the living Lord, which serves the living God. 10:54 I love our evening schools. Yeah. 10:56 They're so precious, those kids. 10:58 I love to hear them sing. 11:00 I sit there and you could see me looking 11:02 'cause I'm trying to catch any Tamil words that I know 11:05 when they're sharing their memory verses. 11:08 And sometimes you can tell, 11:10 you know, the name of whoever the memory verse is about 11:13 will be in there or something. 11:15 And so, you'll be able to tell what the story is 11:17 but many times I just have to say, 11:20 they must have done a good job. 11:23 Everybody seems to be smiling so it must be good. 11:26 Yeah, you know, so Jennifer is helping 11:29 with the coordinating worships and things like that 11:31 for the evening school as well so... 11:33 Right. Yeah. 11:34 So they're both fully involved. Very busy. 11:36 Very busy people, yeah. 11:38 Their daughters are going through high school 11:40 and so they're very busy 11:41 preparing for their exams and everything, 11:44 but God has blessed their family 11:46 because they've been faithful. 11:47 And we trust Thomas with large responsibility 11:51 and with the funding, 11:52 and he's always been faithful which is huge. 11:55 Very, very honest. 11:56 Impeccably honest which is great. 11:58 Yeah, So this next couple of videos 12:00 is going to be talking about 12:02 some of the challenges that they had in the house 12:05 that they had to move into 12:06 in which they lived for quite a number of years 12:09 when they took the pay cut 12:10 as to become Bible workers to work for God. 12:14 And so they took the pay cut, 12:16 I mean, they took the new job as Bible workers 12:18 not because they wanted to get ahead in life 12:21 or have a better life 12:23 because they really were wanting to serve God. 12:26 And, you know, they saw 12:27 the leadership of Jesus for Asia 12:29 that we were doing this by faith, 12:31 that we weren't wealthy, 12:33 you know, businessmen that had deep pockets 12:35 and just give them the money whenever, 12:38 you know, they need it. 12:39 They saw that we were sacrificing to do this also, 12:42 gladly, happily 12:43 because the payoff, the return on... 12:45 I mean, Christ has already paid all of our salaries 12:48 way more than we could ever pay Him back 12:51 so that was enough. 12:53 And so that Spirit of Christ was in them and they took that, 12:57 but this is kind of describing some of the things 12:59 that they went through. 13:00 Okay, so this next video is of their old house. 13:03 Yes. 13:04 This is the place where they were staying for 10 long years 13:08 and they had all the snake experience, 13:11 all these bad experience in their life in this house. 13:16 Right now what we see is 13:18 where they wash the clothes here, 13:20 and this is the toilet and bathroom. 13:25 This is the only place where the children used to take bath, 13:28 you know, just a wall 4 feet 13:32 and above that there is nothing to cover. 13:35 And this is a kind of small kitchen here 13:39 where they used to grind their things for the food. 13:44 And this is the entrance for the house. 13:48 This is the living room, 13:50 plus bedroom where they had a cot here 13:54 where the children used to sleep 13:56 and they had a cupboard here 13:58 where they had all their clothes 13:59 and two, three chairs. 14:02 And this is where they used to sleep in the night. 14:04 And this is the kitchen room where they cooked food here, 14:08 and this is where they kept their kitchen things. 14:12 So this house consists of just two rooms, 14:16 one is the living room which is also the bedroom 14:19 and the kitchen room where they cooked. 14:21 You can see the roof just broken. 14:23 During the rainy time it used to pour down 14:27 and when it rains, 14:28 she says that they used to carry the children 14:31 to this spot. 14:32 If it is dripping down here, they will change to there. 14:36 The whole night they are without sleep 14:39 during the rainy time 14:40 because it pours down, leaks inside. 14:43 And God answered 14:44 Sister Jennifer and Brother Thomas' prayer. 14:47 After 10 years He has given them 14:49 a nice, beautiful house. 14:51 And this is where Sister Jennifer used to pray, 14:54 started her fasting and praying ministry here, 14:58 and God has answered all their prayers thus far. 15:02 And so after all of her prayers... 15:03 And I loved what she says, "I kept praying for my needs, 15:07 and I complained to my husband," 15:08 and my husband says, 15:09 "Hey, I'm the servant of God, you talk to Him." 15:16 And so she started talking to God 15:18 and asking and God moved them into a beautiful new apartment. 15:24 And we're going to look a little bit about 15:26 some of the challenges 15:27 that they had in this old house. 15:29 Okay. Right now. 15:31 She came inside, she was singing songs 15:34 and lifted up yesterday's food and when she... 15:37 She could hear the rats running here and there, 15:40 it was an unusual thing. 15:42 And then she just came here, she saw... 15:45 They had a big bureau, an old bureau here, 15:49 you know, a cot, a bureau 15:51 where they used to keep their clothes 15:54 and all those things. 15:56 And she just saw a big snake coming down the bureau 16:02 and it was just coming. 16:04 She just screamed "Jesus Christ!" 16:07 And then, because he was there, 16:10 she shouted, "Please come, I need your help! 16:13 A big snake is here!" 16:15 She said, "I want you to hit the snake, 16:18 kill the snake. 16:20 Don't call anyone." 16:21 Because previously, when they called some people 16:24 to help them to kill the snake, they started speaking like 16:28 "See you people are going to church 16:30 and you people, your house... 16:32 Are you feeding snake, is the snake growing here, 16:35 you should go to a river bring water, sprinkle." 16:39 They used to say those things. 16:40 So having that in her mind, 16:42 he was searching for nearly one hour, 16:45 where is the snake? 16:46 The snake went somewhere, 16:48 and because they had so many books 16:50 and so many things were here. 16:52 He saw the snake just crawled 16:54 in the corner of that place there 16:56 when they removed those things, 16:58 you know, the books and everything. 16:59 God only kept the snake without moving anywhere. 17:02 As he was talking to me, 17:04 he said: "Even I am scared of snake, 17:07 I was really scared that time. 17:08 If the snake would have moved, I would have run outside." 17:12 But God made the snake just sit idly. 17:15 Then he hit the snake and killed the snake. 17:17 The length of the snake is more than six feet. 17:21 Such a big hefty snake. 17:23 Was it a poisonous snake? 17:31 It didn't open the head but it was a poisonous snake 17:36 because it was dark black in color. 17:38 Three times a snake have come inside. 17:45 She's very thankful to the Lord for helping them, 17:49 for supporting them, for keeping them, 17:52 preserving them from all these dangerous things, 17:55 and also she thanks the Jesus for Asia ministry 17:58 for their support, and for their prayers, 18:01 and for their help. 18:05 Amazing. Yeah. 18:06 So they lived in that place for 10 years. 18:10 Yeah. Yeah. 18:11 Why would we want to live with the snakes either. 18:13 No. Yeah. 18:14 And so they prayed a lot that the Lord would help them, 18:18 not only with the snakes, but that He would help them 18:20 to be able to live somewhere else. 18:22 But they kept living there 18:23 and they kept doing that kind of work 18:24 just because they believed in it 18:26 and they wanted to serve God. 18:28 Then they were allowed by the Lord to move 18:30 into a different apartment. 18:31 Yes. And this place was pretty new. 18:34 We went there to visit them. 18:36 Yeah, and this is a video of the new place. 18:38 Yes. 20:36 That was an apartment complex. 20:37 They don't own that whole place 20:39 and they don't live in that whole place, 20:41 they just have one small unit, yeah. 20:44 But it's definitely safer, 20:46 and that unit has an indoor bathroom. 20:49 Right, that's a blessing. 20:51 And she doesn't have a washing machine, 20:53 but you noticed, 20:54 she had to rinse the clothes by hand 20:55 and then hang them to dry 20:57 which can be a challenge during rainy season. 21:00 But it's still, that's still a lot better 21:02 than the other place where they were. 21:04 And now she's praying for others that she knows, yes. 21:08 And also is a testament to those people 21:10 that would come and say, "Oh, the snake is here, 21:12 and you're having all this trouble 21:14 because you're going to church" 21:15 is a testament to them that their God is a good God 21:18 and can take care of them. 21:19 The other thing we want to talk about today 21:21 is one of his churches 21:23 and that is the Udumalpet town church 21:25 like we were talking about that has been 21:27 in rented facilities until recently. 21:30 And now they've bought a property 21:32 and it has a building on it but it's a house. 21:35 Yes. It's not a church. 21:36 And there's not very much room in there 21:38 for a large congregation 21:39 that should be for a large city like that. 21:41 Right. Right. 21:43 So we were there and we visited 21:45 and they asked us to share the need 21:47 for a church building. 21:53 We're here in the town of Udumalpet, 21:56 which is not a large city in India. 21:59 It's only 500,000 people here or so. 22:02 And what happened in 2007? 22:05 Well, we came and did the evangelistic series here 22:07 in the surrounding villages. 22:10 And then after we had started the series, 22:12 we had six of them going. 22:14 They said, "But wait, 22:15 there's no church in the city itself" 22:17 so we're going to all these villages. 22:19 So then we started another series 22:21 that was going on at the same time 22:24 in the town center. 22:26 In the city of Udumalpet proper. 22:28 And what was the result of those efforts? 22:32 A church was planted. Yes. 22:34 About 40 people were baptized. Yeah. 22:38 And so there is a desire to build a church here 22:40 in Udumalpet in 2007. 22:43 Yeah. 22:44 And was that dream ever accomplished? 22:47 No, it wasn't. 22:49 Actually, we had fundraised for it 22:51 and the region here was trying to get money together 22:54 so that they could do it, but there just wasn't enough. 22:57 Yeah, it's very expensive. 22:58 And so they've looked for property, 22:59 and they've looked at this property, 23:01 and they actually had a dedication 23:02 last time we were here 23:03 on a different piece of property. 23:05 But then the Lord showed them this piece. 23:07 Yes. 23:08 And this place has a house on it 23:10 and an empty spot in the back. 23:13 And so they are now, this church is now meeting 23:16 in the living room of this house. 23:19 And as you saw this morning it'd be very packed 23:21 on regular church service. 23:23 I think you can fit maybe 20 people in that room, 23:26 but the original church was 40. 23:29 And so there's a lot more 23:30 possibility for growth in this area 23:33 and it's limited by this facility. 23:35 Right. 23:36 So we're praying and the leaders here, 23:39 and the Bible workers here are all praying 23:41 that we can build an actual church building here. 23:44 We'll have to take down the house, 23:46 but they'll build an actual church building 23:48 that would seek to people. 23:49 Well, there's two options. 23:50 One is to build one in the back 23:52 and the other one is to just take down this house 23:54 and build a big church 23:56 that would cover the whole property. 23:57 I'm praying for the second option 24:00 because I would love to see, you know, it's a big city, 24:03 we should have a big church that could... 24:06 We're exploring on it. And fill it, right. 24:07 Yeah, absolutely. 24:09 So this is the Udumalpet church. 24:12 I know that's kind of a challenge to say, 24:16 took me a bunch of times to start with, 24:18 but pray for this church. 24:21 Yeah, so that is a big burden 24:23 on our hearts for the last 10 years 24:25 is to see a new church there that glorifies God 24:29 and His representative for that large city, 24:31 I mean, in India it's a small city 24:33 but for us it's a large city. 24:35 Yeah. 24:36 Yeah, and you notice in some of those shots 24:39 inside the building. 24:40 Some of the shots people were in chairs 24:43 and that was a Bible worker meeting 24:44 when we were there. 24:45 And then the other shot, 24:46 people were sitting on the floor, 24:47 that was church, 24:49 and that way they sit on the floor 24:51 so that more people can crowd in. 24:52 Yeah. 24:53 But God is good and He's been providing for them. 24:56 And we just really are amazed to see 24:58 how He's working in people's lives in that area 25:01 and how He's enabling these Bible workers 25:03 and the evening schools to continue in. 25:06 And He gave them this property 25:08 and so we know that He has a plan. 25:10 And we just have to continue to work 25:13 and we will see His plan fulfilled. 25:14 So there's a lot of stories in that area. 25:16 Yeah. 25:17 Lot of unfinished stories as well. 25:19 Right. 25:20 And a lot more stories because remember, 25:22 this is an area with 6 million people, 25:26 35 churches for 6 million people. 25:29 And was it nine pastors, and 20 Bible workers 25:34 for six million people. 25:36 So this is just one little part. 25:38 There's, I mean, we could theoretically cover, 25:41 and we want to double the workforce in this area 25:44 in the next few years 25:45 because there's so many more needs, 25:48 so many more and more than double. 25:50 Whatever the Lord provides, 25:51 we just want to see this really go. 25:53 Yeah. 25:54 Because the people are worth it in God's eyes. 25:57 Right, and that's awesome because, you know, 25:59 we've been told by church leadership 26:01 that at least 60% of the growth 26:04 in the last 8 to 10 years has been 26:06 because of these JFA Bible workers. 26:08 Yes. 26:09 So we just praise the Lord for what that means. 26:12 And these Bible workers, 26:13 you know, they're not trained pastors, 26:16 but they're doing the work that many pastors are doing. 26:18 Yeah, and it's a blessing for those 26:20 that are giving to support these Bible workers 26:23 because, you know, we can't go over there and do that, 26:25 at least not to the effectiveness 26:27 of what they're doing, 26:29 and so we can provide the funds for them 26:31 to focus on this full time 26:33 and then that grows our future inheritance, 26:36 you know, we can like send it on before us. 26:38 We can exchange our material wealth, 26:40 our earthly wealth for heavenly wealth 26:43 which we will then enjoy for all of eternity. 26:45 Right. It'll be awesome. 26:47 I can't wait to get to heaven and meet people 26:49 that we've never met here but... 26:51 I know. 26:52 Our small part has been 26:54 a part of changing them for eternity. 26:55 It's awesome. 26:57 It's a huge privilege... Yes. 26:59 And an awesome responsibility, very humbling, 27:03 but, you know, it's going to be worth it. 27:06 Absolutely. 27:07 It's going to be worth everything 27:08 that we could ever have gone through. 27:11 Yes. 27:12 And we're very thankful to play a small part in that. 27:16 You know, I was thinking about it the other day 27:19 and when we go to heaven, 27:22 we're going to get newly made bodies. 27:25 We're gonna all be fresh and new with nice skin 27:30 and Jesus is going to keep the scars from the cross. 27:35 And for eternity we will see those proofs 27:38 of His love for us. 27:41 If you would like to be a part of enabling 27:43 these Bible workers to reach the least of Jesus, 27:46 brethren, you can send your tax deductible love gift 27:49 to Jesus for Asia, 27:51 PO Box 1221, Collegedale, Tennessee 37315. 27:56 Call us at 423-413-7321, 28:01 or visit our website at Jesus4Asia.org. 28:06 May God richly bless you 28:07 until we see you again next time 28:09 on Jesus for Asia Now. |
Revised 2018-03-22