“We went to a village situated in a hilly region of Khandamal District where we came to know a few traditional Christians had settled. The forbears of these Christians were converted during the time of the British rule in India. After the British left India in 1947, church growth among them completely stopped. Not only that, many churches were destroyed and Christians backslid due to lack of proper guidance and care for the believers.
I recently read in the history of Orissa how hard the British worked back then to reach people and to establish churches there. The British learned the local language and preached the gospel to them. I was sad to read that many British pastors and evangelists died due to severe weather during that era.
From ten villages we gathered together in a local church about 35 pastors associated with various organisations, training them with The Elijah Challenge. It was completely new to them. They were amazed to know the reality of the miracles recorded in the gospels [which were the evidence of the truth of the gospel to the lost]. They had never before come across such a teaching.
After the teaching…
An evangelist named Prasanta was suffering from severe pain in his knee. He told us that from his knee down it felt paralyzed and was not functioning properly. He had no idea where the pain was from. Along with a few servants of God we ministered to him, and Lord healed him. He together with the servants of God were amazed to witness the pain disappearing within moments.
Another evangelist named Salmon had back pain for six months. He had taken some medicine prescribed by a doctor but it did not work. Again he consulted with the doctor who then advised him to wear a brace along with taking the medicine. He was about to go into town to buy the brace for his back pain, but at our Training Event the Lord did a mighty thing for him. His back was instantly healed. Praise the Lord he didn’t need to buy the brace and to continue taking his medicine!
Thank you so much for praying and for supporting us, making it possible for us to reach and to train the servants of God in such a forgotten area. I am praying that as much as possible I might reach the unreached and train the Lord’s servants where it is needed.”
Submitted by The Elijah Challenge Coordinator in Orissa, India