Feeding Events India and The Elijah Challenge
April 2015 Report
By Bill & Sammye Willis
Why do we want the lost to come to hear and see what God has done?
When we go into cities or remote villages we find many Hindu people who have never heard of Jesus Christ, the only Son of God. They have absolutely no knowledge of the one true God or his one and only plan to providing forgiveness of sin and eternal life through his Son. From generation to generation for hundreds (maybe thousands) of years, all these people have ever known is the worship of idols that represent the false gods of their ancestors. When crops fail they go to a local Hindu priest and offer sacrifices to their god’s. When their children are sick and dying they go to a Hindu priest and pay him to pray to his favorite god to heal their children. When someone is deeply depressed or has mental problems (demonized) they take them to the priest seeking help. Christians understand that these priests themselves have been deceived by demonic spirits and can do nothing to help. Still, Hindu life and culture is built around the worship of these false, demonic gods and fear of what these gods will do to them. That’s all they have ever known. They have no concept of a heavenly Father, a God of love and forgiveness, much less a God who would sacrifice his own son to pay for their sin. In their world they worship many different gods out of fear, not love or respect.
It’s important for these unbelievers to understand that there is only one God, and all who willingly come to him in the name of his son can receive forgiveness of sin and eternal life. They hear, for the first time in their lives, that the God who created the universe knows them and is willing to give them the gift of forgiveness and eternal life. I doubt that they have ever heard the phrase, “Free Gift of Eternal Life” or that there is a God who loves them and wants to have an eternal, personal relationship with them. Even before the alter call, as people begin to grasp who Jesus is and that everything God has for them comes through him, they start confessing their sin and placing their trust in Jesus. Satan’s grip on their lives begins to be broken off as the Holy Spirit comes into their lives.
Everywhere we go we find suffering, desperate people with no hope that their situation can ever change. What is will continue to be. Then they hear that they can ask God for anything in the name of Jesus and Jesus will do it. So, with childlike faith, they believe and cry out to God in the name of Jesus and as they do the Holy Spirit starts healing broken hearts, healing broken relationships, healing many of their diseases and evil spirits start coming out. Remember, I am a conservative Baptist, so honestly it is a little unsettling to see God manifest his power this way. However my testimony to you is that all things are possible in Jesus name. It’s a marvelous thing to behold what God does when these families understand who the real God is and call out to him in the name of his Son. In an instant the works of the devil are overcome and for the first time in their lives fear gives way to hope.
It is into this poverty stricken, religious culture of fear and deception that God has called Feeding Events India and The Elijah Challenge and other ministries. Our job is to introduce these hopelessly lost people to the unknown God and his Son, Jesus Christ. Just like the apostle Paul did. So, our invitation is Come Hear and See, what this God, that you nothing about, has already done for you. Believe me when I say satan does not let go of these precious souls easily, but praise the Lord, as the Hindu priests call on their gods our evangelists and pastors lift up the name of Jesus. It is hard for this old Baptist to adequately describe the impact the word of God has on these people, as the Holy Spirit moves powerfully among them. We have not yet seen God send down fire from heaven, like Elijah did, but we have seen the Holy Spirit move mightily in many different ways to confirm the preaching of the gospel. Because God has placed us on the cutting edge of the advancement of the gospel, we regularly see the Holy Spirit heal the sick and set the captives free. I’ve even received reports from our pastors that dead children have come back to life. As impressive and convincing as these miracles are, the greatest miracle of all is to witness thousands and thousands of lost people come to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. It really does not get any better than that.
Interestingly, the Lord has been opening doors for our evangelist, Elijah Challenge-trained Simon Haq, to preach in some Baptist and Methodist churches in North India. The pastors heard about the large number of people accepting Christ at our evangelistic gospel events and how fast the churches were growing, so they invited Simon to come preach the gospel and teach about the work of the Holy Spirit. We know from past experience that not all church members are really saved and have little knowledge about Holy Spirit, so a plan was quickly put together to teach and preach in as many of the churches as possible. The first church selected was a well known conservative, Methodist church in Punjab state.
When Simon arrived, a tent had been set up and a large group of people had already gathered to hear the gospel. The tent was packed and people overflowed to areas outside. 2,000 to 3,000 people heard Simon’s powerful presentation of the gospel that morning.
Because this was a well established Methodist congregation, Simon expected a fairly modest number of members would respond to the alter call to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior. However that was not what happened. As you can see from these pictures, almost everyone prayed to receive Christ.
