Founder's Testimony

Ministry Photos

Preaching in Villages 

Discipleship Program

Children's Home

Leprosy Outreach

Blind Ministry

Hospital Outreach

Planting Churches 

Sending Missionaries

NEWSLETTER September/October 2004 - VOLUME EIGHT
INDEPENDENT CHURCH IN INDIA PO BOX 238 FREDERICKSBURG, PA 17026
website: www.indchurch.org email:info@indchurch.org

Our last issue of "Finding Lost souls" covered the amazing life-changing story of Perummal. He was a devout Hindu priest in his village. He worked in the idol temple to take care of the idol gods and the village people would come to him believing they would be blessed by him. But after Independent Church shared the Gospel to Perummal one day, the Lord radically touched Him and now He has forsaken his pagan gods and is now strongly and faithfully worshipping only the Lord Jesus. Others in his village have gotten very angry with Perummal.

One day, they locked him in his old temple and refused to let him out in an effort to try to force him to go back to serving the Hindu gods and return to be the priest of their village. While Perummal was locked up a whole day in the temple, he said he was troubled but at the same time he had an incredible peace in his heart that Jesus would save him. Eventually the village people unlocked the door to let him out. Since then, some of them have been challenging him by telling him strongly that you will go back to being the Hindu priest. But Perummal is keeping His witness strong for Jesus and has been inviting others to the church and others are committing their lives to Jesus though his witness. The village leaders have also persecuted him by firing him from his job and giving it to someone else.

One evening, Perummal invited the ICII Gospel team to show the Jesus film in his village. When they arrived, five Hindu men strongly threatened Perummal and ICII team that they should not enter their village any longer, or if they do, they will beat them. After debating for a long time, these men left and the team showed the film, and that evening ten people accepted the Lord! The following weeks ICII returned to have Bible studies with Perummal and the other new believers. This upset these men and since then they have gathered together their whole village and are now even threatening the village people that they should not welcome these Christians, if they are caught welcoming any Christians to their homes they will be expelled from the village.

The day following this incident, the widow of a previous leader of Perummal's village heard about what had happened to Perummal. She was no longer living at the village, since after her husband's death she had moved into the city. A few months ago, Perummal had gone to her and her family and had shared the Gospel with them and invited them to the church. Through the witness of Perummal, her family had also committed their lives to the Lord. She boldly went to the village leaders in Perummal's village and asked them why they were stopping Perummal from worshipping Jesus. She told them that if the Hindu gods have any power, then they can punish Perummal themselves when he worships Jesus.