(uplifting music)
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- Hello and welcome
to Jesus for Asia Now.
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Today I have my
friend Sharon with me,
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and we're going to be talking
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about her recent trip to India.
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She's got some
amazing stories to share,
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and I know I'm
looking forward to it.
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Welcome to the show Sharon.
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- Thank you.
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- So glad you could be here.
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- I'm glad to
be here, thank you.
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- All right, I know
that you have a lot to share,
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but we want to start
out with what do you do
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for Jesus For Asia?
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- I provide
administrative support,
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which is anything that
is not really accounting,
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not production, and
that big swathe in the middle
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is what I get to do.
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- But you also help
with accounting occasionally.
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- I do, I do.
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- Well we appreciate you
moving here to work with us.
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- Thank you.
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- And that's a
whole other story.
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- [Sharon] That is,
for another episode.
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- Perhaps we should tell that?
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(laughs)
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But what we wanna talk about
today is your trip to India.
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So why did you go to India?
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What inspired you
to go on this trip?
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- Well we wanted, as a team,
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to be able to
collect stories first-hand
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from our evening
schools and our Bible workers.
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And so John put together
a team to go and do that.
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So we were able to visit Bible
workers and evening schools
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and hear stories,
and it was very valuable,
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and we learned a lot, and we
have exciting things to share
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over time as we can put
them together and put them out.
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- Right, so what
was the trip like?
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Was it like you went one
place and you stayed there
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and you just had
places you could walk to?
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What was it like?
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Did you do a lot of
traveling where you were, or?
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- Yeah, so we did, we stayed
in one place for about a week,
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but beyond that we were in
different places as we went.
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So my
colleague, Christina and I,
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who you interviewed already,
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so be sure to watch
that, great episode.
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We felt very
discombobulated at first,
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because every night
we were in a new place,
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and that was a
little bit difficult
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to get used to the
culture and the time change
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and be in a different place.
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- Right.
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- But then we got a
chance to spend time
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for about a week
in the Udumalpet area,
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and then we moved from
place to place after that.
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So, it was both, yeah.
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- So tell me about
culture shock for you there.
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Was this your
first trip to India,
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so everything was a
surprise and everything was new?
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- Well actually both.
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So I have been to
India three times before.
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Once with a sponsoring
organization for children,
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and twice for work
in my previous job.
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And so this was my fourth trip.
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But this was the first time
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that I was
actually with the people,
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and so I saw a
different side of India
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than I did the
previous three trips.
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So I knew what to expect,
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but the depth and
the intensity of it
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was a little bit different,
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because we stayed in places
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that I wouldn't
have stayed before,
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because of the
groups that I was with.
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So we saw poverty up close
and personal, and stayed there.
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We did not escape
to a western hotel,
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and so I had my
first bucket bath,
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and we ate at the
local restaurants,
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we didn't eat at
the western restaurant.
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And so this trip
was a little different,
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because I experienced
more of the real Indian culture
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than I had in the past.
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- Wow, so it was a bit
of an adjustment for you?
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- Yes it was, yes it was.
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- So are there any
particular experiences
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that stand out to you?
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Anything you
wanna share with us?
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- So, we went to
various evening schools
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and met and
interviewed Bible workers,
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and I did want to share some
of the experiences that we had.
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I met a Bible worker
by the name of Vimal.
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And Vimal works in an area
that is predominately Hindu,
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and she characterizes
the people as very faithful
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to their religion.
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So she has found a way to
be able to minister to them,
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and found that praying
with the Hindu families
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is a great way to
become friends with them.
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They are more than eager to
have someone pray with them.
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So she goes from
one house to the next
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and offers to pray with people,
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and that's how
she gets to know them.
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And she met a 14 year old
girl who had tuberculosis,
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and this young girl's
disease had progressed
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to the place where
she was coughing up blood.
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And that means that her lungs
had been damaged to this point
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and the blood vessels inside
her lungs had been damaged,
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so that she was
coughing up the blood,
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and Vimal prayed for her.
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And a few days later,
the young girl went back
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to the doctor, there
was no sign of tuberculosis.
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- Wow.
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- And for me that's significant,
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because I used to work in
the tuberculosis research arena,
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and tuberculosis does
not spontaneously heal
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without medication,
months and months of medication.
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So this really was
an intervention of God.
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- Yeah sometimes its
to the point to where
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it can't heal anyway, even
with the medication, right?
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The damage is so bad already.
- Yes, absolutely, correct.
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So this family was
overjoyed, obviously,
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because untreated
tuberculosis is a death sentence
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for people, and if
they don't have the money
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for the medication, they
know they're going to die.
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- Wow.
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- And to have God heal
her, it blew their minds,
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and they all started
studying the Bible together,
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and the parents have
already been baptized,
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and the young
girl is still studying,
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and is going to
be baptized soon.
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And it's all
because a little woman
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went door-to-door and prayed,
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and did what she
could, and prayed.
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- Wow, that's really neat.
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Well I know
that's not the only story
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that you have to share with us.
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- So the next
story is about Sudina,
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and she is one of our
JFA Bible workers as well,
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and this lady is 70 years old.
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- Wow.
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- And she has the
energy of a 30-year-old.
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It was hard to keep up with her.
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And her area is
also mostly Hindu,
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but she has other religious
beliefs in her community.
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And she also
goes out and visits.
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And that's what
they do, they visit.
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And she met a woman and
gifted her with a Bible,
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and then invited
her to read with her.
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So the two of
them began reading,
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and as they read, more people
started coming and joining,
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and saying, "We wanna be a
part of what you're doing."
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And soon, Sudina had
a whole group of people,
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so Sudina opened her
home on Saturday mornings
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for what we would
consider a church service.
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They would get
together. - Like a house church.
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- Like a house church.
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So they would read the
Bible and they would pray.
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And this group
became a prayer group.
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Now these were not
Seventh-day Adventist,
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these were a mix of religions
coming together to pray,
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because they believed in
what Sudina was teaching them.
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So the first
lady that Sudina met,
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the one that she
gifted the Bible,
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her sister began having
problems with her stomach,
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and she was
diagnosed with a tumor,
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and they say that the
tumor was about this big.
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It was huge.
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So the prayer group got into
action, and started praying.
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And this sister
went to the doctor,
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and they scheduled an operation,
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and said it would
cost 150,000 rupees
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in order to have the operation.
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- Wow, that's a lot of money.
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- That's a lot of money,
and that family could not
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pay 150,00 rupees.
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- Yeah, just for
our viewers sake,
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right now the
exchange rate is just under 70.
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So, well
actually just around 69.
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So, that gives our viewers
some sort of understanding.
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- So it's one U.S.
dollar for 69 rupees.
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Right, so it's a lot of money.
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For a very poor family,
150,000 rupees was huge.
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- Right.
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- So the prayer group
got back together again,
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and kept praying,
and then out of the blue,
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without any explanation,
the doctors called the sister
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and said, "We're going to
only charge you 30,000 rupees."
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For the whole thing.
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For the operation, for
the pre-op, for the post-op,
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all done, 30,000 rupees.
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- Wow.
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- So the sister
had the operation.
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They were able to
take the entire tumor out.
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She was healing and felt better,
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and she
contacted Sudina and said,
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"I wanna know
about the God you serve,
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"because my Gods were
not able to help me at all,
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"and your God did.
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"So I wanna study
the Bible with you."
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- Wow.
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- And that's prayer.
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And that's something that's
very easy for a person to do,
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is just to pray.
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We saw Vimal
praying, and Sudina praying.
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- Right, and that's, yeah,
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like you said
anybody can do that.
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And we all can be a part.
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You know, as God impresses you,
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what, why would she just give
some total stranger a Bible?
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But God impressed her obviously.
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He knew that the
heart was receptive
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and so the Lord was
able to bless her sister.
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- And she opened her home,
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and so she created a
safe place for people to come.
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And any one of us can
do the exact same thing,
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and God can work through that.
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- Wow, again it's just so
amazing to see God heal someone
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for the sake of
teaching them about himself,
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and raising interest in himself.
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Showing his love
and his character.
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- The interesting thing though,
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is that in the first story,
God healed her completely,
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by a miracle, and in this story
he used physicians to do it.
00:10:05.53\00:10:09.67
And so God
heals in various ways.
00:10:09.67\00:10:11.81
- Right, it's
not a cookie cutter
00:10:11.81\00:10:14.94
- Right, exactly.
00:10:14.94\00:10:17.51
- Wow.
00:10:17.51\00:10:18.31
Well we wanna keep going,
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'cause I know you
have more stories.
00:10:19.45\00:10:21.05
So the next one.
00:10:21.05\00:10:22.32
- The next one is about Sushila,
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and she's
another JFA Bible worker,
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and she was walking from the
train to a prayer appointment,
00:10:27.42\00:10:32.49
and on the way, she
met a woman who was crying,
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just sad and crying.
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And Sushila could have
kept walking to her appointment,
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but she didn't, she
stopped and she asked the woman,
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"What's wrong?
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"Why are you crying?"
00:10:48.81\00:10:50.41
And the woman
shared that she belonged
00:10:50.41\00:10:52.38
to a Christian church.
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So they have a large Christian
contingent in the south,
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a church that's down
there, a denomination.
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And this woman was
talking about how alone she was.
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So she had no children,
no husband, no parents,
00:11:05.49\00:11:08.53
and she was sick.
00:11:08.53\00:11:10.57
She was having uterine
issues that needed intervention
00:11:10.57\00:11:15.27
by a physician.
00:11:15.27\00:11:16.87
And she was alone,
and she was scared,
00:11:16.87\00:11:19.44
and she didn't know what to do.
00:11:19.44\00:11:21.38
So Sushila prayed
for her right there,
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and then gave
her her phone number,
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and continued on to
her prayer appointment.
00:11:26.98\00:11:30.05
Later that evening,
the woman did call Sushila,
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and say, okay, we have
the operation scheduled,
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would you pray for me?
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And so Sushila prayed, and then
on the day of the operation,
00:11:37.83\00:11:41.70
the woman called her
and said, "I am so scared.
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"I have never had
an operation before.
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"I don't know what
this is going to be like."
00:11:46.63\00:11:48.94
And Sushila prayed for her again
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that the
operation would go well,
00:11:51.51\00:11:53.41
and that God would be
with the hands of the surgeon,
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and the surgery
went swimmingly well,
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there were no complications.
00:12:00.45\00:12:02.05
- Wow.
00:12:02.05\00:12:03.45
- And the woman was so thankful,
00:12:03.45\00:12:06.29
but this is what
impressed me about the story.
00:12:06.29\00:12:09.12
She told Sushila that she
had been going to this church
00:12:09.12\00:12:12.73
and people knew what
she was going through,
00:12:12.73\00:12:15.60
but no one in that church
prayed for her, or with her.
00:12:15.60\00:12:20.37
- Wow.
00:12:20.37\00:12:21.77
- And she said, "I want
to go to your church Sushila,
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"because you're the
only one who took the time
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"to pray with me."
00:12:30.08\00:12:31.48
And she's now in
the church as a result.
00:12:31.48\00:12:34.85
- Wow.
00:12:34.85\00:12:35.65
And that's something, you know,
00:12:35.65\00:12:36.72
we can take a
lesson from that here.
00:12:36.72\00:12:39.09
People around us, that we
might even see every single day,
00:12:39.09\00:12:42.42
are hurting in ways
that we may not know,
00:12:42.42\00:12:44.63
or we may know, but
if we don't take the time
00:12:44.63\00:12:47.23
to pray with them,
we're not really helping them,
00:12:47.23\00:12:50.20
we're not buoying them up
with our care and our sympathy.
00:12:50.20\00:12:55.17
- Right, and she was so alone
00:12:56.07\00:12:58.04
that she didn't
know who to turn to,
00:12:58.04\00:13:00.18
and if the people you're
going to church with every week
00:13:00.18\00:13:02.28
are not reaching
out to help you either,
00:13:02.28\00:13:04.88
then what do you do?
00:13:04.88\00:13:06.08
And God placed
Sushila right there,
00:13:06.08\00:13:09.62
and had her
stop, and she listened.
00:13:09.62\00:13:12.02
Because she could have said,
00:13:12.02\00:13:13.39
"I've got to get
to my appointment,"
00:13:13.39\00:13:15.69
but she didn't,
and as a result of
00:13:15.69\00:13:17.83
Sushila listening
to God saying, "Pause,"
00:13:17.83\00:13:22.03
someone was brought
into the full truth,
00:13:22.03\00:13:23.90
and she's part of the church.
00:13:23.90\00:13:26.10
- Wow, what a blessing.
00:13:26.10\00:13:27.47
What a blessing.
00:13:27.47\00:13:28.80
I love these Bible workers.
00:13:28.80\00:13:30.54
They are so amazing.
00:13:30.54\00:13:31.97
- They are, they really are.
00:13:31.97\00:13:33.54
They work night, they work
day, it's amazing what they do.
00:13:33.54\00:13:37.01
- So again, God helped her to
see somebody that needed help,
00:13:38.58\00:13:43.65
and she was willing to stop
00:13:44.45\00:13:46.05
and talk to her
and pray with her.
00:13:46.05\00:13:48.26
Wow.
00:13:48.26\00:13:49.29
- Because we never
know when God gives us,
00:13:49.29\00:13:52.33
you know, speak to this person,
or stop and talk to them,
00:13:52.33\00:13:56.33
share this with them.
00:13:56.33\00:13:57.83
We don't know what's
going on behind the scenes,
00:13:57.83\00:13:59.80
and we may feel
uncomfortable and say,
00:13:59.80\00:14:01.84
"Oh that person, I
don't wanna bother them."
00:14:01.84\00:14:04.97
- I don't know them.
00:14:04.97\00:14:06.37
- But God knows, and
God knew that this woman
00:14:06.37\00:14:09.48
was in a position
to hear the truth,
00:14:09.48\00:14:12.95
because she was so lonely,
00:14:12.95\00:14:14.72
and God was
meeting that need for her.
00:14:14.72\00:14:16.79
- Right, and you know
another thing that I think
00:14:16.79\00:14:19.09
that we can remember, is
that we get so busy sometimes
00:14:19.09\00:14:22.52
that we're just
rushing to the next thing,
00:14:22.52\00:14:24.73
and she could very easily have
been caught by that as well,
00:14:24.73\00:14:28.30
you know, rushing
to the appointment,
00:14:28.30\00:14:30.60
and I just wanna
say, we need to slow down,
00:14:30.60\00:14:33.60
so that we can have to stop
and do what God asks us to do.
00:14:33.60\00:14:37.61
- Exactly, yeah
that's a powerful lesson.
00:14:37.61\00:14:40.71
- That really came
out of this story to me.
00:14:40.71\00:14:42.71
All right, well I know we're
not done with your stories yet.
00:14:44.15\00:14:46.41
I know you have a lot
more than you're going
00:14:46.41\00:14:47.85
to share today as well,
00:14:47.85\00:14:49.08
but we're just
grabbing the few minutes
00:14:49.08\00:14:51.45
that we have to share.
00:14:51.45\00:14:53.12
So the next one is about
somebody that you got to meet
00:14:53.12\00:14:56.83
and witness with.
00:14:56.83\00:14:58.16
- Yes, so during the
time that we were in India,
00:14:58.16\00:15:01.46
we actually had drivers
hired to drive us around,
00:15:01.46\00:15:05.63
because the
India traffic is crazy,
00:15:05.63\00:15:08.90
if anyone has been there,
00:15:08.90\00:15:10.44
and it was much safer to
have an experienced driver
00:15:10.44\00:15:14.21
who knows how to get
around, to work with us,
00:15:14.21\00:15:17.78
rather than one of us
trying to drive the van
00:15:17.78\00:15:21.18
that we had acquired
to move the equipment
00:15:21.18\00:15:24.25
and the team around.
00:15:24.25\00:15:25.75
So we had a
total of four drivers,
00:15:25.75\00:15:28.09
but I wanted to
talk about the first one,
00:15:28.09\00:15:29.96
and his name is Selva Kumar,
00:15:29.96\00:15:32.43
and he was a young man,
very quiet, he was a Hindu boy,
00:15:32.43\00:15:37.47
and he was very good at driving,
00:15:38.27\00:15:42.50
but he didn't
interact that much with us,
00:15:42.50\00:15:46.27
just got in the car,
where are we going, drove.
00:15:46.27\00:15:50.08
But he had been with us
long enough that over time,
00:15:50.08\00:15:52.75
we would ask
questions through Israel Prisad,
00:15:52.75\00:15:55.45
our director in India,
00:15:55.45\00:15:57.15
who was sitting in
the front seat with him,
00:15:57.15\00:15:59.42
and we would direct questions,
00:15:59.42\00:16:01.02
and just ask personal questions,
00:16:01.02\00:16:03.02
and over time Selva
Kumar opened up to us.
00:16:03.02\00:16:07.13
'Cause we are a
force to be reckoned with
00:16:07.13\00:16:08.86
and so it's very
difficult to stay quiet.
00:16:08.86\00:16:11.27
- We will be your friend.
00:16:11.27\00:16:12.57
- That's right, we
will be your friend.
00:16:12.57\00:16:13.70
And we included him
when we would stop somewhere,
00:16:13.70\00:16:16.64
if we were traveling for the day
00:16:16.64\00:16:19.14
and we stopped somewhere to eat,
00:16:19.14\00:16:20.48
we would bring him to the
table with us and include him.
00:16:20.48\00:16:24.95
And he became--
00:16:24.95\00:16:26.31
- Which is unusual.
00:16:26.31\00:16:28.08
That is unusual.
00:16:28.08\00:16:29.15
- [Sharon] Yeah it is.
00:16:29.15\00:16:30.22
- The driver's
expect that they're gonna
00:16:30.22\00:16:31.02
go eat somewhere else, or--
00:16:31.02\00:16:32.59
- Right, right, right.
00:16:32.59\00:16:34.42
So he got to see
a lot of what we do.
00:16:34.42\00:16:38.03
And we went to one
village, Amaravathi,
00:16:38.03\00:16:41.73
which there will be an
entire show about Amaravathi,
00:16:41.73\00:16:44.50
and I don't wanna
spoil it for the viewers,
00:16:44.50\00:16:46.37
because it's a fabulous story,
00:16:46.37\00:16:49.24
but we did not know that
our driver was from Amaravathi.
00:16:49.24\00:16:54.31
- Wow.
00:16:54.71\00:16:55.51
- And we found out later.
00:16:55.51\00:16:56.88
He actually got out of
the van while we were there
00:16:56.88\00:17:00.35
and wandered
through the village with us,
00:17:00.35\00:17:02.68
and the picture
that's being shown
00:17:02.68\00:17:04.99
is of him
sitting in the village.
00:17:04.99\00:17:08.26
And he saw us
interacting with the people.
00:17:08.26\00:17:11.83
He saw us making friends.
00:17:11.83\00:17:13.33
He saw us, he
listened to the interviews
00:17:13.33\00:17:16.93
that we were doing
of the evening school,
00:17:16.93\00:17:19.47
teacher and cook there.
00:17:19.47\00:17:21.60
And Israel told us
a couple of days later
00:17:21.60\00:17:24.41
that Selva Kumar was
very impressed with us,
00:17:24.41\00:17:28.08
because he said that
nobody goes to Amaravathi.
00:17:28.08\00:17:31.51
No westerners go,
very few church people go,
00:17:31.51\00:17:35.82
it's an out-of-the way place,
00:17:35.82\00:17:37.49
which you will, the
viewers will see in the episode.
00:17:37.49\00:17:40.96
And it really touched his heart.
00:17:40.96\00:17:43.79
And a few days later, we
wanted to bless the village
00:17:43.79\00:17:48.30
with some mats and blankets.
00:17:48.30\00:17:50.67
And I was praying that
Selva Kumar would be there,
00:17:50.67\00:17:55.04
because it was his area,
00:17:55.04\00:17:57.21
and I wanted him
to be a part of this.
00:17:57.21\00:18:00.28
Well Sunday morning, the morning
that we were going to go,
00:18:00.28\00:18:03.71
there was a new
driver sitting in the van,
00:18:03.71\00:18:07.48
and I was very sad
that we had a new driver.
00:18:07.48\00:18:11.02
I was expecting
Selva Kumar to be there,
00:18:11.02\00:18:13.02
but Israel said that Selva
Kumar needed to go to a wedding,
00:18:13.02\00:18:17.63
and so he was not
going to be our driver.
00:18:17.63\00:18:21.03
- Wow.
00:18:21.03\00:18:22.40
- I was very sad, but I
prayed throughout the day
00:18:22.40\00:18:24.40
that God would
open the door somehow
00:18:24.40\00:18:26.20
for Selva Kumar to be there,
00:18:26.20\00:18:27.77
because I was sure that
that's where he needed to be.
00:18:27.77\00:18:31.07
Later in the afternoon, Selva
Kumar actually called Israel
00:18:31.07\00:18:34.34
and said, "I wanna come,
and I will meet you there."
00:18:34.34\00:18:38.55
So we were all excited,
00:18:38.55\00:18:39.88
and by the time we
got there in the evening
00:18:39.88\00:18:41.88
to hand out the blankets
and the mats, Selva Kumar came.
00:18:41.88\00:18:46.02
And not only did he join us,
00:18:46.82\00:18:48.66
but he joined in
blessing the families,
00:18:48.66\00:18:51.93
and that made such
a huge impact on him.
00:18:51.93\00:18:54.73
He was so happy to be there,
00:18:54.73\00:18:57.37
and the picture, you can
see him standing behind John,
00:18:57.37\00:19:01.50
smiling as he's grabbing
the next bundle to hand out
00:19:01.50\00:19:06.04
to a family.
00:19:06.04\00:19:08.78
And unfortunately, that was
the last day we saw Selva Kumar.
00:19:08.78\00:19:12.75
He had other
things he had to do,
00:19:12.75\00:19:15.28
we moved on from the
area, we had a new driver,
00:19:15.28\00:19:18.89
and I didn't get a chance to
talk to Selva Kumar after that,
00:19:18.89\00:19:22.66
but a few weeks
ago, Israel texted me
00:19:22.66\00:19:26.26
and said that he had
been back in the area,
00:19:26.26\00:19:28.30
and actually
connected with Selva Kumar.
00:19:28.30\00:19:30.87
And that Selva was
having some family issues
00:19:30.87\00:19:33.97
and wanted prayer.
00:19:33.97\00:19:35.94
So Selva is interested in
hearing more about the God
00:19:35.94\00:19:40.41
that he witnessed acting
on behalf of the village.
00:19:40.41\00:19:44.41
So we don't know what
that story is going to be like.
00:19:44.41\00:19:47.32
I was part of the
middle of Selva Kumar's story,
00:19:47.32\00:19:50.45
not the end.
00:19:50.45\00:19:51.55
But I'm looking
forward in heaven,
00:19:51.55\00:19:53.62
to getting to hear
the rest of the story
00:19:53.62\00:19:55.39
from Selva Kumar himself.
00:19:55.39\00:19:57.46
- Wow, that just...
00:19:57.46\00:19:59.39
- I know.
00:20:00.23\00:20:01.56
(laughs)
00:20:01.56\00:20:02.40
- Sorry.
00:20:02.40\00:20:03.90
That just really touches me,
00:20:03.90\00:20:05.27
because it's so easy to
pass by people, you know?
00:20:05.27\00:20:09.80
You ride in a taxi somewhere,
00:20:09.80\00:20:11.54
or you're even on
a train or something,
00:20:11.54\00:20:13.91
and you pass by people,
you pass by so many people
00:20:13.91\00:20:16.88
without interacting with them,
00:20:16.88\00:20:19.05
and sometimes God wants to
touch their lives through us.
00:20:19.05\00:20:22.12
- Yeah.
00:20:22.12\00:20:23.39
- And that's such a
blessing, it's such a privilege
00:20:23.39\00:20:24.79
to be a part of
touching somebody else's life.
00:20:24.79\00:20:27.49
- Yeah, so, yeah.
00:20:27.49\00:20:29.12
I was very, we
were all very happy.
00:20:29.12\00:20:31.53
He was like family by
the time we were done.
00:20:31.53\00:20:34.63
- Yeah, wow.
00:20:34.63\00:20:36.93
All right, so now
we have another story.
00:20:36.93\00:20:39.67
- Right, we do.
00:20:39.67\00:20:40.77
We have a story about Santosh,
00:20:40.77\00:20:43.71
who is the son of one
of our JFA Bible workers.
00:20:43.71\00:20:48.64
And Santosh is a businessman.
00:20:48.64\00:20:51.61
And he owns DM Engineering,
just outside of Coimbatore,
00:20:51.61\00:20:56.25
and they make very
large hydraulic machinery.
00:20:56.25\00:21:00.56
And their company is a
Sabbath-keeping company,
00:21:00.56\00:21:05.46
and he closes the
business down on Friday evening
00:21:06.80\00:21:10.60
and Saturday.
00:21:10.60\00:21:11.97
And here in the United States,
that may not be a big deal,
00:21:11.97\00:21:15.50
but in India that's a big deal,
00:21:15.50\00:21:17.74
because most
people are off on Sundays.
00:21:17.74\00:21:20.38
So Sunday has
become the family day
00:21:20.38\00:21:23.65
where families go
and visit other family,
00:21:23.65\00:21:27.15
or they take a trip, or
they just hang out at home,
00:21:27.15\00:21:31.62
and the workers who
work at DM Engineering
00:21:31.62\00:21:34.59
are mostly Hindu,
and they were not happy
00:21:34.59\00:21:38.09
when they first started,
00:21:38.09\00:21:39.83
because they had
to work on Sundays,
00:21:39.83\00:21:42.16
and they wanted to be
home with their family.
00:21:42.16\00:21:44.40
But Santosh
works really hard there
00:21:45.63\00:21:49.10
in this very small
company to make sure
00:21:49.10\00:21:52.24
that the workers
are treated well,
00:21:52.24\00:21:54.61
that their pay is well,
that their benefits are well,
00:21:54.61\00:21:58.71
and God has
blessed this company.
00:21:58.71\00:22:01.42
It is a very small
manufacturing plant,
00:22:01.42\00:22:05.22
and yet they do
business globally.
00:22:05.22\00:22:08.12
This little company
in Coimbatore, India
00:22:08.12\00:22:12.49
has orders from Europe,
from Egypt, from Africa,
00:22:12.49\00:22:17.53
because they're honoring God.
00:22:18.43\00:22:21.77
And over time, the workers
have really come to appreciate
00:22:21.77\00:22:26.31
what they have there, and
they are happily joining in
00:22:26.31\00:22:30.48
on Sundays, and they use
Saturday now as their day
00:22:30.48\00:22:34.72
to be with their families.
00:22:34.72\00:22:36.45
And Santosh brings his
father, the Bible worker,
00:22:36.45\00:22:39.62
in a couple of times a
week to pray with the men.
00:22:39.62\00:22:42.79
And that has been a
huge blessing for the men,
00:22:42.79\00:22:47.40
to be able to have
someone that they can talk to.
00:22:47.40\00:22:51.80
And so the businesses around
00:22:51.80\00:22:54.67
have slowly
gone out of business.
00:22:54.67\00:22:57.34
You'll see a picture of
the drone shot of the area.
00:22:57.34\00:23:02.31
There are a number
of businesses there,
00:23:03.41\00:23:04.55
but only DM Engineering
is still alive and well,
00:23:04.55\00:23:08.72
because God is blessing.
00:23:08.72\00:23:10.05
- Praise the Lord.
00:23:10.05\00:23:12.12
Well I know that this affected
you a lot in different ways,
00:23:12.12\00:23:16.49
this trip. - Yes, yes.
00:23:16.49\00:23:17.79
- And I know the last story,
00:23:17.79\00:23:20.00
we wanna get to your last story,
00:23:20.00\00:23:21.30
because we're running
out of time very quickly.
00:23:21.30\00:23:24.30
So share with
us your last story.
00:23:24.30\00:23:25.83
- Last story.
00:23:25.83\00:23:27.50
The last story, I
don't have any pictures of,
00:23:27.50\00:23:31.54
but it's about a man that I saw.
00:23:31.54\00:23:34.44
When we were driving in the van,
00:23:34.44\00:23:36.78
I would look out the
window at the passing scenery
00:23:38.08\00:23:41.52
and the villages, and I
would pray for the villages
00:23:41.52\00:23:45.32
on my side of the road.
00:23:45.32\00:23:46.86
Christina was on the
other side of the van
00:23:46.86\00:23:49.32
and she was on
that side of the road
00:23:49.32\00:23:50.46
and I was on
this side of the road,
00:23:50.46\00:23:51.56
and I would pray
for the villages,
00:23:51.56\00:23:53.73
and the people that I saw,
00:23:53.73\00:23:55.76
because I had no idea if
anyone would ever be there.
00:23:55.76\00:24:00.64
And we were
heading back to Coimbatore,
00:24:00.64\00:24:03.04
and we were getting
ready the next day to leave
00:24:03.04\00:24:06.51
to go to Chennai,
00:24:06.51\00:24:08.84
and there is a road, a
major road around Coimbatore,
00:24:08.84\00:24:12.81
kind of like a
beltway that we would think of
00:24:12.81\00:24:14.78
here in the United States,
00:24:14.78\00:24:16.52
and as we were approaching
the northeast corner,
00:24:16.52\00:24:18.69
and I was looking out the
window and praying for people,
00:24:18.69\00:24:22.66
I noticed a construction site.
00:24:22.66\00:24:24.99
And what caught my
eye is that the men
00:24:24.99\00:24:28.50
were picking up these
heavy blocks by themselves.
00:24:28.50\00:24:31.80
There was no
machinery moving the blocks.
00:24:31.80\00:24:34.87
They were picking up
the blocks from a pile
00:24:34.87\00:24:37.21
and walking them down to where
they were going to be used.
00:24:37.21\00:24:41.51
And one of the men that
was there, he was older,
00:24:41.51\00:24:45.18
and he was
crippled in his right foot,
00:24:45.18\00:24:48.32
and it looked like he was
wearing an invisible high-heel.
00:24:48.32\00:24:51.72
He was only able to walk
on the ball of that foot.
00:24:51.72\00:24:54.92
And there he was
struggling to carry the blocks
00:24:54.92\00:24:59.59
from the pile to the end.
00:24:59.59\00:25:01.86
He was doing as best he could,
00:25:01.86\00:25:03.90
but it was a struggle for him.
00:25:03.90\00:25:05.87
And I looked at
him and the thought
00:25:05.87\00:25:09.54
that came to my
mind so strongly was,
00:25:09.54\00:25:13.27
who was going to go and
tell this man about Jesus?
00:25:13.27\00:25:17.55
Who was going to tell this man
00:25:17.55\00:25:19.15
who's struggling with this job,
00:25:19.15\00:25:21.85
and wanting to
put food on the table,
00:25:21.85\00:25:24.82
and he looks so
tired and so stressed,
00:25:24.82\00:25:27.99
no peace, no joy, just
walking from place to the next
00:25:27.99\00:25:32.19
with these heavy bricks,
00:25:32.19\00:25:33.26
who's going to
tell him about Jesus?
00:25:33.26\00:25:35.46
And I burst into
tears in the van,
00:25:35.46\00:25:38.10
thinking that this man
could very well go to his grave
00:25:38.10\00:25:41.27
with no one telling him
about the Father who loved him.
00:25:41.27\00:25:46.21
And that what's impacted
me the most on this trip,
00:25:46.21\00:25:50.25
is seeing the faces of
the people with no hope.
00:25:50.25\00:25:54.78
You would walk, drive down the
street, walk down the street,
00:25:56.18\00:25:59.82
many people, many many people,
00:25:59.82\00:26:02.79
it's crowded streets and roads,
00:26:02.79\00:26:04.73
and everyone just had this
look of despair with no hope.
00:26:04.73\00:26:09.30
Until you would get
to a evening school,
00:26:09.30\00:26:11.50
where the children
have learned about Jesus,
00:26:11.50\00:26:13.40
and their eyes are bright,
and their faces are happy,
00:26:13.40\00:26:17.71
or you look into the eyes of
the Bible workers that we saw,
00:26:17.71\00:26:20.84
where they have the joy
of sharing Jesus with people.
00:26:20.84\00:26:23.71
The ones who know Jesus
are the ones with the joy,
00:26:23.71\00:26:26.45
and everyone else
is so sad, and no hope.
00:26:26.45\00:26:31.02
And that's what we have here.
00:26:31.02\00:26:33.15
We know this.
00:26:33.15\00:26:34.66
We have this
hope, but they don't,
00:26:34.66\00:26:37.86
and they have no
way of finding it
00:26:37.86\00:26:39.53
unless someone
goes and tells them.
00:26:39.53\00:26:41.73
- Wow.
00:26:41.73\00:26:43.20
What an impactful moment.
00:26:43.20\00:26:46.74
Quick snap picture
in your mind's eye,
00:26:46.74\00:26:49.57
'cause you didn't
take any pictures, but--
00:26:49.57\00:26:50.67
- I didn't, we were driving.
00:26:50.67\00:26:52.54
- You will not forget that.
00:26:52.54\00:26:54.54
- [Sharon] No.
00:26:54.54\00:26:55.64
- That's happened
to me before as well.
00:26:55.64\00:26:56.85
It's just something that,
00:26:56.85\00:26:58.68
you get a glimpse
into God's longing,
00:26:58.68\00:27:02.42
into his heart for these people,
00:27:02.42\00:27:05.35
and it's really a
blessing to have that,
00:27:05.35\00:27:09.22
and it increases the
burden for the lost as well.
00:27:09.22\00:27:13.36
- Yeah, it really does.
00:27:13.36\00:27:15.50
- Wow, well I
really appreciate you
00:27:17.07\00:27:19.17
taking the time to
share with us today.
00:27:19.17\00:27:20.94
It's been a real blessing.
00:27:20.94\00:27:22.27
- Thank you.
00:27:22.27\00:27:23.20
I've enjoyed it.
00:27:23.20\00:27:24.21
- I would like to
invite you, as our viewers,
00:27:25.47\00:27:27.84
to get involved in
these Bible workers lives.
00:27:27.84\00:27:30.81
To help bring hope to
people like that old man.
00:27:30.81\00:27:35.12
That you can pray for
them, you can be a part,
00:27:35.12\00:27:38.45
and if you would like to
sponsor the Bible workers,
00:27:38.45\00:27:40.56
you can contact us at
00:27:40.56\00:27:41.86
Jesus for Asia, PO Box
1221, Collegedale, TN 37315.
00:27:41.86\00:27:46.96
Call us at (423) 413-7321.
00:27:48.76\00:27:53.17
Or visit our
website at Jesus4asia.org.
00:27:53.17\00:27:56.94
Please join us in
praying for these Bible workers,
00:27:56.94\00:27:59.51
and for hope to be brought
00:27:59.51\00:28:01.38
to the millions
that don't know Jesus.
00:28:01.38\00:28:04.05
May God bless you richly
until we see you next time
00:28:04.05\00:28:06.92
on Jesus For Asia Now.
00:28:06.92\00:28:08.35
(uplifting music)
00:28:09.15\00:28:12.05