A short-term mission team in South Asia was ready to give up.
They had walked the same village all day to talk with people about the gospel, but residents had been warned in advance that their team was coming to fill their heads with Christian beliefs. The typically hospitable people wouldn’t speak with them or let them set foot in their homes.
After a day of rejection they were hot, tired, and discouraged when a man stopped them in the road. Neeraj wanted to know why they were visiting his village and invited the whole team into his home.
Once inside, the group asked him about his culture and soon the conversation turned to the real reason they were there — to share the love of Christ.
They told Neeraj about a Man who had come to save him by dying on a cross for his sins and explained that the only thing he had to do to have eternal life was believe in this Savior named Jesus Christ.
Something about that Name struck Neeraj and he wanted to know more. As the group continued describing Jesus, his niece entered the room. She, too, was captivated by the gospel, and by the end of their visit Neeraj and his niece both placed their faith in Christ.
Their conversion to Christianity did not please their family. Neeraj’s grandmother — a devout Hindu — was home that day and openly resented the gospel message.
But her resistance did not shake Neeraj and his niece’s newfound beliefs. Armed with their testimonies and the gospel, they refuse to lose hope in God’s power to save their relatives and others in the village.