“The Apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.” Acts 5:41 – 42
Relentlessly obeying the command to ‘go’
Naman*, a former Buddhist monk in India, and his wife, Devi*, recently participated in an East-West evangelism and church planting training. At the end of the training, Naman and Devi made a list of their close friends and relatives who had not yet trusted Jesus as their Savior. “I knew I had to be obedient to my Lord’s command to proclaim the good news that Jesus is the Christ.”
Naman and Devi obediently traveled to a nearby town to share the story of Jesus Christ with their lost friends and family. As they shared the truth of the gospel and people began to trust Christ, new believers were being baptized and news of people trusting Jesus was spreading throughout the entire region.
With great excitement, the couple continued to travel to nearby villages to share the gospel. In one village, the village chief came to hear the message that had captivated his entire village. Filled with rage at the “false teaching” of the believers, he had Naman and seven other leaders of this movement arrested and taken to an army camp. Here, they were beaten for teaching the message of Jesus Christ.
As the army searched their belongings, they discovered tracts with gospel presentations. When questioned, Devi and the other believers boldly shared the message of hope found in Jesus with the men who had beaten them. Curiosity led the army leaders to ask other questions and learn more about this man named Jesus. The local church’s prayers were answered as not only Devi and the other men were released from the army camp, but the army leaders professed faith in Jesus that day!
The village chief’s response and resulting persecution has only fueled Devi and other local believers to more boldly venture to surrounding villages to proclaim the truth of the gospel message.
*Names changed for security reasons.