Devender's Story
In 2020, when New Hope Church began partnering with national evangelists, there were no known believers or churches among the Mangala people of India. None. Two years later, there are 2,000 believers and 28 churches out of roughly 2,500,000 Mangala people. Now a new tribe and tongue gathers around the throne (Revelation 7:9). We rejoice and give thanks to God. Here is a God story from the Mangala outreach.
Devender wanted to follow the Lord with his whole heart, but his wife had other ideas. She was never able to accept his faith and over the years she began to forcefully oppose him. As if that was not difficult enough, her parents began to tell her to get rid of Devender and find a good Hindu man to marry.
In time this became so bad that Devender’s wife and parents drove him out of the house. They said he could not come back until he left his faith in Jesus. Devender was very upset and did not know what to do. He stayed away but also prayed for his family and continued to faithfully share his faith with others.
A little while later, his wife’s parents both had the same dream where Jesus appeared to them and told them that Devender was worshiping Him and that they should allow Devender to return. When they woke, they were both so shocked by their dream that shared it with each other. As they told their story, they realized they had both had the same dream. They knew that Jesus had spoken to them and must make things right.
Later that day, they talked to their daughter and said that Devender was worshipping the true God and that God had spoken to them. They told her to ask Devender to forgive them and come back to live in the home. Devender was delighted. Both his wife and their family believed and began to support his faith and sharing the gospel.
In places where Bibles are rare or where people cannot read, God finds many ways to speak to them and share His message of love for all people. But what if God could use Scripture and the people in these communities could hear the words of the Bible read to them in their own language?
We are raising funds to buy solar-powered or wind-up audio Bibles that whole communities can gather round. For the first time, many will hear the Word of God in their homes, at their workplace or in the market square in their own language. God can use dreams. God can use word of mouth testimony shared by people. And God can use the Scripture in many different forms to reach people with the good news.
Contact Global Outreach to learn more about the Mangala outreach and how you can help.
Chris Jones is the Global Outreach Director at New Hope Church. He longs for the unreached people of the world to experience the life-changing love of God and for people at New Hope Church to find fullness of joy by obeying the Great Commission.