Abhi* and his father had a difficult choice to make
… either stay with their family or run away with
Christian missionaries.
Raised in northern India, Abhi was
brought up in an orthodox Muslim family.
His grandfather served as a powerful
Muslim leader.
Between 1978 and 1979,
Christian missionaries visited Abhi’s
home several times
a month. He and his
father talked and listened to the missionaries,
who shared Bible stories
and the Gospel message.
Abhi and his father enjoyed
having them as friends and
listening to what the missionaries shared, but they didn’t
make a decision to follow Christ.
During this time, someone
in the village reported to Abhi’s
grandfather that Abhi and his father had
become Christians. This report was only
a rumor, but it was enough to endanger
their lives. Abhi’s grandfather told the two
of them that they had to make a decision
about their faith.
Abhi and his father pondered their decision. They could stay with their family
and turn away from anything related to
Christianity, or they needed to run away
for fear of being killed.
They chose to leave everything and go
with the missionaries. They counted the
cost and followed Christ.
For more than 20 years now, Abhi has
had no communication with his family.
Father and son moved to central India
and earned degrees. In 2007, Abhi began
partnering with One Mission Society and
became an India area coordinator for Every
Community for Christ. He has seven teams
in his state, two that work among Muslims.
Abhi longs to see the Muslim community
exposed to and transformed by the Gospel.
His heart has broken for the children especially, and God has given him a burden to
reach the Muslim people through them.
He started by approaching friends who
serve as headmasters of schools. Five of
them gave him the opportunity to teach a
class on Bible stories, with the hope that
the kids will go home and tell their families
about what they learned. Then, the message of God will spread farther into the
Muslim communities.
One of the school leaders was a young
man who was a hafiz, a highly regarded
Muslim person who can recite the entire
Koran by heart. Abhi had a good relationship with him, and in 2011, this young man
was baptized into the Christian faith. He
became a “person of peace,” someone
who is a bridge between the unreached
people and the ones who are proclaiming
the Gospel.
In 2013, this person of peace also
became an ECC team member. He has
participated in the Train & Multiply training and even brought another brother with
him. This brother has also been baptized
and provides transportation for the children on a regular basis.
Reflecting on what God is doing in India
and in the lives of the Muslim community,
Abhi proclaims that nothing is impossible
and that you never know what God can
and will do. The work may be difficult; it is
not uncommon for him to receive threatening calls and letters. But the Lord is all
powerful and continues to bless him and
work wonders in India.
Please pray for Abhi and his team as
they do God’s work in India. Pray that
more evangelists will go to minister to the
Muslim community. The ratio currently is 1
evangelist for every 400,000 Muslims. The
need is great! Abhi hopes his teams will
multiply so that even more teams will go
and minister to the Muslim communities,
especially in the most remote villages.
*Name changed for security reasons.
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