“We did it! This is historic! We’ve done what has never been done before… And it worked!”
My friend, Mushtaq, was grinning from ear to ear, full of joy at what we had just witnessed in the past week. We had just spent 8 days ministering together at Christ Church in Shimla for Holy Week. Mushtaq had decided to turn what was normally a very religious and formal occasion into a week of Spirit filled revival services. So, he invited me — a loud, spirit filled Pentecostal— to minister to a church filled with very formal, very quiet, very religious, very highly educated people. Even clapping to welcome visitors is not allowed here! What could possibly go wrong?
But day after day God came: touching, healing, restoring, forgiving, and doing only what God could do. One woman who is a university professor told Mushtaq that she was overwhelmed by the presence of God and was crying so hard she had to get up and leave the service to try to collect herself. She spent all that afternoon at home crying and worshiping. She had never experienced His presence like that before.
One man who previously voiced opposition to my ministry was now hugging me, taking me around to each of his family members asking me to pray for them. Day after day they came. The attendance increased until Easter Sunday when the church was overflowing with people hungry to be touched by God. In this culture it is a very difficult thing for people to make a public profession to become a follower of Christ. They can begin to receive immediate persecution from family or friends who are still Hindu. But on that Easter Sunday I asked people to make a first time decision to follow Christ.
The Holy Spirit came like waves through the room: loving, convicting, and forgiving, and the hands began to come up. Only one or two at first, then more hands began to be raised higher and higher until there were at least 30 who publicly made a decision for Christ.
For more than 100 years there have been walls between denominations separating people from one another, but I have found that there have been no walls to our ministry. Anglican, Nazarene, Methodist, Pentecostals — all have opened their doors inviting us to come and release the Kingdom of God. How many times have I heard “This has never happened before”? Now Mushtaq wants to open doors for every Anglican Church throughout India for our ministry.
He wants to see “dead” churches come alive with passion for Jesus. He wants each one of them to experience spiritual breakthrough and begin affecting the nation for Christ. Most of these churches are in areas where there are less than 2 percent Christian. As they experience revival they can impact multitudes of people who are still waiting to hear the Gospel for the first time. The doors of ministry in India are wide open. Because of your prayers and giving we get to walk through them together. Thank you for sending us!
For more information regarding our ministry please contact us at 5riversinternational.com.
~ Dan Taylor
