“Our Elijah Challenge servants of God are doing well in their respective fields. Once a week I try to talk and encourage them—if I am able to reach them on my mobile phone. Most of our first batch of disciples work in remote villages.
This month I went to the district of Sundergarh to visit some of our workers in the field. Praise the Lord that the work is going well.
Our first batch of disciples shared with me some reports from the field:
In one village five families accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour after witnessing the miraculous healing of a baby boy. The baby had been suffering from jaundice for two months, and the family had no hope for his survival. But every evening for a week two of our disciples went to their home to minister to the boy. Praise the Lord, the boy was healed completely. Our disciples gave New Testaments to those who could read.
Two young girls were attacked by demons as they were bathing in a village pond called Tentulikhunti. Now there is a sorcerer in that village. So the family summoned him to cast out the demons. So he went and performed his magic on the girls, and the demons left. But again on the following days they were demonized. The witchdoctor returned, but the demons would not leave. So our disciples were summoned to cast out the demons. Our disciples ministered to the girls with much supernatural authority and boldness. The demons left and the girls were set free. Two families accepted Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord!
In another village another team of two workers ministered to an elderly man who had been suffering from a problem in his spinal cord. He was not able stand and walk properly. Our disciples ministered to him and shared the gospel with him encouraging him to know about Jesus. That day they ministered to him in the morning and also in the evening. By the next day he was well. The elderly man invited our disciples to come to his home once a week to share more about Jesus Christ. He and his family came to the Lord.
A small village name Turbudi is inhabited by seven to eight families. Earlier they were part of a larger village, but there was conflict between the two tribes in the village. The larger of the two tribes asked them to leave the village, or face expulsion from the village by force. So the people were in a state of depression, feeling as if they had been excommunicated from society. In addition to the lack of basic necessities in their isolated village, there was no market and no schooling for their children. Now there was an elderly woman there who had been sick for one month suffering from arthritis as well as other infirmities due likely to her advanced age. She had been unable to go to the local hospital as it was very far away. When our disciples visited her she mentioned all those things to them. After they ministered to her she was completely healed. The other people in the village became so receptive to gospel. Most of them decided to believe and accepted our Lord Jesus Christ.
In another village around four people accepted Christ. For one month two of our disciples would go there to minister to the sick. Some people were healed from fever, headache, chest pain, burning in the chest, and joint pain. Most of the people were uneducated. When they get sick they do not want to go to the doctor, but rather prefer to sacrifice chickens, goats and buffaloes. Our disciples asked them if they knew who was the chief minister of Orissa. Not only they did not know the name of our chief minister, they even did not know who our Prime Minister Narendra Modi is. It was therefore quite easy for our disciples to deal with and minister to sick people, but it was hard to explain the gospel to them due to their very limited understanding.
Thank you so much for intercession and financial support for the extension of His kingdom.”
-Elijah Challenge Coordinator in Orissa (Odisha)