SEND! magazine Third Quarter 2007: Freedom in a Land of Paradox

Freedom in a Land of Paradox

The sea waters swirled around Nirmal, dragging him with relentless force. In desperation, he cried out to his gods for help. Twice he had nearly escaped the whirlpool’s grasp. But it continued to pull Nirmal down, and he realized there was no use continuing to fight . . . the force of the undercurrent was much too strong.

“I am going to die”, he thought. “I will no longer see my parents, my friends, or my brothers and sisters.”

A fisherman, Nirmal had assumed this would be just an ordinary day out at sea. He and the rest of the crew were working right off the coast, not too far from where a river flowed into the ocean. When the crew’s food and water ran out, two of his friends began to swim to shore in search of provisions. Nirmal waited and waited, but they did not return. Worried, he dove in the water to search for them. He did not think about how the incoming tide of saltwater was churning as it met the mass of river water that emptied into the sea. He did not see the signs warning swimmers to stay away from this part of the ocean. And he did not notice the whirlpool until it was too late.

As Nirmal floundered in the whirlpool, gasping for air, all he wanted to do was stay alive. He would never have imagined that someday God would use him to free others from the captivity of death. He thought back to the day when a pastor visited his family and shared the Gospel with them. His parents had received Christ, but Nirmal was not interested.

Now, while trying desperately to escape a watery grave, he saw the reality of his life very clearly. He had already cried to his gods, but nothing had happened. Nirmal remembered hearing the name of Jesus from the visiting pastor and cried out to Him for help.

“As soon as I started to pray,” Nirmal remembers, “suddenly a big boat was coming. They saw me struggling there. One man lowered a big rod, and I took hold of it and came out of the water.”

That day Nirmal put his trust in Christ and also committed his life to serve Him. He later enrolled in a Gospel for Asia Bible college to gain a deeper understanding of God’s Word and to receive practical training in outreach and pastoral care. But the highlight of his years as a missionary-in-training was learning to take all his needs to the Lord in prayer.

A Powerful Foundation

Nirmal graduated in 2003 and began full-time ministry. In those early days, he saw little result from his labors, and he was tempted to give up. But the foundation of prayer that the Lord laid in his life from his Bible college days became the key to a breakthrough—and an integral and powerful part of his ministry.

When Rajeswari came to him and asked him to pray for her healing from AIDS, Nirmal didn’t flinch. He simply took her need to the Lord, trusting Him as he’d learned to do in Bible college. He told Rajeswari of the God who had freed him from death twice—and who could free her too. Later, when doctors could find no trace of HIV in her body, word spread about her healing—and Nirmal’s little church began to grow.

Ritu and her husband were unable to have children, but Nirmal prayed, and God gave them a son. Another couple brought their four-year-old daughter, Madabi, to Nirmal. She had been blind from birth and had never been able to walk. After Nirmal prayed, Madabi slowly learned to walk—and received her sight.

Through these incidents—evidence to the community of God at work—many hearts were opened to hearing and receiving the Gospel. Today, Nirmal leads more than 50 believers in worship each week in one church. He has planted two other churches and also cares for growing mission stations in at least three other locations.

Nirmal continues the discipline of prayer that he learned in Bible college, rising early to spend time in the Lord’s presence. His day is full of outreach and personal evangelism as he travels from one village to another. And while he serves the Lord, he is training others for ministry as well. A number of the believers from Nirmal’s church accompany him on outreach, receiving hands-on ministry experience and learning by his example.

“I want them to learn more about prayer and the Bible,” he says. “I also want to mobilize them for doing outreach ministry, so I am teaching them how to share the Gospel.”

A Land of Paradox

The waters Nirmal struggled in that day are part of the Arabian Sea, frequented by a significant percentage of Goa’s population who earn a living as fishermen. Others are rice farmers or miners. Although most native Goans don’t think much about the natural beauty that surrounds them, the palm trees, sandy shores and picturesque coastlines have made this tiny state along India’s west coast a popular vacation spot.

In fact, tourism has become Goa’s number-one industry. High-end hotels house celebrities and tourists from around the world. The state has earned a reputation for having a relaxed, tropical-island atmosphere where tourists can come to escape from the everyday cares of life. During some seasons, parties go on for days.

But just yards away from the swimmers and sunbathers are acres of slum shanties made from mud, bricks, or tarps and poles. The extreme poverty and rampant alcoholism in this community would seem to suggest that a large gap exists between this world and that of the party-goers just a little way up the beach. However, with active prostitution rings, a child-trafficking industry and frequent pedophile tourists, these slums merely uncover the ugly union that does exist between these two disparate worlds.

Large church buildings with tall spires, intricate woodwork and European-style architecture complement the beauty of this tropical paradise. Goa has a long history of Christianity, with Jesuit missionaries first arriving in 1542 to spread the faith. The state’s Catholic heritage stretches over four centuries as a Portuguese colony, which ended in 1961. Today more than 30 percent of Goa’s population is Catholic.

Although it has laid a foundation—and created a general awareness—of some of the externals of the Christian faith, the Goan expression of Catholicism has actually presented obstacles to the work of the Gospel. Some clerics have taught their parishioners that evangelical Christians are heretics; others have been responsible for forcing non-Catholic churches to close and beating the believers.

Gospel for Asia’s missionaries experience this resistance on a regular basis.

“Some of the priests teach their people not to allow any believers in their houses,” writes one Gospel for Asia missionary. “If we go to Goan houses, most of the people will not allow us to enter.”

Steady Progress to Freedom

In the midst of beauty and squalor, religious reverence and anti-Christian opposition, more than 40 GFA missionaries are part of a steadily growing ministry in this state. Some labor in remote villages, while others are on teams that travel and show an Indian-made film on the life of Christ. Still others are involved in ministry to children or women. Because of these missionaries’ diligent efforts, Goans are finding true freedom in Jesus.

Through GFA’s Bridge of Hope outreach, underprivileged children are receiving an education and the Gospel, bringing hope to their families as well.

Dozens of young men and women are enrolled in GFA’s Goa Bible college, training for ministry. Their weekends—and for some, even their summer breaks—are used to reach surrounding areas with the Gospel. Students have started a church through their Bible college ministry. Land is expensive in Goa, so this church meets in a rented classroom. The people in the congregation give with enthusiasm, leasing the room from their own offerings each week.

Today, through these collective efforts, more than 20 churches have been planted in Goa. Over 200 small-group fellowships gather throughout the state as well.

And as missionaries like Nirmal share the love of Jesus with every man, woman and child they meet, they can do so with confidence that they are daily living out the fulfillment of the Word of God as they “preach good tidings to the poor . . . heal the brokenhearted . . . proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound” (Isaiah 61:1).