SEND! magazine First Quarter 2008: Locked Away, but Still Alive

Locked Away, but Still Alive: The Power of God's Word

The Bible lay hidden out of sight in a wooden trunk for more than two decades, slowly eaten away by termites and time, but the eternal truths spelled out on its pages were never out of reach.

When Jadesh Kour picked up that same Bible 25 years later, both his life and the Bible were in tatters. For Jadesh, reading the words on those fragile pages marked the beginning of a brand-new life—one marked by service and devotion to God.

Jadesh's journey to faith began as a young boy, when his father badly injured his leg. The family lived in a remote area of Chhattisgarh, India, with no access to medical care, so they traveled 31 miles to a hospital operated by missionaries from a large Christian denomination.

The missionaries gave Jadesh's mother a job at the hospital and a Bible to read. The family was grateful for the medical treatment and the income from the job. They even adopted a nominal form of Christianity; but being unable to read God's Word for themselves, they never fully grasped why the missionaries cared for them.

"They missed that the missionaries did all that because the Lord Jesus had commanded them to love others," Jadesh explains. The Bible was put into an old wooden trunk, unread.

Sickness, Fear, Death

When Jadesh was in the eighth grade, his father and two older siblings died. Now the sole caretaker for his mother, he dropped out of school and trained to be a mechanic. He was able to find steady work in the small factories in nearby Orissa, India.

That's where he met Bavya's father, who arranged Jadesh's marriage to his daughter. After the tragedies of his childhood, things seemed to be falling into place for him now that he was an adult. But in reality, his life was in a shambles.

"I did not possess the knowledge of good and evil. I knew nothing about manners and decency. I lived like I wanted," he admits.

Jadesh smoked, drank heavily and took illegal drugs. He spent very little time at home with his family. He was abusive to Bavya.

One day, Bavya, who knew very little about Christianity, had a dream in which Jesus appeared and promised her peace and happiness. When she told Jadesh about the dream, he became angry.

Jadesh, who still claimed to be a Christian, accused his wife of mockery.

"I told her that He was my God and asked how she could see Him," he remembers. "Then I started to beat her."

Bavya had the dream a second time, and once more told her husband. Again, Jadesh lost his temper. But when he tried to raise his hand to beat her, his arm would not move.

"Fear began gripping my heart. I began to become weak, and I started panicking," Jadesh recalls.

The temporary paralysis subsided, but Jadesh became extremely ill and learned he had an ulcer. The excruciating pain forced him to leave his job. He could hardly keep food down. The fear of death became his constant companion.

Eighteen months went by, and nothing changed. Bavya was forced to find work as a housemaid, earning 300 rupees per month (about US$8) to support her family, bringing home leftovers every night to feed them. The neighbors stopped visiting.

Finally, one day Jadesh walked away from his home, telling his weary family he would never return. They did nothing to stop him.

"I did not want to trouble my family anymore. I wanted to go away and die," he says.

Healing, Peace, Life

But Jadesh's life was far from ending. In fact, it was just beginning. As he walked down the street, he heard a voice reading from the Bible:

"'Come now, and let us reason together,' says the LORD," he heard the man proclaim. " 'Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool'" (Isaiah 1:18).

The voice belonged to Guarav Roi, a Christian evangelist.

"I did not want to go to that meeting, but somehow my legs were heading there," Jadesh recounts. "I found myself sitting in the corner and listening. I told myself, 'That person is me. My sins are as scarlet.' "

After the meeting, Jadesh talked with Guarav, who explained to him about hope in Jesus and encouraged him to go home and read the Bible. Jadesh remembered the Bible in the trunk.

When Jadesh walked in the door, he ignored his family's icy reception. He headed straight for the old trunk to retrieve the Bible. He dusted it off, opened it to the Psalms and began reading. For an entire week, Jadesh could hardly put the Bible down.

"As I read the Bible, the fear of death inside me began to subside. Peace and confidence started welling up within me," Jadesh explains. "As I was reading the Bible, I felt less pain and no fear. I was getting strength from it."

God's Word, which was hidden away in Jadesh's house for 25 years, was now being driven deep into his soul, and he was being changed. Jadesh gave his life to Christ and discovered the reality of a transformed heart—and a healed body. The new Jadesh went to every prayer meeting, Bible study and worship service he could find, carrying the fragile old Bible with him.

Today, almost a decade after first reading the Bible, Jadesh faithfully proclaims the Word of God throughout Chhattisgarh. A Gospel for Asia missionary, he pastors a church of 130 people and oversees a Sunday school of about 50 children. He also teaches the Word of God at several mission stations and disciples those who surrender their lives to ministry. Bavya spends her time caring for 25 children in an orphanage the couple runs from their home.

Jadesh is living proof that the Word of God is true and will not return void, even if it is locked away, out of sight, for 25 years. When he preaches that the Word of God is powerful, people know that he is speaking from experience.

"I believe in the Word of God, that it has the power and strength to do anything, because I have felt and seen it in my own life," Jadesh says. "On the basis of the Word of God, I planted a church. It is through God's Word that I am doing ministry.

"Everything the Lord is doing in and through me today is because of the Word of God."

More on the Web: Learn more about Jadesh's life and ministry.