Deepan, like the man in this picture, gave up his role as a priest to follow Jesus.

Ganesh leads over 110 believers who, like these Christians, often face persecution.

When Deepan Gupta made a challenge to Gospel for Asia-supported missionary Ganesh Sarin, he didn’t know God would use this dare to completely transform his life.

Deepan was a priest for his traditional religion. Ganesh lived in the same area, but he served Jesus Christ, helping people learn about the Lord and shepherding a growing flock of over 110 people.

One day, Ganesh shared the Gospel with Deepan.

“If your God is so great, then pray for the healing of my wife, and then I will believe,” Deepan told him.

Deepan explained that for the last six years, his wife, Tilaka, had not had her monthly menstrual cycles. Although Deepan had spent a lot of money in the hospital and made vows to his gods, Tilaka’s condition did not improve.

“Can your God heal my wife?” Deepan asked.

Accepting the challenge, Ganesh prayed for Tilaka and, amazingly, she was healed that very week. Having witnessed God’s love and power, Deepan gave up his vocation as a priest and chose to follow Jesus.

But shortly thereafter, problems arose because of Deepan’s decision to serve the Lord. His community was celebrating a religious festival, and since he was a priest, Deepan had important ritualistic responsibilities.

However, he did not perform the rites. When the villagers asked him questions, he explained what the Lord had done in his life and why he would no longer perform rituals.

Angry that Deepan’s decision disrupted their plans for the festival, some of the villagers began conspiring against Pastor Ganesh. They encouraged the rest of the villagers to oppose him, too.

A few weeks ago, those opposing Ganesh’s ministry went to his house while he was gone and threatened his wife. They told her Ganesh should stop his ministry. In addition, they encouraged the people in Ganesh’s village to expel him.

Pastor Ganesh’s whole village turned against him and the other believers there, and they brought him before the village council. The village leader verbally abused and threatened Ganesh and told Ganesh to eat food offered to idols.

Even worse, Ganesh’s congregation was constructing a church building, but the village leader said they should not proceed with the dedication of the building. Ganesh himself had donated the land for the building.

Ganesh requests prayer for the following:

  • God’s protection on him, his family and the believers.
  • God to touch the hearts of those inciting persecution against him and the believers.
  • The church-building dedication to occur, as planned, on December 9.