The Women’s Mobile Team is comprised of four GFA Bible College graduates.

Gospel for Asia leaders in Hyderabad, India, today are praising God after a GFA missionary was released from jail. The missionary, who serves as pastor of a GFA-affiliated church, was arrested while accompanying a GFA women’s mobile team that was showing a film about Jesus. When the village headman heard of the arrest, he appealed to police to release the pastor and they did.

Even though the charges against the pastor were never substantiated, the police required him to pay a fine of 1,000 rupees (US $24.81) before being released.

This pastor’s arrest came after he and the five members of the GFA women’s mobile team had spent an entire day sharing Gospel literature and visiting in homes in a village in central Andhra Pradesh. That evening, the missionaries were pleasantly surprised when about 1,000 people came to the film showing. Team members said they usually don’t expect more than 200 people to attend.

This pastor’s arrest came after he and the five members of the GFA women’s mobile team had spent an entire day sharing Gospel literature and visiting in homes in a village in central Andhra Pradesh.

During the screening, the women’s team noticed police officers patrolling the crowd, but they assumed it was just a routine patrol; there had recently been trouble in the area. Toward the end of the film, however, some plainclothes officers confronted the Christian women. They accused the pastor and mobile team members of trying to forcibly convert the people. The police also tried to confiscate one team member’s cell phone.

Police officers then grabbed the pastor and took him to the police station.

“The officers ordered that all of our things—the vehicle, film equipment and Gospel literature—be kept there in the village,” one of the team members reported. Fortunately, the women were able to pack up all of the equipment into their vehicle and move it to a nearby church compound. The women have taken shelter in the church building.

GFA leaders in India want to thank all the Christians around the world who prayed for this situation. They ask for continued prayer for this pastor and the women’s mobile team as there are strong anti-Christian forces trying to keep seeking men, women and children from knowing the love of Jesus.

Read the related news article.

Learn about the birth of the Women’s Mobile Team.

Andhra Pradesh is a major tourist destination in India.