Violence in the City of Peace
August 27, 2009
Literature distribution is a popular outreach method that bears much fruit. |
The man caught hold of Samarjit Kapur's collar and began shouting at him. Pieces of the Gospel tract that Samarjit had just given him lay at their feet after being thrown in the missionary's face. The man couldn't bear the idea of Samarjit and the seven-member team telling the people about a Savior who loved them.
Samarjit led one of three teams of GFA Bible college students that set out to distribute Gospel literature on the streets of Jammu, India, that day. Jammu is called "The City of Peace" because of an ancient incident. A local legend says that the founder of the city was out hunting in the area when he witnessed an unusual site—a tiger and a goat were drinking water side-by-side from the same pond.
He was so struck by this extraordinary phenomenon that he decided to build a city on the site so that the strong and weak could live together in peace and mutual respect.
But Samarjit and his classmates did not find peace when they visited the city. A crowd gathered around and watched the man rip apart the Gospel tract and harass Samarjit. People in the crowd urged the students to run away, but these Christian young men stayed put—they still had people to rescue from an eternity without Christ.
So they persevered, continuing to hand out tracts and talk to people. But it wasn't easy.
One of the students was scolded by a taxi driver to whom he had just given a tract.
"You are converting people," the taxi driver yelled. "Get out of my sight!"
No amount of opposition, however, could deter the students from accomplishing their task. About 13,700 tracts and 7 New Testaments were placed in waiting hands that day.
Now the student missionaries are praying that all those who received the tracts will read them and that the Lord will reveal Himself in a real and personal way so the people will know what it means to live in real peace.