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GFA missionary Hirla is a busy man. Serving in Rajasthan, North India, a place long marked by spiritual darkness, he is a missionary, pastor and district supervisor leading 17 other pastors. He is also a speaker for GFA Radio, sharing the hope of Jesus with his people through the airwaves.
Hirla’s wife, Gitanjali, stays busy, too. Next to the couple’s home is a tin-roof hut where people receive prayer for physical or spiritual needs. In addition to their evangelistic outreach to their community, Hirla and Gitanjali spend hours praying for the people and tending to their physical needs. They rejoice when they see these people delivered from sin and brought to Christ.
On Sundays, Hirla’s tiny, one-room house doubles as a church. Believers listen eagerly as Hirla teaches them from God’s Word. Hirla is setting aside the best part of his property for a church building to accommodate his growing congregation.
Five Bible college students live with Hirla and his family. This is a significant part of their training as they learn from Hirla and watch his life. Hirla and Gitanjali consider them part of their family.
Hirla leads family devotions each morning. The family sits on mats laid out on the dirt floor. They are joined by the Bible college students as they pray, worship and study God’s Word together.
Hirla’s 12-year-old daughter, Latangi, feels a special burden to fast and pray for his ministry. When Hirla was away recording broadcasts for GFA Radio, she fasted and prayed for 12 days. She prays for safe travel and for his program to be clear and reach people who need Christ. She wants to serve the Lord as a missionary. “God has given her such a burden, and it was planted in her heart during those family prayers,” Hirla says.
Kushal is Hirla’s father. When Hirla and his immediate family suffered opposition and social boycott because they were the first Christians in their village, Kushal dug a well so they could have water. “As a father, I had a decision to make, to help care for my son,” he remembers. He later received the Lord and today is an enthusiastic witness and supporter of his son’s ministry.
Anant, Hirla’s brother-in-law, sends people to him for prayer even though he is not a believer, because he has seen firsthand the effectiveness of Hirla’s ministry.
As Hirla, his wife and their five children labor for the Gospel in Rajasthan, their faithfulness is bearing fruit. Around 70 people worship in Hirla’s modest home on Sundays—each life a joyful testimony to the Savior’s transforming power.
date posted 10/11/07
