SEND! magazine First Quarter 2009: When Others Must Reap

When Others Must Reap

Jairam stared at the empty lot that waited to hold his fledgling congregation's new church building. More than anything, he wanted to build that church—the first in Bantapur. But Jairam turned away. That privilege would have to go to someone else. Just five years before, Jairam had come here with high hopes. Now he was leaving with strict warnings not to come back. As Jairam walked past the boundaries of the village, he left behind the taunting and threats—and also the place where he had seen miracles, planted his first church and begun his ministry.

Breaking Through the Unknown
Jairam Mahara had just graduated from Bible college when he moved into Bantapur to start his missionary work. The village was in a remote area with a large tribal population—and no Christians. The conditions were rough, even to Jairam, who did not grow up with a high standard of living. But the people of Bantapur captured his heart.

Jairam was a stranger, and the villagers greatly feared anything or anyone they considered "unknown." But somehow, he began making friends and winning the trust of his curious neighbors.

"As the village is quite backward, my clothing and way of life were quite different from theirs, and they were interested to see," Jairam remembers.

His wardrobe wasn't the only oddity. The villagers wanted to know what brought Jairam to their village.

Soon he began sharing about Jesus. He would go talk with families in the evenings, after their day's work as farm laborers was done.

The breakthrough came when Jairam's landlord brought his 3-year-old son, who had polio and was paralyzed, for prayer. When Jairam prayed, Jesus healed the little boy, and the family started meeting with Jairam to learn more about this God. Soon, they received Christ as their Savior.

As other sick and hurting people came for prayer, the miracles God did opened their hearts. Jairam's gathering of believers grew to 50 people. But with that growth came opposition.

Growing Hope, Growing Fear
Although the message that Jairam brought to Bantapur could free villagers from their problems and despair, many were too afraid to fully embrace or even understand it. As they saw the growth of Christianity in their village, it made them nervous.

Jairam had been born into a low-caste tribe. And when he married and brought home his new wife, who was also from the same background, the villagers refused to accept her. They would pump water and fill her buckets at the well, but they wouldn't let her touch it. Jairam was fully aware of the ill treatment of his new bride, but instead of retaliating, he encouraged her to choose to face the sacrifices.

"Initially she was very discouraged," Jairam says, "but I explained that we are bearing all these troubles for the sake of the Gospel and our ministry."

The prejudice extended to all who became Christians. The villagers treated everyone who accepted Jairam's faith as low-caste. But the sick kept coming for prayer, and the numbers in Jairam's church increased.

"As the opposition grew severe, the work of the Lord kept growing," says Jairam.

With both ministry opportunities and resistance growing simultaneously, Jairam needed help. But when another missionary came to join him, the village leaders panicked. Jairam had become familiar enough, but this new man was a different story. The village leaders confronted him one night, beat him and threatened to kill him if he didn't leave immediately.

The next day, Jairam discovered his helper had fled.

The Final Attack
Although circumstances were hardly encouraging, Jairam and his wife stood firm. But things got worse.

"A certain man in the village belongs to an anti-Christian group," Jairam explains. The extremist, leaning on an accusation commonly used against missionaries, tried to stir up the village council.

"He started spreading fears that our ‘foreign religion' would grow and dominate the village," Jairam continues. "Soon, the village leaders started threatening us."

Responding to the man's agitation, the village head gathered a mob to chase Jairam out of the village. But the missionary wouldn't be intimidated. So the group turned on the believers.

Christian children were now forbidden to sit next to their classmates at school. When Christian women went to get water, non-Christians smashed their jugs and buckets.

Jairam knew it was an indirect attack against him. And he knew that the longer he stayed, the more the believers would suffer. It was time to go.

Jairam and his wife left Bantapur with tears.

"I labored for those believers and worked so hard for them," he remembers. "I lived in that village so many years. I felt like someone from my family had died."

Praying for the Day
Jairam is not alone in his experience. A growing number of Gospel for Asia missionaries have been compelled to make difficult decisions like his. The recent wave of persecution sweeping through Orissa and into other states of India has forced numerous missionaries from their places of ministry, at least temporarily. Christians in Sri Lanka and other Asian nations are facing growing animosity from extremist religious factions.

Feelings of failure may be one of the worst things missionaries must conquer when working in the face of heavy opposition. But they also remember that there is no failure. Seeds may fall in the ground and die, but sacrifice never comes without some kind of eternal reward.

Even though Jairam had to leave Bantapur and those he led to Christ, he had accomplished his goal of sowing the seeds of the Gospel—introducing Christ to a previously barren place. And today, God has not abandoned the believers there. Another GFA missionary, who lives in a nearby village and is not seen as a threat, checks in on the Christians. And one of the young men in the Bantapur church, who is just 18 years old, has heard God's call to take Jairam's place.

And Jairam continues working. God is using him in a new village where 40 people now worship Christ. But Bantapur is still in his heart.

He can often be found in a marketplace right outside Bantapur, but he's not shopping for clothes or produce.

He goes to meet the believers, whom he prays for often, and to encourage them to stay faithful to the Lord.

"I tell them, ‘Even if we have to leave each other, you should not leave the Lord,' " he recalls.

Some may call Jairam Mahara's ministry efforts a failure. But Jairam knows he will see the fruit of his sacrifice in eternity. And for now, he keeps sowing—and praying for the day when others will reap that harvest.