Benjamin Francis
August 2024
GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME !
We are so thankful for open doors to share the Gospel in some of the most difficult regions, but God is in control and we praise Him for the hundreds of people who have been reached with the message of the Gospel through our Jesus Film outreach and bible distribution. As a result of which we have received a great response with new groups starting and people trained to become disciple makers.
Though there has been great persecution in several states, however we have seen God move in a mighty way and transform the lives of many hundreds of people.
The opportunity to engage in the Muslim community is one of our greatest challenges. This is particularly true as our nation, sensing the threat of Islam wrestles with growing tension and resentment. While this is true, however, there is an immense need for the Gospel to reach the Muslim community in this part of the world.
We are so thankful to our brothers and sisters in India and Bangladesh who are faithfully proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus among the Muslim community. However, the biggest problem among the Muslims is that even after knowing the truth, they fall under social pressure, as a result of which they are afraid to confess Jesus as the true and living God. After much efforts, they finally accept Jesus and come to understand the truths of the Bible, rather than the Quran. One such effective tool has been the use of the tabs of Jesus film, as many Muslims have watched the film and sought to follow Jesus which has resulted in an exponential growth of Muslim believers recently.
We are so thankful that Abigail got to come home for the summer and spend time with family and friends. She also spent her time ministering and doing meetings with her youth groups.
Gillian still continues to invest in the lives of the women and training and raising up women leaders in the Disciple Making Movement. There are ongoing trainings done among many of our local fellowships every month in discipling women and encouraging them to make disciples.
Benjamin visited Singapore and Malaysia recently where he had the opportunity to speak to leaders about launching movements of multiplication, who are like minded disciple makers. These leaders would be using our training in 16 countries in Asia. It has been a phenomenal time of leadership training and encouragement.
Miracle of Healing: My name is Laxmi, 36 years old, a resident of Bardhaman district. I come from a very staunch hindu family and my family is of a very religious nature. For years we have been worshippers of the idols and also believe in witchcraft and black magic. Unfortunately, recently I fell very ill and was diagnosed that I had kidney stones and to remove the stones I took the help of home remedies and tried a lot of hindu rituals for my healing, but nothing at all helped. The only way to remove my stones was through surgery, but I was very afraid of the operation.
When one of my relatives, who is a Christian, came to know about my problem, he visited my home to share the Gospel and tried to encourage me about Jesus. I got very angry with him because I refused to believe in another God. I argued a lot with him and then asked him to leave my house. Unfortunately, after a week my health deteriorated so much that I had to be admitted to the hospital. The doctors advised me that, if I did not undergo the operation I might die. I was so afraid and it was then that suddenly I was reminded about Jesus Christ. I felt that I had opposed Christ and sinned, so immediately I called my relative and invited him to the hospital to pray for me. After much prayer and receiving the Gospel, I felt much peace and started to prepare myself for the operation. When it was time to receive my report it was noted that the stone was not visible and this surprised not only the doctor but my entire family as well. Praise God that today God has completely healed me and I am healthy. Because of this miracle, my entire family have accepted Jesus and many more people after hearing my story have also decided to follow Jesus.
In spite of the prevailing persecution and attacks taking place in many states the Lord has helped us to prevail! Christians are being beaten for their faith but this does not stop the work of the Lord. These last two months have been difficult in terms of our ministry but the Lord is faithful and helped us to be strong and courageous!
Day by day we are able to reach village after village with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and reaching souls. This has resulted in thousands of people being healed, both physically and spiritually and surrendering their lives to Christ and receiving baptism. Praise the Lord!
Prayer Requests:
Training for another 5000 leaders by the end of this year
To double the number of fellowships (which are disciple making groups)
To withstand persecution with faith and courage and yet committed to move forward
To reach another 500,000 souls by the end of this year.
To connect and catalyze movements among unreached peoples groups.
To see an end to the ongoing political problems that are taking place in Kolkata city
We are very thankful to the BMS and for your continued support and prayers which has been vital in seeing our people go forward despite all the challenges. We rejoice with you in what God is doing and we celebrate your partnership with us.