The reason my wife Jessica and I created The Harvest Fields was to share testimonies of what God is doing, both within our area and around the world, through people who are faithful and obedient to His calling. So often, we forget or are blinded or perhaps choose not to see the evidence and the working of God all around us. We like to share those stories. Those people are our heroes. This is one such story proving that Jesus is alive and transforming lives around the world!
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Pastor Nick Twomey has been to various locations of the world for the purpose of sharing the love of Jesus with people who may or may not ever even heard of Jesus before. Pastor Nick's heart, I believe, is to reach people, both near and far, with the love of Christ, hence the mission of the church he founded- Bay Pointe Community Church: to be a community committed to loving God, growing believers and reaching those who don’t know Jesus. Pastor Nick is also a board member of Big Life Ministries, a church planting movement using indigenous missionaries to "empower believers worldwide to reach their own people for Jesus Christ.”
Pastor Nick has graciously shared an amazing testimony of faith, courage and forgiveness that he witnessed on mission in India. Thank you Pastor Nick for sharing and for your heart to love, grow and reach people for God's Kingdom!
ROLLIN' ON A RIVER
Somewhere so far off the beaten path in Northern India I found myself rollin' down a river in a gentle but steady rain. We were headed for a Hindu village where the people in that village and surrounding villages had never heard of the name of Jesus. They worshiped millions of gods and goddesses--which in and of itself may not touch you one way or the other. But once you have boots on the ground it is different. In the city of Kolkata (literally meaning "the city of the goddess Cali") sits the Cali temple. The presence of despair and evil is so thick in the air you could cut it with a knife. The goddess Cali has an unquenchable thirst for blood, and the line of poor, miserable people lining up to sacrifice a goat or some other animal is palpably disturbing.
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Pastor Nick Twomey has been to various locations of the world for the purpose of sharing the love of Jesus with people who may or may not ever even heard of Jesus before. Pastor Nick's heart, I believe, is to reach people, both near and far, with the love of Christ, hence the mission of the church he founded- Bay Pointe Community Church: to be a community committed to loving God, growing believers and reaching those who don’t know Jesus. Pastor Nick is also a board member of Big Life Ministries, a church planting movement using indigenous missionaries to "empower believers worldwide to reach their own people for Jesus Christ.”
Pastor Nick has graciously shared an amazing testimony of faith, courage and forgiveness that he witnessed on mission in India. Thank you Pastor Nick for sharing and for your heart to love, grow and reach people for God's Kingdom!
ROLLIN' ON A RIVER
Somewhere so far off the beaten path in Northern India I found myself rollin' down a river in a gentle but steady rain. We were headed for a Hindu village where the people in that village and surrounding villages had never heard of the name of Jesus. They worshiped millions of gods and goddesses--which in and of itself may not touch you one way or the other. But once you have boots on the ground it is different. In the city of Kolkata (literally meaning "the city of the goddess Cali") sits the Cali temple. The presence of despair and evil is so thick in the air you could cut it with a knife. The goddess Cali has an unquenchable thirst for blood, and the line of poor, miserable people lining up to sacrifice a goat or some other animal is palpably disturbing.
On the river boat stood a man next to me. I did not know him. One of my traveling companions asked, "Nick, do you remember the story about Tappan?" I said, "The guy whose wife was murdered by her family?" He said, "He's the guy standing next to you." I nearly fell off the boat.
Through a translator I was introduced to Tappan, who told me his story. He and his wife were both Hindus by birth but came to believe that Jesus was the one true God who came into the world to die a substitutionary death in order to bring forgiveness and salvation to the world. In a Hindu culture receiving Jesus as God is not a big deal...just add him to the list of missions of other gods and goddesses. But when a Hindu is baptized in water--thereby renouncing all other gods and goddesses--that's when things get dicey.
While Tappah was away sharing the good news about Jesus and God's love for the world with another unreached village, his wife's family grabbed her, beat her, and hung her in front of her home. When Tappan returned to the village no one would look him in the eye or talk with him. As he neared his home he saw something in the front yard swinging in the breeze. As he got closer he realized it was his wife.
Try imagining the shock of that scene: Tappan's own family banded together to kill their daughter and his wife. But remembering that Jesus had forgiven him, Tappan knew that God was calling him to forgive his wife's killers. As time passed Tappan began to reach out to the family and share with them the transforming love of Jesus. Over time not only did Tappan lead his wife's family to faith in Jesus, but he personally baptized the very people who had killed his wife.
This is one person in one part of the world where I have seen heroic faith. Over the course of that trip I met men and women who were living a big life for God and making a huge--albeit unknown--kingdom impact for God. And I found myself saying, "Lord, I want to live a big life with a big kingdom impact too."
If you want to know about the church planting movement that is behind Tappan's story, go to www.biglifeonline.org. There is a feature video of Tappan at the website.
Through a translator I was introduced to Tappan, who told me his story. He and his wife were both Hindus by birth but came to believe that Jesus was the one true God who came into the world to die a substitutionary death in order to bring forgiveness and salvation to the world. In a Hindu culture receiving Jesus as God is not a big deal...just add him to the list of missions of other gods and goddesses. But when a Hindu is baptized in water--thereby renouncing all other gods and goddesses--that's when things get dicey.
While Tappah was away sharing the good news about Jesus and God's love for the world with another unreached village, his wife's family grabbed her, beat her, and hung her in front of her home. When Tappan returned to the village no one would look him in the eye or talk with him. As he neared his home he saw something in the front yard swinging in the breeze. As he got closer he realized it was his wife.
Try imagining the shock of that scene: Tappan's own family banded together to kill their daughter and his wife. But remembering that Jesus had forgiven him, Tappan knew that God was calling him to forgive his wife's killers. As time passed Tappan began to reach out to the family and share with them the transforming love of Jesus. Over time not only did Tappan lead his wife's family to faith in Jesus, but he personally baptized the very people who had killed his wife.
This is one person in one part of the world where I have seen heroic faith. Over the course of that trip I met men and women who were living a big life for God and making a huge--albeit unknown--kingdom impact for God. And I found myself saying, "Lord, I want to live a big life with a big kingdom impact too."
If you want to know about the church planting movement that is behind Tappan's story, go to www.biglifeonline.org. There is a feature video of Tappan at the website.
2 comments:
Wow, what a inspiring story of forgiveness and trust in Christ. India is in such desperate need for Christ. The people live in fear of upsetting their gods. And it is hard to help them understand that Our God is different, that he is the only one, because like you said, Jesus tends to just get added to the list. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you Sarah for your comment! I am constantly blown away by stories like this in Big Life's weekly prayer wall e-mail. Many, many people are coming to faith in Christ over there. The men and women sharing Jesus' love are obedient and the Spirit is moving and transforming lives! Let's keep praying for the missionaries and for Jesus to continue turning people to Him!
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