Gwon Se-jong
God bless you. I would like to give thanks to God for allowing me to share gracious news about the brothers and sisters in Latehar through the Elohist magazine.
Latehar is located about one hundred kilometers from Ranchi Zion to which I belong. Here, we have brothers and sisters who are taking the lead in the gospel work with the goal to preach the truth of salvation to all people in Latehar.
It has been less than a year since the light of truth shone in Latehar for the first time. It all started in March last year as Brother Walter who lives in a different region visited Latehar to find a place for his younger son who had just found a new job. As the lockdown began due to the coronavirus pandemic while he was there, he was stuck there. However, he preached the word of God to people around him little by little, thinking that it must be God’s will. Among those who heard the word of God was Brother Dhansay.
Brother Dhansay accepted the word of God as sweet as honey from the first day, and he wanted to study every day. His family were truly God’s children who had been looking for the truth. Because he wanted to go to church that follows the teachings of the Bible, he converted to Protestantism from Catholicism, and he even offered his house as a worship place. However, he still could not get answers to his questions about the Bible. As he even got into a conflict with the pastoral staff of the Protestant church, he cut off his relationship with the church, and he started keeping his faith alone with his family. Sister Bahamani, who is the brother’s wife, was in great anguish, that she started concentrating on prayer for several days, eating pretty much nothing and asking God to help them find the true church. That is when they met Brother Walter and his wife. Brother Dhansay and his family studied the Bible every day for two weeks. As they felt convinced of the truth, his eight family members received the blessing of a new life with joy.
Brother Dhansay said that he could not stop thinking about his old church members who used to come to his house to keep worship. So, he preached to them what he learned, and within one month, fifteen people, including Brother Rajendra and his family, received Christ Ahnsahnghong who came with a new name.
Brother Rajendra’s passion for preaching is truly amazing. As soon as he received the truth, he preached the word of God to his acquaintances from his old church. Many of them were surprised and wanted to come to the Church of God. Upon hearing about it, the pastor of his old church called him to stop him from preaching to his church members. Then the brother preached the word of the Bible to the pastor, who was taken aback and promised to come to his house to hear more.
The pastor came to the brother’s house with two other pastors. The brother boldly preached to them about the Passover, God the Mother, and Jesus’ new name, which is the name of the Savior of the Age of the Holy Spirit. However, the pastors had no intention to listen to the word of God in the first place. Their goal was to take him back to their church. They tried to refute the truth by any means. However, it only made the brother feel even more convinced that the Church of God is the true Church. The pastors, who only tried to change the brother’s mind with carrot and stick, turned back in the end as the brother was not budging a bit. Afterward, Brother Rajendra led eleven souls to salvation. Currently, some thirty members in Latehar are keeping worship together in Brother Dhansay’s house.
Brother Walter and his wife said that they did not know what to do when they were stuck in a place where they do not even live in. Saying that they never imagined that they would meet so many heavenly family members in an unexpected place, they were amazed by God’s work, and they gave thanks to God for the blessing. Apparently, Sister Bahamani found it really hard to keep worship individually after cutting off her relationship with her old church. However, now she gives thanks to God Elohim, saying that it was all God’s plan to lead her family to the truth.
The brothers and sisters preach the word of God diligently, hoping that Zion will quickly be established in Latehar, too. Seeing them go out boldly to save souls by believing in God’s blessing although they are new members, I feel ashamed of myself for all those moments I clung to situations and circumstances although I am a pastoral staff member.
The members in Latehar have let us realize once again that it is truly God who leads the gospel work. While the Israelites were walking in the desert after coming out of Egypt, God was always there, working for them. God guided 600,000 men with the pillar of cloud by day and with the pillar of fire by night. Among so many people who experienced God’s power, those who entered Canaan were those who firmly believed God’s promise and obeyed Him, not those who felt discouraged by the reality and complained and grumbled.
While walking the gospel path, we sometimes face an unexpected situation or what seems like crisis. However, we must not feel discouraged or anxious by reality, but go forward, keeping in step with the prophecies and believing that God has plans. I pray that abundant blessings of God will come upon the brothers and sisters in Latehar, who are carrying out the gospel work with pure passion.