ⓒ 2003 WATV

It's already been a year since I moved into Mumbai, India, on the call of God. Reflecting on the past days, I really feel God has always been with me. As prophet Ezekiel foretold, 'Everything becomes fresh wherever the river of the water of life coming from Jerusalem reaches,' I see the prophecy being fulfilled in Mumbai. Dozens of spirits, hearing the message of salvation, are now rushing into Zion even from the suburbs of Mumbai.
At this Passover, brothers and sisters from Goa in the southern part, and from Raipur in the central part, and far from the Middle East, Dubai, gathered in Mumbai to keep the Passover. It takes 10 hours to Mumbai from Goa by train, and 20 hour from Raipur. They're quite long ways.

The land of India is approximately 33 times larger than that of South Korea and its population reaches 1 billion. India has about 14 national languages including English and Hindu and over 845 dialects. Hinduism is the major religion, and cow is sacred for the god Shiva coiled a cobra around his neck and rode on a cow.

The Christian religion was introduced to India long time ago. Most people think Christianism was first known to Indians by the British during the period of British settlements expansion. But Catholicism was already delivered to the country in 16th century by the Portuguese, and Christianism entered the country even earlier during the 1st century by Apostle Tomas. As time passed by, however, the gospel of Christ delivered by Apostle Tomas disappeared in India like in other countries.

Various kinds of Hindu idols fill up the streets of India, and images of the Virgin Mary and cross and all kinds of images of saints cover the streets of the Christian Town. Like the Hindus, Christians burn incenses before their altars and kiss the idols every morning.

But here are a lot of souls seeking for the word of God, the message of life. A seed of the new covenant, implanted in India, now have matured enough to bear fruit of life. Starting from Deli, the gospel rapidly spread to Mumbai and to Calcutta. Indeed, God is the One who accomplishes the work of the gospel.

Few days ago, I visited brothers and sisters in Calcutta with a brother. It was three months since I visited Calcutta last year for the autumn feast. Whenever I called on them to ask their safety, they asked me to visit them again. They told me that many people were waiting for baptism and members were longing to learn the truth of the Bible more. A 36 hour train trip! I was heading for Calcutta.

ⓒ 2003 WATV

Though it was a long distance, we couldn't control our excitement to see the members waiting for us, actually waiting for the God's words. We hurried, forgetting the tiredness from a long journey.

We arrived in Calcutta after one and a half day long trip. Calcutta was the centre city of the Southeast Asia under the British control, before the independence of India. The old magnificent gothic architectures in the city prove the prosperity of its old days.

On a narrow street, rickshaws, bicycles, motorcycles, carriages, buses and motor trains are all tangled, reminding us of the disorder of the 19th century. However, a seed of life sprouted calmly and put out branches and was bearing fruit beautifully.

After a 40 minute subway ride from the city, a small Christian Town in the outskirt of the city appeared. The inhabitants of the town are strongly connected with the Catholic Church in the town. The Catholic Church takes charge of the inhabitants' birth registration, education, marriage and divorce, and even funeral. If one leaves the church, he is likely to loose everything. The social function of the Catholic Church is beyond measurement. The unfavorable treatment of the majority of Hindus and Islamics has made the Catholics bond tighter to protect themselves from the outside. As for a Catholic, it is unimaginable to leave his church.

Despite such difficult situations, the seed of the gospel has finally borne good fruit. Here were also brothers and sisters seeking for the God's word. They were brother Montu's family and sister Asha’s family. After receiving the truth, they abolished every idol in their houses and kneeled down before God.

It took three months to see these loving members. We unpacked our belongings at Montu's and prepared for the Third Day Worship. As the worship time was near, Asha and her family came. Our worship started by singing 'The Last Secret' together. No one taught them the song, but they learned by themselves with the help of a New Song tape. We were all moved, singing the New Song together with the rejoice of reunion.

Since they'd eagerly longed for the word of God, each of them asked many questions, studying the Bible. Due to short stay, there wasn't enough time to study. However, we could see God's word being engraved on their hearts and could feel the invisible love of Elohim.

After the worship, a member asked us to check her reading the Prayer of Our Wishes in Korean. Though her pronunciation wasn't clear, her earnestness touched other members' hearts and made them practice the prayer in Korean. They stayed until late night, asking serious questions.

Whenever I preach to overseas members, I think of what colossal blessing the Korean members have received from God. What the members in Calcutta really want is neither a church building, nor a pastor. They only admire a prophet who can preside at the worship service and teach them the words of God.

Next day, we quickly had breakfast and visited Asha's family. They converted to the Church of God, though they knew very well that they would be left out in the cold by their neighbors and would loose every benefit the Catholic Church provided. However, together with Montu's family, Asha's family kept their faith, regarding the truth and the kingdom of heaven as the most valuable thing.

ⓒ 2003 WATV

During our stay in Calcutta, Asha's father came from Oman in the Middle East for his holiday. I thanked God for giving me an opportunity to preach the gospel. He first denied the gospel but accepted the truth and got baptized after all.

Next morning, I saw Asha's father digging the ground with all his strength. I wondered what he was doing. I then figured out that he was digging the ground to bury the idols including the Virgin Mary image on the altar outside his house.

Asha's family had removed all the idols inside the house, but hadn't destroyed the idols outside the house yet. After Asha's father studied about idols, he was cut to the heart and dismantled the altar and buried idols in the ground. I believe God would give much blessing to her family since they got rid of the last idol in their house just before the Passover.

The next day was the Sabbath, and a relative of Asha came from the city to learn the truth of the Bible. She said she was awaiting us and asked several questions. What she wanted to know most was the truth about the Savior, the Spirit and the Bride, as was expected. She already heard about the truth from the members there. She understood the truth and received Elohim after all. It was an incredibly happy and touching moment. We kept the Sabbath Evening Worship with the new members. Our worship was filled with God's grace all the more.

Next morning, we headed for Mumbai on schedule, hiding the sadness of parting. Seeing the members sincerely asking God to send them a prophet who can lead them, I earnestly prayed that all of us could keep good faith until the day of our meeting again. Later, they called on me that they kept the Passover all together in God's grace.

Father and Mother, I give thanks to You. And I pray, "Harvest is plenty, but still lack of workers. Please allow us many workers to reap the crops!"