From one god to the True God
Since 1988, InterAct Ministries has had a ministry in western Canada to Sikh immigrants from the State of Punjab in India.
When a Sikh person chooses to follow Christ, it is perceived as a betrayal of community, culture, history and religion. There can be a high cost. But God is calling Sikhs into His Kingdom! Anju’s story is the testimony of one woman who turned to Jesus and has experienced His faithfulness:
“I was born into a Punjabi Sikh home. Taught to believe in one God, I would pray according to Sikh tradition. Yet I felt a wall was there between me and Him. I don’t remember any of my prayers being answered.
We moved to Canada when I was 12. A cousin began to witness to me about Christ. She told me that I could pray to God directly through Jesus, by simply talking to Him. She cared for me and had genuine interest in me. When she invited me to ask Jesus into my life, I did.
I began to pray again, but now I was asking in Jesus’ name. I was amazed to see that my prayers were being answered! He was truly there and always had been. God was more real to me than ever before. I couldn’t go to church because my family would not approve of me being a follower of Christ. An InterAct missionary, who became a lifelong friend and mentor, began discipling me.
God was there, always there, more real to me than ever before. Even though He was so good to me, I was not brave enough to share that I believed in Him. I wanted to get baptized, but I couldn’t because I was still not ready to tell my family about my faith. I prayed for the courage and opportunity to do so.
In May 2002, I went to my friend’s church youth group. There I strongly sensed that the Holy Spirit was asking me to declare my love for Jesus and not keep it as a secret any longer. I felt terrified, but God strengthened me all the way with verses I knew and the assurance that He would take care of me. When I went home a cousin asked me where I had been. Fearfully I told her, 'church.' She replied, 'Good!' I was so astonished by her response that it encouraged me to share with her all about the gospel, my testimony and experience with Jesus. The next day she gave her life to Jesus.
This led to huge growth in my faith, and it gave me courage to pray before eating. One of my sisters was at the table with me and asked if I had prayed to Jesus. Without hesitation, my answer was 'Yes.' She was terribly upset and threatened me, but I told her that no matter what, I am a follower of Jesus. It seemed like a miracle when she began to ask me questions about Jesus the next day. I began to read the Bible with her, when previously I had kept my Bible hidden. A few months later she gave her life to Jesus.
Eventually my family saw the changes in us, especially in my sister, who had been a devoted Sikh. We were given the option of following Jesus or continuing our relationship with our family. We chose Christ and had to leave our parents’ house that day. After one week we were allowed back home, but when we decided to get baptized, we were once again told to leave.
I was in grade 12 and sensed the Lord was calling me to Bible College, so I left home and followed Him. Ever since, He has been softening my family’s heart and now they are okay with my decision to follow only Jesus. We continue to pray for them to see that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life and that there is no other way to God than through Him.
It has been 27 years since I met Christ. He has changed my life, healed me in deep ways, taught me about love and His kingdom, and walked with me always, through many trials and challenges. I continue to grow and am living a life of dependence on Him, serving Him in full-time ministry with my husband. I am constantly reminded that I need to choose Him everyday—it is not a one-time decision. I have found no one to be like Jesus. He continues to amaze me by who He is, and I am fully confident that it is worth it all.”
Humbly, Anju
Who Will Reach All the Johnnys?
By Mark Overbeek
"My whole life, I’ve never heard that story before," Johnny said as he sat across the table from me.
It was the Saturday night before Christmas. I was sitting in the Kodiak jail with seven other men. Everyone else in the room was clad in orange jumpsuits and handcuffs. Most heads were turned down, looking at the floor. “Really, you’ve never heard that before?” I asked, trying to mask my astonishment. “No, that’s a new one for me.” I looked around the room. Several others nodded in agreement. They’d never heard the story either. Huddled in a small room. No windows. A locked door. Panic button on the wall opposite me. I’d just shared the story of the birth of Christ with these guys. And it was the first time most of them had ever heard it.
Part of my ministry in Kodiak includes going to the local jail a couple of Saturdays a month and leading a Bible study with whoever is interested. Every time I go in and share with the inmates, whatever I share from God’s Word, I’m careful to share the gospel with them. It’s always interesting to meet these guys and talk with them about Jesus. They never fail to surprise me for one reason or another. Sometimes they surprise me with what they know—I’ve gone in before and shared from what I consider to be a lesser known part of God’s Word (Hosea, for example) and it’s amazing to me that often at least one will be familiar with the story that I share.
Other times they surprise me with their continuing blindness to sin. You would think, sitting there in that room with hand cuffs on, that it wouldn’t be hard to convince these guys that we’ve all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. Yet I can’t tell you how many times I’ve led guys to that point—which is critically important in understanding the gospel because unless and until we understand our sin we’ll never understand our need of a Savior—but I lead them to that point and they tell me how good they are! They sit there and explain to me that they may have messed up, they made a little mistake, but they really are basically good!
I’ve been surprised by these guys a lot. But this one caught me off guard—“I’ve never heard that story before!” How could it be that these guys could live their whole lives to this point and never hear the lifegiving message of Christmas—that God so loved the world that He sent His Son, as a babe, born of a woman, for the redemption of all who believe in Him? Imagine your life apart from Christ! Imagine you’d never heard of Him! I’d be in the exact same place these guys find themselves—lost, without God, with no hope, treading a path of self-destruction that ends in eternal darkness.
“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’” (Rom. 10:14-15).
This is why we go and why we preach. Why we live in difficult places, far from family and loved ones. Because Johnny’s never heard the story before! And there are millions of Johnny’s across the north, facing an eternity without Christ. They need to hear the story.
Who Will Go?
There are presently numerous villages and communities pleading for a missionary. Pray that God would send laborers to reach those who have never heard as well as those who have no clear understanding of God’s plan of salvation.
“What do missionaries do? People frequently ask, or wish to ask, “What do you do?” For many, the role of cross-cultural missions seems abstract, like murky water. To further complicate things, we tell stories in our InterACTION of diverse activities—Indigenous music in Siberia, jail ministry in Alaska, camping ministries among First Nations youth in Canada, and walking beside developing local churches. If you have been plugged into this publication through the years, you have seen a broad spectrum of diversity from our highlighted ministries.
Finding the answer to the question is best uncovered by looking at the target of missions. Jesus left us the clear mandate to make disciples of all the world’s peoples, teaching them to obey everything He commanded (Matthew 28:19-20). The epistles further unpack the strategy. Paul teaches the concept of multiplication, disciples are trained to disciple others (II Timothy 2:2).
The entirety of the New Testament following the gospels makes it abundantly clear that these disciples gathered together as local churches (Hebrews 10:25). Local churches are the community God uses to provide a greenhouse for future generations who will follow Him.
In other words, we have been commanded to go to the whole world (Acts 1:8) to make disciples, who make disciples, who gather in local churches. That is the target we are aiming for. We use various strategies to get that job done across the cultures of the North Pacific Crescent, our target region. Like the stories heard in this InterACTION, strategies vary, but the target remains the same—reproducing disciples gathered in reproducing churches across the North Pacific Crescent.
BECOME A PRAYER PARTNER
Today, millions of underserved and unreached people live in Alaska, Western Canada, and Siberia. They are lost and unaware of how deeply god loves them. Will you join us in praying for those in need of the hope found in Jesus?
Partner with us in praying for our missionaries and the people we serve with our monthly prayer newsletter, the InterCessor. To sign up, visit InterActMinistries.org/Intercesor or click the button below.