Stories from our field
“I want to share the wisdom of Christ with everyone”
What drives someone to share the Gospel online? Why does a person devote so much time and energy to it? And what is the impact of their efforts? Abel* from India, leader of our Telugu team in India, talks about the people he reaches, about his team, about himself.
“The Bible tells us that the greatest wisdom to live a meaningful life is found in Jesus Christ. I have come to know the wisdom of Christ myself, He has changed my life,” says Abel, who used to be a Muslim and is now a church pastor in his city. “I now feel an enormous drive to share that wisdom with my family and fellow countrymen.”
Abel thinks it is great that this can also be done online: “It is more difficult to spread the Gospel physically these days, because we are dealing with threats and persecution. But this online platform gives us the opportunity to share the Gospel with confidence, undisturbed,” he explains.
Abel soon discovered the impact that online evangelism can have. “When I had just started working for GlobalRize, there was a girl with a Hindu background in the course who started asking me all kinds of questions: ‘Who is Jesus Christ? Will He forgive my sins? Where can I worship this true God?’
I answered her questions and then advised her to go to a church in her area. ‘The pastor there will tell you more about Jesus Christ and guide you,’ I said. Together with my team, I looked for a church in her area and advised her to go there. And she did! She came to faith; was baptized and developed into a faithful follower of Jesus. She shares her faith with her friends and family. This inspired me enormously to continue with online evangelism. God is at work!”
Abel himself grew through online work, as well. “The students often ask difficult questions, so I have to do research to come up with a good answer. It makes me a better pastor, and my church members benefit from that, too. As a team, we benefit greatly from the Biblword website (one of the GlobalRize brands, ed.) with well-founded articles on Biblical topics. I have translated these articles into Telugu so that we can forward them to the people who come to us with questions. I also post them on Facebook, so that as many people as possible can get to know the Bible.”
Abel also notices that people can be open about themselves online in a way that they would never dare in real life, such as people with an LGBTQ background. “We give people the space to tell their story, without rejecting them.”
It is not always easy for Abel and his team to evangelize; they regularly have to deal with insults and reproaches. “But we learn from Jesus that trials are part of a life with Him. We speak kindly to these people and pray for them,” says Abel.
This doesn’t dampen his enthusiasm: “My greatest desire for us as a team is that we grow in effectiveness, so that we can reach more people. And I invite students to become mentors themselves. We can use more people to join in!”
- Pray for wisdom and love for Abel and his teammates;
- Pray for many people to come to faith and join a church;
- Thank God that people who have fears and anxieties find the courage to tell their story and pray that they will come to know Jesus’ love.
*not his real name
Photo by Annie Spratt via Unsplash