For three years, one of our partners has been working in a village in Pakistan, developing relationships and building up the community. Mirra, a local woman, regularly attended one of their training programs learning about money management, health, and Bible stories.
Both she and her husband were committed followers of Hinduism, as was most of the village. Therefore, the team had to be wise in their dealings with the people.
At some point, they noticed that Mirra was no longer attending the meetings. The team asked one of the group leaders to find out what was happening. It turned out that Mirra’s husband, Narin, had contracted typhoid fever. Not only had the couple struggled with knowing the diagnosis, but he could not get treatment.
Shahid, one of the team leaders, said, “When we met the couple, Narin looked so thin that it was scary. They told us how they had been struggling to get help. They even went to the hospital in another town, but to no avail. Sadly, they had spent all they had looking for a cure.”
The couple was totally devastated emotionally, physically, and financially. Shahid asked them, “May we pray for you in the name of Jesus who is the one and only God?”
Right away, the couple said, “Yes, we’ve tried everything. Maybe your God will help us.” The team prayed fervently, then and in the days to come!
After some time, Mirra noticed that Narin seemed to be getting better which encouraged her greatly. In time, Narin started to walk around the village, just a little at first. The couple allowed the team to launch a Bible discovery group with them. At each meeting, the team would pray and share a story from Scripture.
For the next six months, the team continued to disciple Mirra and Narin, and one day, they both accepted Jesus as their personal Savior. Feeling alone as Christians in their village, they asked the team, “How can we stay attached to you?” The team explained that they needed to be attached to Jesus! And they continued discipling them.
Recently, during a small meeting in Mirra and Narin’s home, the team baptized this couple along with a few others.
Now Narin voluntarily teaches literacy to children in the village. The team helped the couple build a small meeting room attached to their house and every evening, coming back from the field, Narin teaches local Hindu kids, deprived of school, to read and write.
Narin is so grateful and inspired by God’s love for him that he keeps telling everyone of his testimony. Shahid said, “We caution him to be careful as he shares Bible stories and his testimony with others, for his safety’s sake! It’s such a joy to see how Jesus has transformed this family and how they are becoming agents of transformation in their community!”
