Many in Asia wait decades for their first Bible. Mindat shares what happened when he finally got hold of God’s Word.
I have lived in this beautiful part of the world with my wife and children for over 70 years. We live in a remote village and we have learned to live with very little throughout our lives. We are very poor farmers and our land is rough and yields little food. We have had many things happen in our family which have caused us to worry and fear and because of those things I have searched for a God who could bring me peace.
I looked for Him in the trees and the waterfalls, the leaves and the stones. Sometimes I brought in the Shaman but that almost always cost us whatever food we had and never brought peace, no matter the outcome. People here use the Shaman all the time because he is the only one who can communicate with the spirits but no matter how many times I have called him in, the news was never good and the omen always bad, leading to us having to provide a bigger and more expensive sacrifice to try to find peace and joy. It made us sad and unhappy and often we felt that life was not worth living because it was just too hard.
Then one day a man came to our village and he gave me a book. I had never had any kind of book before and there were no books at all in our village. He told me that if I would read this book I would find peace and a happy life. I was very interested in this claim and I began to read hoping that I would find peace.
I read the introduction and learned for the first time that the Christian God is a real and living God, that this book called the Bible is the Word of this one living God and that He is our helper. I was so excited that there and then I stopped and prayed and asked God to help me find peace in my heart and happiness in my life.
All of a sudden a feeling of peacefulness descended in my heart. I had spoken to Him only once and He answered immediately. Can you imagine the feeling of joy which burst into my heart as I began to read how God had created me in His image and read the stories of how he dealt with Abraham and Noah? How faithful He was to the promises He made!
Then I began to read John 14:27 which says “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give you: not as the world gives do I give it to you. Let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid.” I accepted this Jesus into my life and received total peace. I confessed my sins and could not wait to tell my wife all the reasons I had accepted Him as Lord and Saviour. My wife was just as excited as I was and she also confessed her sins and received Christ Jesus.
We have only been in Christ for 47 days but every one of these days has been filled with joy and happiness as we read and learn more about this God who created us and who created the beautiful surroundings in which we live. We go out to our fields in the morning and when we return at night, we read the Bible together learning all the time about our great and merciful God.
Gone are the offerings to the spirits, gone is the dismay and depression. Praise God we are excited about our lives now and want to share this great story with others. Thank you for your free gift to us.
Mindat tells us that there are many folks in his village and in surrounding villages who have never heard of Jesus or owned a Bible. For the first time in his 72 years, he has one in a language he can understand.
Can you help to provide these Bibles so that Mindat can begin to share the love of God with his neighbours and perhaps see many other folks rescued from despair and despondency to a life of joy and happiness?