The House and The Blessing – Testimony – Name Withheld - Proverbs 3:33 ...He blesses the home of the righteous"

Proverbs 3:33 ...He blesses the home of the righteous"

Early Days
I come from a God-fearing Hindu family and I remember a lot of rituals practiced in our home in my early life.  Some of the effects of these rituals brought fear and confusion in my early life.

When I was a little older, I was searching for something more and came to a personal experience of Jesus Christ in my 20s and this was a deep work within which slowly transformed my life, step by step and gave me new thoughts and decisions.  I had inner peace in my life for the first time.  Jesus said, "My peace I give unto you, not as the world."

Soon, sometime later, the Lord in His wondrous way started to touch my family and draw my family unto Him too.  This was a supernatural work and it always amazes me that there was no human hand of intervention in all this.

There is a specific difficult situation that I faced, which I would like to share for the Lord's glory.

The Attempts to Rebuild the House

My dad had a great desire to rebuild the house that we were living in at that time since it was more than 40 years old, and needed a lot of renovation and rebuilding.  Each time he decided to do something towards the house, there will be a death in our near and dear family members and he kept postponing the plan. This predicament went on for more than 10 years. There was always a hurdle in this situation and we feel helpless, our hands tied as if we were unable to proceed with rebuilding the house.  We met with a couple of builders but somehow this venture never progressed.

Finally one day I met an architect who happens to be our friend and when the appointment was fixed and on the day that I had to meet with him, my dad suddenly had a stroke and was almost in a coma and we rushed him to the hospital.  It was a difficult time for us.  Dad was in the hospital for about a mouth. During his stay in the hospital when my dad was almost in coma, I had all kinds of thoughts running in my head about the house plan.  I started to blame myself that just when I was about to meet with the architect, this serious sickness fell on my dad and I was wondering why this was all going so wrong and felt just so lost in this hapless event.  As I was talking to Jesus about all this, I decided to give up the whole idea of rebuilding our house.  Just then, a verse sprung up - God gave me a promise:  "With God we will gain the victory, and He will trample down our enemies" Psalm 60:12.  This promise gave me tremendous hope.

My dad passed away two weeks later.  Me and my mom were left alone, but our Lord stood by us through this trying time.  At that time, we were living in a rented house and we had to vacate that place too.

Then again, the Lord started to bring me back to the place to start rebuilding the house. There were many obstacles along the way, we couldn’t locate the land document, and then when we got a bank loan for construction, the money was not getting transferred and we almost waited for 6 months for the money transfer.

The Old Neem Tree and The Prayer That Changed Everything

We held on to God's promise as we started the building construction.  In this process, we needed to cut down the old neem tree.  The old neem tree used to be worshiped by me and my family in the past as it was considered that a goddess lived in the tree.  Each time, if we even had to trim the tree, we had to offer a sacrifice of a chicken to appease the goddess in the tree as a family ritual.  Also, someone among our relatives would die a sudden death, so we lived in fear of the old neem tree those days.

One evening as the building was getting demolished, a temple priestess was passing by my house and came up to me and said "Goddess Kali (in Tamil, they call her amman, in India known as the goddess of destruction) is living in the neem tree in your house, do not cut the tree!"

I responded to her saying "Jesus is my God!" and she walked away.  I felt confident in the Lord, that nothing bad would strike us if the Lord was with us.

The structure of the house came up and again, there arose a new issue towards the finishing of the house.  The money which we had to get through a sale of property went into litigation and the building came to a halt.  The construction work now stopped for almost 18 months.

I was greatly disappointed and wondering about the Lord's promise.  I then felt led to start to come every second day to the construction place and pray to God, claiming and confessing His promise and then would go back to our rented place.  I used to go from room to room in the unfinished house and go around the house and pray. I kept telling God "You led me into this construction, today I am standing in this helpless place!"

One day as usual I came to the house to pray.  But this time, I was led very strongly to do something different, I went near the neem tree and put my hand on the tree and asked God to forgive me and my ancestors for worshiping this tree and I confessed the name of Jesus  and I left the construction site.  I felt great peace after this, like a great load lifted off my soul.

Then again, after 2 days, I came back to the site and went around to pray and when I came to the backyard, the huge neem tree was dead!  Every single leaf had dried!  I was shocked beyond measure. This tree had stood for generations that even when my dad had cut the tree to the ground level after offering a sacrifice, this tree would grow back again, and today, the tree was dead!

I went back home amazed.  After this incident took place, things started to move quickly.  Our house construction got restarted and money came in and the work progressed. Today, I am living with my family in this God-given house. This house is a house of blessing and many of our dreams and plans are being fulfilled as we walk day by day with the Lord.  Our Lord Jesus fulfilled His promise. "With God, we will gain the victory, and He will trample down our enemies" Psalm 60:12

God's Provisions, Protection, and Victories He Wants Us to Enjoy

My family had opened the door to Satan through idolatry. Because of idolatry, Satan had his stronghold in and around our lives and withheld the blessing that God had for us. But thanks be to God for His deliverance.

Satan does not want people to enjoy God’s blessings. He will do anything to prevent it. But before God, Satan is our defeated foe.

As God’s children, we need to be wise discerning and watchful and pull down these strongholds of black magic and idolatry in prayer. Everything in this Universe belongs to our Almighty God and God wants us to live and experience the victory that Jesus has won on the Cross.  Let us bring every sin that we have committed which we remember and confess them and receive His forgiveness and be free. Let us not give a foothold to the evil one. Let us each day put on the armor of God and withstand the enemy so that Satan will not have the power to destroy our lives or our near dear one's lives and let us stand firm in Christ.

Through the fall of humans because of the entry of sin in the world, people are placed under the curse of the law and family generation curses, black magic, witch craft and other curses can be placed on people easily.  When we come to Jesus in faith, He truly breaks every single imaginable curse that came upon humans through the spiritual fall of the soul and He in fact on the Cross in that moment became that curse for us.  Today, we can take the evil curses over our lives and by a faith exercise, nail them to the cross.

Galatians 3:12-14:  However, the law is not of faith; on the contrary, he who practices them shall live by them." 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us- for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree "- 14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."

Today, Jesus reigns in Heaven, and He is the power to fight all evil and destroy all curses, black magic and evil and this was proved to me in my own difficult situation, when Jesus broke the family curse and gave us all great victory today.

Name Withheld

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You can send E-mail for prayer requests and also urgent prayer and will pass this on to the prayer group in Siliguri of Elder Richard Tamang's so do send in your prayer requests! We will all pray!

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Only God is the true  converter of a human soul.  No human can convert anyone.  It is God's Spirit to a human's spirit that converts.

Good Friday - The Great Divine Exchange - Poem

From the Cradle to the Cross and now above

Christ has made the difference forever….

He came on Earth just for one single thing

To become a supreme Sacrifice for the Original Sin

On the Cross He died, but it was a victor's death

Jesus broke the curse of death to give Eternal life

When we believe in Christ and accept His gift

Knowing we need a Savior to deliver from Sin

A Divine transaction starts to begin…

He made the Great Divine Exchange

He broke the curse of death so you could live forever

He broke the curse of sickness so you could be healed

He broke the curse of sin so you could live in purity

He broke the curse of the kingdom of darkness

So you could walk victorious

In this life and forever

Rita F. Kurian

Email Us For Prayer!

You can send E-mail for prayer requests and also urgent prayer and will pass this on to the prayer group in Siliguri of Elder Richard Tamang's so do send in your prayer requests! We will all pray!

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Into His Marvelous Light - Eswari Sekhar - Testimony

Eswari Sekhar

Early Days 

When I look back the person I was, before I met Jesus, sometimes I stand amazed at how God changed me and that gives me greater hope for what God has planned for my future.

My name is Eswari. I was born in a Hindu family and was extremely devout and religious right from early childhood. Being the eldest of four children, I shouldered responsibilities beyond my age from as far as I can remember. I learnt very early in my life that to get anything, you MUST be determined and strong willed. I carried that understanding into my marriage too and soon realized that neither of the two aforementioned so called virtues helped me as my life unfolded.  I moved to Bahrain after marriage and there was blessed with two lovely children. My elder daughter Lakshmi and son Manjunath. I was content with life and truly believed that my devotion to my idols and determination held my life steady. Soon, I and children moved to India for better education and career prospects for them.

My Call For Help

But slowly after a few years I felt great strife in my family trying to bring up two children with little or no help from their father. With time our problems both financial and personal grew to such a great extent that there were days I just wanted to end my life. I sat before my idols, fasting, many times because there was no money for food, asking them, imploring them to come through for me. The idols neither heard nor responded but I continued my devotion in hope. But later, my cries were heard by a God whom I didn’t know.

This happened in a very unexpected way.  One of my neighbors, Ranjini, a believer in Christ was witness to this turmoil in my home, largely because her daughter was a friend of my daughter.  Ranjini began sharing her faith with me and I ignored her words many times because I judged Christianity by the lives of Christians I had seen around. It was during this time, my daughter made a decision to leave home and embrace Islam. Things were terrible for me!

One day as Ranjini was praying for her neighbors and as she was praying, God clearly spoke to her to pray and share with me. She heard God say my name. “Go to Eswari” Not once but twice.  She was surprised, but she obeyed God and came home and told me to believe in the power of the Creator, the supernatural power of God to help me out of my struggles.  She did not say “Jesus.”  At that point, I was willing to try ANYTHING.  As I started attending the care cell, I began trusting this new God although I struggled to forego my devotion to my idols.

My New Life!

In 2000, I received Jesus as my personal Savior and obeyed God into baptism in 2001. All this with just a step of faith was the only way out of my problems.  In 2003 I finally decided to remove the idols from our home. A young boy who was a believer in Christ had just come to stay with us as he had received an engineering seat in Bangalore. The week later in our home, Manjunath and he started opening each picture of the idols to destroy them.  Then there came across a shocking discovery.  As they opened the picture of a Sai idol, they found witchcraft behind it, in form of objects, symbols and writings.  Witchcraft is commonly done to families to harm them and control them and can be even put into objects, the aim is literally to destroy a home and sometimes even cause death!  Often, even a friend can give a picture of object of something with black magic symbols and figures inserted within. If one does not know the Creator or have a spiritual walk with Christ, one can be prone to these attacks!

I was stunned beyond words thinking only one thing, “If this was a god, how can witchcraft thrive in its own picture???” "Does god need to do witchcraft?"  From that moment I decided to obey God with my whole heart and follow Jesus at any cost. My life was changed forever after this. Amidst much humiliation from my Hindu relatives, I proudly walked with the Bible under my arm. My God slowly began His work of transformation deep within me, which I now can see so clearly.

Wonderful Little Miracles!

I began to hunger and thirst for God. I was blessed to be a part of sister Prema Edwards Bible study and began worshiping with Ranjini at her church. In those days, we had very hard financial days.  One day in particular while feeling exceptionally burdened about my financial lows, I started imploring God to intervene. I did not even have money for the next meal at home!   As I closed my eyes, I had a dream where I saw sister Prema sitting next to me with an arm around my shoulder, saying in a man’s voice “Do not worry. I will feed you.”  I woke up, and went down to generally check on my tenant. I made it each month to pay the rent of the house, but somehow that money got over as soon as it reached my hands and I constantly struggled to make ends meet. As I casually met my tenant, she told me how she was trying to habituate her kids to eat normal rice instead of boiled rice, but was not able to do so. She wanted me to give away the rice to someone. She gave it to me, it was 10 kgs that we got that day!  It was a wonderful day of rejoicing just to know how personal and loving the Lord is and how He provided.  God had promised, God has fulfilled!

From that day on to this day I have never lacked any food or any need. Praise God!

As I grew more and more in love with Christ, I soon realized He is the Lord of all comforts. He may not always remove my burdens, but instead He takes them and bears them for me. In 2003, while in church, a young boy whom I have never seen before or since came up to me and said to me "God has laid it on my heart to tell you that this verse is a promise from God to you "Isaiah 41:10 “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”  After he told me that message from the Lord, this verse strengthened my Spirit and became a symbolic reminder that He is watching over my life even in the years to come. My son and I learnt the Word, prayed together, shared and grew in Christ together.

The Spirit of God urged me to forgive the relatives who had mocked me and even done more hurtful things to me in the past.  I took that step of obedience to go to the very homes I swore I would never enter ever and told them it was this God who had asked me to come and reconcile with them.  I know they were amazed to see this new me. They had to be as even I was amazed and struck in wonder at the new me!  Praise and glory to God.  He was changing me from within.

New Beginnings...

In 2005 my son told me he had fallen in love with a girl from his Bible study.  I was not prepared for this and I told him how I felt. But in time God spoke to me and helped me accept his love for this girl and gave him my blessing. However, informing my husband was the biggest challenge as he remained unapproachable throughout these times. In 2008, one day my future daughter-in-law received a call from Bahrain. It was my husband who had decided to speak to her apparently just to check to whom the unknown number on his cell phone belonged to. Over the course of a vague conversation, he blessed her and welcomed her to our family.  To this day, we do not know how or what prompted him to do this!  We know that God had heard our prayers. Soon after this call Manjunath spoke to him and he agreed to be present for the wedding.

As I fretted over marriage expenses and responsibilities to bear all alone, God showed me a wonderful dream one night.  He showed me a wedding card in that dream the card was for Manjunath’s wedding and had an Aramaic word right on top of the card which means “Wedding Director: God”. I felt greatly comforted as if the Lord was walking right with me.  On Dec 5th, one day before the wedding, my husband arrived from Bahrain. Even as I braced myself for strife and disputes, God true to the dream took us through the wedding in a peaceful manner. Our God walked ahead of us. On Dec 6th, 2008, our family grew by one. Manjunath took a loan for the wedding unknown to anyone but God knew and his first year bonus was exactly the same amount that he had borrowed! Praise God!

The year that followed helped me find a Bible study at Pastor Francis Richard’s home. God began convicting, cleansing and discipling me with His word. I also attended a 10-day teaching by Haggai Fellowship and a 9-day Healing and Deliverance School at Adonai Church. God through His word and Spirit began healing me of my deep buried hurts and bitterness. He gave me strength in my inner being. A strength that I found I needed to draw from in the years to come.

One afternoon, my daughter-in-law called me from work. She had a blood report in her hand that said she was 5 weeks pregnant. I was overjoyed. It had been about 3 years since the wedding and I felt very proud that my children had planned a well-timed family. What I did not know at the time was that a week ago she had severe pain in her abdomen and that was the reason she had gone to meet a doctor and was advised to get the blood test done. A scan on the same day revealed an ectopic pregnancy in the right fallopian tube. We were all devastated by the news. Both sides of the family rushed to the hospital and though things seemed under control, the doctor advised bed rest for her. Two weeks later we had to rush her to the Emergency Room as her tube had ruptured. She underwent right fallopian tube removal (salpingectomy) and God was gracious as no untoward effect on her health.

After a year and a half, my daughter-in -law again suspected pregnancy and the report confirmed the same. As she and my son went for the scan while thinking baby names, a lingering fear of what had happened in the past kept troubling her. As she was taken for the scan, her worst fears came to life as the radiologist couldn’t see any gestation in her womb. The whole day, at regular intervals the scanning was repeated with the same result. I waited anxiously by the phone at home, unable to eat or rest. Her parents were travelling at the time and all I could tell them was that I had no news yet. I could imagine their anxiety too.  At 10 pm I got a call from my son. It was another ectopic.  I strangely found incredible peace take hold of me.  I had come to know my God enough to say, “I trust You” even in the midst of this. But I was confused because God had given me assurance through His Word that this year my children shall be blessed with a child. I gave my cares on Him. The doctor advised against trying for a child and suggested IVF. They feared my daughter-in-law would not survive another such event. We put our trust in God and as a family went on our knees.

An Amazing Miracle!

Two months later on a routine check with the gynecologist, my daughter-in-law was advised a scan. My son accompanied her. Their cell phones were dead as not charged, so I was waiting at home for their return. As my daughter-in-law entered the house, her watery eyes said what she had not yet uttered. The scan showed “a single live gestation within her womb”. My darling grandchild had arrived. Praise God! She was born on Nov 29th 2014.

Eswari Sekhar, (left) Arpana (daughter in law) and Neshamah (grand daughter)

Words cannot describe the gratitude and joy I feel when I hold my now 15-month-old, grand daughter in my arms. We named her Neshamah which is Hebrew for “life giving breath of God”. 

The amazing miracle here is that my daughter-in-law had a right fallopian tube removal (salpingectomy), which means conception is virtually impossible!  The scans after her birth showed that the ovary on the right side had produced the egg that formed her.  Since my daughter-in-law's right fallopian tube had been removed, the wonder was that the tube from the left leaned over, picked up the egg and transported it to the womb! It is called “transperitoneal migration” a rarest of rare phenomenons,that even doctors marvel over!  We believe it was our God showing off!  Amen.

I Just Keep Trusting My Lord As I Walk Along...

Today, as we watch  Neshamah grow in leaps and bounds, we praise God.  At the same time, we continue to trust God for my own daughter is very deep into Islam, and my husband as well.

In the summer of 2015, my husband landed in India. He made it very clear that he had come as the head of the house and not as a father or husband. I struggled to face him but Ranjini my dear sister in the Lord said that God told her to tell me to “Accept him as he is.” A very challenging instruction but in child like obedience, I walked up to my husband’s room and tried to talk to him. He refused to speak and brought the whole house down in anger. We tried to keep Neshamah away from these emotional outbursts. The next day, he seemed to act as if nothing had happened. This was the beginning of days of apparent normalcy followed by days of anger, bitterness, and yelling at seemingly trivial issues. This went on for 6 gruesome weeks till he decided to head back to Bahrain. On that last night he refused to eat dinner. I took the plate to his room and I asked him again. He refused. I requested him to eat, but he asked me to “Get out and don't show me your face again!”. I obeyed. My son, daughter-in-law, grandchild, and I have moved out of that home. He is now in Bahrain. My daughter as I mentioned earlier is a practicing Muslim.

I do not know what the future holds for me but I know I will choose to obey God wherever He leads me.  This is my promise from God. Daniel 12:13  “As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance."

Eswari Sekhar 

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You can send E-mail for prayer requests and also urgent prayer and will pass this on to the prayer group in Siliguri of Elder Richard Tamang's so do send in your prayer requests! We will all pray!

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Only God is the true  converter of a human soul.  No human can convert anyone.  It is God's Spirit to a human's spirit that converts.

Emalet Benitha Manasseh: A Marvelous Miracle of a Second Life! - Testimony

This is an astounding powerful testimony of a lady who actually lost her life and how God brought her back, to give her a new life!

Early Happy Days
Kanyakumari

I grew in near the coastal town of Kanyakumari, in South India.  As children, we enjoyed going to the beach, relished the sights of beautiful red-orange sunsets, collecting seashells on the beach and building sandcastles.  Later on, our family moved to Ooty, a town seated in the Nilgiri Hills, Nilgiri means blue mountains and the name may have arisen from the blue smoky haze given off by the thousands of eucalyptus trees forested on the mountains.

Ooty

These were happy family days.  My dear loving parents were God-fearing, and brought us children up in the fear of the Lord, we read our Bibles faithfully, had daily family prayers and went to church regularly.  All was wonderful and well.  I used to sing in the church and even for many public occasions, danced, painted, played the piano, and excelled in art and craft so overall, my childhood was a very happy exciting one with wonderful memories.

Illness Strikes

After standard 12, when I was 18 years old, due to my father's business, we all moved to Hosur, in Tamil Nadu, which is situated at the border of Bangalore. Hosur has a lovely cool climate but was a very quiet town.  The first year in Hosur went well for me.

One day when I was in Hosur, I suddenly had a strange spell where I was feeling as if I was fading out, and had a fit where I was very dizzy and passed out.

People around me were puzzled and said, "Perhaps she had a bad dream and that is affecting her!"

Others whispered around that perhaps I had seen an evil spirit or an evil spirit was attacking me.  I too was surprised because something like that never happened to me before.

Another month rolled by, and then again, it happened again, I got attacked by another fit!  Medically, it would be termed as a seizure or epilepsy.  This time, I was 19 years old.  This time, it was advised by all that it would be better to go to Bangalore and find out what was wrong, so my parents took me to the famous hospital in Bangalore called Nimhans, the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience.  Strangely enough, in Nimhans, they did not take any scan, but just took an oral history and treated me with medicines.  Initially, I was 40 kg but after one year of treatment with medications, my weight went up to 80 kg!  I was horrified at the great gain in weight.

Then again, something new happened, when I was 20 years old, I contracted measles two times.  On the second attack of measles, I was suddenly swollen and shapeless from head to toe.  I actually looked frightful at that time and even strangers would look shocked when they saw me so my mother, in order to protect me from getting more hurt by the reactions of others covered me with a black dupatta (a stole for women) as people could not look at me.  Everything in my life was monitored, my food and I was under strict treatment with strong medicines.  All these medicines had side effects on me I actually started telling my mother to pray to Jesus and ask Him to kill me as He was not healing me and death seemed the cold dark answer to my pain and suffering.

Slowly after 40 days, I recovered from the double measles attack and then got slapped with another serious illness – jaundice!  In fact, I got jaundice twice and then after recovering from that, got chickenpox!  I guess my immunity was so low that I was catching one illness after another.  One whole year went by where I was on total bed rest.  My legs and calves and below the knees were cracked and bleeding, and could I not walk.  I was in excruciating pain all the time.  When I was 21, I started to become a little bit better and started walking but could not walk beyond 10 steps, or I would start getting an intense burning.

Finally, a dear friend in Hosur, my closest friend, Pavithra took me to a hospital in Hosur.  There, they did a blood draw and found out that my hemoglobin level was only 4 (normal should be at least 10 and above).  I had a very serious blood anemia called sickle cell anemia.

Walking through all these dark clouds, my parents' faith and trust in Jesus was not shaken, though I was battered and broken and was losing the little string of hope I had left to hold on.   My sister, Jenilin Sujatha encouraged me too and kept telling me that I would get well and whole again.

The doctors started to give me neurobion injection,(high concentrate of B vitamins) but my body did not accept the injections, and after the third injection, I could not even sit up.  My friend, Pavithra, then suggested it would be better to take me to Bangalore, St. Marthas Hospital, another very good hospital in Bangalore.  However, when I was taken there, the hospital authorities did not accept me on admission initially as my hemoglobin was far too low.  Finally, I was admitted.  I was given injections for the low blood counts and some of the nurses used to cry on seeing my condition. Later, my blood was rechecked and my hemoglobin level was now only 3!  At this point, the doctors decided against hope that I would live and advised my parents to take me back home and give me whatever I want as they said "Her days are numbered, she does not have many days left…"

From Death to Life!

 My brave parents did not take me back home and instead told the doctors they would take the risk of continuing to keep me in the hospital with blood infusions.  There was a kind doctor there, Dr. Santosh and he counseled me telling me that my mind would have to have the courage to accept whatever happens and he prepared me for death.  St. Marthas Hospital had morning songs and prayers and my friend's granddad would come over to the hospital every morning and pray for me and give me a morning tiffin.  After 2 days, the doctors tried to give me 5 ml of blood that went in and after that injection, I suddenly had severe shivering.  Everyone tried to hold me down to control the shivering. Dr. Santosh gave 3 more days of counseling with comforting words as my body was not accepting the injection.

In the midst of intense family prayer, I managed to receive a 2nd unit of blood, without any problem, in fact my body accepted a full unit.  All the doctors were happy, and the next day, they went for a 3rd unit of blood.

On giving the injection of the 3^rd unit of blood, half a unit went inside and then it seemed I was not able to tolerate it.  One of the nurses suddenly was shocked to see that plasma water started to come out through the tube and in panic called the doctors.  When the doctors arrived, they performed the vital signs and all the routine medical tests that confirmed that I had died!  I was no longer alive!  It was a horrific time for all, as I was still very young and many were in sorrow as they covered me with a white sheet about to be wheeled away to the mortuary.

Dr. Santosh came back again suddenly said "I want to try and revive her again!"  It surprised all in the hospital staff who were present as usually when one is medically documented as dead after all the tests, revival is rarely attempted.  He prayed shortly and started resuscitation and after about 3 minutes, I started to breathe, my vital signs came back and I got my life back!  This was a wonderful miracle witnessed by the people present in the hospital.

After this, it was as if I got a new life, a second life.  Dr. Santosh wanted me to taper down my seizure medicines.  Initially, after a year of treatment, my seizures were greatly controlled and I stopped them.  Now, I was back in Hosur and once again, I started to get seizure attacks.  Once, if I did get an attack, it would take me 9 hours to get conscious again!

Working and Again Illness Strikes

 I was now a teacher in Hosur, glad that I able to work and I loved my new life and freedom.  However, one day, when I got down from the bus, 20 steps to my colony, I got a fit again and fell down on the road, near Pavitra's house.  People rushed around me.  The opinion by many was that I should not go to Bangalore for treatment but instead to Chennai, SRM Hospital in Chennai, a very good hospital.

Dr. Ananth, a kind cheery doctor attended to me and his first question to my parents was "I need to see her CT scan."

When my parents replied that a CT scan had never been done, he was shocked and said, "How could they treat her so long without a scan?"  He immediately ordered a CT scan and Dr. Ananth was stupefied to discover that in my brain, there were 22 areas of calcification!

Dr. Ananth said to my parents, "There is a 99% she will never be cured, but 1% that she may be cured.  Pray to your God that she will be cured and her bones will always be very weak and her eyesight will be weak too.".

The Well of Depression

I overhead him saying that though no one knew that I heard it and I was very discouraged and sunk into a well of depression and decided I would commit suicide as I was not fit to live in this world.  In that well of depression, I tried tablets though I did not succeed in dying.

At that time, I was taking 19 tablets at a time for my treatment.  I began to feel I was a burden to my father and mother.  On one occasion, I had been engaged to be married to a man and when the people around heard about that engagement, they went to the man and his family and warned them never to let him marry me as I was very sickly and also would never bear children.  After hearing this, the man told broke off the engagement by saying, "I am sure God will give you someone better."

Though I had not succeeded on my first attempt at suicide, I was determined to try again.  I told no one of my plans.  The next day Sunday, I planned to kill myself with all the long list of medicines that I was taking, planning to overdose on all of them together.  That Sunday morning, the television was on and a preacher was speaking.  I never believed in TV messages as I never found any of the wonderful things happening to me in my own personal life as they claimed would happen.

An Amazing Intervention

That morning when I planned to commit suicide, Mohan C. Lazarus was speaking on TV and he suddenly said something very strange out of the blue on the TV.  He suddenly seemed to look straight at me and said very clearly and loudly "Dear sister, suicide is not a final answer to your problem please change your mind, dear sister, I am speaking to you, suicide is not the answer for your problem!"  He repeated it 3-4 times.  I was amazed! Was he speaking to me?!  I then started to cry loudly in shaking rasping sobs and my parents rushed in worried, asking me what had happened.

When they heard how I had planned suicide that day and how I heard the message on TV spoken by Mohan C. Lazarus imploring "me as it seemed" not to commit suicide, they too cried, and assured me "You are never a burden us, never think that… your life to us is life is precious whether long or short."

That Sunday morning, we all went to church and amazingly, the same message was preached by the pastor saying suicide was not the answer to life's problems!  God was speaking!  With this, I was greatly comforted and for the first time in my life, I felt the personal touch of Jesus on my life and felt calm and peaceful inside.

I, however, decided never to marry, live with my parents and work for Jesus.

By now, for every treatment, we used to go all the way to Chennai from Hosur, approximately 271 kilometers distance.  We went to Chennai even for fevers, cold, etc.! After 2-3 months, I wanted to reduce the tablets. Dr. Ananth said my weight should come to 45-50 kg in order to reduce the tablets.  Within 2 months, I surprisingly lost weight and came down to 48 kg which even amazed the doctor, so he slowly reduced the seizure tablets.

The Road of Rejection

I used to sing in the church and after 2-3 years, one day, a particular family liked me and decided I would be good for their son in marriage and the marriage actually was fixed.  Then, a group of people approached the would be groom's family and gave them a report of my illnesses and also emphasized that I could never give birth and my life was short, and I may not even live long, so once again the marriage was cancelled!

It was the height of rejection for me.  Deeply wounded, I retreated, but this time, the Lord was with me, healing me from within and outside and as I continued getting healing, my tablets reduced.  Once again, I made a firm resolve never to marry.

A New Pathway, A New Avenue, A New Life

Hosur

One day, when I was singing in a program, a particular lady liked me, and decided she thought it was wonderful if her son and I could get married.  Of course, I was not so open to the idea, but this family seemed  quite clear in their hearts about me and even brought their pastor, who spoke also.  My parents told them about my illnesses, but my future mother-in-law was not deterred and responded by saying "It is all in God's hands!"  Her son was working as a teacher, Manasseh William, who is a brilliant musician and singer.  Once again, when the same band of people heard about my engagement, they came again to speak against me to my would be in-laws to stop the marriage, but God started lifting me up and He literally protected me from that barrage of attacks.   By God's grace, the marriage was fixed.

At the time of my marriage, I was taking 50 mg of seizure tablets, so I was advised by the doctor that for six months, I should not conceive.  But the very next month after marriage, I conceived surprisingly and without planning it.  I was badly frightened fearing harm to the baby in the womb.  The doctor was calm and reassuring and said to me "Do not be afraid and do not worry, it is your God's wish.  Since your God has healed you so much, surely He will take care of this too!"

With this comfort, I had a peaceful pregnancy.  Then in the 7^th month, I got another fit attack.  Once again, the people around me again started saying "The baby will abnormal and never be okay, she should have never conceived."

In that strong spirit of judgment from the people, I leaned more on my Lord and got springs of strength from Him.  Special scanning were performed again in Chennai to see the baby.  My sister also strengthened me by saying "God cured you and He will perfect all that concerns you!"

I was delighted to learn that the scan was normal and the baby was fine as seen in the scan. In the 9th month, I again got measles and once again in the school where I worked, the people said the baby will die.

It was during this time that both me and my husband got stronger in our faith and walk with the Lord.  My parent's prayer support was a pillar of strength.  At the time of delivery, the doctor said I need to go through a c-section.  That dawn, I got pain and at 4:20, went to hospital as my membranes were ruptured.  I did not have too much pain, but my husband was made to sit inside the operating theater to sign the forms etc.  In an atmosphere of deep powerful prayer, at 6 a.m., I got some pain and was very drowsy.  All this happened before the doctor came to the hospital and by 7 a.m., I had a normal delivery with no pain at all, only a bit and delivered a beautiful normal healthy bright baby girl.  Her name is Elvina Carlin.  With her delivery, all judgmental mouths were silenced!  My daughter is now 9 years old!  Healthy, active, wonderful and bright and a beacon of joy to us!

Now, today, I own a play school and at present, my husband and me have received a call for full-time ministry.  We have stepped out on the waters with eyes of faith, not knowing what will await, but we are seeing the hand of God doing wonderful and new things in this new road, and experiencing and seeing God doing great miracles!

I wish to end with this verse, very personal and real to my life:

Isaiah 55:8-13

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

    neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

    so are my ways higher than your ways

    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven

    and do not return there but water the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout,

    giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

    it shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

    and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

12 “For you shall go out in joy

    and be led forth in peace;

the mountains and the hills before you

    shall break forth into singing,

    and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;

    instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;

and it shall make a name for the Lord,

    an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

Emalet Benitha Manasseh

____________________________________________________

We were made for Him, In Him He fullfills our Desires - Poem

Looking through a spectrum;

A multitude of million things

Seem to occur  in different events that life brings

No end to the happenings that daily occur

Very soon life seems a mixed hazy blur

As things pass our way, we try them out to see

If this was part of our life's journey, in a plan to be

But the taste of each incident grows sour in our mouths

"There must be something better" we cry and shout

Then! in a moment of time when we find the eternal truth!

In that single moment, we reap the secret precious fruit

For the simple secret is this, "We were made for Him"

Our needs, our desires are met; our cup fills to the brim

Our soul finds no rest till we find our rest in Him

When we rejoice in Him, He builds us with might

When we delight in Him, He gives the desires of our heart

What He gives is eternal, it can never depart

Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you

the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4

Rita Farhat Kurian

Email Us For Prayer!

You can send E-mail for prayer requests and also urgent prayer and will pass this on to the prayer group in Siliguri of Elder Richard Tamang's so do send in your prayer requests! We will all pray!

Email: ritafarhatkurian@gmail.com

Discouragement -

 Dr. Annamma Abraham

      Dr. Annamma Abraham and (late) Dr. Abraham were veteran doctors in Malaysia (originally from Kerela, India) and also serving the Lord in many capacities.  Those early years were very busy with their working schedule and taking care of their very energetic and lively three sons.  In that very busy schedule of work along with parenthood, they grew stronger in their faith and walk with God.  Today, as Dr. Annamma Abraham delves into the Word in deep study, she shares jewels of wisdom from the Word!

Discouragement

Discouragement means deprive of courage, confidence or depression of one’s spirit

When life’s greatest waves toss you, when you are discouraged thinking all is lost, count your many blessings, name them one by one and it will really surprise you, what the Lord has done for you. If you are burdened with lot of anxieties and worries and you think it is very difficult to carry your cross, count your many blessings, and then all the doubt will fly away. When you look at others with their lands and gold, think of what Christ has promised you- His untold wealth. So in the midst of your conflicts great or small do not be discouraged, because there is our God above everything. He will provide you with His help and comfort till your journey ends.

                        Let us see some of the causes of discouragement and the remedies against. 

If you are in a tunnel of discouragement, keep walking toward the light. Lift up your eyes, the discouraged ones. The Lord will help you, and new strength will come from Him who said, “For rest come unto Me.”

Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest”.

                        Many people are deeply troubled because for them God seems far away. They don’t feel that He cared about their personal needs, so they have difficulty in praying. Many a times unconfessed sin, a vengeful spirit, pride, addictions and the like are the reasons for that feeling. But when no sin was evident and the person submitted daily to Jesus as Lord, read the bible, and prayed persistently, the best thing is to “Talk to God about your problem and keep doing what you are doing.”

                        The prophet Jeremiah went through a time when God actually seemed like his enemy. He described his anguish over a God who “shuts out my prayer.”

Lamentations 3:8 even when I cry out and call for help, He shuts out my prayer.

                        He felt as if God were hunting him down.

Lamentations 3:10-12

10. He is to me like a bear lying in wait, like a lion in secret places

11. He has turned aside my ways and torn me to pieces;

He has made me desolate,

12. He bent His arrow and set me as a target for the arrow.

                        But as he expressed his sorrow, Jeremiah saw a light that pierced the darkness and restored his hope in the Lord.

Lamentations 3:21-26.

21. This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope

22. The Lord’s loving kindness indeed never cease,

For His compassions never fail,

23. They are new every morning, great is Thy faithfulness.

24. “The Lord is my portion”, says my soul,

“Therefore I have hope in Him.”

25. The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,

To the person who seeks Him.

26. It is good that he waits silently,

For the salvation of the Lord

                        If God seems far away from you, even though you are trusting Him and trying to do His will, don’t despair. Talk to Him about it, keep doing what you know is right. The light will breakthrough. And when it does, you will be immeasurably better for it.

                       

                        Moses was discouraged at some point in his life

                        The complaint of Moses about the people, his heavy burden, and his own life

Numbers 11:10-15

10. Now Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, each man at the doorway of his tent; and the anger of the lord was kindled greatly, and Moses was displeased.

11. So Moses said to the Lord, “Why hast Thou been so hard on Thy servant? And why have I not found favour in Thy sight, that Thou hast laid the burden of all this people on me?

12. Was it I who conceived all this people? Was it I who brought them forth, that Thou shouldest say to me ‘Carry them in your bosom as a nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which Thou did’st swear to their fathers?

13. Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me, saying, “Give us meat that we may eat,

14.  “I alone am not able to carry this people, because it is too burdensome for me.

15. “So if Thou art going to deal thus with me, please kill me at once, if I have found favour in thy sight, and do not let me see my wretchedness.

                        Discouragement due to defeat

Israel is defeated at Ai (Joshua is very much discouraged) 

Joshua 7:6-9

6. Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until the evening, both he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads.

7. And Joshua said, “Alas, O Lord God, why didst thou ever bring this people over the Jordan, only to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us? If only we had been willing to dwell beyond the Jordan!

8. “O Lord, what can I say since Israel has turned their back before their enemies?

9. “For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and they will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what wilt Thou do for Thy great name?

                        Elijah was discouraged, flees from Jezebel and Elijah chose to die because of the apparent failure.

1 Kings 19: 2-4

2. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.”

3. And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

4. But he himself went a day’s  journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It is enough; now, O Lord take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.

                        Discouraged due to sickness 

                        Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery 

Isaiah 38:9-20

9. A writing of Hezekiah King of Judah, after his illness and recovery:

10. I said, “In the middle of my life, I am to enter the gates of sheol; I am to be deprived of the rest of my years.

11. I said, “I shall not see the Lord, the Lord in the land of living; I shall look on man no more among the inhabitants of the world.

12. “Like a shepherd’s tent my dwelling is pulled up and removed from me; as a weaver I rolled up my life. He cuts me off from the loom; from day until night Thou dost make an end of me.

13. “I composed my soul until morning. Like a lion- so He breaks my bones, from day until night Thou dost make an end of me.

14. “Like a swallow, like a crane, so I twitter; I moan like a dove; my eyes look wistfully to the heights; O Lord, I am oppressed, be my security.

15. “What shall I say? For He has spoken to me, and he Himself has done it; I shall wander about all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.

16. “O Lord, by these things men live; and in all these is the life of my spirit; O restore me to health and let me live!

17. “Lo, for my own welfare I had great bitterness; it is Thou who hast kept my soul from the pit of nothingness; for Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back.

18. “For sheol cannot thank Thee; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Thy faithfulness.

19. “It is the living who gives thanks to Thee, as I do today; A father tells his son about Thy faithfulness.

20. “The Lord will surely save me; so we will play my songs on stringed instruments, all the days of our life at the house of the Lord.

                        Remedies against discouragement

            Cast your burden upon the Lord

Psalms 55:22 

Cast your burden upon the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.

            Come aside by yourselves

Mark 6: 31

Jesus said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a lonely place and rest a while.”(For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.)

Lift up your heads

Luke 21: 27-28

                        Return of Christ

27. Jesus said “and they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN A CLOUD with power and great glory.

28. “But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up, your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

                        When we begin our walk with Jesus, we easily shed many of the sins that have weighed us down. We give dramatic testimonies about being freed from addictive behaviours. Then the attention shifts to another new believer, and we discover that little sins like jealousy, resentment and anger don’t drop away as readily as the big ones. Some of us get so discouraged that we lose sight of our commitment to Christ and go back to some of our old ways of living. Perseverance makes the difference between failure and success.

                        A young minister cherished a note he received from a busy architect in his congregation. The letter said simply, “Your sermon met me where I was on Sunday – at the crossroads of confusion and hurt. Thanks for preaching it!” Those words met the pastor where he lived – at the intersection of discouragement and pain – and encouraged him to keep on in the ministry. One little act of kindness can have multiple results.

                        During the Boer War (1899 – 1902) a man was convicted of a very unusual crime. He was found guilty of being a “discourager”. The South African town of Lady Smith was under attack, and this traitor would move up and down the lines of soldiers, who were defending the city and do everything he could do to discourage them. He would point out the enemy’s strength, the difficulty of defending against them and the inevitable capture of the city. His weapon was the power of discouragement.

                        Encouragement, on the other hand, can be a powerful friend. It strengthens the weak, imparts courage to the fainthearted. One of the greatest ministries we can have is to lift the spirits of fellow believers.

1Thessalonians 5:1 and we urge you brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all men.

                        Many Christians have become weary in their daily conflict with the evil one and are tempted to give up in their spiritual struggle. They need an encouraging word. The people who are involved in Christian ministry need expressions of appreciation and assurance of our prayer support. A little encouragement can spark a great accomplishment. 

                        Mary anoints Jesus with a costly perfume. The disciples were indignant when they saw this and said “why this waste? This perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.”

Matthew 26: 10-13

10. But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you bother the woman? For she has done a good deed for Me.

11. “For the poor you have with you always; but you do not always have Me.

12. “For when she poured this perfume upon my body, she did it to prepare Me for burial.

13. “Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done shall also be spoken of in the memory of her.”

                        We can learn a valuable lesson from the devotion of this woman. We need to break out our best perfumes for the living. Don’t put off until tomorrow.