(From YWAM Frontier Missions serving in India) – Tragedy struck one family again and again. Being low caste, their lives were already hard. This situation, however, was unusual. Over a period of five years, three of their children died. It was the same case every year. The oldest was a daughter. She suddenly fainted, went limp, and died within a few days. The next year, it was their second daughter. The following year, a son passed. It was always the same: the child would go limp and unconscious then die within a few days. The family was desperate to be free from this horrible curse! It was taking the lives of their precious children. They only had one child left, a son of fifteen years of age. When he, too, fainted and went unconscious they hurried to the hospital. Their beloved son was put on a ventilator to help him breathe. After the death of the other children, the family had tried to find a solution, and they were ready to try anything!
Over the years they had gone to many Hindu pundits (experts who give opinions). The priests told them this was happening because of a curse on their family. To appease the gods, they had paid for many sacrifices. Nothing seemed to help, because, still, every year a child would die. One year, they tried a witch doctor who charged a lot of money, but that same year their child died.
One of their relatives attended a small church that a YWAM Frontier Mission leader had started. They called their relative who contacted the man we will call “Rakesh”. The call came around 10pm, and hearing the story, Rakesh’s heart broke. But faith rose in his spirit to believe for a miracle. This was NOT God’s will! The family declared, “If God heals our son, we will believe!”
Each day for 3 or 4 days, Rekesh called and prayed for the boy over the phone. “Put the phone by his ear so he can hear me praying,” he told them. Rakesh’s house church prayed, as well. Then Rakesh got the news: “Our son woke up! He is totally fine. We want to put our trust in Jesus!” All of their relatives, 5 families, are now trusting in Christ. Discipleship has begun and they are getting to know the One who not only heals but also saves! Praise be to God!