One day a small group of people from Naraingarh came to visit me. Some of the men were senior citizens, and a few were young boys. They wanted to see our church and find out what kind of worship happens inside.
I opened the church and invited them in. As they looked around, I could see their curiosity.
“Why are there no idols here?” one of the men asked.
“And which gods do you worship?” another asked.
I answered their questions and shared a little bit from the Bible.
“We know you conduct your worship services on Saturday, and we have wondered why you choose that day,” they said. “It is not a good day to worship. Most people worship the sun god to appease him.”
As we continued talking, I discovered that they had been making their living collecting alms in the name of the sun god. People would donate money out of fear, and the men would then utter and chant appropriate verses of appeasement.
Ever since the group had become aware of our church and our worship practices, the men had been curious. Finally, they had gathered enough courage, after much debate, to come and talk to me about it.
I told them about the significance of the Sabbath, which was sanctified by God.
“This God,” I said, “created the entire universe, and He is much more powerful than the sun god or any other god.”
An invitation
My words were news to the group, and I could see them pondering what it all meant.
“Please come back on Saturday and worship with us,” I said.
After talking for a little while longer, the group thanked me and left. I thought I would probably not see them again, so I was very surprised when some of the men from the group showed up at church the next Sabbath. They sat through the service, observing everything. They seemed quite satisfied as they left. This went on for a few weeks until they suddenly stopped coming to church.
I was very curious and asked if anyone knew what had happened. I was told that the leader of the group had become very sick, and everyone was sure their attendance at our church was the reason why. The sun god was angry!
If your god is real…
Soon the son of the group leader came to see me.
“If you really worship the true God, the God who created everything, then your God should heal my father,” he said. “How soon will your God do this?”
I was speechless.
“I will visit your home, and we will talk about it,” I said.
After the young man left, I spoke with some of our church members and shared the problem with them.
“Let us pray and let God take care of it,” they said. We fasted Friday and Sabbath as we continued to pray.
The next week we visited the family and were very happy to see that the old man was well and walking again. The people were convinced that the healing was a direct result of the true God taking charge.
As a result, slowly, with God’s blessing, we are making progress with the people. Please keep us in your prayers as we minister in this community of sun worship and as we teach more about God’s appointed Sabbath day of rest.