March 28 – In the Face of Fire
Romans 8:28: And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.
This testimony is shared by Phillip Das, a missionary from Balasore, Odisha/ Bengaluru.
In the year 2000, he became a pastor. In 2005, he was ministering in Bhadrak District of Odisha when he was 22 years old. On December 25, 2007, he held an evening Christmas service and 100 Christians and non-Christians streamed into the church. Brother Phillip was preaching from the pulpit when all of a sudden, 200 to 250 Hindu extremists banged on the church doors and started smashing the windows. All of them were inebriated, smelling heavily of liquor, carrying knives in their hands and rushed at them with fury. They started dragging each person out of the church, thrashing them violently and swearing, cussing, and cursing. He watched in terror but as he prayed silently, a deep supernatural calm filled him. He was suddenly in a different realm and with new courage, he was ready to die that night. As they attacked him and others, something strange began to happen. They started quarreling among themselves and left!
Later that night, a police officer asked him to leave the area as soon as possible or he would be killed. He knelt down and prayed and he got a strong sense that he should leave the place, so he packed a small bag and left the area. The next morning the policeman informed him when Brother Phillip called, “They came to your house last night, took away all your belongings and burned down your house, if you had been there, you too would have gone!” Brother Phillip felt a chill go down his spine, his heart filled with praise.
Despite all this, today, there is a great revival in Orissa. In 2013, the churches grew and spread to such dimensions that Gladys Staines handed over the care of the thirty-two churches to Indian Evangelical Mission, as they would be able to take good care of the people. When the Spirit moves, no man can stop it.
Mark Twain said, “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.”
Rita
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