Jnanadas, his wife Girija, and their two sons
Her son had been tormented for years. She had taken him to Hindu temples for prayer and to witch doctors for deliverance, but to no avail. With nothing to lose, she decided to take him to the Christians—who make up a small minority of India’s population. She visited a church pastored by Jnanadas Pushpan.
During the service, her son became restless and began to scream, manifesting the demonic spirit that tormented him. Pastor Jnanadas spoke with Holy Spirit-empowered authority: “Come out of him in the mighty name of Jesus!” The boy convulsed and screamed again, and then lay still. He was free at last. He and his entire family became believers that day.
Pastor Pushpan is no stranger to big challenges. When he was just six years old his Hindu mother and father both died from tuberculosis. His uncle took him in and struggled to raise him, but Jnanadas eventually ran away to live on the streets.
Jnanadas couldn’t run away, however, from God’s providential care. At ten, he ended up in a Christian orphanage where he met Jesus and grew in his faith as he grew to become a young man. Upon graduation from high school, he sensed the Lord’s call to become a missionary, so he studied at a Bible School and then became a traveling evangelist, walking from village to village, preaching the gospel to those who had never heard it.
Jnanadas eventually married, and he and his wife, Girija (also an orphan), settled in one village for five years, planting a church there and starting their family. His faithfulness to his calling earned him a promotion, and two years ago, the Lord called Jnanadas and his family to a difficult assignment. They moved to the coastal town of Attingal on India’s southern tip, an area primarily populated with Muslims and Hindus. Jnanadas and Girija, Attingal’s only Christians, began by reaching out to Dalits (the lowest class of people in India’s caste system, also known as “untouchables”) and poor fishermen, by serving them and praying for those who were ill.
The Lord began healing everyone Jnanadas prayed for, and people started listening to his message and believing in Jesus. Before long, 25 people were coming to his house for church services. When attendance regularly swelled to more than 50, the landlord evicted Jnanadas and his family. The same story was repeated at their next rented house, and the next one as well. Now they are praying for a house to own.
Pastor Jnanadas Pushpan lets his light shine in more ways than one
The village where Jnanadas and Girija serve is like most of India’s rural villages—it is so primitive that there is no electricity. But there is always light in their house—in more ways than one. A kerosene lantern, courtesy of Heaven’s Family‘s Lanterns Fund, makes nighttime Bible studies possible in Jnanadas and Girija’s house, and also in homes in outlying areas where they gather disciples. Thank you for helping Heaven’s Family provide a little light for those who are shining a Big Light!
