Here I am Lord , send me!

By Pastor Lau Tak Siong

AO Associate Trainer

I CRIED out to the Lord for direction. Should I or shouldn’t I go to what appeared to be the ends of the earth to train believers?

Bihar. The poorest state in India. That’s where I was asked to go.

I was wrestling with God because the assignment seemed doom from the start --- I could not find anyone who was willing to accompany me as my co teacher and assistant. Worse yet, I was told that even pastors in India avoided Bihar. Was life that bad in Bihar?

But I, like Isaiah, agreed to go. And to my utter relief, an Indian pastor named Paul was willing to come with me to Bihar.

To get to Bihar, I had to take a seven-hour flight from Melbourne (where I currently live) to Singapore and then another four-hour flight from Singapore to Chennai. Another full day of travelling by plane and train to the north of India got me to my destination at 7am, Bihar time.

After this mammoth, marathon travel, I was bone-tired and was glad for a bed to sleep in --- never mind if there was no attached toilet or WiFi, and that sleep was a mosquito-riddled sleepless night in the best hotel in town.

In Bihar, I saw grinding poverty as I travelled the muddy, rough and dusty roads to the two villagers (Khagaria and Paray).

Was it worth it? Definitely!

At Khagaria, about 40 leaders, both men and women who were hungry for the Word and passionate to serve their Lord, attended the training. They came from different but similarly simple backgrounds, and had gathered together with one common desire --- their love for the Lord and to be trained for His use.

This is a place where less than one per cent of the people are believers.

At Paray, about 35 adults and children gathered to hear the good news. I preached to them about the one and only God that can cleanse them from their sins, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Thus was the seed of the kingdom of God sown in the village.

Praise God that we can be used by Him to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to the poor. I am so thankful and privileged that the Lord brought here and used me. Despite the discomforts of long travel and poor facilities of putting up in poor villages, I considered it a joy to serve the Master in the poorest area of Bihar.

A big thank you to those who had been faithful in funding our Foot Soldiers and training ministries

Finally, I want to end with a testimony from Pastor Sushil, who was one of my participants.

Sushil was a Hindu and member of an extreme fundamentalist anti-Christian group. Prior to becoming a Christian, he needed more than RM20, 000 for his sister's wedding. The dowry system to have a woman married off is still practiced in India. He heard about Jesus and in desperation turned to this “Jesus” whom people told him was a loving God. So Sushil prayed, “Jesus Christ, if you are the true and living God, listen to my prayer and help me in this financial problem”. Miraculously a few days before his sister’s wedding, Jesus answered his prayer.

A man to whom he tried to sell a piece of land suddenly decided to buy his property, although he previously repeatedly refused to do so. The selling price was slightly more than what he needed. So he had some money left over. This answered prayer led him to turn to Jesus Christ and later give his life to serve Him as a pastor.

1 Cor 15:58: “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

Prayer Points

1. We pray for the Lord of the harvest to raise up more workers for the Bihar mission fields.

2.  We pray for the local pastors, evangelist and leaders to be always obedient to the call of God to serve

     willingly where He sends them.

3. We ask the Lord to pour out his spirit upon Bihar and touch and change the lives of the people there.

    That it will no longer be known as the poorest state but as a place of sign and wonders where Jesus 

    Christ reigns supreme.