Arrival in Chennai

There was a break of a few days between our trip back from Telangana to Trivandrum before we set back out on a train to Chennai. Every state/province in India is different. Chennai seemed darker. As we arrived, trash was on the ground in the railway station. In other areas of India, I noticed people rarely looked too long at me, even though I was the only light-skinned person likely for miles. Cultural politeness seemed to trump natural curiosity. Here, in the rail station at Chennai, I was struck by long, almost angry stares from some of the people walking by. In Trivandrum, it seemed there were more churches of various denominations and mosques than Hindu temples and shrines. In Telangana, there were certainly more Hindu shrines along the road than there were in Trivandrum, but in the Chennai area, there were shrines on every corner. They were of a wider variety, with more violent and gruesome looking idols. Just driving in our car, I could feel the spiritual, economic, and social oppression more palpably here, especially in the countryside.

The conference was going to be held in a small village of people all designated as low caste. Apparently, there is a history of violence between this village and a neighboring village of higher caste, and folks have been killed before in skirmishes between them. The local pastor, Pastor Sahahay Raj, hosting our party has been trying to establish a church here right on the edge of the village in a small cinderblock building. Other Christians who have come have been forced to leave as they offended the culture and un-compassionately spoke against the people’s religion. There is a tentative relationship between the local pastor and the village. Despite being there for some time now, he did not feel completely accepted. The village had a leader, and despite being in a democratic nation, for all purposes this person ruled the village as a “chief.” What he says “goes” in the village.

The conference would follow the same format as the one in Telengana: two public evening services, each a few hours long, a Sunday church service, and then we would leave. There was a positive sign preceding the conference. Rain had made the area on which the stage was originally going to be set too muddy and loose to support the structure, so the village leader allowed us to set the stage in the central intersection of the village, allowing a small path for motorcycle traffic to get by if necessary. It was a gracious act of the leader, and showed he had initial support for the conference.

Conference Evening 1

Pastor Praveen and Pastor Raj spoke the same language, so he did not need to speak in English during the conference. Pastor Raj still needed to translate into the local language for Pastor Praveen, but Pastor Praveen could speak in Malayalam. I’m sure that eased the burden of communication for him, but it meant that I could only pick up some pieces of the sermon through context or recognition of a word here and there.

Even though I couldn’t understand what was being said during the sermon, given my experience in Telangana, I was a bit more prepared with my notebook to record what may happen throughout the conference.

There were approximately 175 people attending the outdoor conference that night. The village leader was immediately recognizable, he sitting with other elders in chairs positioned near the front and to the left of the stage. In the crowd, some of the people were from the village and some had traveled to the conference by bus. Those that came by bus were likely believers from other churches.

As Pastor Praveen gave his sermon on the faith of the centurion (Matthew 8:5-13), there was an immediate energy in the audience. The Spirit seemed to be moving already, and some old women were praising the Lord and speaking in tongues. I noticed during this that the elders were listening intently. The village leader got up to leave with one other, eventually, but two from the group stayed and continued to listen.  Pastor Praveen continued with his own testimony of conversion when he was visited by Jesus in Saudi Arabia as a young man and how God has led him to preach in many countries since then. Pastor Praveen asked if any were ready to profess their faith in Jesus as Savior and come to salvation, about 25-30 people raised their hand and prayed with him. I noticed during this time that one of the elders who stayed now had his head bowed with his hand on his heart.

Pastor Praveen then asked who would like to receive healing and I counted about 48 people who walked up closer to the stage. Pastor Praveen and other pastors and leaders at the conference prayed over the small crowd while worship music played. After the song, he asked if anyone received healing from the prayer. Many raised their hands, and Pastor Praveen began calling them up to share their stories. A line quickly formed, and one by one they told stories of how they were just healed or felt they had been delivered from evil influences.

The first man Pastor Praveen called up to the stage had been suffering from severe stomach pain. The man was saved two years ago, he had been treated by many doctors unsuccessfully, and had traveled from 100km away to receive healing. His stomach pain was now gone. Pastor Praveen prayed for him and praised Jesus’s name. You can see this in the video here. While there was more I wanted to know, there was not time to inquire more; the next person was already waiting.

One young woman came up to the stage with her sister. She claimed that she was previously unable to hear or speak, but now could hear and was able to respond back to Pastor Praveen. You can see this in the video here. An elderly woman brought her son up to the stage. The man could not hold a gaze with Pastor Praveen, because he was being tormented by multiple “devils.” Pastor Praveen prayed for deliverance for the man, and you can see afterward he could look at and acknowledge Pastor Praveen. The next man said he was possessed by a spirit that caused fear, but was free from it after the prayer.

As the official service came to a close, Pastor Praveen offered to stay and pray for others. He had to clarify that he was not going to charge money for this. Many Hindu priests will charge a fee or ask for a donation to provide prayer, so he wanted to make sure the people knew there were no strings attached to the offer for healing prayer.

Many people came and received prayer. One woman in a blue dress came. Pastor Praveen prophesied over her, saying she would give birth in the next year. He said that he could see that a devil was killing her unborn children two weeks after conception. The woman agreed with the word of knowledge with the statement “This is me.” Pastor Praveen said to her “if you believe, it will come that you will have a baby next year.”

Still another woman came, her arm was in pain. Pastor Praveen later told me he felt some pain in his left shoulder, God told him the pain was someone else’s pain that was praying for healing. When he prayed for her, she was able to show full movement in her arm and shoulder. She clapped in joy.

More continued to come. A woman in pink came crying. She had diabetes and had received a diagnosis that her finger needed to be amputated. It was oozing. She came for healing, and her finger was healed from the service. Her sons, who were with her, did not want her to come. They were now professing their faith in Jesus for their salvation.

While I highlight the cases where there is some initial evidence of healing or deliverance, it is important to note that so many people came and were prayed for that it was impossible to validate whether or not they received healing, also according to Pastor Praveen some receive healing but not immediately - it may take a day or so, and not everyone is ultimately healed either, immediately or otherwise. God is sovereign, and He may choose the timing or whether or not to heal someone even when receiving prayer from a person with these gifts of the Spirit. There was a man who came in a walker, received prayer and laying on of hands, but got up and grabbed his walker again to leave. It didn’t appear that he was healed, or at least not immediately.

Afterwards as we talked about the evening, Pastor Praveen was overjoyed with God’s initial work at the conference. He could feel a powerful anointing from the point he began singing. We could feel a shift in the village.

Conference Evening 2

The second evening started much as the first. About 200 people were present. The village leader honored Pastor Praveen by giving him a cloth over his shoulders. The elder said it was a great blessing for the village to have the conference, and asked the people not to harm or hinder the village church.

Thirty to forty hands went up when they asked who had received healing, deliverance, or salvation the evening before. Notably, one of them was one of the village elders and his son. Later in the service, about 20 more raised their hands and prayed the “sinner’s prayer” to receive salvation.

Many more people received prayer or gave their testimonies. This woman said she had been suffering many months with pain all throughout her body. The night before during the prayer service, she saw Jesus touch her. His power came on her and it shook her. Her mental state was changed in that instance, and her body was restored. She felt no more pain. This next woman, said she was suffering from pain in her stomach and her hip. Because of the pain, she could not walk properly. Pastor Praveen told her “God is healing you from your hip to your feet” and she felt the tightness release. You can see what happened when Pastor Praveen touched her again as evidence that she had mobility.

As the official service ended, prayer continued off-stage. Twenty-eight more people received prayer. Both the village elder who had stayed and prayed the evening before and his son received prayer. They both proclaimed their faith in Jesus. There was a grandmother with a small child whose hand was clamped shut, likely from severe arthritis. She could not open it, and it looked shriveled. As Pastor Praveen prayed for her, her hand was able to open. She could flex her hand normally.  There was a teenage girl who came up for prayer, but when she met Pastor Praveen, she was too afraid to receive prayer. She was backing away, almost trying to flee from him. Her friends encouraged her and she did receive prayer. It was a spirit that was putting the fear on her as bondage, that is why she came for prayer. After receiving prayer, several minutes later she came back without fear and asked Pastor Praveen to bless some oil or water for her.

Sunday Church Service

At the service the next morning, many of the village people came. Many people acknowledged the miracles of God they had witnessed in the village the previous two days. A Hindu woman came, perhaps her first time coming to the church, and professed her faith in Christ.

After the service, a couple who Pastor Praveen had prayed for the previous year came up. He had prophesied they would conceive a child despite previous troubles then. They brought their little baby to him and asked him to pray for and dedicate it. You can see the mother’s testimony of this in the videos below.

Testimonies

Testimony 1 Translation: (From Pastor Raj) Give thanks to God and to Pastor Praveen, because the convention held in September has changed this village, people have told him their testimony with the way God used Pastor Praveen with power, many, many who were sick were all healed by God. Many families were restored by the power of God. The village was blessed by this convention.  

Testimony 2 Translation: Last year Pastor Praveen baptized this woman, and Pastor Praveen prophesied that she would have a boy, and that she needs to dedicate him to the Lord. 

I know you are praying for a baby, he is going to give you a boy. He dedicated the baby when we came this time and named him John.

Testimony 3 Translation: I was eyewitness to many miracles that God has done through Pastor Praveen’s ministry. Many people were healed by God, delivered by God, not only that my family received many blessings and our village was blessed by God. Many youth were also saved by God because of this meeting.

Closing Thoughts

As we checked out of our hotel and took the long drive back to the train station again passing many morbid shrines, it struck me that even though there is still much darkness in the land, we left a small village changed. The Spirit of God had moved many people to profess their faith in Christ, a village elder was among them. The church there was emboldened and more firmly rooted. The village leader had been moved to publicly honor Pastor Praveen and state that the conference was a blessing to his village, while others before us had been forced to go. As Pastor Praveen stated, “we plundered for the Lord.”

The surrounding land still has much darkness about it, but there was a stronger light here now. As further evidence of that, as we were leaving for the train our taxi driver, a young man who had been with us the whole time driving back and forth from our hotel to the village, asked if he could be saved.