Hindus in India Blessed, Baptized During Mission Trip

Story by Keisha Bone

Allegheny West Conference’s Multicultural Department, in partnership with Mountain View Conference (MVC), recently went on a mission trip to India. Sixty-one missionaries got on a plane and arrived in the city of Hyderabad two days later. They then drove to the Seventh-day Adventist high school in Madgulapally.

Volunteers comprised of doctors, nurses, dentists, teachers, builders, lawyers, businesspeople, electricians and others stepped out of their comfort zone to spend almost two weeks helping many in need.

The group assisted in several service projects. They built more than 400 feet of road on the school’s campus; painted all the buildings on the school’s property inside and out; constructed new bathrooms; and purchased new mattresses, bedsheets and pillows for the 236 students. Volunteer doctors, nurses and dentists also provided medical and dental services to 1,034 kids, faculty and local community members—90 percent of them Hindu and 10 percent Christian.

In 2011, when another group of missionaries visited the high school, student Hanzie thought, I want to be a dentist like the ones who came to serve. Hanzie’s dream came true, as she was on this year’s dental team serving others.

Every night, Sergio Romero, conference Multicultural director, led evangelistic meetings to some 1,000 people, preaching in English and interpreted into Telugu by Pastor G. Naveen Moses, president of the East Central India Union. Immediately after he preached, people by the hundreds surrounded the stage, asking for anointing and individual prayers, lasting close to two hours every night. Romero, Walter Cardenas, MVC’s Hispanic Ministries director, and others prayed earnestly for those looking for a special blessing.

One evening, Romero prayed for a Hindu attendee. Five minutes later, she returned, saying, “I have come back to praise God because, right after the prayer, I felt in my body the healing power of your God.” She later accepted Jesus as her personal Savior through baptism.

One particular lady, also a Hindu, gave her life to Jesus through baptism. At the event, she said, “My whole family is Hindu. I know I will have trouble for accepting Jesus in my life, but I am willing to face whatever comes, by His grace. Every night, I have a power in my heart that I have never felt before.” After her testimony, she requested a special prayer for her ill husband. After pastor Romero prayed for her newly acquired faith and the healing of her husband, she called her husband, sharing the news of her faith and the intercessory prayer for his healing. The husband inquired about the time of the prayer. When he confirmed that was the exact moment he started feeling well, he said, “Tell the pastor that I want to know more about that Jesus.”

At the conclusion of the trip, 57 people gave their lives to Jesus through baptism. It was especially emotional for everyone to witness a 92-year-old man dip into the waters.