Children�s Relief International

Life in the Deep Forest is tough. Heat. Poverty. A caste system that keeps people low. In the midst of the struggle there are men who are willing to embrace the sacrifice and suffering that the faithful here must endure. These are their stories…

Bushanam Borru was raised in a devout Hindu home. Since childhood his parents and relatives taught him to recite all the Vedic mantras of the Hindu faith. Thus, he became extremely pious.

One day, Christian missionaries happened to visit his village. They came to spread the Word of God by preaching, praying, and distributing tracks among the people. Bushanam was furious. He couldn’t bear the sight of these outsiders spreading their foreign beliefs among his people. He was determined to stop them. So he went out among his neighbors and urged them to reject these missionaries. After all, why should they believe in a Western God when they already had their own Indian Gods? He collected the tracts that the missionaries had handed out and burned them all.

As time went on, Bushanam married his wife Laxmi and had two children, Padma and Anand. Life was good. The gods had blessed him, and he was a happy man. But suddenly his fortunes changed. He began to have heart problems. The doctors prescribed him medications and required him to make weekly trips to the hospital in the city.

On one trip to the city he came across a huge gathering. Curious and excited, he went inside. It was a Christian prayer service. At the front on a stage were gathered many pastors. They were preaching the Word of God, and people were going up for prayer. He saw one person brought to the pastors who had been plagued by evil spirits for two years. All the pastors closed their eyes, raised theirs hands towards heaven, and prayed for the man with tears in their eyes. Then he saw a miracle happen. The man was set free from all the evil spirits, and he was giving thanks to the God in heaven.

This was too much. The scene enraged Bushanam. So he came up with a plan. He acted like he wanted prayer also and went up with the intent of disturbing the service. But instead, when the pastors prayed for him, he collapsed to the floor. When he finally awoke he confessed his evil intent. He believed that his gods were greater than this Christian God, but now he realized that he was wrong. He told the pastors about his heart condition and asked them for prayer. After praying for him again, they gave him a Bible and told him to read it and to continue to pray.

He believed in Christ and went home to his village with a peace in his heart. That week he began to read the Bible and share the Word of God with his family and friends. He also began to fast and pray very earnestly. Slowly he began to feel a change. By the time he visited the doctors the following week he had been completely healed! He has been preaching the gospel of Christ ever since.

He now pastors a church in the Deep Forest village of Devipatnam. He has 15 congregation members. His children are now grown, and in 1991, his wife passed away from Leukemia. Yet through it all he remains strongly committed to spreading the Gospel to the poor in the Deep Forest.

When you pray for Pastor Bushanam, please pray that through him and his congregation many would come to know Jesus as the one true God.

Life in the Deep Forest is tough. Heat. Poverty. A caste system that keeps people low. In the midst of the struggle there are men who are willing to embrace the sacrifice and suffering that the faithful here must endure. These are their stories…

Durga was a devoted and religious woman. She gained fame and respect in the Hindu community for her witchcraft and fortune-telling. And yet she sensed that she was losing her peace and joy. She began to feel that she was in bondage to evil powers. She tried all sorts of ways to bring relief but nothing helped. She lived next to the church of Pastor Yesunadam. Every Sunday she heard the Word of God. Finally, she sought help from Pastor Yesunadam.

Pastor Yesunadam Duda is a native of the Deep Forest area. He and his wife Saralatha have three children, two boys, Mani Paul and Jaya Paul, and a girl, Usha. All three are now grown and married. Most of his life Yesunadam was a school teacher. He did not become a Christian until much later in life. Thus, it wasn't until the age of 59 that he began his ministry of preaching the Gospel.

He planted a church in the Deep Forest village of Geddada, and has been ministering there for the past seven years. He now has 30 congregation members with two services a week. He is deeply committed to spreading the Gospel to the Deep Forest people, the poorest of the poor in India. They are looked down upon and mistreated, and are accustomed to having no rights or recourse. These people are amazed as Pastor Yesunadam shares with them for the first time that they are so valuable to God that he died for them.

Being a pastor in the Deep Forest has meant giving up a steady income. Often he no longer has sufficient funds to feed his family as the church members are too poor to support him. But God is always faithful to provide. He continues on because his ministry brings life to so many people.

People like Durga. When she came to Pastor Yesunadam he and everyone in the church held a three-day fast. During this time they prayed continuously for the Lord to deliver her from her spiritual and physical bondage. For the first time in her life Durga also prayed to God. Within a couple of days, she was completely delivered from these evil bondages. She gave up all her old practices, and she has accepted Jesus as her Savior. Because of her testimony many who had previously followed her in her witchcraft also turned to Jesus.

Pastor Yesunadam is so thankful to the Lord for those who have sponsored his ministry through CRI. He asks for continued prayer for him and his congregation as they minister to people like Durga. It is his prayer that, like her, many would come to know that Jesus is the real God.

Hello friends of Children’s Relief International and welcome to the Pastors in Hill Country blog. My name is Ricky Allegretto and I work with CRI as Pastor Sponsorship Developer. We are thrilled to share some amazing stories of what God is doing through the pastors you support.  If you want more information on our work, feel free to check out the rest of our website anytime or send an email! We’d love to hear from you. But make sure to keep checking our blog as we will be posting soon!

How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. (Ps 36:7)