TO CHEW ON: "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Romans 10:17
Kusum, a woman from Nepal, lived in Mumbai's Red Light District. She offered teenage girls from her homeland a better life. When they came with her, she immediately sold them to local pimps or got them into prostitution herself.
A local missionary, Arokiasamy, introduced Kusum to the Bible and kept in contact with her. But nothing changed—until a year later. Then Kusum found herself in big trouble with rival gangs. Fearful for her life she ran to Arokiasamy. He again shared God's word with her, explaining how God could forgive all the bad things she'd ever done.
She repented that day, gave God her life, and then what a change! She began sharing God's word with the prostitutes in her home and for the first time took care of them. Instead of trapping them in a life of sin, she now freed them to return home to Nepal with the news of the gospel which could free them and their families to live for Jesus. She is raising one of the prostitutes' abandoned babies.
As a young boy Shankar's mother locked him in a closet while she entertained men as a prostitute, also in Mumbai. One day Shankar was rescued by a missionary and given a Bible. He said, "It gave me hope. If it hadn't been for the Bible I would be on drugs and worse than that, I would have become a man who used women." Now Shankar has two goals: "I want to finish my studies and rescue my mom."
Beulah was lured to Mumbai's Red Light District form South India. A missionary sneaked a Bible to her and she found hope in Psalm 91:3: "Surely He will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence."
She continued reading the Bible and one day, alone in her third floor room, she invited Jesus into her life. Shortly after, she escaped by climbing down a drain pipe and found shelter in the home of a pastor and his wife.
These stories of the power of God's word were in the November 2012 Canadian Bible Society newsletter. Every month there are similar stories of God's powerful word seeding faith in lives all around the world.
Consider supporting an organization that translates or spreads the Bible. It's an investment that will be there to meet you on the long side of eternity!
PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for Your word, the Bible, which seeds our faith in You and Your life-changing power. Help me to do all I can to spread this word where I live and around the world. Amen.
MORE: Handel's Messiah Alert!
Two verses from today's reading are in Handel's Messiah:
Romans 10:15 is found in Chorus 38 - "How Beautiful Are the Feet."
"How beautiful are the feet of them
that preach the gospel of peace,
and bring glad tidings of good things!"
Romans 10:18 is found in - Chorus 39 - "Their Sound is Gone Out."
"Their sound is gone out into all lands,
and their words unto the ends of the world."
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. - Used with permission.
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