How Ravi Fell Off The Top of a Train and Started Sharing the Gospel – Pastor Ravi Kumar, India
Feb 18, 2016 5871
Sometimes you just can’t get a seat…
I have recently joined GNU in India to spread the Holy Gospel in remote villages along with Pastor Joseph, says Pastor Ravi Kumar, a 24 year old evangelist. Passionate about sharing the Gospel, he spends his time travelling to various churches and remote villages spreading the Good News.
Pastor Ravi was born into a Hindu family of the “untouchable” caste. He attended school as a young child but because his family was so poor he had to stop studying, and instead look for work.
Now Ravi shares the Gospel in night-time, outdoor meetings, like this one, in rural villages in Andhra Pradesh, India.
One day, in order to seek work, he was travelling to another state that was a great distance away. The train was very full, and there was no room for him inside it. So instead, he sat on top of it for the journey. However, during the night, while the train was travelling through the forest and over hills, he happened to fall off. As soon as he hit the ground he was knocked out and became unconscious. No body noticed that he was missing until the train reached the main station.
Ravi remained in the forest the entire night. During that night he had a vision that God was calling him to do his work. Early in the morning he got up, and he soon realised that he was lost. He did not know where he was, or how to get out of the forest. He was very weak, but he stood up and began walking.
Remembering the vision, Ravi thought about God and what had happened. He realised that God had protected him from the wild animals that could have harmed him during the night. As he continued to walk, he saw people coming towards him and was filled with relief. They took him to hospital where he remained for one week.
After leaving hospital, Ravi returned home where he told his parents about his experience, and they began to believe in Jesus. Ravi wanted to learn more about Jesus so he began attending churches near his home. Wanting to do God’s work as he had been called to do in the vision, he went to Hyderabad Bible College for three years where he got a Bachelor of Theology. At first his parents were unhappy about what he was doing, so he prayed for them. They then realised that he was following God’s plan for his life, and were pleased that he was doing God’s work.
Once Pastor Ravi finished college, he started spreading the Gospel to remote villages. He would daily travel from village to village spreading the Word of God. Because he was poor, he could not afford a bicycle for travel, so he would walk.
In 2015, the weekly GNU TV programme began, with Pastor Joseph preaching the Gospel. Pastor Ravi saw the programme and contacted Pastor Joseph, asking to join in the work. Pastor Joseph promised to pray about it.
Later that year Eliezer Gonzalez and Duncan Wood went to India and conducted a Pastors Conference. Pastor Ravi went to the conference and was very impressed with Good News Unlimited and the work that it has been doing. After the conference, he went to Pastor Joseph and said he wanted to join GNU in spreading the Gospel in India. He asked for a bicycle to help him travel to the different villages. However he was asked to wait, so he continued walking by foot to many villages and churches spreading the Gospel and witnessing about Jesus.
In January 2016, Pastor Ravi went to Pastor Joseph and told him about his life and all he had been doing. He again expressed his interest in joining with GNU to spread the Gospel and Pastor Joseph felt that is was time to take him along with him. Pastor Ravi is now joyfully and passionately spreading the Gospel and continues to watch the GNU TV programme weekly. He says,
When Pastor Eliezer came to India I had a great desire and much interest to join with GNU in India and do the Gospel work. So it is God who has fixed the time for me to do it. I am so happy and glad to do Gospel work in India with Pastor Joseph. It is a great privilege and honor for me to bring many people into Christ Jesus. So I am so much thankful to GNU and Pastor Joseph and Pastor Eliezer who have inspired me to join and work for the Good News spreading.
− Ella Rodionoff
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