Financial Poverty Leads to Spiritual Wealth

Images provided by CICM

Imagine 500,000 people—some whose arms are spread wide, others whose heads are bowed low; some who come with tears, and others who join in joy. They gather each week to worship the Lord; they gather to learn from His Word, to pray together.

In the U.S. half a million people attending a single group of churches would be amazing. But more amazing is that 500,000 believers meet each week in 2,560 churches across central and northern India—a country where the majority of people are Hindu, and Christians in that region are only 1% of the population. This is the ministry of Ajai and Indu Lall of the Central India Christian Mission.

It may surprise some people to hear that the growing number of people in India who join these CICM church plants each week come from the impoverished segment of the population.

In spite of their financial poverty, the door has opened to spiritual wealth.

Poor—But Rich

Many of us reading these words have prayed the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread,” without a second thought. But for the 750 million people in India living in extreme poverty, they know what it means to depend on someone else for daily bread.

“They understand the untouchables, the Samaritans, the hated, the lepers with no hope.”

So when the Lall family and others who minister with CICM approach the destitute citizens of India, they find people who are ready and responsive to a God Who wants to care for them on a daily basis.

“Their whole purpose for that day is somehow to earn bread to feed five, seven, maybe ten people the next day,” explained Ajai. “They’re open and receptive. They walk five miles to find safe drinking water. So they understand the meaning of living water. They understand the concept of times when Jesus walked village to village, traveled on a boat, or opened a roof to bring a paralytic man. They understand the untouchables, the Samaritans, the hated, the lepers with no hope. Because they see that every day; they experience all those things.”

Ajai shared this phenomenon with the CDF Capital team in May when he visited the Irvine office. “So you’re saying that as wealth goes up, openness to spiritual things goes down?” asked Dusty Rubeck, President of CDF Capital.

“Yes, that’s what I’ve experienced in my 35 years,” responded Ajai. “I think sometimes materialism takes over and we take a lot of things for granted. We think we have all these luxuries; why do we need God?”

His conclusion: “These poor people are rich in a way—they are much more open to learn about God.”

It Comes Back to One

Ajai and Indu and their CICM team are focused on a mission—take the love and knowledge of Jesus Christ to unreached people in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and beyond. They do that through planting churches and also by meeting the physical needs of their fellow citizens in order to tap into their spiritual development.

CICM offers medical help through their Mission Hospital and by going out into communities to set up Medical Camps. They offer hope for the youngest generation through children’s homes and by supporting local ministers who are rescuing children out of trafficking.

“These poor people are rich in a way—they are much more open to learn about God.”

CICM even helps with transportation for evangelists: in a region where many people live in remote, hard-to-reach areas, small motorcycles provide the best means for ministers to travel. An evangelist can have five times the reach if he has a motorcycle to get to people; so CICM raises money to provide these bikes.*

In all these avenues of CICM’s ministry, the goal is the same as Christians everywhere in the world, the same as the ministries CDF supports here in the U.S.—to provide opportunities for the love and grace of Jesus to be shared. Yet global outreach and millions of unreached people can seem to be an overwhelming and impossible mission, even with all the churches and ministries that exist.

But it all comes back to one—changing one heart, one life, one eternal soul with the gospel. Then doing it again.

 

Pictured above: Ajai & Indu Lall

CDF + CICM

While Ajai was visiting the CDF Capital team, President Rubeck presented a check for $10,000 to purchase ten new motorcycles for CICM evangelists in India. “I first met Ajai Lall in 1979 while we were students at Dallas Christian College. This encounter resulted in a lifelong friendship. Over the past 38 years, God has used Ajai and Indu to make a greater impact on the Kingdom of God than any other church leader I know. The depth and breadth of the CICM ministry is amazing. We count it a true privilege to share in their ministry in a small way for the future of India and beyond.” If you would like to join in this project, see the CICM website.

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