INDIA The work of a Global Mission pioneer is to plant churches and teach others about the love of Jesus.
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othiram is a Global Mission pioneer who works in India. He didn’t always work for God. “I used to drink heavily,” he says with regret in his eyes. “I did terrible things and didn’t take care of my family.” One day a neighbor saw Pothiram’s wife, Jeshoda, crying in front of her house. She invited Jeshoda to her home, where she and her husband comforted and prayed for her. Jeshoda liked this Christian couple, and when they invited her to study the Bible with them, she agreed. Week after week, Jeshoda studied the Bible with her neighbors and learned about Jesus. Then one day, they gave her a Bible. Jeshoda was thrilled to have a Bible of her own. But there was one problem. She couldn’t read. The only solution was to bring the Bible home and ask her husband to read it to her. At first Pothiram resisted her request. But eventually, he agreed. As he read the Bible night after night, he noticed that he began to feel better. His heart was slowly changing. Jeshoda invited Pothiram to her weekly Bible study with their neighbors, and he went. The more Pothiram studied the Bible and prayed, the
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Pothiram, Jeshoda, and their daughter love spending time together.
more he felt convicted that God’s way is the right way. He gave his heart to Jesus, gave up alcohol, and made his family a priority. Finally, he and his family were baptized. Pothiram wanted to do more to serve God, so he became a Global Mission pioneer. Now Pothiram and Jeshoda work together, sharing the gospel with their community. They
are filled with joy and can’t imagine doing anything else with their lives. The Global Mission initiative is one way the Adventist Church is sharing the gospel with those who live in the Southern Asia Division, a region of our world church comprising India, Bhutan, the Republic of the Maldives, and Nepal. Here Global Mission pioneers, such as
