The Episcopal bishop of South Carolina, who has distanced his diocese from the national denomination since its sanction of openly gay bishops, has not “abandoned” the Episcopal Church, a church committee announced Monday (Nov. 28).

Bishop Mark Lawrence, an outspoken conservative, has said that he wants to remain part of the Episcopal Church, even as he decries its “false gospel of indiscriminate inclusivity.”

The Episcopal Church consecrated an openly gay priest as bishop of New Hampshire in 2004, and a lesbian priest as an assistant bishop in Los Angeles last year.

In protest, the South Carolina diocese, which covers the eastern portion of the state, has declared itself “sovereign” within the national denomination, rejected the leadership of Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and withdrawn from some governing committees.

However, the church’s Disciplinary Board for Bishops “was unable to make the conclusions essential to a certification that Bishop Lawrence had abandoned the communion of the church,” said Bishop Dorsey Henderson, the panel’s chairman.

Under church law, bishops who reject the doctrine, worship or discipline of the national denomination are deemed to have abandoned the church.

Henderson, the former bishop of the Diocese of Upper South Carolina, said that it is “significant that Bishop Lawrence has repeatedly stated that he does not intend to lead the diocese out of the Episcopal Church — that he only seeks a safe place within the church to live the Christian faith as that diocese perceives it.”

Question: “What happens to those who have never heard about Jesus?”

Answer: All people are accountable to God whether or not they have “heard about Him.” The Bible tells us that God has clearly revealed Himself in nature (Romans 1:20) and in the hearts of people (Ecclesiastes 3:11). The problem is that the human race is sinful; we all reject this knowledge of God and rebel against Him (Romans 1:21-23). If it were not for God’s grace, we would be given over to the sinful desires of our hearts, allowing us to discover how useless and miserable life is apart from Him. He does this for those who continually reject Him (Romans 1:24-32).

In reality, it is not that some people have not heard about God. Rather, the problem is that they have rejected what they have heard and what is readily seen in nature. Deuteronomy 4:29proclaims, “But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.” This verse teaches an important principle—everyone who truly seeks after God will find Him. If a person truly desires to know God, God will make Himself known.

The problem is “there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God” (Romans 3:11). People reject the knowledge of God that is present in nature and in their own hearts, and instead decide to worship a “god” of their own creation. It is foolish to debate the fairness of God sending someone to hell who never had the opportunity to hear the gospel of Christ. People are responsible to God for what God has already revealed to them. The Bible says that people reject this knowledge, and therefore God is just in condemning them to hell.

Instead of debating the fate of those who have never heard, we, as Christians, should be doing our best to make sure they do hear. We are called to spread the gospel throughout the nations (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8). We know people reject the knowledge of God revealed in nature, and that must motivate us to proclaim the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ. Only by accepting God’s grace through the Lord Jesus Christ can people be saved from their sins and rescued from an eternity apart from God.

If we assume that those who never hear the gospel are granted mercy from God, we will run into a terrible problem. If people who never hear the gospel are saved, it is logical that we should make sure no one ever hears the gospel. The worst thing we could do would be to share the gospel with a person and have him or her reject it. If that were to happen, he or she would be condemned. People who do not hear the gospel must be condemned, or else there is no motivation for evangelism. Why run the risk of people possibly rejecting the gospel and condemning themselves when they were previously saved because they had never heard the gospel?

Recommended Resource:  What About Those Who Have Never Heard?: Three Views on the Destiny of the Unevangelized (Spectrum Multiview Book Series Spectrum Multiview Book Serie)

Two thousand years ago a man sat down with his friends and ate a meal.

It could be argued that no meal has echoed down the centuries quite like this one. That meal is the Last Supper and this moment is remembered by churches around the world by eating bread and wine in memory of the man who first did it, Jesus.

If you haven’t read the account of the Last Supper before, or would like a refresher, then you might like to turn to the gospel of Mark in the New Testament and have a read of chapter 14 verses 12 to 26.

Theories about the Last Supper, and how we should practice our remembrance of it in the church today, are widespread and numerous.

It seems there are as many opinions as there are grains of sand on the seashore! But perhaps there is more to draw from the accounts of the last supper than a simple set of rules of how we should or shouldn’t conduct our church services.

Picture the scene: The tension is rising in this group of 12 friends. Their leader, friend and spiritual teacher Jesus has been confronted by the authorities many times.

They are aware that Jerusalem is not a safe place for him to be yet he insists on going there to celebrate the Passover, an important festival in the Jewish calendar (see Exodus 12 for its origins).

Two of the disciples head into the city early to prepare a space for the celebratory meal, the others follow.

The meal starts off well. They sit back in their chairs, enjoy each others company and then suddenly the man who called this motley crew together changes the atmosphere. “One of you will betray me,” he says.

The reaction of these friends and disciples of Jesus is fascinating. They immediately ask the question ‘Is it me?’ I think this, and Jesus’ response, says something big about us and God.

The disciples loved Jesus, they had given up their homes and livelihoods to follow him and yet they still thought to themselves and said out loud, “Could it be me that betrays him?” I think we universally know this potential in ourselves.

Words slip out of our mouths that we wish hadn’t. We make wrong choices out of anger, sadness and disappointment. We wish we could take things back, daily sometimes.

But what is really interesting is Jesus’ response to this rag tag bunch, none of whom is confident that they are not his betrayer.

He picks up a loaf of bread and says ‘Take it, this is my body,” and a cup of wine saying “This is my blood which is poured out for many.”

Jesus sees their inability to be what even they want to be, to even know if it is they who would betray the one they love.

Later that evening he tells them they will be scattered like sheep when he is taken from them, a prediction that comes true alarmingly quickly after this cosy meal among friends.

And to Peter, one of his closest friends he says, “Tonight, you yourself will deny me three times.”

It is with this full knowledge that Jesus performs these powerful symbols of what is to come, his death within days on the cross–An act to unite people ever falling short with God who desires to give them a fresh start as many times as they need it.

This offering of bread and wine at the last supper is the gospel in a moment. In this act Jesus says, I know you fail, that you can’t even be sure of yourself, but here is the solution: “Take, eat – it is given for you.”

Sometimes Christian life can feel like you are ever striving. Striving for a perfection that even you know you cannot reach.

This story shows us that God knows full well our struggles and our inabilities. It is into this reality that he offers himself, going to die knowing that the closest people to him will run from him at the time he needs them most.

And to this he says, I have the answer. The answer is me.

Question: “What is the full armor of God?”

Answer: The phrase “full armor of God” comes from Ephesians 6:13-17: “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

Ephesians 6:12 clearly indicates that the conflict with Satan is spiritual, and therefore no tangible weapons can be effectively employed against him and his minions. We are not given a list of specific tactics Satan will use. However, the passage is quite clear that when we follow all the instructions faithfully, we will be able to stand, and we will have victory regardless of Satan’s strategy.

The first element of our armor is truth (verse 14). This is easy to understand, since Satan is said to be the “father of lies” (John 8:44). Deception is high on the list of things God considers to be an abomination. A “lying tongue” is one of the things He describes as “detestable to Him” (Proverbs 6:16-17). We are therefore exhorted to put on truth for our own sanctification and deliverance, as well as for the benefit of those to whom we witness.

Also in verse 14, we are told to put on the breastplate of righteousness. A breastplate shielded a warrior’s vital organs from blows that would otherwise be fatal. This righteousness is not works of righteousness done by men. Rather, this is the righteousness of Christ, imputed by God and received by faith, which guards our hearts against the accusations and charges of Satan and secures our innermost being from his attacks.

Verse 15 speaks of the preparation of the feet for spiritual conflict. In warfare, sometimes an enemy places dangerous obstacles in the path of advancing soldiers. The idea of the preparation of the gospel of peace as footwear suggests what we need to advance into Satan’s territory, aware that there will be traps, with the message of grace so essential to winning souls to Christ. Satan has many obstacles placed in the path to halt the propagation of the gospel.

The shield of faith spoken of in verse 16 makes Satan’s sowing of doubt about the faithfulness of God and His Word ineffective. Our faith—of which Christ is “the author and perfecter” (Hebrews 12:2)— is like a golden shield, precious, solid, and substantial.

The helmet of salvation in verse 17 is protection for the head, keeping viable a critical part of the body. We could say that our way of thinking needs preservation. The head is the seat of the mind, which, when it has laid hold of the sure gospel hope of eternal life, will not receive false doctrine or give way to Satan’s temptations. The unsaved person has no hope of warding off the blows of false doctrine because he is without the helmet of salvation and his mind is incapable of discerning between spiritual truth and spiritual deception.

Verse 17 interprets itself as to the meaning of the sword of the Spirit—it is the Word of God. While all the other pieces of spiritual armor are defensive in nature, the sword of the Spirit is the only offensive weapon in the armor of God. It speaks of the holiness and power of the Word of God. A greater spiritual weapon is not conceivable. In Jesus’ temptations in the desert, the Word of God was always His overpowering response to Satan. What a blessing that the same Word is available to us!

In verse 18, we are told to pray in the Spirit (that is, with the mind of Christ, with His heart and His priorities) in addition to wearing the full armor of God. We cannot neglect prayer, as it is the means by which we draw spiritual strength from God. Without prayer, without reliance upon God, our efforts at spiritual warfare are empty and futile. The full armor of God—truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation, the Word of God, and prayer—are the tools God has given us, through which we can be spiritually victorious, overcoming Satan’s attacks and temptations.

Recommended Resource:  The Handbook for Spiritual Warfare: Revised & Updated (See all Christian Living Books)

Thousands of displaced Sri Lankans who were caught between the crossfire of government forces and the rebel Tamil Tigers group are receiving aid from Gospel for Asia.

Although the civil war ended in 2009, there are still small areas in northern Sri Lanka that remain under Tamil Tigers control. Civilians in the crossfire have taken refuge in camps located in a government-designated “safe zone.”

GFA is providing sandals, books for makeshift schools and food, and has sought permission to visit the camps, a request that has been, so far, denied because the Sri Lankan government cannot ensure safety.

Dr. T. Varatharaja, who works in the camps, told BBC, “There is no food, no water supply, no toilet facilities, and no safe area. They are staying under the trees, everywhere. We need more than 400 or 500 tons of food a week, but we are receiving only 60 tons. And there’s only rice and dahl (Asian lentils). It’s not enough for these people. There’s no milk formula for the children, no vegetables, no meat, nothing,” GFA reported on its website.

Religious minority

The civil war broke out in 1971 and ended in 2009, although there are still areas in the north where the Tamil Tigers, who represent a religious minority, prevail and are fighting for separation.

Niromi de Soyza, a former member of the rebel group, wrote about her experience in her book, Tamil Tigress. Now living in Australia, de Soyza said children are often recruited who are not allowed to read any papers and are undereducated.

De Soyza, whose book was reviewed by The Sydney Morning Herald, said Tamil Tigers were not allowed to fall in love, and when two recruits did, the girl was “marked to be put into the front line the next time they were in combat. The boy was summarily shot.”

De Soyza also mentioned one recruit who wanted to resign from the rebel group, but was commanded to first prove his loyalty to the Tigers by killing his own father, whom they suspected was an informer.

However, it cannot be said that the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa is entirely blameless. A U.N. panel report released in April mentioned incidents of civilian deaths and other war crimes committed by government troops.

War crimes from both sides are mentioned during the government takeover early this year of Kilinochchi town, which for 10 years was a Tamil stronghold. The conflict left up to 400 dead and 1,000 injured.

There are reports of the use of civilians as human shields by both sides. The government also faces accusations of shooting civilians in a no-war zone and targeting Tamils in hospitals which left 49 dead, civilians among them.

Rajapaksa’s government admitted last month that there were civilian deaths especially during the last phase of the conflict, but said that these deaths were unavoidable.

The U.N. panel report suggested that the U.N. conduct an independent inquiry into Sri Lankan war crimes, a recommendation that is also supported by Amnesty International.

Rajapaksa, who enjoys strong support from the country’s Sinhalese majority for ending the civil war in 2009, is perceived to lack the political will to conduct a full and fair investigation.

The strongman has also been condemned by Human Rights Watch for retaining legislation that in essence allows the government to continue to exert sweeping emergency powers, including, among others, the right to arrest and detain suspects for up to 18 months without charges.

HRW said there are up to 6,000 prisoners who are in jail due to emergency laws enforced on and off since 1971.

Up to 70,000 deaths have been estimated to have occurred in the last 10 years of the civil war. To date, Tamil controlled areas only comprise five kilometers in the northeast.

Sri Lanka has a total population of over 21 million, some four million of which are Tamils.

A Christian pastor released recently a book on how to plant churches and spread the gospel in the free world, by using tips he culled from his personal experience working with underground Christian churches in North Korea.

Rev. Eric Foley, pastor of  W Evangelical Church of Colorado Springs and Seoul, Korea, released the book, Church is for Amateurs: A Guide for “Fourth Order” Christians like You on How to Plant and Lead a Lay Church.

Foley got the idea for his book by working with underground Christian churches in North Korea. He notes that while church buildings and full time, salaried pastors are the basic disciple tools in the U.S.,  in North Korea, these are illegal and unavailable.

“When you’re ministering to North Korean Christians, you realize quickly that the tools that are fundamental to Christian discipleship in the West just aren’t available to help you. Church buildings are illegal in North Korea. Paid, full-time pastors become ‘instant inmates’ in North Korea’s concentration camps,” Foley said.

“When more than two or three gather together — even in somebody’s home in the middle of the night — the police show up. Bibles are confiscated instantly, and the people who possess them end up dead,” Foley said.

Foley said this has been common in church history as well. He told The Christian Post, “Throughout history churches have had to do discipleship with far more restrictions and this has caused them to be much more focused on growing individual believers into the fullness of Christ.”

Foley, who is co-founder  and CEO of Seoul USA, has, for more than 20 years, trained some 1,300 Christian NGOs and churches. Through their ministry Voice of the Martyrs/Korea, the Foleys also support North Korea’s underground churches and assist North Korean Christians who have managed to migrate to the South.

“Our modern western way of making disciples and being church is the historical oddity,” Foley said. “The North Korean situation of empty-handed discipleship in the face of intense persecution is the norm.”

Foley lists down 12 principles in church growth in his book. He notes, for example, that there is more depth of faith in a persecuted environment, because the situation requires it.

Because church buildings are illegal, faith revolves more around families and homes. Church members must be multitasked and be able to do all ministry functions in a persecuted environment, unlike churches in the U.S. where staff performs specific jobs.

Foley also notes in his book that prosperity can make a church weak, while a persecuted environment can purify a church. Furthermore, there is a difference between freedom of religion and freedom in Christ.

For example, in the U.S. there is freedom of religion. However, in persecuted environments such as North Korea, there is a keen understanding of the meaning of freedom in Christ.

Freedom and affluence are not bad things, Foley says, but they can hinder church growth, as opposed to the blood of martyrs which, through time, has been shown to become the seed of the church.

Foley contends in his book that if Christians in the U.S. come to understand these distinctions, and integrate the 12 principles outlined in his book, the church in the U.S. can grow and become stronger.

Two Bible organizations have joined forces to maximize on their strengths and expand and consolidate their ministry of bringing the Bible to people all around the world.

Bible League International (which has focused on Bible distribution since 1939) and World Bible Translation Center (which has been in operation since 1973) have agreed to merge in order to enhance one another’s strengths and enlarge the ministry’s power in distributing the Bible globally.

The merging of these two organizations with complementary strengths is expected to impact largely in fulfilling the Great Commission to ensure that the gospel reaches even the most remote corners of the world.

Literacy, digital technology

The merge, which is expected to take off next month, will focus on expanding its literacy program globally. It will also enlarge its use of the latest digital delivery technology, which is especially helpful in remote areas of the world.

BLI CEO Robert T. Frank said collaborating with other Christian organizations who share the same mission is a direction that will be strongly pursued by the merged organization in the 21^st century.

“This merger will strengthen operations for both of our ministries, increasing the tools available to reach the three global audiences we share: the poorest of the poor, the persecuted church and those walking in darkness,” Frank said.

With the new merge, BLI will work in administration, international relationships, and field networking. WBTC will continue with producing Bible translations that are easy to read, in different languages and dialects. It will also work in the printing and distribution of each Bible translation.

In this way, people can better know Jesus and comprehend His life-changing power in their lives. WBTC President Eric Fellman said, “We will do this through Bible translation, training and publishing of Scripture materials so that people prepared by the Holy Spirit will be brought into God’s community through Jesus Christ.”

BLI’s Frank will be the Global CEO and WBTC’s Fellman will be president of both agencies. WBTC will be a ministry of BLI.

“These are exciting days to be involved in the ministry … there are amazing new opportunities on the horizon, and our partnership with WBTC allows us both to take advantage of these more quickly, to see more hearts transformed by the power of the Gospel.”

“God has been leading us into this relationship for many months. We believe His hand is in it, and we look forward to seeing what He will accomplish through our combined efforts,” Fellman said.

BLI was founded by William Chapman in 1939. By 1989 it went global and has specialized in bringing the Bible to persecuted people around the world. Some 27 million globally have through its work been led into Bible studies, and five million into church memberships. Its outreach has extended to 700 language groups.

WBTC has since 1973 pursued its vision to translate the Bible in a clear and simple way into all the languages of the world. It has distributed over 19 million Bibles and New Testaments, as well has supplied online portions of Scripture, including downloads from the internet, in tens of millions.

Question: “What are the lost books of the Bible?”

Answer: There are no “lost books” of the Bible, or books that were taken out of the Bible, or books missing from the Bible. Every book that God intended and inspired to be in the Bible is in the Bible. There are many legends and rumors of lost books, but there is no truth whatsoever to these stories. There are literally hundreds of religious books that were written in the same time period as the books of the Bible. Some of these books contain true accounts of things that actually occurred (1 Maccabees, for example). Some contain good spiritual teaching (the Wisdom of Solomon, for example). However, these books are not inspired by God. If we read any of these books, the Apocrypha as an example, we have to treat them as fallible historical books, not as the inspired, inerrant Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

The gospel of Thomas, for example, was a forgery written in the 3rd or 4th century A.D., claiming to have been written by the apostle Thomas. It was not written by Thomas. The early church fathers almost universally rejected the gospel of Thomas as heretical. It contains many false and heretical things that Jesus supposedly said and did. None of it (or at best very little of it) is true. The epistle of Barnabas was not written by the biblical Barnabas, but by an imposter. The same can be said of the gospel of Philip, the apocalypse of Peter, etc.

There is one God. The Bible has one Creator. It is one book. It has one plan of grace, recorded from initiation, through execution, to consummation. From predestination to glorification, the Bible is the story of God redeeming His chosen people for the praise of His glory. As God’s redemptive purposes and plan unfold in Scripture, the recurring themes constantly emphasized are the character of God, the judgment for sin and disobedience, the blessing for faith and obedience, the Lord Savior and sacrifice for sin, and the coming kingdom and glory. It is God’s intention that we know and understand these five themes because our lives and eternal destinies depend upon them. It is therefore unthinkable that God would allow some of this vital information to be “lost” in any way. The Bible is complete, in order that we who read and understand it might also be “complete, and equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Recommended Resource: The Missing Gospels: Unearthing the Truth Behind Alternative Christianities by Darrell Bock.

Two books are now available in the market that talk about the conversion of former Muslims to Christianity.

The first book, “Out of Darkness Into Light,” talks about the personal accounts of 13 men and women who were formerly Muslims, but who converted after experiencing Christ in supernatural ways through dreams, visions and miracles.

The website of the book says that Out of Darkness is not so much about changing one’s religion, as it is about the experience of becoming one of God’s children and entering the family of God through Jesus.

The book is described as “easy to read and inspiring,” and it offers the reader a glimpse into a culture that people who grow up in the Islamic faith experience.

It is advised as a good read for those who would like to share the gospel with Muslims, and may also be useful for those who feel that they don’t reflect God’s love for Muslims in their own hearts.

The author of the book uses the pseudonym, Ali Abdel-Masih, which means “believer in the Messiah.” The author describes himself in the book as a strong Muslim who initially worked to convert Christians to the Islamic faith.

Masih describes his conversion as the experience of a presence when he was alone in his house. “The Holy Spirit fell on me. I knew Jesus was standing in the room with me and that He was the Son of God.”

Masih said in the book that he was such a strong Muslim that only an experience like this could help him to know Jesus in a personal way and to be changed by him.

As a result, Masih ministered to other Christians in the Middle East, and was surprised to hear many stories similar to his own, of people who experienced God through visions and dreams.

Masih’s book contains nuances and questions that Muslim readers may relate to. He contends that many Muslims most likely had experienced visions but may not yet fully understand its meaning.

At the same time, Christians stand to benefit from this book by becoming acquainted with the heart that God has for Muslims and learning of the openness that Muslims can have to the gospel when they have a touch from the Lord.

From Terror to Freedom

A second book on the market is entitled “From Terror to Freedom,” authored by Mano Bakh (a pseudonym), who formerly worked with the Imperial Navy of Iran.

The book tells of how Bakh escaped from the Navy when Islamic radicals took over the country in 1979. Included is a graphic description of the slaughter of some of the brightest citizens in the country, and of his personal experience as a hunted man.

Bakh also describes his life before 1979, including friendships that he made as a serviceman for 26 years, and how these same bonds were critical in his darkest hours in aiding and abetting his escape from the country.

Bakh cites in his book the need to separate Sharia law from Islamic spirituality, and calls on moderate Muslims to take their religion back from extremism.

International Mission Board is ministering to a lesser-known group of prostitutes who come from India’s middle class, and who have resorted to the profession out of desperation, according to Mission Network News.

India is described by The New York Times as the country with “the largest number of human-trafficking victims in the world today,” with some children from very poor districts who are sold as prostitutes, sometimes as young as five years old.

While there are many Christian organizations addressing their needs, IMB is focusing on what is commonly referred to as “fly prostitutes,” or middle-class housewives and students who have children to feed and bills to pay, MNN said.

Fly prostitute with HIV

One “fly prostitute” is Ajanta Gupta (name changed), a widow whose husband died from AIDS. She was in her early 20s when her husband died, and had to provide for two small children. She also had HIV.

Gupta was introduced to prostitution through her friend, Laghuri Kapoor (name changed). It was a way to get easy money and to earn more than a regular job would pay. MNN said a woman in unskilled labor earns only $1.25, while a man doing the same work would get one-fourth more.

Gupta told the IMB website, “I need money to run my family, and the money I was able to earn was not sufficient. Also, because I am sick, I am unable to work properly. So I had to go through with that work (prostitution).”

Kapoor told IMB that she regularly helps women to work as prostitutes, and more housewives have been joining the profession in the last few years. She blames this basically on desperation and a need for finances.

Kapoor, aside from bringing customers to the women, also cares for them when they are ill and trains them on ways to avoid AIDS. Of those who come to the profession, she told IMB, “No one comes into this profession happily.”

Vicious cycle

Rather, Kapoor told IMB that they come because they are desperate. One example is Darpana Rana (name changed), whose husband left her with three children. She said many women are victims of a vicious cycle. The husband is addicted or abusive, the wife looks for legitimate work, but when she comes home from work her husband continues to abuse her. Rana told IMB, “Slowly, slowly [the women] get involved in the profession.”

Oftentimes it is difficult to leave the profession. Yamini Chopra (name changed) worked as a prostitute, then later, found legitimate work with a nonprofit organization. However, at the end of the day her husband, an alcoholic, would abuse her and tell her she is worthless.

Chopra told IMB, “Since he is convinced I am bad, I decided to be bad. My family told me that since my husband was going to abuse me whether I was a prostitute or not, I might as well make more money as a prostitute.”

Spiritual needs

IMB perceived that the issue, more than a social and economic one, also has a spiritual factor and that spiritual needs, once addressed, can take care of all else. Such was the case with Gupta, IMB said on its website.

Seven months ago, two Indian pastors visited Gupta, the IMB website said. One of them used to work with her late husband. They had come to ask advice from her on how to minister to people with AIDS.

Gupta told them about her being a prostitute, and the pastors shared the gospel with her. This was followed by regular meetings by believers in Gupta’s home. Eventually both she and her mother prayed to receive Jesus, IMB said on its website.

On the day of the baptisms of Gupta and her mother, church members held a celebration in her home. Even during the celebration customers called, and Gupta turned them away. Today she is a teacher’s assistant in a preschool, IMB said.

Gupta continues to hold weekly prayer meetings at home, and she invites neighbors and friends who are still prostitutes to attend. One time, she hosted a medical clinic in her yard with the help of medical missionaries, according to IMB.

God has been using Gupta to bring people to the gospel, including some former prostitutes. She has incurred the ire of some of her former friends in the profession, but she and her mother are unstoppable in sharing the gospel, IMB said.