NEW Outreach

By M. & L. Z.

L. Z.'s testimony: Although I was born into a family that espoused Hinduism, which boasts of millions of gods and goddesses, we did not have idols in our house. My father worked hard to earn a B.A. in English and math. During an English literature class, he read about the life of Christ. The words, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do," struck at his heart. He had never before heard of forgiveness. He later taught Baptist Mid-Missions missionaries who tried to witness to him. His response was, "I have my religion; you have yours." They gave him a Bible, but he would not read it. Twelve years later my father was sick for several months. At that time he read God's Word and came to faith in Christ. What we didn't know until later was that someone in America prayed for my father for those 12 years.

My mother was saved two years later and fervently raised her seven children for the Lord. I was saved at the age of nine. Mother wanted to be sure I knew how to talk to my heavenly Father. She would command, "Pray!" then whack me on the back until I did.

M. Z.'s testimony: My father was a founder of the Communist Party in Assam, India. My mother was a high-caste Brahmin who was so troubled by the oppression of women in the caste system that she, too, became a Communist. As a young man I was heavily involved in the Young Communist League.

In 1974 I went to the capital city of Assam for graduate studies. I stayed in a Communist Party dorm and became disillusioned with the party leaders' hypocrisy. I wanted to leave the Party, but feared hurting my parents' feelings.

I began teaching zoology and molecular biology which propagate the theory of evolution. The more I studied, the more confused I became. In that college of 4,500, only four students were born-again Christians. One was a young woman named Leina Singh. She argued for creationism, and I mocked her, calling her a "daughter of God." But she fascinated me enough to invite her to a departmental picnic although she refused to attend because it was held on Sunday. This raised questions about Christianity in my mind. I asked her to give me a Bible. She sent me to Gobin Singh, her brother-in-law and an evangelist. On July 17, 1979 as I read the story of Mary Magdalene and how much she loved her Lord, the Holy Spirit convicted me. I confessed my sin and accepted the Lord.

After L. and I married in 1982, we decided she would work for the Lord full-time in her specialties of music and counseling, and I would continue in a secular job allowing us to have a good home. But the Lord worked in my life and led us through training in the United States and to Calcutta. During our four years there, we helped establish a church, taught in Calcutta Bible College, conducted Joy Clubs, produced audio-visuals and literature in Bengali, and counseled many people.

When health reasons forced us to leave Calcutta, we looked to the Lord for His direction in our lives and the lives of our two boys, each of whom was saved at the age of six. Simultaneously ABWE sought God's will in reaching the Bengali-speaking population in England. In God's timing these two prayer requests crossed paths and the Z.'s have been appointed to ENGLAND.

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