It had been a long day in northern India. We had been on our Discipleship Training School outreach for 4 weeks, and in every location, people had been open to hear the gospel.
But when we arrived in this new city in northern India, the local people were closed off. You could almost feel the spiritually dark atmosphere, with its strong ties to Hinduism and human sacrifice.
Telling people about Jesus wasn’t easy. It was hard to connect, hard to build relationships, even hard to just start conversations.
Compared to where we’d been, ministry in this city was less structured. We spent time in prayer and worship, praying about the people we were to meet and then going to the streets to share the Gospel.
This particular day, we felt discouraged and we weren’t sure what to do or where to start. Surely God placed us in this city for a reason, but we were all asking the same question, “What could I do in a place so closed-off to hearing about God?”
That’s when we got the idea to go to a cafe. We found a boba shop nearby that looked delicious and like it could help feed our creativity as we prayed about what to do next.
We set off for the boba shop, only expecting to get some tea, but God had a bigger plan for us.
When we arrived, we soon noticed a Bible verse printed on the wall of the shop:
“I will take you out of your affliction and bring you into a land flowing with milk and honey.” — Exodus 3:17
It was a completely unexpected thing to find in a cafe hidden in this part of the country.
At that moment, we knew we’d come to the right place. Spreading the gospel in northern India was illegal. Shocked with their boldness, we went to find the cafe owner.
Shortly after, a man from the behind the counter walked out into the shop. He was shorter in stature, and he had broad-shoulders and a gentle smile.
We approached him and pulled out a cell-phone with Google Translate. We typed in, “Are you the man who owns this cafe?”
The kind man replied, “Yes, I am the owner,” in a thick Indian accent that Google Translate was able to explain back to us.
“Did you know you have a Bible verse on your wall? Are you Christian?” we asked. Google translate was our friend in these situations.
He looked a little puzzled and cautious to be asked questions that could be unsafe for him to answer. The language barrier also made it harder to communicate about things not talked about much in this country.
With hesitation, he replied explaining that he was a Hindu man.
We were curious why there would be a Bible verse on the wall, so we asked, “where did it come from?”
Timidly, he began telling us the story behind the boba shop. He said he had a dream, where there was a man revealing to him this very boba shop.
“I had a dream! In the dream a man showed me the scripture, the name of the cafe, the logo, everything.”
“What an incredible story!” we thought, and then we had a thought pop into our mind. We were reminded of the prayers we had been praying in preparation for outreach.
For months now, our team had been praying that God would reveal himself to the people, through dreams and visions. We had a hopeful spirit that God would show up in miraculous ways throughout our outreach.
So with faith and nothing to lose, we type into our Google Translate, “Did you see the Man in white in this dream?”
“YES! How did you know! How do you know this Man?” the shop owner said, jumping with excitement!
“I know that He didn’t die for religion, but He died for my sins!”
Our team shared with him that this was Jesus, and showed him the Bible and how God had revealed himself to him.
He seemed open to the idea of another God. This isn’t totally uncommon in Hindu culture. The religion often adopts and embraces a multitude of gods and beliefs. Some Hindus will even express that they believe in Jesus, but only because they integrate the Bible in with their other Hindu beliefs.
However, we were fully convinced that prayer actually moved God’s heart, and that He was pursuing relationship with this man.
The remainder of the time we were in northern India, we were able to visit the cafe owner three more times. We had the privilege of getting to encourage him, do a Bible study together, and connect him to the local body of Christ.
Never would we have imagined that by simply walking into a boba store, we would see God moving. It was so clear that prayers were answered, and we got to see the evidence of what we were preparing for the last several months.
We cannot wait to get to heaven and hear the rest of how this man’s story unfolds, as a believer of God. He was undeniably bringing God’s light into this dark spiritual city in northern India.
Stories like this happen all the time. Where prayers are answered and God moves in miraculous ways.
There are seasons as missionaries when we walk by faith alone, trusting God is using us even when we can’t see His work—and then there are moments when He lets us witness it firsthand.
All it takes is just giving God a simple “yes,” and He will do the rest.
Story from Discipleship Training School outreach, September 2024.
