Perspective — India
“So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all and especially for those of the family of faith.”
—Galatians 6:10
As the parable of talents motivates and guides us to use the talents given to us by the Almighty, our Creator, we are warned not to leave our talents unattended and wasted.
When we praise the first two servants for their fruitful attempts in using the talents given by their master, would we think that they could help or inspire the third one to utilize the talent instead of burying it and save himself from being thrown in darkness?
Here the question of sharing burden comes.
We are here in this world to help each other to grow in the love of Christ and thus share hope.
The children of God are called to extend their hands (or their talents) to those who are downtrodden, unreached, isolated, so that others can taste Christ’s love and be restored to a life of dignity and inclusiveness.
Healed by the mighty power of prayer
Here is a story of a girl from my church whose father performed witchcraft as his livelihood.
It happened that one of his daughters was healed by mighty power of prayer to our living God by a group of people who continuously communicated and preached the gospel to the family.
As a result of those prayers, the father of the family eventually left his witchcraft and the whole family accepted Jesus as their personal Saviour.
The youngest daughter of the family has achieved a master of divinity degree and is now teaching in a discipleship school, run by one of the congregations of my church.
This is an example of sharing burdens which shares hope.
Preaching the gospel to the unreached
My next story is of an 87-year-old gentleman, also a member of my church.
His whole life he has spent in preaching the gospel to the unreached, bringing many of them to Christ. It was not an easy task since he often had to confront rejection, enmity and various hardships. He had many struggles in life but he focused on the mandate of Jesus to share the gospel.
I met him recently when I went to a church member’s house to pray. The man’s cheerful attitude, even at his advanced age, is a reflection of sharing hope.
Persevering in prayer
My third story is the testimony of God’s faithfulness and the transforming power of the gospel.
Bearing the burden of sharing gospel, a young gentleman from the East India conference of my church reached out to the people of tribal area who even never heard of the name of Jesus. The doors were closed and conversation rejected. There seemed to be no hope of acceptance – only rejection, opposition and even open threats prevailed.
But along with a group of believers, the young man fasted, wept and continued to pray earnestly.
God in God’s time raised up a person of peace within the tribal community who accepted Jesus and opened his house to other believers. Gradually hostility diminished.
Today, approximately 480 believers cheerfully serve the Lord, worshipping in four established churches and 30 vibrant house fellowships.
The opposition did not disappear immediately, but a transformation gradually took place. Addictions were broken. Families experienced reconciliation and peace. Fear gave away to faith.
Today, the church members are motivated and trained to use the skills they have for their livelihood.
Thus, the children of God are sharing the burden and bringing forth the hope which unites us with Christ.
—Sipra Biswas is a member of Bharatiya Jukta Christa Prachar Mandali (BJCPM, India United Missionary Church), an MWC member church in India. She is one of the Asia representatives on MWC’s Executive Committee. She spoke this reflection at the Renewal 2026 event in the Philippines in March 2026 “Solidarity in the family of Christ: Sharing burdens, sharing hope.”
