India (MNN) ― An innocuous address book helped save a pastor's life in Chhattisgarh State, India.
Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Mission India says Pastor Sudeep Kumar leads one of their literacy programs in Chhattisgarh State. An underground communist militia group recently kidnapped him because they suspected he was a police informant.
He was taken to a remote jungle location where the kidnappers interrogated him and beat him for days. They refused to believe his claim that he was a pastor ministering to the poor.
Things came to a head when the group threatened to kill him within 24 h ours unless he could prove he wasn't a police informant. Sudeep says he fell to his knees pleading for mercy.
It was then that a rebel noticed the corner of his address book peeking out from a pocket. The little black book contained the contact information of several Christian ministries, including Mission India's office in India, which proved his claims.
The group then made good their word and returned Sudeep to his village before sunrise. As he stumbled home, he was greeted with by his family, who had frantically searched for him for over a week.
Sudeep says it was only because of his ministry work that his life was spared. He is now more determined than ever to preaching the Gospel. Click here if you want to help by prayer or supporting the work of pastors in India.
