Set Free Ministries’ Dave McIntyre says their partners celebrate 20 years of Gospel work this year, and the future looks bright.

“The government of India [makes] it very difficult for NGOs outside the country to work with people inside the country. Fortunately, Set Free India is almost 100 percent self-supporting,” McIntyre says.

“They are the poster child of sustainable ministry.”

Set Free India is headquartered in Mizoram state near the Myanmar border, a region quite distinct from the rest of India. “When you think of India, you think of Hindus and Muslims. Mizoram is 98 percent Christian,” McIntyre says.

“The hill people there were headhunters [that] converted to Christianity.”

Many in Mizoram claim to know Jesus, but their lives show a different truth. “A lot of people there are Christian in name only,” McIntyre says.

“They are Christians because their grandparents went to church, and [they] grew up going to church. They haven’t connected with their faith, so their prison population is maxed out.”

Set Free India disciples the downtrodden, teaching them what it means to have a relationship with Christ. More about that here. Pray for Gospel growth as believers reach out to addicts, prisoners, and orphans.

“I was there for two weeks and spoke in six different churches; most men would put their heads down and go to sleep. It was indicative of the state of the Church there in Mizoram,” McIntyre says.

“In total contrast, when you talk to the addicts and convicts, they are listening and eager to hear the Word of God.”

Header image courtesy of Set Free Ministries.

Uncounted multitudes lay forgotten and alone in prison cells and hospital beds. Faceless thousands are enslaved to drug or alcohol addictions, while millions are trapped in sex trafficking. Furthermore, while India’s caste system is “dead” on paper, it’s alive in practice.

These are a few of the reasons why Set Free Ministries partners with local believers to carry Christ’s hope and love to India’s forgotten and faceless masses.

India’s caste system
(Wikimedia Commons)

“The ‘Untouchables’ (Dalits) in India, they actually believe the gods are angry with them, and so they have to live this life in suffering and misery,” explains Set Free’s Dean Vander Mey.

As explained here, people born into the Dalit caste are considered “Untouchable” and face discrimination in every sphere of life.

“The huge lie in India is ‘don’t help the poor because they are being punished by the gods’.”

Set Free India is replacing that lie with the truth of Scripture.

Set Free India: what do they do?

In his first letter to Corinthian believers, Paul described the ways of Christ-like love in great detail. He concluded that chapter with the following: “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

Set Free India staff and volunteers are putting Paul’s words into action as they care for the sick, the prisoners, and the outcasts around them.

A new addiction recovery center is in the works, shares Vander Mey, and Set Free India operates a thriving hospital ministry. As described here on Set Free’s website, Christ works in patients’ hearts and lives through the weekly visits of volunteers:

(Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels)

To the ones who feel alone, there is Christ spending time with them. To the ones who feel hopeless, the sweet sound of God’s truth is read, offering hope beyond measure. To the ones who are unbelievers, trapped in sin and afraid of death, there is Jesus offering His forgiveness and His merciful plan of redemption and salvation. Hundreds of lives have been pledged to Jesus Christ; some as they lie on their very death bed.

Volunteers also visit prisoners at seven facilities throughout the country. “It’s really amazing to watch some of the people who are incarcerated for life,” notes Vander Mey.

“They become the disciplers, or the elders, for the younger men… they know that God will richly reward them for making disciples of the men that come through there, and that is their new life call.”

Set Free India volunteers visit the prisons in teams each week, going cell to cell with Bibles in hand. These volunteers also lead special seminars and praise and worship, and support believers in the jails who are leading discipleship groups. Learn more about the prison ministry here.

How can I help?

Set Free India needs prayers and financial support to keep these ministries going. By clicking here and selecting ‘SFM India’, you can help them set spiritual captives free in the land of a thousand gods.

When people hunger for spiritual truth, “it doesn’t take a whole lot to show them the difference between what they believe and the Truth that sets them free,” Vander Mey observes.

Pray for the ministry as they appoint a new successor, Vander Mey requests. Their current leader is in his 80’s and wants to begin training and mentoring his replacement. Ask the Lord to provide wisdom and discernment.

Pray also for the hundreds of believers who volunteer with Set Free India.

“They’re going into very hostile environments, oftentimes, and there’s a real cost to that.”

Header image courtesy of Set Free Ministries.

According to the report, there’s been a 145-percent increase in drug-related deaths over the past decade. One in five prisoners worldwide is detained on drug-related charges. Violence is on the rise in places like Mexico as a result of drug trafficking.

Set Free Ministries’ Dean Vander Mey says their partners in India see those “disastrous impacts” first-hand. But, they’re also seeing addicts find freedom through Christ.

“There’s a lot of really amazing things going on – even as we speak – that all transpired in the last 60 days.”

Set Free India began in the early 2000’s following a conference about spiritual warfare. It grew quickly, expanding to include hospital and prison ministries, as well as teaching and discipleship.

When local believers identified the addiction problems in their community, Set Free helped them start a small center to help addicts find freedom through Christ. However, as word got around, the center soon grew.

(Photo courtesy of Set Free Ministries.)

“It’s a drug addiction center,” Vander Mey explains, “but it’s also turned into an orphanage. They also care for the mentally ill, because [there aren’t any] places there for people with special needs.”

Drug use is on the rise globally, and India is no exception. Community needs are increasing and it is time for the center to grow again.

This month, Set Free India is starting work on a new recovery facility for drug addicts and alcoholics.

“We just purchased land there,” says Vander Mey, referring to a location unnamed for security purposes. “Our $30,000 gift got more than ten-fold return because the government came along and said, ‘we are going to spend at least $400,000 on new buildings for these addicts.’”

Praise God for this development, and pray for Set Free India as it begins construction. Ask the Lord to open the eyes of local believers.

“The churches there, for some reason, are not engaging in helping the orphans and addicts among them.”

Vander Mey adds, “they’re almost forgotten… so we’re praying that the Church [will] engage and help us help the poor and sick among them.”

Tomorrow, we’ll learn how God is using Set Free India in prisons and hospitals throughout the nation. Visit the Set Free India page here for a sneak peek!

Header image courtesy of Pexels.

But what happens if the Church in your community has forgotten this? For Reverend Khiangte Lalzuala, or Reverend Zuala, the answer came in the form of Set Free Ministries.

Suicide and addiction

Reverend Zuala longed to reach out to those hurting all around him in India’s state of Mizoram. There were the prisons, fraught with despair leading to suicide. The drug addicts and alcoholics so caught up in their addiction that no one bothered to help them.

From 2013: “Last week 34 out of 60 inmates at the District Jail committed their lives to Jesus Christ. To God be the Glory!” (Photo and caption by Set Free Ministries.)

Then there were other overlooked members of society — Rev. Zuala says the motherless and handicapped also had great needs the Church wasn’t answering.

In 2003, Dean Vander Mey, Executive Director at Set Free Ministries, met Rev. Zuala in Mizoram. Rev. Zuala asked him if they could implement some of the training and principles taught by SFM.

Three months later, in February of 2004, SFM-India was established. The local team began reaching out to prisoners at eight different prisons.

Today, suicide is virtually nonexistent in these Mizoram prisons.

“When we preached the Word of God and [did] counseling and [helped] those inmates whenever they needed, a number of the inmates came to Jesus Christ,” Rev. Zuala says.

“The life of the prison is now greatly changed by the Holy Spirit through our humble ministry.”

The Church pays attention

Not only have the prisons changed, but people nearby have taken notice, including church leaders.

“Now, [they’ve] realized gradually that this is one of the most important responsibilities, what we ought to do as a Christian, to witness the Gospel among the needy people.”

Before, no one bothered sharing Jesus with the inmates. But now, Rev. Zuala and a group of volunteers are trained in how to lead the despairing through the seven steps of freedom. Inmates are learning about Jesus and what it means to follow Him.

“The atmosphere of the jail is now changing by use of the Word of God and singing and praising God,” says Rev. Zuala.

The released inmates who have been changed by Jesus no longer commit the violent crimes that put them in prison.

Other ministries

In a hospital in Mizoram, there are a number of cancer patients. For similar reasons as the prison, this group has also become a point of outreach for SFM-India. “A number of cancer patients have no hope and they are really, deeply depressed due to their disease,” Rev. Zuala says.

When they share the Gospel with these same depressed patients, some of them come to know Jesus. And when they know Jesus, they are no longer afraid or dejected.

SFM-India also has ministries reaching out to the handicapped, the motherless, and those with drug and alcohol addictions. They have a compound and orphanage of sorts which provides a home to these people cast out from society. The compound has cows, a fish pond, and goats to help provide income and food. Over 1,200 people call this place home.

Praying for India

The needs in India are as diverse and countless as the people who make up the country. So today, will you focus on praying for the work SFM-India is a part of.

Regarding prayer from the Church worldwide, Rev. Zuala says, “We badly need it…. Even if we are a Christian state, many people at the same time, some of the church leaders also, do not know the importance of doing evangelism, [that] teaching among the inmates is badly needed.”

Photo courtesy of Set Free Ministries.

Pray for the Church to awaken to the need according to Jesus’s call. “We must reach these inmates all over the world, not only in Mizoram.”

And even with all the ministries on Rev. Zuala, he is still able to discern great need around him.

He tells of a camp where people who, for one reason or another, do not have a home. There are around 500 people without assistance. Some have quarreled with their parents, others are addicted to drugs, still others are left by themselves because their family couldn’t afford them.

Rev. Zuala wants to reach these people too, but he says they first must discern the need in that camp.

You can be praying that God would provide the people and tools necessary to bring change and light to this community.

If you want to support SFM-India financially, click here and select ‘outreach-india’.

*Homepage image courtesy of  Matteo Parrini via Flickr