Even in a place like India, where the vast majority of people are lost in the darkness of unbelief, the gospel is shattering Satan's grip one soul at a time.

Last July I had the privilege of making my first visit to a WELS world mission field. It was an experience that I will never forget. Even though I would have considered myself to be fairly well-informed about our WELS mission efforts overseas, I soon realized how little I knew and how much I had to learn.

Some of the best lessons came from the people I met. In the city of Guntur, India, I attended a very special worship service in which 11 men were graduating from our seminary. Some of the graduates had spent nearly a decade studying for the pastoral ministry and were now ready to be ordained as Lutheran pastors. All of them are gifts of God to our growing sister church in India, but three of those graduates had life stories that illustrate the grace of God and the amazing power of the gospel.

Ezra's grandfather was a Hindu priest. His grandmother was the first one in the family who became a Christian. Over time his mother, his brother, and his sister were brought to faith. Finally God led Ezra to confess his faith in Jesus as the Son of God and to trust in him as his Savior from sin. That was 13 years ago. Ezra has spent eight years since then studying his Word at the seminary and preparing to be a pastor. When you talk to Ezra about Jesus, he radiates gospel joy. He knows and remembers what it was like to live apart from the Savior's love and lost in the darkness of idol worship.

Yesubabu served a congregation as an evangelist while he was attending the seminary. The members of his congregation are zealous in showing Christian love and concern for their non-Christian neighbors. One of those Hindu neighbors, a lady named Padma, developed stomach cancer and knew that her life was nearly at an end. Padma came to Yesubabu and said, "Your church members have something I don't have. Before I die, I want you to teach me about Jesus." Yesubabu instructed her and baptized her into the Christian faith. A short time later the Lord called Padma home. At her funeral Yesubabu preached about the risen Savior, the final resurrection, and the joy of eternal life in heaven. Four of Padma's family members began to take instructions and now attend worship services regularly.

Moshe's father was the pastor of a Christian congregation. When he was a young boy, Moshe remembers seeing several Hindu men beating his father with sticks because they didn't want the Christian gospel preached in their village. But Moshe's father did not stop preaching. This memory didn't keep Moshe from his desire to become a Lutheran pastor. He has been preaching Christ in that same village, and he has seen the power of God's Word at work. Two of those men who had beaten Moshe's father are now members of Moshe's congregation.