From a family background of witch-doctors and train robbers, Benjamin Francis has come a long way.
Since 2003, his organisation has planted 675 churches in rural India and they’re planning over 2,000 more for this year. Many of these churches have hundreds of members, all of whom confess Christ as Lord.
Benjamin’s strategy is simple. They go into a village and look, as Luke 10:6 suggests, for a “man of peace”. Through this person, they get permission to hold youth events, medical clinics and other activities, usually helped by a ministry team, which has included teams from BMS World Mission. These “break the ground” for more work. At the end of an event, the Jesus film is shown and people are asked if they wish to give their lives to Christ. Those who do are followed up and later trained in ministry and evangelism so that they too can go out and witness to other villages. And so the church grows, exponentially.
The philosophy of training other local Christians to raise up local believers is so simple it seems too good to be true. But that, according to Benjamin, is where faith becomes essential. “Saul’s armour was great,” he says, “But not great enough for David. David needed just those few stones and God on his side.”
Despite the amazing things his organisation is achieving, Benjamin maintains that there is nothing particularly special about him beyond his willingness to serve God. “Sometimes we just have to get out of God’s way,” he says, “We have no great names doing this work – only a great God.”
God’s greatness was revealed in a very personal way to Benjamin when he had the privilege of leading his grandfather, a local witch-doctor, to faith and salvation in Jesus Christ.
“That has been a highlight and a privilege of my life,” he says, and one can well understand it. Benjamin’s other grandfather was a train-robber and his father had been a devout Hindu for many years before becoming a Christian after experiencing a vision in a coma.
This colourful, chequered background of his family history makes his own journey of faith and the way God has used him even more remarkable.
BMS is facilitating a team from Bristol Baptist College travelling this year to partner with Benjamin and values your prayers for the work of Benjamin and that team.
If you want the opportunity to work with remarkable people like Benjamin and the privilege of changing lives overseas, please contact BMS at: opportunities@bmsworldmission.org or 01235 517653
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