Because Samson Yunus (front row, second from
left) was willing to be used by God, more than
400 people learned about Jesus and were
baptized. |
India
Leaving behind a legacy of salvation
by Wallace Mandigo
gospel outreach president Samson Yunus
was born and raised in Agra, India. When he became a
Gospel Outreach volunteer he was placed in the
Amroha area to do evangelism, but because he was a
city boy, he could not adjust and his potential was
not shown in this area of underdeveloped villages.
As we also desired to evangelize in the Nainital district, we felt that
Samson would be a good choice for that area and
placed him in Bazpur city. Here he adjusted well and
flourished. There were some Christians in this area,
but most of them did not have a Bible of their own
and their lifestyle was almost like the other
people, except that they called themselves
Christians.
Seventh-day Adventists were the first missionaries who distributed free
Bibles through our evangelism program and now almost
every family in this area has a Bible of their own.
Now they can compare what their pastor says with the
Bible, and as a result 206 people were baptized into
the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
From Bazpur, Samson was to transfer to Chakkapur to begin new
evangelistic work. On the way to this city, the
scooter he and R. R. Bharti were riding developed
trouble, and they were forced to stay in Guddarpur
to repair it.
The next day a young man came to the house where they were staying and
told them it was good that they did not make it to
Chakkarpur the night before. Four former Christians,
who had re-converted to Hinduism for financial
reasons, had gathered weapons and were prepared to
attack and kill them when they arrived in Chakkarpur.
Samson and his coworker thanked the Lord for saving
them from this calamity. While the young man was
talking with Samson, another man came with the news
that the baby of one of the four troublemakers had
died. Four people had gathered
weapons and were prepared to attack.
Samson and his friend stayed in Guddarpur for three
more days. During this time, four people died in the
homes of the men who had planned to kill them. This
was a turning point in Chakkarpur, and as a result
all of the Christians in that village joined the
Seventh-day Adventist Church. Even the four
troublemakers came and asked the evangelists to pray
for their families.
I visited with Samson in Hapur, India. I listened to him and his
coworkers as they told of their adventures in Gospel
Outreach evangelism.
I heard William George, Gospel Outreach director for India, ask,
"Samson, how many people have you led to Christ and
baptism?" Samson answered, "Four hundred and
thirty."
Later, on one Sabbath morning, Samson died when his scooter was struck
by a bus. He was on his way to preach. But as a
monument to his life work, there are now several
churches in east India filled with happy Christians
every Sabbath. Since his death, many young men and
women have stepped forward to take his place.
In 2002, 308 Gospel Outreach evangelists were responsible for 33,722
baptisms in India. |
