By Jack Rhine*

MUMBAI, India — Normally, when I get into a taxi, I’ll try to share something about the Lord — my testimony, maybe a Jesus film or tract. But, not with Ratan Trivedi.* I knew the first day he drove us around to look for an apartment that he was unusual.

I knew the fair price for eight hours or 80 kilometers (whichever comes first) and he had hauled us around for at least 10 hours. But, when I tried to pay him, he wanted to give some back, saying, “That’s too much. I only took you 60 kilometers.” (There’s another India first! — a new taxi driver in a new city wanting to give money back?)

Yes, we used Trivedi again. And, after several 10-hour days of stopping and starting, crazy traffic and some God-centered Hindi conversations, he opened up a little about his son.

Trivedi has a wife, two daughters and a four-year old son. The son has had recurring fevers and bouts of vomiting since he was just months old. The specialists have examined him and it seems he has a blood disorder that only responds to medicine much too strong for a young boy his age.

God prompted me to do something. “I would like to come to your home and pray for your son,” I asked.

“My home is small and I live in a slum,” said Trivedi.

“No problem,” I said. “I love slums.” Open doors and open hearts.

The next day, he picked me up early to go to his home. After meeting his family and being served Indian breakfast, I sat on the bed in the small, one-room flat. I took his son into my lap, too small for a boy his age, but cute as a button and light as a feather.

I asked his wife to come from the kitchen/bathroom so the whole family of five could hear. First, I explained (in a prayerful way) what I was going to do. I said, “I am going to ask God to show his power in healing your child so that you might know that He is above all other gods. I don’t know what He will do, but we will ask.”

Then, I prayed in broken Hindi. Then, I prayed in my heart language softly as I held the boy in my arms, “God , please don’t let this boy have any more episodes of fever or vomiting. Heal him completely, fully, that this family will know You alone are above all names and all gods.”

Trivedi was excited and called me to tell me that my prayers were answered. God has already been working in Trivedi’s life. He reminds me of Cornelius. Check it out in Acts 10. A God-fearing man that didn’t seem to really know God. The morals were present, but the Spirit was not. Oh, God that you would let their stories end the same, with full faith in you and baptism!

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Jack Rhine is an IMB representative in South Asia.