What made this Hindu woman OBSESSED with reading the Bible?

First someone gets healed. And then, we talked to the people who prayed for them. And now, just by talking about God more often with Hindus at work, now THEY’RE reading the Bible? It’s God, man!

Do you want to know how a Hindu woman became OBSESSED with reading the Bible? In this article, we’ll tell you a story about a woman who got miraculously healed and another who began to spend her entire lunch breaks pouring through the Bible. And at the center of all these incredible events was a simple Christian who didn’t feel equipped to do any ministry.

Meet Arnold

Arnold is a young man from Zimbabwe who moved to a Hindu-majority nation. He was not there to work as a pastor or a missionary but as a barista. Having secured a spot in a graduate program to learn cyber security, Arnold got a job in a coffee shop nestled among several office buildings where he could meet others working in computer science and possibly secure a job after graduation. But he wasn’t expecting a miracle to walk through the door.

I’ll be honest with you, my Bible had been collecting dust, man.

Arnold noticed a group of young people who came into his shop to read the Bible and have a discussion. He was impressed with their dedication because he didn’t consider himself disciplined when it came to spiritual things. Arnold recalled that his Bible had been sitting unopened on his desk for years. He wanted to ask them about their discussion but couldn’t work up the courage. But he was surprised when they approached the cash register and offered to pray for his coworker whose sprained wrist was in a brace. 

He later pulled the young people aside and told them he had never seen anyone pray for an injured person like that. They explained to him that they had been participating in a Discovery Bible Study. As part of their DBS process, they always tried to put into practice something they learned. This time, they had learned about the power of prayer, so they decided to pray for someone who needed help. Arnold was encouraged by their faith, though he never expected to witness what happened the following day.

The coworker’s wrist was completely healed!

When Arnold came into work the next day, he was surprised to find his coworker working without her wrist brace. He was blown away by what he saw! But, as one of the only Christians who worked in the coffee shop, they had a lot of questions for him. Questions he wasn’t entirely ready for.

So, here’s what he did:

• He celebrated his coworker’s healing.
• He was honest about his lack of knowledge.
• He directed his coworkers to the Bible.

If this list of action points seems a little too simplistic, that’s good! Because the Bible teaches us that God is actually the one who draws others to himself, it shouldn’t be hard for us to help our unbelieving friends and family come to know Him. But we can flesh out these steps a bit more to give you an idea about how it all works.

He celebrated.

In Luke 15, Jesus tells three parables in a row that are all about the same thing: The lost becoming found. But have you ever noticed that each of these stories ends with a celebration? It is important to celebrate when someone is touched by God. It communicates to that person and everyone around them how valuable they are in God’s eyes, but it also extends an invitation to others. When we celebrate, we say to others, “Come and see what God has done! He can do it for you, too!” Arnold didn’t need any convincing to celebrate the healing because he was just as amazed by it as his Hindu coworkers. He excitedly told the rest of the baristas about what happened, including his manager.

He didn’t need to be an expert.

This exciting and miraculous touch from God—and the celebration that followed—naturally provoked many questions. As one of the only baristas not from a Hindu or Muslim family, Arnold was naturally the target of those questions. Some of them were easy, and he was able to draw on his Sunday school memories to provide a helpful answer. But others, not so much…

Why doesn’t everyone get healed? Why do bad things sometimes happen to good people?

Some of the questions lobbed at Arnold were the things philosophers and theologians have been pondering for millennia. He wasn’t going to solve them in an afternoon, much less with an afternoon full of cappuccinos to make.

He directed his coworkers to the Bible.

The next time the visitors who had prayed for Arnold’s coworker came in, he confided in them that he didn’t know the answers to all their questions. They assured him that they wouldn’t know the answers either if they were in his shoes! But they also told him he didn’t need the answers. In fact, it was good that he didn’t know. It allowed him to invite his Hindu coworkers to learn together alongside him. They told him all he had to do was to invite them into a DBS process. They even equipped him with the Waha app and showed him where there was a collection of topical studies focused on questions like the ones they were asking. All he had to do was say, “I wonder about the same things, too. Why don’t we use this app to read about them together?”

Once Arnold and his coworkers started reading the Bible together, using a DBS format, his manager got hooked. She asked to borrow a Bible and began reading it during all her lunch breaks. This went on for weeks, and Arnold eventually told the person who lent her the Bible:

It’s not your Bible anymore, man! It’s hers now!

Conclusion

Arnold’s story shows us that anyone can make disciples. You don’t have to be a professional pastor or a missionary, and you don’t have to have all the answers. You only have to love God and be honest and open to the people around you.

By the way, did you know you can meet Arnold for yourself on our Instagram handle? We’re in the process of capturing incredible stories just like Arnold’s from around the world and sharing them on social media. Head on over there now and give us a follow to stay in the loop! Or, download Waha today if you are ready to start on your disciple-making journey.