Good things are to be shared—and Dudley Snarr was filled to overflowing with the joy of seeing men and women won to Christ in the remote regions of India. Upon returning to his home in Sun City, Ariz., he approached his friend, Dr. Jack Jacobson, and told him of his India adventures.
Jacobson remembers commenting, "One of these days I’d like to do that." But he didn’t really think his casual comment would ever become reality — until he joined five of fellow members of the Peoria/Sun Cities church as they set out for Andhra Pradesh, India.
"It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life," Jacobson says, "and I think I can speak for the whole group when I say that it changed us all. We’ll never be the same. Seeing how the people there live so simply gave me a lot of gratitude for everything I have. Watching the Lord work first hand was so spiritually uplifting. I saw miracles and people’s lives transformed."
Many of the people the team worked with are known as the untouchables, the lowest caste. They don’t express emotions outwardly. Jacobson and the team visited them in their villages during the day and saw faces with very distant looks. When they first came to the meetings, they were guarded. But after a few handshakes and hugs, their expressions changed to smiles and acceptance and they opened up to these Arizona lay-evangelists. Every evening they met late into the night.
Five nightly meetings in different locations were very well-organized. Maranatha made all the arrangements and laid the groundwork. Months before, gospel workers who spoke the local dialect went into the villages to prepare the people for the meetings. They met in an open field with mats on the ground and a few chairs in back. Merlin Farley and his wife provided all the equipment, including the trucks that brought the people in from the villages.
Each night, 80-year-old Everett Cumbo, preached about the love of Jesus and the plan of salvation. Roger Cumbow ran the sound system and the PowerPoint presentation on a big screen as Cumbo preached.
Sheila Cumbo, Barbara Morphis and Nancy Jacobson told the children stories and gave them crayons and pictures to color. Gordon Keller was on fire for God. He was like a grandfather to all the kids. Dr. Jack Jacobson did the health lectures on topics like AIDS, TB, cancer, hygiene, first aid care and proper diet. Everything went through an interpreter, except the "Jesus movie," which was in the people’s native tongue. Every time Jesus performed a miracle, the audience cheered, especially when He raised Lazarus. As word got out, meeting attendance increased and thousands came.
The medical team experienced some thrilling healing miracles. "The people’s way of living is so simple and their childlike faith actually put ours to shame," said Jacobson. "Since I was the doctor, people came to me holding the places where they hurt. I couldn’t determine the problem just by looking at them and sometimes referred them for further evaluation. The interpreter said they had no money. They just wanted me to touch them."
Jacobson remembers thinking how they needed much more than his touch. He proceeds, "The Lord was testing my faith. I found that Jesus used me as a conduit. When I touched a person, his symptoms disappeared. I saw a large tumor on a lady’s throat start to dissolve. The swelling on a child’s eye closed shut from a hornet’s sting went down. A man who for years had been going to doctors in the city for stomach problems but who had run out of money told the interpreter he just wanted me to touch him. I suspected an ulcer but did as he asked. At the end of the meetings he came up to me all smiles and said that for the first time in years his pain was totally gone. Jesus truly works miracles."
"We were there to do evangelistic work. All I expected to do was simple health talks and refer people who needed it to a medical center. The Lord tested my faith. It strengthened me, watching the people’s simple faith. I was reminded of the text that says if one has the faith of a mustard seed one could move mountains. We have so much here in America that we take it for granted and don’t rely on the Lord like we should."
The team remembers vividly seeing two people who were demon-possessed. One night as the team greeted people, Jacobson was called to a truck where a lady writhed on the floor. She looked like she was having a seizure, but she started screaming.
Jacobson recounts, "I could hardly breathe at the time because I had gotten sick on the way there and had not yet recovered. Gordon and I prayed over her, asking the Lord to come and command the devil to leave. While we were still praying, the woman gave a big sigh. Her rigid, shaking body suddenly relaxed and a miraculous calm came over her, followed by a beautiful smile. She had had these seizures before and one of the gospel workers who knew about her told me she had played with demonic things. On the way back to the hotel that night I thanked God, not only for His miracle but for bringing more light to me to understand His power. You think you’re faithful and then you witness something like this. Before we left the country we saw her again and she was fine and looked happy."
The Indian people made such an impression on the Jacobsons that they plan to return this October. While they were there, more than 8,000 people were baptized.
Sheila and Roger Cumbo’s daughter, Corby, will be going on a mission trip to India in February. Some individuals from this team and their families have donated money to build several churches in India. Every donation is matched by the Farleys and then the doubled amount is matched again by Maranatha — quadrupling the original donation. Eleven thousand dollars will build a large church in India accommodating 400 people, $7,500 will provide a medium-sized church holding 200, and $5,000, a small church for 125 people.
