Stories of hope and courage:
how Bible cassette program is
changing lives in India

More than 7,000 churches across India are participating in the Faith Comes By Hearing (FCBH) program, reaching approximately 518,000 listeners in the languages of Telugu, Hindi and Tamil each week. The following stories, shared at a meeting of FCBH distributors earlier this year in Hyderabad, illustrate how this remarkable program is bringing hope to individuals and transforming entire communities.

Healed of hatred

A man in a village in the district of Guntur was angry when the local pastor began playing audio cassettes of the New Testament to his congregation. He resented the fact that he could hear the tapes from his home and complained to the police.

After checking on the church and attending one of the listening sessions, the police decided that the church was doing nothing wrong, and suggested to the man that he attend a session in the church to see for himself what was taking place. The pastor and other church members also encouraged him to do so. He refused, however, and said that he would continue his efforts to put a stop to the FCBH program in the village.

Paralysed

Shortly afterwards the man suffered a stroke and was paralysed. The doctors did all they could to help him but it seemed hopeless – he would never be able to walk again. He was discharged from hospital and his family brought him home and laid him on his bed.

As he lay there he contemplated his future and became depressed. It was then that he heard God’s Word being played in the nearby church. For the first time he actually listened to what was being said and heard the story about Jesus healing the paralysed man.

As the days and weeks went by he heard more and more about Jesus and his miracles and began to believe. He prayed and asked for God’s healing. Eventually, he recovered completely and now stands in the church to share his testimony with new believers.

Hardened prisoners weep

When the FCBH program first began in a jail in Cuddapha, more than 300 prisoners signed up to attend listening sessions. At the start, many of them only participated because it was something different to do, but as they began to get deeper into the biblical text, they found themselves looking forward to their weekly listening sessions more and more.

Other prisoners heard about the program’s impact and asked to join. The following session was held on Good Friday, when the New Testament was played on loudspeakers to the prisoners from 11am to 4pm.

Immediate

The response was immediate. Many prisoners began weeping, and although they had no pastor, they spoke amongst themselves about the Christian faith. Twenty-seven decided to become Christians and wanted to be baptised the next day, Easter Sunday.

The authorities eventually granted permission for the baptism, which took place the next day before a gathering of prison officers, and television and newspaper journalists. The men who were baptised now lead worship sessions and share their new faith with their fellow inmates.

Learning the language of God’s Word

A pastor from Kerala moved to a town in Nalgonda, where he dreamed of planting a church. He could not speak the local language of Telugu, however, and found it impossible to reach the people there with God’s Word. He realised that he would have to learn the language but did not know how to go about it.

It was at that time that he heard about the release of the Telugu New Testament on audio cassette. He obtained a copy and, through listening and reading along in a Telugu Bible, he learnt to speak the language. He also invited the local people to listen to the Scriptures and was soon able to plant a church, which is now thriving.

Church transformed

A pastor of a village church in the Kurnool district was having terrible problems with his congregation. They did not respect his teachings and would not support him financially, saying, “If God called you, let him feed you too.” He despaired and did not know what to do to gain their respect.

An FCBH distributor visited the village and gave a copy of the audio New Testament to the pastor for use in his church. He began to hold regular listening sessions for his congregation and even played the tapes on loudspeakers outside the church.

The effect on his congregation amazed him – people started to respect his teaching, because they could see that it was based on God’s Word, and realised their responsibility of supporting their pastor.

They asked for more listening sessions and many would only go to work in their fields after listening to the Scriptures early in the mornings.

Woman finds dignity

A woman in a village in the Viziayanagaram district thought it was normal to be beaten regularly by her husband. She thought that all she needed was to learn patience in order to get through these ordeals. She felt afraid and alone, however, and started attending church to find comfort.

The church had recently begun participating in the FCBH program and the woman started attending listening sessions, which she found enlightening and encouraging. She realised that God loved everybody equally and felt a strong calling to share this knowledge with other people who had been oppressed.

She told her story to the local FCBH representative, who agreed to give her a copy of the tapes. She left her husband and moved with her small son to a remote village in the forest, where she holds listening sessions.

Family brought close to God

A pastor in a small village in Mahaboobnagar district was distressed because his children were not interested in attending church or reading the Bible. His wife, too, showed very little enthusiasm in helping him with his ministry, even though he encouraged her to help him preach and reach out to people.

All this changed, however, when he received a set of New Testament audio cassettes and started playing them in church.

“Suddenly I noticed that my children were sitting in the front of the church, quietly listening to God’s Word,” he said. “The same thing happened with my wife. She started listening and became really interested. My children spend a lot of their time reading the Bible now, and my wife is actively involved in my ministry, teaching and preaching. FCBH has been such a blessing to my family.”

Man finds Word in music

A young man in a village in the district of Mahaboobnagar was passionate about music. Living in a remote area that had limited electricity, he hardly ever had the opportunity to listen to music, however, until the village church started participating in the FCBH program.

He heard, from friends, that the tapes contained not only words, but music too, and decided to join in the listening sessions. As he listened to the music he also absorbed the words he was hearing, and soon began to wonder about the Christian faith.

One day, as he was working in his fields, he was bitten by a snake. His friends wanted to take him to the village witchdoctor for healing, but he refused, explaining that he had been listening to the Word of God and had decided to become a Christian. He did not want to consult a witchdoctor but preferred to pray.

He recovered from the snake bite and openly declared his new faith. Many other young people in the village were amazed by his story and started attending church.

Church unites in adversity

During a listening session in a church in a small village in Karimnagar district, an extremist group attacked the congregation and destroyed the church building. They hoped to put an end to the FCBH program, which had recently started in the village.

Nobody was hurt, but the congregation no longer had a building in which to meet and listen to the tapes. Determined to continue, they erected a plastic tent, and were soon listening to God’s Word again. Their courage aroused the interest of other villagers, many of whom started attending the church.