Pastor Ruben Khati – West Bengal, India

Located in eastern India is the state of West Bengal.  This state is considered to be the most densely populated state of India with over 80 million people.  Of this great magnitude of people 72% worship Hindu gods and 23% are Muslim. Evangelizing and ministering in this area can be very difficult but Pastor Ruben Khati heard the call of God and he began walking.

Ruben was born in a Hindu family in the district of Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, India.  Hinduism is the world’s third largest religion in the world and there are over 330,000,000 deity forms that are worshipped.  Ruben and his family knew that they were under an evil spirit.  Socially, physically and spiritually their lives were in great turmoil.  Weekly the family would call upon the local Hindu Guru to come to their house to cast spells to bring peace to the family but the demonic forces continued to cause great pain to each member of the family.

One day an elderly man came to Ruben’s house.  The old man introduced himself as being a disciple of Jesus Christ.  When Ruben’s mother heard that this man was a Christian, she did not allow him to enter the home.  The old man introduced himself as Pastor Khati.  The family was very surprised to hear that his name was like theirs so they decided to hear what he had to say.  This old man shared with them how God loved them and how Hinduism was causing this great torment in their lives.  The family immediately accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  Great joy filled the home and each family member.

In 1982 Ruben was baptized and became very involved in the local church.  Even though he greatly loved sports and wanted to play them professionally, he knew deep in his heart that God had other plans for him.  One day Ruben was playing soccer and fell injuring his back.  He was in great pain and the doctors told him that he would be partially paralyzed for the rest of his life.  One evening he was in such great pain that he went to his room and cried out to God for relief from the state that he was in.  With tears falling from his face onto the floor he heard someone calling his name and speaking softly, “Ruben, I am going to heal you right now, I have chosen you for my glory, and you will be my vessel, do as I tell you."  Suddenly Ruben jumped to his feet and without any aids for support he began walking.