Last August, we told you about two Bibles for Mideast pastors brutally attacked and still, at that point, in hospital (Summer PROGRESS AND PRAYER report: help us keep going!). Thankfully Pastor Ram Behadur—sharing and evangelizing in his native Nepal when an enraged group of Hindu militants tied him to a tree and ruthlessly beat him—has fully recovered and is back doing what he loves and has been called to, ministry.

Our Pastor Subhash in North India likewise ended up in hospital, but with more complications enroute and while hospitalized. First viciously attacked by extremists while sharing the gospel with a group of villagers, he was then handed over to the police and charged with ‘forcefully converting people to Christianity’—an extremely serious charge in India.

The officers refused to allow him to be taken to hospital for proper treatment and worse, pummeled him mercilessly. It took Pastor Paul three days (while church members prayed and fasted) to get the police to finally release the pastor, who was then admitted to hospital with injuries both inside and out.

Doctors released him a few days later when he had seemingly recovered, externally at least. But he soon became seriously ill as his damaged kidneys began to fail. He was readmitted to hospital, barely alive. Without a kidney transplant, doctors said, he would certainly die.

But where to find a compatible and willing donor? Prayers continued, and eventually an unlikely candidate volunteered: Lexmana, once a Hindu extremist and enemy to Christians in general and Pastor Subhash and his church in particular. With other militant extremists, Lexmana had often persecuted the pastor and his congregants. But the Christian leader’s persistent loving behavior and attitude melted Lexmana’s hard heart as he saw increasingly clearly the difference Jesus makes in people’s lives. Overcome, he finally stepped into the Kingdom and became a part of the church he once persecuted. So when he learned his new pastor needed a new kidney, and then discovered he could be a compatible donor, he again stepped forward.

After the delicate surgery, Lexmana slowly recovered and was released in several days. Pastor Subhash however, already in a weakened state before the surgery, barely made it through. The saints of his church and beyond—including Pastor Paul and Pastor Peter Haneef—prayed and fasted for five days as he lay in a coma.

“Our Lord heard our prayers and Pastor Subhash miraculously opened his eyes and began to talk,” Pastor Peter recounted. “He said that he had seen Jesus, but he could not yet tell us the details.”

The facts are that medically, at the end of those five days, Pastor Subhash died. But I’ll let him give you a far fuller explanation! While still weak after all he has been through, he glows in the recounting.

“It was a tremendous experience for me in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” he says.  He knew he had been in a coma for five days after the surgery, but of course had no conscious knowledge of it.

Yet, while unconscious in the coma, he says he “had an inner feeling that some change is happening to me … that my Lord is preparing for me something special.”

At the point when he physically died, what he remembers is that the “Archangel Michael came down from the sky and plucked my soul from my body. Without any complaint I gave up my life and went with him.”

He says he could see a bright light going before them as they travelled, and praises to the Lord echoing along after them.

“I saw the sky seem to open up for me, and I entered inside an amazing world I have never seen before. Oh! What an amazing, amazing world it is!”

He could barely find the words, but said the stars shone brilliantly and somehow even they seemed to be greeting him with joy!

He heard refrains of ‘Hallelujah!’ and ‘Praise the Lord!’, saying it was “like the song of ascents everywhere, a great multitude praising, a sound like the roar of many waters.”

[I found myself so struck by his comparison to the Hebrew ‘songs of ascent’: a collection of 15 Psalms (Ps. 120-134) traditionally sung by Hebrew pilgrims as they ascended the uphill road to Jerusalem to attend annual festivals in the Temple—Ed.]

Within the galaxies of billions and billions of stars, he says he saw our Lord Jesus seated on a throne, the stars and galaxies “always rotating around the Lord as He is in the center. He wore a robe dipped in blood. He embraced me with His nail-pierced hands and seated me among the saints. All the saints were rejoicing with me!” 

The Lord then told him how so many were now kneeling before Him, praying for his recovery so he could help turn many of their enemies into His faithful children.

“Be courageous and be my witness,” Jesus said. “I will always be with you and guiding you.”

It was at that instant that Pastor Subhash somehow ‘returned to his body’, opened his eyes and became aware of his situation in the hospital.

“I praise and thank my Lord and Savior for all His goodness! I obey Him and praise Him more and more.”

Hospital bills have unfortunately been exorbitant. Pastor Subhash, his family and his church are all poor. Thankfully some funds have come in but more is needed. If you feel led to help, please click here: BLESSING Bibles for Mideast.