As parents Prakash and Sangeetha shared their family’s painful story, they brought out a few photos of their daughter. In the photos, she is posing with a flower in her hand, looking up verses in her New Testament and bowing her head in prayer.

 

Many challenges

Lavanya was born in 2014. From birth she had health and developmental problems. Lavanya couldn’t move well, and her speech wasn’t developing normally.

Like most people in India, Prakash and Sangeetha were Hindu, but no prayers or rituals improved Lavanya’s health or the family’s other problems. Prakash spent his salary on alcohol.

 

A radical change

His sister-in-law, however, became a Christian and introduced the Gospel to Prakash and his brothers, who in turn also placed their faith in Christ. Prakash’s father and mother eventually also came to faith. All seven adult family members received baptism together, and they threw their idols in the river that same day.

Recalling the radical change that followed his conversion, Prakash said he lost his desire for alcohol and longed to be a better husband and father. “Before we got saved, we didn’t believe in salvation or eternal life. We didn’t know where we would go after death. But now we know … and we have hope.”

 

The miracle!

The extended family began meeting regularly for prayer and worship. After they were persecuted by militant Hindu nationalists, they all moved to different villages. They continued to visit one another for prayer and encouragement in the faith, and one of their most common prayers was for Lavanya’s healing.

“Slowly Lavanya started to walk. Slowly she started to talk. Once she started to talk, all the village people were amazed at seeing this miracle.”  After seeing his daughter healed and also experiencing his neighbours’ hardness of heart, Prakash decided to become an evangelist. With an eager Lavanya at his side, he began to visit those in need.

 

Violent opposition

“A community leader from a higher caste told us, ‘If you want to pray, go somewhere else and pray,’” Prakash said. “He said not to have prayer in our house or in the village. He used to threaten us, but we did not stop.”

On 15 January, 2023, Prakash and Lavanya set out on another ministry trip. To avoid riding their motorbike after dark, they began their return trip home in late afternoon. In his rearview mirror, Prakash saw a truck come racing up behind them. It rammed their motorbike before Prakash could react, causing him to lose control and swerve into a roadside ditch. The truck driver didn’t stop to check on them.

Prakash spent 17 days recovering in the hospital, and it was a year before he could begin walking with the help of a cane.  After more than 30 days in the hospital, Lavanya passed away.

 

God says to forgive

From the warnings they had received as well as other evidence, Prakash and Sangeetha believed that the community leader who had confronted Prakash was behind the attack.

They continue to meet with family members for prayer, and they hope that one day a local fellowship of Christians will again meet in their home.

While the man they believe was behind the attack has not yet sought their forgiveness, Prakash said he is ready to forgive him, too. “God has said to forgive those who hurt us,” he said, “so forgiveness is what I have for him.”

 

Trust and hope in God

Sangeetha said trusting God with Lavanya’s eternity as well as her own healing has helped her begin to recover. Likewise, Prakash said he has seen God’s goodness in his own recovery and in the response of people with whom he has shared the Gospel since Lavanya’s death.

“Whatever difficulty comes,” Prakash said, “we should never lose hope in God.”

Source: VOM