Peanuts and Prayer

After witnessing his daughter healed by prayer, a Sikh street vendor who first rejected the gospel began to reconsider Christ.

From Message magazine issue "Christ in the Crisis"

Every morning, Babu readies his peanut cart before setting off down the road, his wares frying on a charcoal stove resting atop his rickshaw.

His simple catchphrase—“Peanuts for sale!”—has earned him a reputation on the crowded streets.

While working one day, Babu met some local Christians partnered with ABWE through Live Global. They gave him gospel tracts, but Babu despised their teachings and found a new use for their pamphlets—packaging for his peanuts.

Then Babu’s daughter became very ill, developing a dangerously high fever. The doctors could not heal her and doubted that she would recover.

Babu sought the counsel of the Sikh priests in his village, who suggested his daughter drink holy water. Babu bought gallons of it.

But it did not work, and his daughter’s health continued to worsen. Although devastated, Babu was too poor to stop working. He went back to selling peanuts, his mind consumed with worry for his dying daughter.

The evangelists returned. Now at a breaking point, Babu figured it could not hurt to ask them to pray to their foreign God. They began to tell him about Jesus, but he did not care much about the specifics of their deity. He simply wanted someone to pray for his little girl.

Babu escorted the Christians to his home, and they laid hands on his daughter and began praying for her. She gave her dad a small smile and her temperature broke immediately.

A devout Sikh, Babu was amazed at what he had just witnessed. His native religion had proven worthless in a time of need, while the God these men followed had shown his power to heal.

As a result, he and his whole family wanted to hear more about Jesus. After learning of the death and resurrection of Christ and asking many more questions, each of them trusted in Christ and were baptized.

Babu still sells peanuts. But instead of using tracts as wrappers, he hands them out to his customers to be read. Today, he has planted a church with 60 families—all from Sikh backgrounds.


Editor’s Note: Learn more about Live Global, an ABWE ministry initiative that parnters with and empowers national believers.