By Steve Rees —
An American pastor who has travelled to India three times – most recently to teach on spiritual deliverance and help plant a new church – believes demonic warfare intensified with this trip, which coincided with a pivotal national election.
Despite spiritual opposition at home – a horrific automobile accident which could have killed his wife – and a ban on public meetings by the Indian government, the pastor and the church missions team he led nevertheless worshipped Jesus with persecuted Christians.
The Vineyard pastor also succeeded in smuggling into the predominantly Hindu nation a sizable financial gift and curriculum for 120 Pentecostal leaders eager to learn about demonization and freedom offered by Jesus.
The last time Alex Ackermann visited his Christian friends – one of whom is a pastor – Indian police interrupted the worship service, threatening to arrest speakers if they continued preaching.
By hosting seven missionaries from the United States – the first Christians to visit him since 2007 – the Indian pastor risked confiscation of their monetary gift and forfeiture of his church’s license.
With $45,000 American dollars designated for ministries in South Asia – Thailand, Myanmar and India – Ackermann was pleasantly surprised when his pastor friend told him it takes only $15,000 to build a church in a village without one.
Upon receiving $100 bills totaling $22,000, the pastor immediately began giving thanks to God.
He then introduced them to a young man who’s being vetted as a pastor for the new church.
Within days of the meeting, 120 Indian pastors were slated to gather for two days of instruction on deliverance, taught by Christians from Colorado.
Instead, the second day was taught by Ackermann’s friend, who translated the English deliverance manual into Telegu – an Indian dialect – for the pastors who traversed closed roads and government restrictions to attend the meeting.
It coincided with India’s national election in which the radical Hindu government prohibited public meetings over fears of rioting by religious groups disenfranchised with the outcome.
According to The Christian Post, followers of Jesus and other minority believers in India are concerned they now face more persecution in the wake of significant support for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Hindu nationalist party.
Hostilities against religious minority groups had already spiked in the predominantly Hindu nation under Modi since 2014.
But there is greater fear after the Bharatiya Janata Party won more control of the government, the Post reports.
Last year, 1,100 Christians were murdered in northern India where police stepped aside, allowing an armed wing of the Hindu political party to rape and kill believers faithful to Jesus.
Five days after Ackermann decided to teach on deliverance – curriculum created by the pastor – he believes the devil tried to kill him and his wife in a car accident.
“In my mind at least – maybe a hyper-spiritual mind – those two events are directly connected,” said Ackermann, noting angels and airbags prevented permanent injuries or death for both of them.
As it is, Pastor Donna Ackermann is miraculously recovering from three cracked ribs, a head concussion, facial lacerations, a deflated lung, bruises and vision issues after a motorist ran a stop sign, t-boning their compact sedan.
Hit three times, their small car’s five airbags deployed – probably sparing Donna Ackermann’s head.
She lost consciousness. Alex Ackermann managed to escape the crumpled vehicle, while encouraging his wife to crawl to the driver-side door; she could not move.
Still, the Lord was present when paramedics removed her injured body from their totaled vehicle in Farmington, New Mexico. The Ackermanns had travelled there to pick up their son
“The thing that filled my heart was gratefulness that, what could have happened, didn’t,” Donna Ackermann said.
“The thing for which I’m grateful is Father God – the Savior of the world – gave my husband and I more time,” she added.
Home after several days in the hospital, Donna Ackermann expressed gratitude to her 88-year-old mother who lives with the pastors.
“I’m not kidding. Life is beautiful,” Donna Ackermann said.
