By the perseverance and foresight of brother J.C. Choate, we began telecasting SATYA VANI on TEJA (All-Telugu) channel from the first Saturday, January 4, 2003. And what a response! What an explosion of interest in the hearts of people for truth!

We begin each program with a good Christian song by a group of young people, and then we follow with a Bible lesson which lasts 23 or 24 minutes. At the end of the telecast we advertise a FREE Bible Correspondence Course and literature and a monthly magazine. The program concludes with a song. We also give our telephone numbers so people can call in their requests or questions, etc. Just as the last song comes on the TV, the telephones both at my home and in the office begin to ring simultaneously, or one after the other. And we take in the requests! Initially, the phone calls were so many we had to add an extra line in our home just for TV viewers. The exciting thing is that these phones keep buzzing throughout the week!

People have expressed deep appreciation for SATYA VANI (Voice of Truth). From day one, they see that the church of Christ is different! Some highly educated people call to tell me how much they love the program and how eager they are to watch it. Many doctors, professors, engineers and government officers belonging to various denominations call to express their appreciation. Many a time they are startled to know a certain nugget of truth presented in the Bible and ask for a copy of the lesson or video tape. One doctor, a Chief Surgeon of Orthopaedics from a government hospital in Hyderabad, came to Kakinada to attend a conference. He took time off from the conference and called on us personally to thank us for our efforts on TV. He collected our books and a couple of audio cassettes. He said he always looks forward to our Saturday morning telecast each week. He feels so uplifted.

Every Monday, the third day after our latest telecast, letters and cards pour into our office with various requests for Bible courses, monthly magazine, sermon books and tracts, etc., etc. We are now averaging a minimum of 1000 letters per week per half an hour telecast of SATYA VANI. In the telecommunication circles, one such letter or call represents 1000 viewers. That shows we have a minimum audience of one million people each week! We could not have asked for more at such a minimal cost!

In the months that we have been on the Telugu channel, many people have obeyed the gospel and are still obeying. An average of three people per day throughout the state are now writing us of obeying the gospel because of our lessons. There could be more, but they don’t report to us. Each conversion, in turn, results in more conversions. For instance, one man watched our lessons on TV, got himself enrolled in the Bible courses and obeyed the gospel toward the end of the course. He turned around and taught his village folks and baptised 58 of them. Then he went to the next village and baptised 15 there. Thus, two congregations resulted out of one man’s obedience to the gospel. He writes us frequently thanking us for leading him straight into the truth. He wonders what his fate would have been had he become a member of a denomination!

There are many Hindus who secretly believe the Lord, but are trapped in their domestic situations. One Hindu lady called late one night from Bhadrachalam town which is 300 miles northwest of Kakinada. She desperately wanted a Bible, but did not know where and how to get it. She had seen us on TV that morning offering a Bible absolutely FREE on completition of the Bible Correspondence course. She wanted the Bible but without the knowledge of her husband. She said he would kill her the moment he saw a copy of the Bible in their house. She wanted the Bible no matter what. It was a life and death situation for her. We saw to it that the lady was sent a Bible to a secret address she provided — that of her neighbor! She has since been taking the Bible course as well.

Each day brings so many new contacts. Our life has changed so dramatically since we got on the TV. And we spend long hours preparing for each lesson and answering questions by mail. The intent? To save the millions of souls perishing in India. We will win many more for the Lord in this country if we faint not.

The right-wing Hindu party (BJP) which has controlled the Federal Government and was enacting laws forbidding religious conversions in one state or the other has now been voted out, and the Lord is opening up TV channels so that the Gospel truth can be telecast into millions of homes in India! When the Hindus are trying to close the doors, the Lord is opening them up in a massive way. Surely the gates of hell shall not prevail against His church! Brethren, let us make use of this wonderful opportuinty to bring many souls to the Lord in this new millennium.
With His help, we can prevail. ✞

Joshua Gootam has been a Christian for 35 years. He is the Telugu radio and TV speaker, as well as editor of the Telugu monthly and quarterly magazines.