Inside Story: Unlikely Church Planter

Inside Story for Friday 25th of April 2025

By Andrew McChesney

When Sunita got married, her new family assumed that she would automatically become a Seventh-day Adventist. In her Asian culture, the wife does whatever the husband says, so her husband, Manoj, and his parents thought that she would adopt his faith as a matter of course. But Sunita didn’t.

When her in-laws saw that she still worshiped images of stone and wood, they tried their best to tell her about Jesus. The extended family lived in the same house, and the in-laws invited her to family worship. But she wasn’t interested. No one forced her to come, and she avoided the gatherings.

A year and a half passed, and Sunita and Manoj moved from their small town to a big city. Now Manoj tried to turn his wife away from her worship practices.

“We as a family don’t believe in image worship,” he said. “It’s not right. We should not do it.”

But Sunita didn’t know any other way of life, and Manoj didn’t try to force her to stop. As time passed, Sunita gave birth to two sons. Then she fell seriously ill.

“Let’s go to the Adventist church,” Manoj said. “You’ve tried so many pills and other things, but nothing helps. Let’s go just once.”

Sunita didn’t see any way out. She had no hope, so she agreed to go. It was her first time entering an Adventist church—or any church.

Sunita felt very good inside the building. Even though the service was in English and she understood little, she felt the warmth of church members as they welcomed her. The next week, Sunita returned and asked the pastor to add her name to a list of prayer requests made during the divine worship service. After the prayer, Sunita began to feel better. Her health slowly improved, and eventually she made a full recovery.

Sunita regularly attended church for the next four years. When an assistant pastor who spoke her language joined the church, she took Bible studies and was baptized. From that moment, she began to pray, “Let me serve You.”

A few years passed, and Sunita was invited to plant churches as a Global Mission pioneer. She happily agreed. Today, she leads a church plant in an impoverished district of her city. She started the church by praying with people. As her prayers were answered, other people heard by word of mouth and came to her to ask for prayers. Fifteen people have been baptized.

“I never thought that I would come out of my faith and get to know the true God,” Sunita said before taking Adventist Mission on a Sabbath visit to her church plant. “It was His will to bring me out, and He’s using me for His glory.”

Thank you for your prayers for Global Mission pioneers who, like Sunita, face huge challenges planting churches among unreached people groups around the world. Learn more about Global Mission pioneers on the Adventist Mission website: bit.ly/GMPioneers.