As Swati Kiran watched the two people in front of her praying for her in tears, she wondered why they felt so deeply for her, a mere acquaintance.

She and her husband, who had arrived in Singapore from India to work in the information technology (IT) industry five years earlier, had visited the church run by Pastor Danny Modi and his wife, Pastor Lalitha. They were not regulars at the church, attending only now and then.

Yet, when the Pastors heard that Swati – who followed another religion then – and her husband had lost their jobs at the same time and were struggling to pay their housing loan, they came to their home to pray for them.

“They prayed with tears and were heavy-hearted. I thought, ‘Why are they praying like this?’ They didn’t know us that much and weren’t close to us, but they prayed with such love,” recalled Swati, adding that both her and her husband landed jobs shortly after.

Touched by love

Moved by the Pastors’ act of love, and seeing the tangible answer to their prayers, Swati decided to attend the church – Tabernacle Christ Fellowship (TCF), which reaches out to Indian nationals in Singapore – more regularly.

Though she had little interest in or knowledge of Christianity then, she was struck by the love and warmth that Ps Lalitha showed her each week.

“Whenever I go to church, she would receive me, hug me and feed me. In each and every area, she was always ready to help me. Whenever I called, she would always answer even though she was busy,” said Swati.

Swati (right) with Ps Lalitha (left).

Ps Lalitha often encouraged her to read God’s Word and talk to God in prayer.

“She gave me the freedom to ask anything, whatever doubts I had about Christianity. If I told her that I was struggling to read the Bible, she would read it with me over the phone,” she said.

“For me, I wondered: Who would take the time like that for somebody?” 

Unknowingly, as she attended church week in and week out under Ps Lalitha’s gentle wing, Swati began to understand God’s love for her: “I started trusting God … I felt that He was beside me, He’s with me, He’s talking and He’s leading me.”

A shift in vision

In January 2016, about four years after Swati began attending church regularly, she experienced a health scare.

She was about two months pregnant with her second child when she found out that her appendix had ruptured. It was a life-threatening situation requiring immediate surgery.

However, God protected both her and her son, now 9, through this ordeal. It bolstered her faith: “I felt God did not want me to die. He had more plans for me.”

That June, she stepped forward to be baptised – a decision that saw her faith deepen.

Swati (left), her husband (third from left) and their two children, with Ps Danny (fourth from right), Ps Lalitha (second from right) and their children.

Since becoming a Christian, Swati often prayed for God to raise up Pastors to reach out to those in her homeland. Gradually, however, she began to have an inkling that perhaps she could be the answer to these prayers.

After a series of visions and confirmations, as well as with the support from her Pastors in church and her family, she and her husband decided to give up their permanent resident status in Singapore so she could return to India, two children in tow, to share Christ’s love with her people.

It was not easy to give up a comfortable life here and step into a complete unknown back home. “But I trusted that God’s plan was greater than my plans,” said Swati.

Living in faith

The only thing she could do back in India was pray for God’s direction and leading. Then one day, she had a vision of two people approaching her, saying: “We are waiting for your preaching.”

Pastor Swati now serves as a house church Pastor, with the support of her husband, daughter, 16, and son, 9.

God then led her to a village in the outskirts of Hyderabad to start a house church there. In faith, she did.

The humble church started with the only Christians in her village that she knew: Her husband and their two children. She did not know how to bring more people in, but waited in faith for God to do the work.

Pastor Swati (right) and her house church members in worship.

Then, a handful of Christian women from a nearby village connected with her. After some time, a few others walked through the church’s doors. Today, she pastors a small congregation of 10 people and also reaches out regularly to the poor living near her home.

“My burden is for more people to know the truth that God loves them. Instead of punishing them, He loves them,” said Pastor Swati, who remains in close contact with Ps Danny and Ps Lalitha, whom she considers her spiritual parents.

Ps Swati praying at her church in Hyderabad.

Nevertheless, the ground is hard: Pastor Swati has heard that there were a few Pastors before her who tried ministering to the villagers, but left after a lack of response. Still, she trusts that God will help her at each step of the way.

“God has opened doors for me and brought people to me, connecting them to me. In everything, He is leading and helping me, because I don’t know who is looking for Him,” said Pastor Swati. 

“He will definitely grow the church and bring people here.”

This article is part of a four-part series titled Missions At Our Doorstep, which explores the power of reaching out to foreigners in our midst. Check out the other stories in the series here:

“Singapore introduced Jesus Christ as my Saviour”: Migrant worker-turned-pastor who returned to India to share the Gospel

“Why would they love me so much?”: Domestic worker-turned-missionary on her employer’s love that transformed her