I had lunch recently with a good friend, strong believer, all-around good guy, whose three adult children have abandoned their faith (I’d like to think, temporarily, but we don’t know that). Our society is definitely “post Christian,” and it’s easy to wonder why the Gospel doesn’t seem to work anymore.

But it does, and the God who delivered all those groups in Psalm 107 is still alive and well. Here’s a story for your encouragement. The Gospel does work. There is transformation. Around the world. This story from Christianity Today: From a Village of Bandits to a Village of the Gospel is too good not to share. It opens:

Over the past four decades, octogenarian Bollaku Issak has preached hundreds of sermons. The diminutive pastor with white hair and a knock-kneed gait ends each service with the same altar call.“If God can save a wretched sinner like me, he will definitely save you,” he says, his voice softening. “You are no different. You are loved. Just surrender. Repent and be saved.”

Often as he utters those words, tears well up in his eyes, transporting him to his life before Christ. He once lived as an armed robber, or dacoit, in Stuartpuram, an infamous village in Andhra Pradesh considered a “reformatory colony” by the British colonial government. Families lived off banditry for generations and passed it on to their children as an inheritance. In the aftermath of any major theft in the region, police invariably suspected Stuartpuram gangs.

Bollaku himself led a band of nine men, breaking into houses, trains, banks, and government offices, he recalled in a recorded testimony. He earned the moniker Bangaru Pichchuka(“Golden Sparrow”) for absconding with gold worth millions of rupees and for going on thrilling escapades.

Bollaku was finally caught and sent to prison, sentenced to seven years. The story continues:

In prison, a fellow convict who had recently became a Christian explained the gospel to Bollaku. Hearing about the love of Christ and the promise of salvation reinvigorated his spirit. Over the next two months, he prayed, sobbed, repented of his sins, and learned about the Bible. He prayed persistently that somehow his prison term would be shortened to a year.

“It was a miracle!” he said in the testimony about the trial. “The prosecution could not gather evidence. The court struck down the charges against me. I was completely set free.”

Wait! There’s more!!

After walking out of prison, he spent the next 14 years serving as a volunteer at a local church—sweeping floors, cooking, and cleaning dishes. As a spiritual life of prayer and service took root, he never returned to his old ways. One morning as he prayed, Bollaku had a vision: Jesus laid hands on him, instructing him to testify about the Good News that had turned his life around. Since then, Bollaku has sought to follow this calling. (Note: compare Mark 5.1 – 20.)

Bollaku’s testimony is not uncommon in Stuartpuram, which in the past four decades has seen a revival as nearly all its 5,000 residents have become Christians. The “Village of Dacoits” has become Suvarthapuram, Telugu for “Gospel Village.”

“People here live out Christianity, be it in personal or professional lives,” Bollaku told CT. “God has become the center of our pursuits today. This was unheard of a generation back.”

I encourage you to read the article in its entirety.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. (Romans 1.16, NKJV)