In this gripping episode of the GoMission podcast, Mark Gillmore interviews Brother Athing, a courageous church planter and missionary in Assam, Northeast India. Brother Athing shares his journey through intense hardship—imprisonment, persecution, loss, and natural disaster—and how God used each trial to deepen his faith and multiply gospel fruit. His story is a powerful testimony of perseverance and the unshakable resolve to follow God’s call, even when everything else is stripped away.

Note: Brother Athing speaks with a heavy accent that may be challenging to understand at times. A roughly summarized transcript of the episode is available to help you follow along.

• How God called Brother Athing into missions in Assam
• Initial church planting and early fellowship
• Imprisonment and being abandoned by a supporting pastor
• Starting over after jail, with gospel tracts and hospital outreach
• Launching a children’s school and living in extreme poverty
• Experiencing betrayal, church arson, and the death of his brother
• Continual persecution, including from radical Hindu groups
• Rebuilding a mission from scratch and launching a training center
• The conversion of a lead persecutor after receiving a gospel tract
• Strategic use of education as a gospel platform
• Vision for a missionary training center and the fruit of over 38 churches planted

• Opposition doesn’t mean you’re off course—in fact, it might mean you’re right where God wants you.
• God tests before He opens doors—every major breakthrough in Brother Athing’s ministry was preceded by trial.
• Faithfulness bears fruit—churches were planted, leaders trained, and persecutors converted because he stayed.
• Strategic compassion matters—a children’s school became both a testimony and a shield for gospel work.
• God provides miraculously—from provision of land to the transformation of enemies into allies.

If you have your own unique story of gospel advance or if you sense God leading you toward a particular people group, we’d love to hear about it. Even if it’s just a sentence or two, share what God is doing in an email to [email protected].

GoMission, hosted by Mark Gillmore, is a monthly, missions-focused program designed to expose young people to the people, stories, and opportunities happening across the globe in the world’s harvest fields.

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