Fgb - salvation song

Journey with My Father

As the song goes, “This is my story - This is my song - Praising my Savior all the day long”.

Yes, this is the story of my confusion, of salvation, of trials/temptations and of the goodness and mercy of my creator.

Being born into an orthodox and devoted Hindu family, I grew up with a reverence for the gods that I was taught to believe in. I memorized Hindu slogans and wrote them on paper to make garlands out of them. I routinely participated in religious events during my childhood.

I had several schedules for visiting different temples.
daily (opposite to house)
bi-weekly (30-minute walk/10-minute drive from house)
monthly (45 min drive).

“External cleanliness will make anyone holy before god” was the opinion I had.  My Heavenly Father had greater plans for me even though I had not known Him.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” - Jeremiah 29:11

It all began here:

I finished 8th grade in my hometown and God put a desire in my heart to join a Christian school in the 9th grade. My dad tried to prevent my enrolment in that school because it was situated quite a distance from my home and we did not know anyone who went to that school. After convincing my dad a little, I joined this Christian Missionary School which laid the foundation for my future.
The scripture classes that I chose helped me to know the bible parables. I developed the habit of reading the bible when I needed something from God, otherwise I had no intention of knowing God. When I completed this education, Jesus just got added to my already existing list of gods.
Later, I joined a Hindu Institute for my bachelor’s degree. Many students there started their day only after visiting the temple on campus. I also prayed at the Hindu temple on campus along with my parents.

I had to live in a hostel since the college was a long distance from my parent’s home.

Divine Invite:

“You did not choose me, but I chose you. John 15:16 “

We had an inauguration program on Friday and the actual classes started on Monday. Since it was a Friday, only 3-4 girls opted to stay in the hostel that weekend. I was one of them and so was Jansi who is a strong believer.

Jansi and I met in that silent hostel.  Initially I was not comfortable with her because I thought she was my senior :). For both of us, it was the first time away from home. We spoke a lot about various topics that night.

She had a photo of her late (to-be) sister in law( sheeba akka)  , that caught my attention. Jansi told me about Sheeba akka’s life; a life which reflected God every single moment and a life lived in complete surrender to God. She gave me the glimpse of how God spoke to Sheeba Akka. How He walked with her amidst all the odds etc.

Well, it could be penned as a different blog. I am not getting deeper into it for now. I would leave that part to Jansi to take it up later.

That night I went to bed with a bunch of open questions in my heart.

Am I not spiritual?
Am I not going to temple regularly?
How come I never had such an experience?
Is what I am doing not enough?

Jansi’s parents are very spiritual.  Most of us inherit the characters (good/bad) from our family and that is how is with her as well.  Jansi’s helping nature, zeal for God and in-depth knowledge of scripture always impressed me.  I had even longed to have parents who would pray for me (especially during semester exams :P).

After we met a few times she invited me to the prayer cell that she had started.
I was very reluctant to accept her invitation initially. Later God drew me to the prayer cell and I started liking it. We were meeting daily at 7 PM. The first thing I liked there was everyone praying for the needs of others with such a burden. Until then I had never prayed for anyone outside my family. I was selfish even in my prayers then.  Gradually I started reading the scripture and God put a thirst in me. Even when I came to hostel for lunch break, I started reading bible.
God placed so many believers in my life who supported me spiritually by giving edifying books to read, CDs to listen etc. I am thankful to God and all those friends who walked with me at that time.

Thunderstruck:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? - Romans 8:35

Everything was going fine until some others at the hostel turned against our spiritual stand. They thought the prayer cell was just to convert people into Christianity. They complained to our warden about the prayer cell. Because it was a Hindu college, the warden was very upset with us.

To stop our gathering, our warden started coming for rounds very often and targeted all the members of the prayer cell. We changed the time from 7PM to 10PM, 10PM to 12AM (mid night). We also had catwalk times :). Yes, there were times we had to walk to the room (where we met) without footwear to avoid any noise, turn off all the lights in the room and read scripture by candle light. Many eyes were watching us.

As David says in Ps 91:3, God was so good to us. God exalted His children in all the areas before their very eyes.

“For He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.” Ps 91:3

"You will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.” Mark 13:13

Once I was called to our warden’s room and questioned about my change of heart. When she asked me what I got by leaving my own god and following the God of others, my answer was, “Ma’am, there are many kinds of sweets viz laddu, jalebi etc.  You need to taste it personally. It cannot be described by words. We need to step forward and experience it to find the difference.”

My answer annoyed her so much and she was about to call my dad to complain about me. It was soooo much fun (sarcastic)!

“Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.” Psalm 27:3

Even now, I noticed that many have the same perspective about conversion. They all think - what is the need for anyone to leave his/her own religion and follow someone else’s religion? The fact is, this is nothing to do with change of religion. It’s all about a change of heart. Once you know Jesus personally and start having the intimate relationship with him, you would never want to leave Him.  He is that good. :)

 “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” - Ps 34:8

When I completed bachelors, I had accepted Jesus as my savior. After that, I did not know how to take it further. I was reading the bible on and off. I never had the thought of going to prayer cell at church regularly. Though I had visited few churches, I was not really interested in going to churches. A few years passed by and a lot of things had happened in my life but Jesus was in the same position in my heart. There was no change and no improvement in my spiritual scale though.
Marvelously orchestrated:
“He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” - Phil 1:6

I got deployed onsite at my client’s location in the USA. I was still not looking for a church to attend at all. My friend ‘Ramesh’ also came to the same work location after 2 months. He and his wife took me to an Indian church (Christ Church Of India, San Jose) which was the turning point in my spiritual life.

I became a regular church goer. God helped me to understand the bible and apply it to my life and this pulled me up, even though I failed.

Pastor Uncle (Rev Ranjan Samuel), Aunty and the fellowship with church friends really helped me a lot to know God more.

The main thing I learned was “God is not a vending machine. I cannot see Him as my errand boy. He is the sovereign God. I cannot go to Him only for my needs rather I ought to love Him with all my heart.” I started to understand the meaning of salvation, the unconditional love God has for me, and the sacrifice He gave for me.

Rubber hits the road:

In the Indian culture girls are married off without much delay and I was no exception to it. As in any traditional Hindu family, my parents too strongly believed in horoscope and this worked to my advantage. As most of the horoscopes did not match, the search for the groom continued. I had this question within me, should i obey my parents and marry an unbeliever or should i marry a believer. God clearly spoke to me and i began to understand the verse “Do not be unequally yoked” from 2 Corinthians 6:14. Hence I decided to marry only a believer and conveyed the same to my parents. My parents felt betrayed and helpless but God slowly began to make them understand the depth of my faith and they gave into my wish of marrying a believer. But the hurdle of marriage was not yet over.

He carried me:

A bride/groom who is the only believer in the family still faces rejection by the so-called Christians of this world. I too had to go through this rejection many times. I felt dejected and let down but God never gave up on me. He was preparing a place for me on this earth. During these tough times I had the privilege of experiencing the comfort, love and fellowship of a praying church and also friends through whom my faith was rekindled. God answered all our prayers and on May 9th, 2018 I got married and was welcomed into a family that loves and holds me as their own daughter.

He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ- Phil 1:6