Jaya, India, Age 20
I was born August 12, 1989, into a Hindu family in Orissa, India. As a family, we used to worship the idols, perform various poojas (rituals) and celebrate festivals to appease them. In spite of my sincere devotion to our gods. I did not achieve serenity or contentment in my life.
Once I met a pastor and we had a talk on religion. I had many questions in my mind, which he answered from the Scripture. He also explained about sin and its consequences and the salvation that is available to us through Jesus Christ. When he shared his personal experiences with the Lord, my heart was deeply touched.
Meanwhile, I joined with worldly friends and went after the fleeting pleasures of this world. I was totally immersed in bad habits and unknowingly entrapped myself in the sinful pit. Later I developed a wrong conception that Christian missionaries are proclaiming a foreign religion. Whenever I met some of them I argued with them about Christianity and never agreed to what they said.
In the meantime, I fell sick and I consulted various doctors for medical help. My parents spent a lot of money for my healing but nothing happened as they thought. Slowly the peace of my family came clattering down and my parents were worried about me.
By knowing the situation, a local church pastor visited me and comforted me with the Word of God. He challenged me to have faith in Jesus Christ for my healing. The words he spoke penetrated deep into my heart and I asked him to pray for me. As we prayed together, the Lord touched me and with tears I gave my heart to Jesus. Surprisingly, the following week I was completely healed. A river of joy and happiness overwhelmed my heart. Later I received water baptism as a public testimony of my faith.
After my transformation, I started attending church and meditated the Scripture persistently. The Word of God taught me the will of God and I developed a desire to reach the lost with God’s love. The gracious God called me for His glorious ministry and helped me to join in a Gospel For Asia Bible School in order to equip myself for the ministry ahead. At present, I am serving the Lord as an evangelist in Orissa, India, where the majority of the people are Hindus.