MET WITH JESUS

Evangelist Devagiri Paul, a missionary working with Road Runner World Mission in India, was a happy man in the Indian Army. When a native missionary gave him a gospel tract to read, he read the portion where Jesus talked about Himself as the true Shepherd, the door, and the light of the world. He was amazed to read of this one man who claimed to be the door, the light, and the good Shepherd. God opened his eyes to see the glory of Jesus Christ and he began to read the New Testament, which was given to him by the same native missionary. He said, "I had a great desire to know the truth. Since none of our Hindu scriptures ever talks any thing like that I was really curious to know the person who claimed to be everything. Although materially I had every thing, a good secure job, a newly wedded wife, a family inheritance, a high cast Hindu family background and lots of friends for a happy life, yet I was miserable inside. I did not know the reason for it. I always thought of the life after death. If I die before my sins are forgiven then, in the next birth I may have to be born as a dog or cow, or any thing like that.

Many nights I was restless and could not sleep at all. It was all a puzzle to me then, but when I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal redeemer and Lord then I understood the Lord Jesus Christ was preparing my heart to sow His seed in to my heart. How great are the plans of our God, He calls whomsoever He wishes, and He shows mercy to whomsoever He wills".

One night Jesus Christ appeared to me personally and commanded me to be a faithful witness of the gospel and preach it to every ethnic group, language and nation. He looked at me very closely and poured His love upon me and He told me to tell every body everywhere about this good news. In the vision He showed me a great field ready for harvest but I could not find any harvesters. Jesus was weeping and I asked Him why He was weeping. He told me, 'you see these precious fruits they are mine but they are not being attempted to gather in to my barns. Most of them are lost before an attempt is made on them. I died for every one of them but my enemy has blinded their eyes that they should not see the truth.'

This made me weep as well. I knelt down and asked Jesus to take my life and use it the way He chooses fit. I told Him, I absolutely belong to Him without any condition. That incident left a lasting impression on my heart. From then on I looked different, talked different, and lived different from others. When every one in the Army would go for drinks and things like that, I was feeding on the living word of God, which gave me great spiritual understanding and God was speaking to me every time. I was a babe in Christ and was growing. I gave my testimony to every one in my Army unit. God used me as a powerful tool to bring many of my fellow soldiers to my Jesus Christ. We formed a small prayer group and touched the lives of most people in our barracks. The Lord laid a great burden for lost souls on my heart. Many times I would cry and ask the Lord to deliver people from darkness and break the bondage of the enemy. The superstition, ignorance, illiteracy, and millions of idols worshiped as gods, all made my heart cry out to God in desperate condition. I knew Jesus died for every one of them. But they have no eyes to see the truth and get away from the horrible pit called 'HELL'.

There are thousands of villages in North India, where there are no Christian witnesses or an evangelist. From many millenniums they live in the religion and culture of their forefathers. I would often go to the nearby villages to tell them about this Jesus who forgave me all my sins and made me a new man. They lived in ugly conditions in which no self-respecting man could live. It was pitiful. The lack of sanitation, the valuelessness of human life, the horrible poverty that exist in the villages, all made a great impact on my life. All of a sudden I saw the stark reality of human life.

Although I was experienced in all this because of my birth in a high cast Hindu family, I never saw the reality of life this way. Then I understood why my people suffer! They serve dumb and deaf idols and the Bible says, "They that serve them will be like them". The devil has bound them with the chains of ignorance and superstition and he wants to take all of these millions along with him to the bottomless pit. That is the reality. As I grew spiritually I could finally see the truth concerning my people. It broke my heart and made me cry aloud and asked the Lord Jesus what I could do to make a change in this situation. In my desperation I sincerely asked the Lord to use me in any way to bring the eternal gospel of Jesus Christ to my own people. I was willing to go to any length to bring these people to Jesus Christ. I made a decision in my heart to sacrifice any thing in obedience to the call of Christ, because I heard the audible voice of Jesus Christ. I, for a moment, thought of the price that I might have to pay in following Jesus Christ in a conservative Hindu society. I knew I would never be welcome among my people. But the real problem was from my family, which was not unexpected at all. But the magnitude of hate and opposition was unprecedented in any standard. It was so barbaric and the treatment they meted out to me was inhuman.

I spent several days in the Army barracks gazing at the ceiling, thinking of my future and the need of quitting the job for preaching the gospel of Christ. In my village nobody has ever preached the gospel so people never knew the truth as it is. Most Hindus have a negative attitude towards Christians, partially because of the British rule in India. The way they behaved, the moral corruption and virtual immorality they practiced in India have all contributed to this attitude. Moreover the rigid caste system practiced in North India is a very strong impenetrable wall for Christianity in India for all these years.

The Hindu sadhus (ascetics) always led a pious life. We were taught to compare the Christian missionaries, which came from the western countries with the sacrificial ascetic life of the Hindu sanyasis. They owned nothing and walked around bare foot, a symbol of godliness according to Hinduism. It was seen as the superiority of Hinduism over everything. I sincerely believed it. But the message of Jesus Christ changed every thing in my life, the outlook of the past, present and the future. It opened my eyes to see the truth concerning man and his eternal life. How the devil has blinded the eyes of people with superstition and unbelief that they are totally unable to see the truth concerning the living God.

There is no other religion in the world like Hinduism, which has so many elements, mixed together; facts, fiction, imagination, and superstition, combined with evil doctrine. The devil has such a massive hold on the minds of our people that no one has never challenged it seriously. I never knew this in my early Christian life. Then I began to think of Hinduism seriously as it exists now. The more I thought about it, the more I became desperate in my spirit of the spiritual condition of my people. I was so sad in my heart that these many millions of people will spend an eternity in hell without Christ. This thought alone made me angry at the devil. Then one day I heard the voice of Jesus Christ, audibly, in my ears. Again the word of God was so sure to me from the book of Acts 13: 2. And it was known to me that God has called me for full time ministry. I decided to quit my job immediately. There were several influences and people influencing me not to quit my job, because a government job was extremely difficult to come by in those days.

Then the thought of my newly wed wife and my parents came to my mind. How would they react to all this? I had became a Christian and was now without a job? I had to spend agonizing days thinking of my own life as well as family. Then committing everything in His hands I wrote my resignation letter and prepared to leave the Army immediately. By God's grace my resignation was accepted and I was relieved from the Army immediately. I came out of the Army unit where I worked for all this time, when crossing the main gate I looked back to say goodbye to the Indian Army. I was now ready to join the Army of Christ as a full time warrior! I looked to heaven and thanked my Jesus Christ for saving me from a miserable life and calling me as a servant to preach His gospel. Although I had no money to eat my next meal I knew His promises are true and He will never ever leave me nor forsake me. That was like a blank check I could cash any time. Other than that my pocket was empty.

I desperately wanted to reach home and tell every body about the truth that I found in Jesus Christ my Lord. It was a nine hundred mile distance from where I was. I decided to walk and preach the gospel on my way to my ancestral village. I wrote a letter to my wife explaining everything that happened to my present position and me. As I walked all these miles visiting villages and towns preaching the gospel I reached my village. Although I did not expect a warm welcome from my family, I thought there would be a better understanding of me from my beloved wife, whom I had seen only for a couple of days after my marriage. Right after marriage, according to Hindu tradition, the bride is taken back to her own home for a season, before she is allowed to go back to her husband. In my case after my marriage, immediately I went back to the Army and now was hoping for a great reunion with my beloved wife.

What awaited me at my home took me by surprise. It was inhuman.

(This testimony will continue later) Can you write a comforting letter to this soldier of Christ?

(When you sponsor a native missionary like Paul, imagine what they can do for the kingdom of God!)