I belong to a Hindu family, the kind who believe in idols and worship the sun, moon, and trees—basically, all the host of heaven. As a child, I was no different. I would get up early in the morning, take a shower, and do all the traditional “Pooja” (religious rituals). Even so, from nursery to 10th grade, I studied in a Christian school.

A Good Guy

We were taught about Jesus Christ, how He performed miracles and how He was brutally crucified on the cross. We used to sing Christian hymns and say prayers in the morning worship at the school. I loved the Christian hymns and the way they depicted the love of God towards us in every difficult situation. But I always thought of these hymns as relating to my god, because, in my opinion, “All gods were the same and people had just given different names to the same god.” I had the idea that Jesus was a good guy who was killed by some fellow citizens. I never viewed His death as a gift of salvation. I did resent the fact that Christians tried to convert other people to conform to their own beliefs. I had no problem with Jesus—I just didn’t like Christians trying to convert others to their faith. (Only later did I understand how important it is to share the good news of Christ with every person.)

A Bible for Free

When I was in 7th grade, our school distributed Bibles to all the students—actually it was just the New Testament. It was a free gift from The Gideons International. So I got a New King James Version of the New Testament—but I didn’t care to read it. I thought of it as another approach towards converting the pliable minds of students. The thought that I would leave my god and follow another god seemed completely absurd to me. But I did bring the Bible home and showed it to my mom. After that, I wasn’t concerned whether it was kept safely by someone or thrown into the garbage.

A Sanctuary of Peace

Time flew by and I passed my 10th grade from that Christian school, and the chapter of Jesus was over along with it. I went on to do my high school and then my undergraduate degree with no contact or thoughts about Christianity whatsoever. That is, until December 25, 2007—Christmas day. It was a holiday. My sister and I were sitting at home with nothing interesting to do. So we came up with the idea to visit a church. There was only one church in our area—which we had only seen from outside while passing in front of it—and it was quite decorated on Christmas. We told our mom and went to the church, just to see the decorations. We went into the sanctuary and saw people kneeling down and praying. We thought it might be their custom to pray like that, but it was surprising to us that there were no idols or figures of gods to which to pray. We knelt down and started praying the best we knew how, and something in that place just touched our hearts. We felt a different peace and presence around us.

Led by Curiosity

From that experience we became curious to explore more about Christianity. My sister and I decided to attend a worship service at the church the coming Sunday. There we were sitting in the church the next Sunday, knowing no one there, and having no idea what a Sunday service was all about. We loved the hymns the choir sang, as we were familiar with some of them from our school time. Then the pastor started praying about all the poor, sick people in the world, for the leaders of the country, and for people in churches who were worshipping at that very moment. My sister and I just sat there crying because as Hindus we had never prayed about anybody except our own family members or our friends. But here were these people praying about the whole world!

We listened to the sermon, though it didn’t make a lot of sense, because we didn’t know who Matthew or Paul was at that time. But it did arouse a desire in our hearts to get a Bible, to read it to see what was in it. We mustered the courage and talked to the Pastor about getting us an English Bible. He said he’d try and would let us know when he had one. So we continued attending the Sunday worship services with a growing desire to have a Bible. But weeks passed and the pastor couldn’t find an English Bible for us.

Only One God

It was then while cleaning my closet one day that I found the small Gideon Bible that was distributed to us in school. It was nothing short of a miracle to find it at this time, when we were desperately looking for a Bible. How had it survived for almost 11 years, lying in my closet without any of us noticing it? My sister and I started reading the Bible. And we were taken aback by one of the teachings of Christ—that we were to love everybody like our own self.

At this time I was still worshipping my own god, because I had no idea that God doesn’t like to see us worshipping idols and trees, etc. About the time I finished reading the New Testament, the Gideons had come again to my town, and they visited the church I was going to. The pastor talked to them about me and my sister and got us a full NKJV Bible. I was just ecstatic! I started reading the Old Testament and was struck by how the sovereign God despises His people bowing down to idols.

From that time—the fall of 2008—I stopped going to my temple and would have nothing to do with worshipping the work of our hands. Both my sister and I stopped all Hindu customs. My two brothers and my mother knew that my sister and I had become Christians, but because my father is a very strict and devout Hindu, nobody dared to tell him anything.

My Zeal Exposed

Around this time I decided to study in the U.S., to pursue a master’s degree in Computer Science. I came to the States in January, 2009—all fired up for Jesus. During spring holidays, I went to my cousin’s place in Kansas, and seeing her four-year-old daughter reciting the Sanskrit worship hymns, I couldn’t help but share the gospel with them.

My cousin and her husband were totally furious when I told them that it is not right to bow down in front of idols. My cousin’s husband was so angry that he picked up the phone and called my parents in India. He talked to my father and told him all that I had said about idols and about Christ being the only way to heaven. My father got very angry and said he would not fund my master’s study anymore, and that I had to go back to India.

I cried my eyes out when I heard what my father had said. I had no idea what to do or say because I wanted to finish my studies. Fortunately, my father asked my aunt in the U.S. to talk to me, and when she did, I told her that there is only one God who made us all, and I worship Him. She hen called my father and told him that everything was all right and asked him to let me finish my studies. He agreed, but he refused to talk to me after that. So to talk with my mother I had to do it very secretly.

Perfect Peace

But by God’s grace, my father’s anger has cooled down a little bit. I went back to India in the summer of 2010, very apprehensive as to how my father might react. But he was okay with me, and that is nothing short of a miracle. My sister still remains a secret Christian before my father. We are praying to God to help my family see the Light and be saved.

As for me personally, Christ’s teachings about love have convicted me very deeply—so much so that I almost can’t read the Bible without crying. Ever since childhood, I had always been short-tempered and very aggressive toward my siblings. Perhaps I inherited this trait from my father who is very hot-headed and will do anything in his anger. As the oldest among my siblings, and seeing my father act without thought for consequences, I almost became like him. But God reached out to me and my sister, and took us out of darkness even when we weren’t looking for Him. My mother who has seen me at my worst has been totally shocked at how I have changed. I’m finding that changing isn’t hard when Christ is in me. Even after the emotional hurt that my cousin and her husband caused me in Kansas, I am not angry with them. I am just praying to God to help them see the Light because their eyes are closed. I still am not a perfect person, but, praise God! I am not where I used to be.

Our God is so gracious. He has worked miracles and shown grace during my stay here in the U.S.. He has provided many people around me to take care of the tiniest need that I’ve had. Through every situation, I have felt the hand of God on me. Here is just one example of God’s provision for me. I recently graduated in December, 2010, and currently I’m going through a very difficult part of life for graduates—the job search. My father had taken a big loan in India for funding my master’s study in the U.S. and the interest has been accruing on it since then. So there’s a lot of family pressure and mental stress to land on a job as soon as possible.

As my graduation was nearing, I was terrified thinking how I would cope with the pressures of looking for a job and paying back the loan. I was worrying I might go insane with depression if I didn’t get a job right away. Though it’s been two months now since my graduation, I still don’t have a job. But God is sustaining me through all of this. In fact, amongst all these uncertainties and what-ifs in my life, one very dear friend saw me and said that my continence showed such peace and beauty. This is completely unexplainable in human terms, considering the present circumstances I’m in. I know it is only God who is bringing me through this valley and it is His peace that surpasses all human understanding. I know He has the right job for me, and He has the right timing for it. I have given the loan and my situation into His hands. So trusting Him, I go through each day reminding myself that He has and will take care of me.

(The author uses the name Sneha to preserve her privacy while allowing her to tell the details of her life history with accuracy. While attending the university, Sneha actively worked in international campus ministries. She has grown in the Lord as she has been mentored through friendships with mature Christian classmates and volunteers. Her prayer is that she can use her career as an avenue to witness for Christ.)