Testimony of Conversion

I was born into the untouchable caste within the Hindu religion in India. Both of my parents were not believers. From the beginning, I remember my father being engaged in all kinds of gruesome activities in the Hindu religion. My mother spent a lot of time in the village.

The Hindu school I attended taught against Christianity. Right from the beginning, I was taught to dislike Christianity because it was a foreign and evil religion. I also became very interested in the Hindu religion and started engaging in various religious activities, such as worshipping idols and visiting temples.

After my schooling was finished, I went to college. That is when I came to realize that I belonged to a Dalit community caste. I became attracted to Ambedkarism (which is a radical philosophy that is against the caste system in Hinduism). At the same time, I began to live an immoral life. I was arrogant and violent, and my life was on the path of destruction. During those days, some Christian friends wanted to share the gospel with me, but I used to run away and avoid them. 

In order to continue my studies, I wanted to go to the city. However, my real intention was to enjoy life in the new big city. But once I got there, I couldn’t find accommodation, so I had to share my room with a group of Christian students. They prayed every morning and offered thanksgiving before they ate meals. This intrigued me. After some time, they invited me to attend a youth meeting. Initially, I was not interested, but they paid the registration fees and pressured me to go. I just thought, “Okay! because these guys were so persistent, let me stay there for a few minutes and then leave.” However, the preached message suddenly made me think about my life. The preacher was talking about the vanity of a life that had no direction. I was convicted of my sin. I began to sob. I came to realize that Christ had died for me. His love for me was overwhelming. The next three days were very hard for me, emotionally speaking. In light of my sinful life, I was brought very low and didn’t speak to anyone then. But at the same time, I began to experience joy and happiness, along with a new battle in my heart. 

One day, I began to pray to God. I began to confess all my sins before him. All the sins I committed came to my mind one after the other. I begged God to forgive me, and the Lord heard. The Lord blessed me with a freedom that I had not experienced before. I was saved!

Call to Ministry

After my conversion, I began to have this deeper urgency to share the gospel. With the help of my Christian friends, I traveled to the nearby villages and preached about God’s grace. I arranged gospel meetings in my village and became a member of an evangelistic student organization. Later, I was offered a great job as a system analyst, but I didn’t take it because I was uncomfortable doing any job in my heart. My family became very angry when they learned that I would not do a job that would have led to a relatively easy life. I had a growing desire to know more about the Bible and go to a Bible college. They provided for this desire. 

After returning home, I got to plant a church in a village. But through a friend, I learned about the Reformed baptist church nearby. After talking with the pastor, I was counseled not to plant a church in this village. This came to me as a shock. He said he didn’t think I was ready to be a church planter, and after much discussion with him, I soon realized I was not ready. After a lot of struggle and prayer, I left the village and joined this church as a member, wanting to learn more. The Lord has been so kind to teach me about a healthy local church. I soon entrusted my life to the believers there. If the church sees me fit as someone gifted and qualified to be a pastor, I will become one. If the church doesn’t see it that way, I will be happy to serve Christ in whatever capacity he deems fit for me. After I came here, my whole perspective on the local church changed entirely. I am thankful to the Lord for all he has done in my life. The church has since appointed me as a pastor of this body.