I am a modern-day Paul.
I used to hate Christians. My family is high caste, the highest to be exact. From our caste, all the Hindu priests come. And I was very proud of this. As a Hindu priest, I studied all of our holy books to know all that I could know about Hinduism.
I joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) because I hated Christians and Muslims. They taught me in the RSS that Christians have a plan to turn India into a Christian country so that the British can come back and rule over us again. I hated them because I refused to be anyone’s servant.
I became a prominent leader and had the high honor of teaching the young recruits. They had between 50 and 60 young men under me who I taught about our Hindu religion and how to preserve it in our society. I taught them to hate Christians and to do whatever they could to keep India from becoming a country controlled by them.
The Battle of Religion
One day I heard that Christians were living in my area. I began planning. I devised a way to kill them and make an example for my community. No Christians were allowed in my area. Christianity was not welcome.
My RSS group and I got to work planning our attack. As we planned though, I began to notice something. Slowly the young men under me began to leave. One missing. Then two. Then five or six. I began to worry. I heard rumors that the boys had gone to church.
One day I waited for an hour at our weekly meeting. I was the only one left.
Confused, I decided to go to that church and figure out what strategy they used to get my young men to turn from their religion. Then I would use the same tactics to get them back and convert the whole church to Hinduism. I would destroy the church.
After a few months of sitting in the back of the church, I began to notice that the pastor seemed to be speaking to me each time. The interpreter for the pastor knew me, and I figured that he must have been telling the pastor what to say so that it would be all about me.
Modern Day Saul to Paul
But it was the weirdest thing. One week the pastor said that we should not lie. Immediately I felt something in my heart and decided not to lie anymore. In the same way, I learned that adultery is wrong and I vowed to stop.
Pretty soon I couldn’t take my hands off the Bible. I wanted to read it and know more about what it taught. I even attended Bible studies and started fasting. The more I learned, the more I wanted to know.
Then one night as I walked home from church, something crazy happened.
To research for Secret Church 16, we met several Christians from India and heard their stories of salvation and how they live as Christians in their country. This is part one of a true story, although names and certain details were omitted for security purposes.
India is our prayer focus for Secret Church 16: A Global Gospel in a World of Religions. Join us as we learn about India—its culture, its people, and its persecuted church. To sign up for the Secret Church simulcast.
