Satias – A Former Hindu's Testimony
Philosophical Questions | Apologetics and Answers | Life in Christ | Spiritual Writings
Please excuse the grammatical errors in this text, as we have chosen, for several reasons, to refrain from making many linguistic corrections. For one, this ensures better conformity to the original document.
I am a happy to see you all again. I never thought that I am a coming here to see you all there, same faces which I have seen some two years before. I really happy when I see you all that I'm here that people knows me. I feel that that I'm with my own brothers and sisters when I come to see pastor Carl. So I thank God for this wonderful fellowship God has given me here in this evening to really feel joy and happy in the Lord that I'm here.
I was born and brought up in a Hindu priesthood family. My father was past away when I was a little boy so my grandfather who is who was the Hindu priest in the Hindu temple was brought me up according to the Hindu way to in order become a Hindu priest after him. So I have been after apart from my school time I been all my time spending in the temple with my grandfather learning the things to how to be a priest to and how to help people to give the sacrifice and all the things and the Hindu scripture and I have to memorize every time with my grandfather.
So I was brought up and taught by my grandfather that there is only one religion the world which is the Hinduism and there is only one true god which is in Hinduism, Hindu god he was taught me and that I was believing in my god that there was a god. But as I was growing and reading more and more and the Hindu people they have 33 and a half million gods and goddesses and but as I reading the Hindu scripture Holy Veda book they call it Bhagavad-Gita, so that Bhagavad-Gita in sancrit it says, which every Hindu have a respect, "Yieyasaticra ... (and something else in sanskrit)...." That in sanskrit it means God is one true mighty god, it says God is one true mighty god, the scripture never says that there are many gods but the people believe and worship and make thousands of millions of gods and worshipping. The village where I come from we have maybe 100,000 houses but we have 3,000 temples, big, big temples which is made out of gold, so many temple and the towers are made out of gold so the people they give their wealth and all the gold unto the Hindu temple. So that way I was brought up.
So when I was reading this Hindu scripture it was struck my heart that we are worshipping so many million gods and giving the sacrifice to gods and but the real scripture whom the all Hindus believing the Veda says that there is only one true mighty God. So I started to ask my grandfather, "Grandfather I wanted to know that one true mighty God, could you please tell me who is that true mighty God? Whether it is He man or woman, whether it is god or goddess. I just wanted to know that one." Then my grandfather taught me, "Don't talk all these questions, if you will start to ask like these funny questions god will make your eyes blind. You will become blind, don't ask. Just follow as it is as our forefathers and the tradition." He said, "No," but I deep in my heart I was really seeking god to see god. Because when I was 15 years old young boy I had a desire deep in my heart to see God and speak with God because I was believing God has given us eyes to see, God has given us mouth to speak, why cannot I see God? Why I never seen God? Why I cannot speak with God? I want to speak with God. I wanted to see God, the God who created the heaven and earth, the God who gives the light to every human, the God who created me. I wanted to see Him, I wanted to speak with Him. So I started to study regular the Hindu scripture for two years though I go to the Hindu temple. I worshipping the Hindu and I giving the animal sacrifice and so many other sacrifice but it is not satisfying my heart that I'm doing right. I feel still something I need more. I never feel satisfaction in my life, what I'm doing with worshipping Hindu gods, giving to the many different temples never satisfied me.
Schools there I learn there are so many other religion like Christianity, Muslims, Japanese and Chinese, so many other religions, Buddhism. Then I get big confusion every religions teaches they have one god? And in India all the religions fighting each other, that gives me big confusion. How that could be possible every religion telling me one true god and they're fighting each other. So I got big confusion in my mind, how it could be possible my grandfather taught me there's only one true god, how there is so many other religion and every religion telling me there only one true god. And so I started to ask my grandfather,, "Grandfather did you ever see god?" I asked other leaders, other Hindu priest leaders and who comes to the temple, "Do you ever see God?" They say, "You crazy boy, don't ask like this question. I cannot see God." I said, "I don't care you see or don't see. I wanted see, please help me!" And they said, "No. You cannot see!" No! I wanted to see! I wanted to speak to Him! And you know I was confused.
And they try to stop me but I really sincerely seeking God. I wanted to see and to speak with Him. After two years reading the Hindu scripture I could not found I come to the conclusion that if I don't see God, if I don't speak with God I'm going to tell this world, "There is no God! Simply this religion is confusing the people in telling there is God and I never seen God." But thank God I never met a Christian to ask, "Did you ever seen God?" Because in my area there is no Christian at all. I never met a Christian all my 17 years, no Christian come across my life. I been travel many places my relation and there but I never met. I was not knowing about Jesus Christ, about Bible, about any other religion though I read in the schools about the many other religion but still deep in my heart I was believing there must be one true God who created the heaven and earth who gives the light to every human must be the Hindu god. I wanted to see the true God.
So in 1973 January 12th mid-day between 12 and 1 I went to a lonely place in a garden I started pray God. I ask God to reveal Himself to me. I started to pray God with my open eyes looking up to the sky so I was praying to God, "God please help me! I wanted to see You! I wanted speak to You! Please help me!" I was praying to God with my open naked eyes. When I was praying I didn't pray God by any name because I was confused. I don't know God is some what name or God got what name, I was not knowing. So I was just pray God, "God please help me. I wanted to see you. I don't care from where you are from, what religion or whatever you are. I wanted to see you God. Please help me Lord!" As I was praying and speaking to God, as was all of a sudden, maybe if I see God I may die! That's the reason people never see God. So then I started to pray, "God, No! No! No! No! I don't want to die! I wanted to see God! Please help me God!"
I was really praying, asking God telling like that, all of a sudden I see a great light shining in front me there up there. That Light is really brighter than the sunlight, ya know India mid-day between 12 and 1 is bright sun but that light is brighter than the sunlight. In that light I say there was someone hanging on a tree like this but I really could not see the face. That was not my dream. That was not my vision. I could see that with my own eyes, naked eyes. And something from that light a person was speaking to me, but I could not understand because I was frightened. I saw that light my started to shouting and shaking because deep in my heart I was expecting God to be appear like Hindu god, you know the Hindu god having the golden crown and golden armor that was god was coming out I was expecting deep in my heart. But when I saw this light this was entirely different, so that makes me frightened to see that light. I don't understand what it was. So after 3 or 4, maybe 5 minutes, light disappear, then I was shouting, sweating, frightened and I just wanted to run away from that place but because of the light I could not run away.
As soon as that light disappear, then I ran back to my home around one kilometer. As soon as I enter into the home I fall on the ground and I cried and shout and my people and everybody running unto me and they all asked me, "What happened to you? Why are you shouting? Why are you running like this? And I told them, "This is what happened to me, I seen something in the light, somebody was speaking to me. I don't understand. Could you please tell me what it was? And who He was?" I asked them that. They all came down, and I was on the ground, looking down unto me, "Oh now, we told you, we warned you several times, don't ask the crazy question against god. You keep on asking the questions now see god made you crazy; now you become a crazy," they told it. And I told them, "No! No! No! I'm not crazy. I have seen that light. I have heard something was speaking to me. I have seen a person in that light. Could you please tell me..." I try to tell them, but they really thought I had become a crazy boy. So then they told me, "You don't even go to the Hindu temple ever. Don't go anywhere out there at school or anywhere." They put me inside the room. They kept me for 3 months. They really thought that I had become a crazy, tried to thinking take me to the mental hospital, while they were talking, but thank God they didn't take me to the hospital.
So after three months, though I was three months in that room I was sincerely seeking God and asking God, "God what is was? Where you are? I wanted to see you, please help me!" After three months when they let me to go out I went to another village where my friend classmate was there to take all the notes in my absence there whatever they taught in the school. So when I go to that village I was walking along the road, one man was walking down to me. And he look at me and he gave me big smile. That gives me big happy because Hindus in India they never give a smile, they never talk to you if you a new person. So makes this something different to me. This man is very lovely, he gave me big smile. He came closer to me and he touched me like this and says, "Oh boy seems you are a new boy to this village. Where are you going?" he asked me. I told him, "This the address I wanted to meet my friend. Can you tell me where it is?" "Okay, this is on the way to my house. Come, come, I'll show you," he says like that. And he put his hand on me, he says now very closely, lovingly speaking with me and now I'm walking with him.
As he was talking with me very closely, then I thought this man must be very good man, let me tell him what happened to me 3 months before, what I have seen in that light. Then because I was in the house for 3 months there I am not allowed to talk to anyone about this. I came out this my chance to speak with somebody what I have seen there. So I thought to tell him what other things happened to me and what I have seen there and how it was. He was very carefully listening to what I was telling to him. By the time his house came, "Oh say, boy this is my house, please come have a cup of tea," he said. And I said, "Sir, what I telling you, can you please tell me what?" He said, "Oh I don't understand what you are talking about. Please come have a cup of tea and go," he said. He ignored what I tried to tell him, but that was deep in my heart burning what I wanted to know what it was. So when he get inside the house he said, "please have a seat and I'll go to the kitchen and make you a cup of tea," he said. Then also I sat there like he said, but before he go to the kitchen, "Okay, you are sitting alone, better read this book by the time I make the cup of tea," he told me. Then I thought, "What?! I'm going to read this whole book within this tea time? I cannot finish this. Okay, anyway I'm sitting simply. Let me open this book and read something." It was actually the New Testament which I was not knowing whether it was a Bible or New Testament I was thinking, "This book is a book like any other book." I've read hundreds of books about the Hinduism where my grandfather taught me. I thought, "This book will be also like the same book." But when I opened that New Testament, that book, I thought, "Oh let me read something." I just opened.
When I opened it was up there in top 1 Peter 2:24. It said, "He came to this world to take our sins and infirmities upon His body, and died no the tree, by His stripes we're have healed." As I was reading that book again I was shaken and again my body started to sweating and oh, you know frightened and shouting. "You know why how it could be possible this same person, same person that was hanging on the tree in that light. Oh is this book also written the same way? How it could be possible we have seen the same light! And he has written the book." I was frightened you know. I didn't even have the courage to read further. I stopped. And again shouting and sweating and frightened. I don't know what to do. By that time the man brought the cup of tea. And he looked at me and, "Oh boy, what happened to you? You just were alright before I leave you here. You are shouting and sweating. What happened? " I just asked him, "Sir, would you please tell me, when did this book has been written?" I asked him, because I had been doubting in my heart maybe some other person had seen that same light and had written this same thing I had been thinking. Then the man looked at me funny and said, "Oh boy, the book could been written some 2,000 years ago," he said. When he said like this again he gave me a big shock to my heart! Because how it could be possible which I have seen three months ago could be written 2,000 years ago? Oh I was shattered. Then, "Sir, please could you please tell me this is the one that I have seen in that light. This is the same person I seen on the tree in that light. Please tell me who is this and what else about this!" That man was really frightened of me because he thought something bad was going to happen to me because I'm shouting, a small boy, a 17 year old boy. Then, "Oh boy, I don't know anything! You better take this book and go away. Go away!" He sent me out of the house.
You how that man he didn't even give me that cup of tea, which he has prepared for me. He sent me out of the house. I don't care for that tea but I took that book. I didn't even go and meet my friend anymore. I just go back to my home. I sit and read and read and read and read that whole book. Keep on reading. Then I came to know that Jesus Christ, who is the Creator of the heaven and earth, who gives the light to every human, came to this world in human form. And took all of our sins and infirmities upon His body. He died on the cross instead of you and me. He take away all of our sins. The God has opened my heart to see that was Jesus Christ. Then I accepted Jesus Christ as my savior. I never asked Jesus to come and appear to me. I was asking only the true God who created the heaven and earth, who gives the light to every human. I wanted to see that one true mighty God! I never see Jesus, so I never ask Jesus, so I never call Him Jesus name. I was not knowing anything about Jesus and Bible. All I was asking that one true mighty God. Jesus is the true God. He is the one created the heaven and earth. He is the one that gives the light to every human. That's the reason why He came and reveal Himself to me in that way. I thank God that He was giving such grace upon me. There was no human to tell me there is the true God Jesus Christ. There was no person in my area to tell I'll give you the Bible, I'll give you the tract or tell me one word about Jesus Christ.
Then as I was sitting in the house as I was reading, when I come to the Book of Rome, chapter 1, I started to read it. You can read the book of chapter 1 it says what is the true Hinduism, what is the Hindu religion. It says they worship all the human. They worship man, they worship every man, they worship animals, they worship birds, they worship snakes, creeping things. This is what I was doing. We worship all the idols. They worship the creature rather than the Creator. And also it says what the punishment is for that kind of the people. When I read that you known my heart was pricked and I started to cry. Oh I was a great sinner because you know whatever the sin was we committed in our life was against our own body and soul and spirit. But worshipping the idols, making the idols, praying to the idols is dead against God. So I was the enemy to God. So I was started to cry, cry, "God, God please forgive me." I was thinking, "These are all the gods in my house. There are hundreds of idols and different name gods." I was thinking, "These are all the gods I worship. Please forgive me!" I started to cry and cry. And all of sudden, all of sudden, the grace fall upon me. I felt that something fall upon me. And when the power fall upon me I could not stop myself,. I had been thrown by it to move away from where I was sitting and reading my Bible. Then all of sudden, I started to speak in something new which I was not knowing. I don't want to speak but still I was speaking. I don't understand what I was speaking but I was speaking. I don't want to speak. I was speaking.
After that I really grabbed the power. I felt like that I have such a power that I alone can lift this whole world with my one hand. And you know I felt that way. Then I decided that Jesus Christ is the only true God. There is no other God beside Jesus Christ. He's the only Creator. He's the only God that created the human. He's the only God that created the heaven and the earth. You know nobody was there in my house when it was happened to me. I was alone there. Everybody gone out. I looked up at all the gods which I was worshipping for years, 17 years. I slowly take that small table near to that and climb up and pick all the gods one by one, one by one. I take everything and take outside and destroy them and set the fire and burn them apart. You know then I got great peace in my heart then. Now I have found the true God, which is Jesus Christ, in my life. When the evening came, one by one came to my home, my grandfather came, another came, and other brothers and sisters and other elderly people that came in. They're watching at the walls and the places where they keep the gods. They are talking, "Oh what happened to our gods? No god is here! Where they gone?" They're talking. But then somebody says, "Oh this boy was in the house. He knows what happens these gods. Please go and ask him."
So somebody came and asked me what happen the gods inside the house. And I was a little bit a ya knew for a while I was quiet, because I know if I tell what is going to be like. Then I told, "I got rid of all these gods, and thrown them outside and destroyed them. I set the fire and burned them up!" I told them. They got mad with me and said, "Oh you dare enough to destroy our gods and bring the curse upon our family! You! You! We were thinking you are a crazy boy, now are you crazy boy! Now you have proven yourself that you are really crazy boy!" They started to beat me, everybody started to beat me. Everybody. Now because they really thought that I was crazy boy. I really become crazy in destroying the gods. No Hindu will do that! So after that they got satisfaction, after beaten up, but I don't care what they are doing. But I have a great happiness and joy and courage in my heart that I know that the one true God. I have seen Him. I have heart of Him. His is the true God. It is not a cocked up story. That is the real, real, real. That is the real that there is a God whom I have seen and whom I have hear about Him. I was not frightened about my people.
Then afterwards I used to go to the same Hindu temple, take this New Testament in my hand. And go to the Hindu temple and people coming and they have a great respect of me because I been training to be the next priest after my grandfather. Huh, so they have a great respect when I come and tell the people, "Hey people! Don't come anymore here! These are all the false gods! This is not the true God! You better find a book like this. And go somewhere and find it. I don't know where you can find it. You get and read this book! This book says the true God, I've seen that God! I've heard about that God! I was not knowing when I saw Him! You go, back go, find this book! And read this book and you will know the true God!" I started to talk the people and sincerely seriously talking with the people went to the temple where I use to go. The people coming and I use to tell them, "you go back, you go get one book like this! And read this and find out about the true God. These are all the false gods. These are all the manmade gods. This is not the God Himself."
I use to tell the people and the people got mad with me. They go and complain to my grandfather. And my grandfather caught me again and beated me nicely. "You are! How dare you not you're going again and you're preaching and propagating something else against our religion like that!" He has beaten me up. And they told me, "If you want continue in this doing we will kick you out of the house," he told me. "I don't care what you are going to do, but I will do what I am doing because I know who is the true God." You know I was not even knowing anything about the Bible, about the Holy Spirit or salvation. I don't know anything. But when I saw God and I read the Bible something happened to me. They tried to stop me. They could not stop me. At last they tried at best to stop me. They could not stop me. At least they beated me nicely. They turned me out of the house. I walked out from my house with one shirt and one pants holding the New Testament in my hand.
I was not knowing where I am going to be, what I am going to be and where I am going to sleep, what I am going to eat. India is the country where we have 1500 worldwide languages and islands and you know different cultures. And people they don't accept you if you are a new person. They don't even talk with you. I know all this problems but I don't know where to go or what to do. But I'm happy taking the Bible, I say, "Okay, no problem, I'm going!" I just walk around the street going, I'm going and going. I'm going and I don't know where I was going. Walking and walking after late in the night, to go to the other village. And some man says, "Hey boy, it is late already, where are you walking in the dark?" he asked me. I said, "Sir, this is what happened to me at my house. They turned me out of the house." But the man took pity on me, was a Hindu man. "Okay, no problem come you stay tonight with my house.." Then he started to ask me, "what happened, what is this?" Then I told him, "this is what happened." I still had the New Testament in my hand. "This is the what I seen," but everything I told him. "Oh you must be Christian then," he told me. Then "oh I must be Christian then." Ha, ha. Til then I was not knowing I must be Christian then. Ha, ha, ha. "Oh now I remember I have a friend from 15 kilometers away from this place. You stay tonight with me, tomorrow I will take you to my friend. He is the Christian. You will be with him. Maybe he will help you or whatever you want to do," he told me. I said, "Oh well thank God you are there to help me here." So he took me that night. He gave me food. I stayed with him that night.
Next day he took me other Christian men. That man he really loved me. He accepted me as he was and he helped me go to the Bible school. And I was with him for a while and I have my testimony to some other Hindus. Then after that he helped me find some Bible school. He led me several things, spiritual things. And he only told me, "You should go to the Bible school and read and study and God has called you for the ministry." You have been trained up for the Hindu priest but now God has called you to be a true priest, not the Hindu priest, but to lead the people into the true God. Then he found me the Bible school and they gave me everything free to study for 3 years. After than study and God helped me and God has shown me to go to the place where I was this 24 or 23 (or so) years, a thick jungle which is 800 kilometer thick jungle, a lot of elephants, tiger and snakes, lot of tribal people, uneducated people.
I was there faithful in my calling being in the ministry all these twenty four years. I've being baptized around 38,000 people all of them from Hindu background. Hallelujah! And now I have, established some 44 churches, and I have the 2 orphanage homes and sort of a Bible school. I've trained up some 56 young men and women. And I will send them all in different places for ministry, some working with us, some going to some other organization to work. And really God is good to help me to what the mission is he has given me to and put me to reach the Hindus because I came out of the Hindu people. And again God gave me the burden to go back to the Hindu people...
(Praise Jesus, in time his grandfather and most of his family turned to Jesus)
The priest says to keep on pronouncing this Hindu (rhetotic). Like they say, "Om see ... (in sanskrit) ..." they way we pronounce like that. This everybody listens to this. All the priests pronounce this in every temple. "On see kani su tai ah na mee hai," it means, "kani" means "virgin," "su tai ah na mi hai," it mean, "born of virgin." It means, "Oh God who born of virgin we worship you," they say. No Hindu god out of the 33 and a half million gods, no Hindu god is born of a virgin. This book never says they are born of a virgin. Not even one god. And says, "om see seebee lee si ahnamihai." "Seebeeleesi" means "circumcised." "Oh God who was circumcised, we worship you." No Hindu god had that, not even one god. And says, "om seebeeriohesesulayenama hen," "Beerche" means "tree," "sula" means "cross." And we have Christian have a cross like that. But Hindu they have a symbol like this (had diagram on chalkboard). This they call "thresyla" means "1, 2, 3 thresula." So they say, "Oh God that died on the tree (like "thresula") we worship you." No Hindu god died on the true. Jesus Christ who died on the tree.
And say, "Om shi pensha kegan amchan." "Pamsha" means, "5." "Kaya," means "wounds" or "stripes." "Oh God who have 5 wounds we worship you." No Hindu got got wounds. They all having their weapons to fighting each other. But no Hindu god, only Jesus Christ never have the weapon in His hand. It also says, "Om shee burudum jayanainchan." "Burudum" means "dead." "Jaya" means "one who overcome the dead." This means, "Oh God, who died and rose again we worhip you." No Hindu got died and rose again from the dead!! You know if you read the Hindu god's stoeies of the history, it says, "he did this like that, this and that, etc. After this he died," then the book says, "the end." But the Bible is the only book says, after He died and He rose again... So they say, "om sue dutchina mut in aregna ranamah." "Duchina" means "right hand." "Narayna" means "the Father." "Oh God who stands in the Father's right hand, and praying for us, we worship you." No Hindu god is standing right hand of the Father. There is no use looking for this or that scripture because I've been studied for two years, I learned 17 years from my grandfather. Only Jesus Christ who stands in the Father hand and praying for us, helping us to live a Christian life, holy life, walk with Him, holy life holy walk.
God has bring me up in the Hindu scripture so I can teach the Hindu people that Jesus Christ alone is the only true God. There is no other God beside this Jesus Christ. Only His name is the name given to us to be saved. No other name. They have 33 and a half million names, I told them that name got no power to save the human. That name never changed the human. But the name Jesus came to whom I came to that name that name change me life! I was a great desired to become a physical doctor, but when Jesus came I been changed. No more worldly desires. I have a desire to save the dying souls for Jesus Christ in India. This is all my burden, this is all my blood, this all my desire, this all in my mind in my spirit, in my body in my everywhere. I just want to save the dying souls for the kingdom of God at any cost. Even I was ready to lay my life several times in India in the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
When I try to tell the Hindus from their Scriptures they cannot you know really tolerate and see the thousands of people trying to becoming a Christian following Jesus Christ they got mad with me. They try to beaten me several times. They try to kill me several times. Two occasions they beaten me like they thought that I'd died and they left they gone. But all the truth thank God the mercy on me and He healed me. Some five mouths before I walking in down there in the jungle with the Hindu families and after 10 o'clock after service I was walking on the road some 8 people came and hold me and they beaten me very severely. At last one man came with a big sword and bang on my head and it cut me here, maybe you can see my scar here. You know blood, it started to bleeding and because a lot of blood gone I got unconscious. I fall in the street and I woke up 2 o'clock in the morning. Nobody was care for me; nobody was there. But I don't care my life. I care the souls to come to the kingdom of God, you see so God have mercy on me and He gave my life back to come and see you all this evening.
This is why I told you that you are my brothers and sisters when I see you all. When I accept Jesus Christ my parents, my own people, my relations, they throw me away. But Jesus say, "If for my sake you leave your parents, father and mother and brother and sister, I will give you an hundred fold." Now I am not only having my brothers and sisters in India, I'm having the brothers and sisters in America. Oh praise the Lord! Wonderful God He is blessing me with hundreds of thousands of brothers around the world. Thank you listening me. God bless you. God is still in control and doing the work of God if you are really handing yourself to God. God bless you brothers.
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