![Text Box: I WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN
By
Rev. Larry Eddings
As I read this account of our trip to India a few years ago, I felt led to share it with you again as it served to re-ignite the flame in my heart to continue sharing the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ for as long as I have the strength of his Spirit to do it. Truly, I will never be the same again!
It had been a very full two weeks but now we were moving along in the crowded Jeep, a vehicle designed for five passengers but now carrying seven plus luggage. Because of the harassment of the local officials and Hindu extremists, our missionary hosts in India felt it best that we leave the area a day early and cross over in to the neighboring state.
The two weeks had been exciting and had included a three day retreat that had been organized by our hosts. It was planned specifically for the families of the children who were involved in their after school tutoring program for poor families. Two busloads of children and adults exited the city. They were followed by the extremists to find out where they were going and why. They took pictures of the people as they boarded the buses and also followed them along the way to the state line. No one has ever treated the poor families [read lower caste] with such favor! “Where are you taking them, and why?”
Though the caste system in India has been outlawed for over 60 years it is still very much a reality and those in the potter caste are often mistreated and held in subjection by those of a higher caste.
The retreat brought together Hindus, Muslims and Believers in Jesus Christ. I had opportunity to share with them about my faith in Jesus, how God is our Healer, the One who Forgives, the One who saves us by his Grace and not by good works and the One who gives Assurance of Eternal Life when we believe in Jesus. The people were hungry to hear and listened with rapt attention. We worshiped, we sang,](June%202016a%20Spirit%20Breeze_files/image356.png)
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JUNE 2016 |
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WIND OF THE SPIRIT MINISTRIES Newsletter |
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HAVING A FAITH THAT YOU WOULD DIE FOR! |
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we danced, we had a campfire and we enjoyed the love of a people who have long been subjected to ill treatment. Almost all of them did not know what a retreat was nor had they ever experienced a campfire. Now that the retreat was over, the local officials, under pressure from the extremists, were harassing our hosts to find out why they were doing this. We all felt it best that we depart to avoid further harassment for our hosts. On the way we stopped back at the retreat center for an overnight stay before proceeding on. One of the young men who had been on the retreat and who was helping our hosts with their tutoring program was traveling with us. At breakfast the next morning I was informed that he would like to take baptism and he would like for me to do it. He was a member of a Muslim family. He had already been learning about Jesus because of his association with our host family, but now he wanted to take the step of baptism that would move him out of his cultural religion into a relationship with Jesus Christ. That move, of course, would cause him to risk the loss of his life, a fact that he knew very well. I asked him the usual questions related to baptism. “Do you confess and repent of your sins?” “Do you desire to be baptized in this faith?” Then I asked him the very important question that I was instructed to ask, “Is anyone forcing you to take baptism?” This is an important question because it is illegal to do so. He replied to that question, “No one is forcing me from the outside, but Jesus is pushing me from the inside.” We made arrangements to go to a place on a river where the baptism could be held in secret and I had the privilege of baptizing him into the Body of Jesus. It was a transforming time for him and a life-changing time for me. He had a passion for Jesus, meaning that he was willing to die for that in which he believed. Continued
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