Born and
Married a Hindu Brahmin (Bengali)
Born and Married a Hindu Brahmin
(Telugu)
Born and
Married a Hindu Brahmin (Hindi)
I, M. J., was born in a hindu
brahmin family. To me my family religion was not very important. My
grandmother used to take care of religious activities and sometimes we children
were asked to bow our heads in reverence to idols. I was God conscious and
used to wonder who God is? I had this question and many other questions to
know God. How can a stone be God or how can human beings make god and
goddesses? This question remained unanswered.
I was married to a hindu
brahmin family of my own caste. My husband was a great worshipper of idols.
Though I used to visit temples along with him, I used to be disturbed in mind
and was never satisfied. I have a loving husband and two loving sons and yet I
was always experiencing emptiness in life. I was quietly searching for the true
God. My heart never allowed me to worship idols and I had almost stopped going
with my husband to the inside of the temples, where idols used to be
worshipped.
In the year 1992, my elder brother and his family visited us
from the USA. My brother who had gone to the USA for study has now settled
there. He had accepted Jesus Christ and became a Christian. When he stayed with
us, he shared the gospel of Jesus with me and my family. I was very much
impressed by the power of his faith in Christ and saw his changed life. I was
also wondering to know whether I am doing right or doing wrong in worshipping
idols. My brother told me that God has revealed Himself in the Bible and has
shown us the way to live a godly life here on earth by trusting His son Jesus. I
requested him to send me a Bible. He did send me one and I started reading the
Bible and wanted to know more about Jesus and God.
So I visited churches to watch and know what the Christians
do in worship. My brother invited me to the USA in 1993 and after arriving
there, the first thing I told him is to take me to a church. The very first
Sunday, I went to my brother's church with him i.e., Grace Valley Christian
Center, Davis, CA. During the worship the Spirit of God told me in my heart that
I am in the presence of the true and living God. I realized that I am a sinner
and even then, Jesus loves me and that He alone can forgive my sins and make me
free. When I shared this with my brother, he took me to Rev P. G. Mathew, Senior
Pastor of Grace Valley, who explained to me the gospel of Christ in detail.
When I made up my heart and mind to accept Jesus as my
Savior and Lord, Pastor Mathew asked me - "Your husband is a Hindu Brahmin, will
he accept you when you accept Jesus as your Savior and Lord?" My answer to him
was this "My God will save me and will take care of me." Pastor Mathew read to
me a verse from the book of Mathew, Chapter 11, verse 28 "Come to me, all you
who are weary and burdened and I will you rest." Then and there I accepted Jesus
as my personal Savior.
In September 1993, I became a Christian and a child of the
living God Jesus Christ. Since then, I have much peace and joy in my heart.
After my vacation in the USA, I returned to India in November 1993, a changed
person. I shared my faith with my husband and two sons and started praying for
them. Though I was praying alone, God gave me strength to bear all the difficult
situations, which a single person with Christian faith and practices would face
in a brahmin home. It was a testing time for my faith in Christ. By God's grace,
I could overcome all these difficult situations. My brother, Pastor Mathew and
all the brothers and sisters in Grace Valley Church, encouraged me and were
praying for me and my family so that I could lead a victorious life in Christ in
the midst of all hardships.
God has blessed me in many ways and my husband and my two
sons have accepted Jesus as their Savior and Lord in February 1996. We as a
family live very joyfully, peacefully and prosperously. We are in Christ and we
now worship in a church in Calcutta. We are growing in our faith in Lord Jesus
every day and becoming stronger in faith. Praise be to the Lord Who has done
marvelous things. This is my testimony to my friends who are searching to know
and find the true, loving and caring God. It is Jesus Christ, Who took upon
Himself my sins on the Cross of Calvary and has granted me peace and joy now and
forever with Him in heaven. Amen.
M.J., Calcutta, India