In a remote village in the province of Uttar Pardesh, young Raju awoke to the typical sounds of the morning. Lingering for just a moment on his bamboo-slated bed, he listened to the crackling of the cooking fire and the sizzling of his mother’s japoti. Raju sat up and looked around his family’s simple thatched-roof home. Several chickens scurried across the dirt floor, as he sat for a moment...to think.
Just yesterday, the ten year old boy had gone to play cricket in the empty lot across the village. He was amazed to hear that a strange family had moved into the vacant house nearby. While he and his friends played with small sticks and a round rock, the foreign man had come out to say hello. It was funny to hear him attempt to speak in Hindustani, but the white man’s smile put Raju at east. How strange for this man to talk with them. Raju and his friends were very poor, yet this man was from country far away. In India, the rich and poor never mingled together. Raju was taught that his family had been born poor because of something bad they had done; and povery was to remain their caste for the rest of their life.
Raju was curious. Who was this man? Why had he come to their village? Why did he not follow the strict caste rules?
• • •
As Raju got up, he wondered if he would see the strange man today. He walked over to the fire. A piece of his mother’s japoti calmed the hungry feeling in his stomach...and the strange emptiness he felt inside.
Raju ran to meet his friends, and as he came close to the vacant lot, he couldn’t believe his eyes! The strange man was outside again...laughing with his friends...and playing with a REAL wooden cricket set.
“Look, Raju!” a friend called in excited Hindustani, “The man gave each of us a real cricket mallet...and we have a real ball now too! His name is Larry. He’s called a ‘missionary’ from America.”
At first, Raju felt afraid. What was a ‘missionary’? But as he watched this man playing with his friends, he began to laugh, and soon joined in the fun.
“Tonight, Raju, we are going to a special meeting,” the Larry-man said as one of the boys interpreted. “Would you like to come with us to our church?” Raju was curious. The man was nice, yet so different from any foreigner he had ever seen. Without hardly thinking, Raju quickly answered “yes” and in just a few hours, found himself crowded in Larry’s van.
As they bumped over potholes in the road, Raju wondered what this strange man’s temple-church would be like. Would the building be ornate, with elaborate carvings and mosaics? What would the foreign man’s gods look like? Would the priests be dressed in yellow and red like the Brahmans at the Hindu temple near home? Would there be strange-smelling incense, or foreign music?
• • •
The van stopped, and Raju looked around bewildered. Was THIS a church? They had stopped at an old warehouse, and from inside, he could hear loud singing and clapping. Everyone piled out of the van, and together they entered the simple building. Inside this strange place, Raju saw no gods–no gods at all. There were no ornate decorations either, only plain woven mats, which covered the dirt floor.
Larry led them to a place toward the front of the people, as Raju stared in amazement around the building. Young and old, rich and poor, Indian and foreigners, all sat together on the floor. Everyone looked happy as they sang to the beat of traditional Indian music. After a time, Larry stood up and began to speak in English. An Indian man repeated the same phrase in simple Hindustani. “There is only one God...” they began.
What? thought Raju, How can there be only one God? Aren’t there hundreds and millions of gods? Yet as Larry continued, Raju listened intently to a wonderful story about this One God who created the whole world. He heard about how this God sent His only Son, JESUS, down to earth, and then was shocked as he heard how this Son of God died for the salvation of all. How could this have happened? Raju questioned. But just them, Larry explained how this same Jesus had risen from the dead and was still alive today.
Tears welled up in Raju’s closed eyes as Larry shared about how the one true God cared for him. Was it true? Had God’s only son died for him–for poor Raju? Raju felt again that strange knot in his stomach. Raju didn’t feel afraid any longer. Even though he was in the lowest caste, Larry’s God offered a way of salvation that was possible–even for him. When he died, he didn’t have to be reborn again and again; he could go straight to heaven!
“Would you like to receive this salvation through Jesus Christ alone?” Larry asked. “And would anyone like to become a Christian?”
Oh Yes! Raju thought, as he raised his hand. I want to know more about this Jesus! May Larry’s God be MY GOD too!
Back to TOP
Keys to Sharing Christ
With Hindus:
1. Try to understand the Hindu mindset. Although their beliefs seem complicated, do not be afraid to witness and to share the love of Jesus. Hindus are desperately searching for truth, and are in need of salvation. Know that their emptiness can only be filled by a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
2. Emphasize that there is only ONE Almighty God, and that He became man only once - in Jesus Christ (John 3:16).
3. Hindus are aware of their sin and of their need for salvation, although their religion offers them to sure hope. Ghandi (one of Hindu's most respected leaders) even wrote, “For it is an unbroken torture to me that I am still so far from Him...I know that it is the evil passions within that keep me so far from Him and yet I cannot get away from them” Hindus need to know that the penalty for their sin was paid in full by the sinless life and the sacrificial death of Jesus, the Son of God.
4. Share how Jesus was born as a simple man, and that He came to bring salvation to ALL people: rich and poor, men and women, and those of all nationalities.
5. Show from God’s Word that when a person dies, they are not reincarnated, but they face the judgement of God Almighty and eternal life in either heaven or hell (Hebrew 9:27). Hinduism gives a person no hope or peace, only fear and temporary bliss through meditation. Salvation through Jesus Christ is what they are seeking.
By Ann Dunagan
(From her book, "Teaching With God's Heart for the World")
BACK TO
TOP
BACK TO
HOME
Our Mailing Address:
Harvest Ministry
P.O. Box
727
Hood River, Oregon 97031
Harvest
Ministry
Raju: A Hindu Boy