I Thayappan of 12, GD Naidu Street, Balaji Avenue, Chitlapakkam Main Road, Selaiyur Post, Chennai 600073, India; +91 44 22234526; sakthiprabha@yahoo.com am 66 years old and had been a staunch believer of Hindu religion for generations. I and my wife, two sons and daughter were strong and ardent devotees and worshipers of goddess Adhi Parasakthi of Mel Maruvathur and the deity of Thiruchendur. As I was serving in the Indian Air Force mostly in North India, my mother had made a covenant that whenever I visit our native place, I would also visit the temple at Trichendur. Thus I had visited Trichendur more than 25 times. I had also visited all other famous Murugan Shrines in other places in Tamil Nadu. I had also gone to other Hindu temples at Kanyakumari, Madurai, Samayapuram, Pillaiyarpatti, Rameswaram, Tirupathi, Varanasi etc. I had been instrumental for construction of a big Murugan Temple at Air Force Station, Chandigarh. I had been one of the Executive Committee Members of Lord Ganesh Temple in our neighborhood, Ganesh Nagar of Chitlapakkam area in Chennai. I had also written, acted, directed and produced a Tamil Drama “Sakthi Oli” (Light of Goddess Sakthi) in a big spiritual conference in Madurai in 1985. I had also performed Hari Katha Kalatchepam for more than 100 times depicting the glory of Lord Murugan. Our entire family members used to wear only red color dress as a mark and identity of Sakthi cult on all Tuesdays, Fridays, full moon and other auspicious days and do special pujas and annadhanams (free distribution of food to poor people). We have conducted innumerable pujas and rituals like Kalasam (carrying pots), Vilakku (lights) and Vezhvi (sacred fire) in our house and also in temples. I have read many Hindu scriptures like Bhagavat Gita, Ramayana and Mahabaratha and the works of Swami Vivekananda, Ramalinga Swamigal and many others. We were fully convinced and proud to be a staunch Hindu. Every year all the members of our family used to fast and go to Mel Maruvathur Temple with Irumudi (twin pack containing items for worship and the offerings). We were a god fearing, happy and contented family and used to be respected by all the neighbors for our strong and true religious beliefs and practices. “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served created things than the Creator, who is forever praised – Rom 1:25 (NIV)”“They refused to believe and publicly maligned the way – Acts 19:9 (NIV)” At the same time I had an aversion for Christianity. I had a very strong feeling that Christianity was a foreign religion and Jesus Christ is a foreign God and was meant only for scheduled castes and tribes i.e. low class people of India. Whenever I saw some Evangelists preaching the Gospel at the Bus stand or Railway station or in any public place, I used to confront them with questions “Who are you to call me a sinner? What sin have I committed? Are you a puritan to call me a sinner? Better hold your tongue and never again call anybody a sinner in public”. When I saw someone giving tracts about Christ, I used to make a big scene there by ridiculing them by asking “Is Christ a cheap commodity to sell and publicize like this on road side? Why? Are there no takers for Christ?” My hatred towards Christianity increased multi-fold when my own sister’s son became a Christian believer and wanted to marry only a Christian girl. It was a great shock for my sister and my brother-in-law. My sister’s son studied in Christian schools since my brother-in-law was working in Khadi department (Govt. of Tamil Nadu) in Nanguneri and Valliyur areas in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu, which was mostly populated by Christians and almost every school in that area was run by the Churches. I had a feeling that the children succumbed to the indoctrination of Christianity done subtly, quietly and continuously, on the tender minds of these school going kids by the schools run by these Churches and children fell a prey to Christianity when they grew up unchecked! My sister and her husband tried to bring some sense into their son stating that an inter-religious marriage would only be a disaster and would lead to many problems in the post marital life, in our culture and among our relatives. But he was adamant in his stand. Finally they approached me to advise him as he had lot of respect and regards for me and for my elder brother. I tried my best to advise and convince him that his stand in marrying a Christian girl was nothing but a stupidity which he would regret in his later days. I asked him if he loved any Christian girl? He said ‘No’. I told him that I might even agree to the marriage if he had a love affair with a Christian girl. I tried to convince him that his liking for the Bible, Christ and Christianity has been injected into his blood from childhood in the schools and he had accepted it even without fully knowing well about his own religion, Hinduism. I told him that Hindu religion is the only best religion in the world and that alone can lead us to Mukthi (salvation) and to Heaven. I even threatened him that I may even break his leg and make him permanently handicapped if he were to go against all our wishes. But he never relented from his stand. Any amount of my coaxing, threatening, reasoning and convincing had no effect on him and he finally married a Christian girl whose brother is a Pastor. That further added fuel to my hatred and aversion towards Christianity and I made strict orders in the textile spinning mill where I was working as a Personnel Manager, not to give any job to any Christian and I made sure that it was strictly followed in letter and spirit.. Although my nephew was staying with his family only a mile away from the place of my work, I never went to his house or touched his children despite my sister, brother-in-law, my own elder brother and many of our relatives had later reconciled to his conversion to Christianity. I have three children. I was so much religious minded that I named all my children after the Hindu gods’ names I had believed in. I named my eldest son after Thirichendur Murugan as Karthikeyan, my daughter as Gayathri depicting ‘OM’ Pranava Manthra, the so called highest Manthra among all the Manthras and my younger son as ‘Sakthi’ after Melmaruvathur Adhi Parasakthi. We were so much delighted and felt as having been blessed by Goddess Adhi Parasakthi and Lord Murugan when our eldest son Karthik was selected for a job in Singapore as a Software Engineer with a monthly salary of Rs. 1.25 Lakhs where he worked for one year. We were so much elated with joy when he was selected for a job in USA and boarded the flight for Atlanta on 24th June 2000. He was offered a salary of Rs.2.50 lakhs per month. We felt that all our prayers, good deeds, fear of God and faith were bringing a blessing to us and we thanked all the gods whom we had been worshiping. Our joy and dreams did not survive even for three months. All our dreams were shattered when I received a phone call at the midnight of 13th September 2000 from St. Vincent Hospital in Portland, Oregon State, USA, asking for my consent to do a major head surgery on my son to save his life. They said that he is in intensive care unit, in serious condition, his brain affected by Military TB resulting in Hydrocephalus. They further said that some of his brain faculties are already affected, he is falling into coma and that his left side is paralyzed. If the surgery is not done immediately, he may not survive, the doctor said. I was terribly shocked, not able to believe my own ears. I told the doctor – what are you talking? Are you telling about my son Karthik? No, it can never be so for my son. I think you have dialed a wrong number. I was about to hang on him feeling pity for the parents to whom this call was intended. But the doctor on the long distance call hurried up to say “Don’t hang on. Please wait. Are you not Mr. Thayappan?” I told “Yes, I am”. Then he said “I am talking about only your son Karthik, who is working as a Software Engineer in Intel”. It was a thunderbolt on me. “…We have made a lie our refuge and falsehood our hiding place – Is 28:15 (NIV)” My entire family could not stand this news and were deeply affected by it. It was beyond anybody’s control to pacify my wife. She could not take it at all. She was all tears and was crying all the time without taking any food. A young and healthy man of 28 years going to USA laughing and jumping in June and within three months – we cannot even think of him to be in ICU, requiring a major head surgery to save his life. Why…Why? How could it happen to him? Why has it happened to my son? What sin have I committed for this to befall on my son? I could not bear it. Is it the envy of some neighbors? Or is it their eye casting? Or is it some witchcraft done by someone? Oh God, please answer my prayers, I cried. What wrong have I done to earn this for my son? What can be the cause of this fateful blow on my son? I cried and prayed. With no answer to any of my questions, I took the horoscope of my son and went to many astrologers, fortune tellers, palmists and to the Vaitheeswaran temple to have a look at my son’s palm leaf horoscope. Wherever I went I was told that my son’s birth stars and planets are not in favorable positions, his time is bad, it is in his fate and karma etc. Every one was able to tell correctly whatever has happened in my son’s life so far. When it came to his present condition, they were hesitant to tell the fact, a few swallowed the words, one or two indirectly pointed out the end of my son’s life. I looked deep into his horoscope through many astrologers, but none of them could give me an encouraging word regarding my son’s future or life. They said that even the Almighty God cannot and will not change the Prarartha karma, Sanjitha karma and the Ahamya karma (Wills of God). One has to undergo the sufferings of these karmas. To reduce its adverse effect and to please and appease the planets and birth stars, some one suggested to do special pujas with milk abhishegam (ordination of deity with milk) for Lord Siva Linga for 40 days, some one else advised to do Ganapathy Homam, another one a Navagraha Puja (Prayers for nine planets) and a Homam (holy fire), yet another – a vada mala (garland of hot dough-nuts) for Lord Anjaneya (Monkey disciple of Lord Rama) and a hundred other suggestions like this. My wife rushed up with tears to do every thing suggested to us with the hope that the God and planets may be pleased with at least some of these worship, puja and offerings and that our son may come out of this trauma unscathed and totally healed. It was the tearful feeling and hope of a mother who had carried him in her womb for ten months to see him healed. “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs – Jonah 2:8” In the meanwhile, I tried to collect the information about the exact condition of my son through some of my known friends in USA and through the Consultant who had employed my son. Information I received from them only aggravated my worries, anxieties and the Consultant asked me to take a flight immediately to Portland to be with my son. He agreed to fax me a medical certificate from the hospital to enable me to obtain the visa on priority from the US Consulate General in Chennai. While I was trying to get the visa and book a flight to Portland, I received another phone call from the hospital stating that due to some block, the shunt (tube) which was placed in the ventricular space of my son’s brain to drain out the excess fluid, is not working and hence they need to do another surgery to replace the shunt. I was really torn to pieces. The agony and pain of my wife was unbearable. Why all the Gods whom I had worshiped for the last 58 years have not helped my son? Couldn’t these Gods have averted my son’s sickness? Is fate and karma so powerful that even Gods could do nothing about it? Or these Gods have no power to change the fate or karma? Are they merely stones and metals? Is it my foolishness to have believed until now on all these so called Gods and to have thought of them as omnipotent, all powerful and capable? A person can fall sick. It can be a fever or a typhoid or even malaria or Jaundice. But if one’s brain was affected leading to coma and paralysis, isn’t it the duty of these Gods whom I had been worshiping so far to save my son from such deadly and fatal diseases? Are all the pujas, offerings, archanai (Prayer chanting mantras), abhishekams, homams, fastings and chanting of manthras I have done to these Gods only a waste? Do they have no meaning at all? Simply I could not comprehend. Is there a God at all in this world? Do they really exist or not? Or was I just worshiping a folly and non- existing god so far? If there is, is God alive or dead? Has the God got a heart, feeling and love for His creations? Does He not have eyes and ears to see and listen to our cries and the sufferings of His people? If everything was to happen as per karma and fate, then why should I worship these powerless and impotent gods? In my anger and anguish, I broke all the pictures of these so called gods which were in my house and which we had been worshiping all these years. “Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not Gods – Gal 4:8 (NIV)” I hurried from India to USA on 27th September 2000 to see my ailing son and to be with him in the time of his distress. When I saw my son on 29th midnight in the ICU ward, I was really torn to pieces. I pray that no father or mother should ever see his or her son in such a pathetic, horrible and pitiable condition. He blinked lifelessly, his left side totally paralyzed, not able to speak, memory totally lost, very lean and thin, half of his hair in the head shaved off to do the surgery and a bandage in the head with a tube coming through the head draining out some fluid from the brain and countless tubes fitted every where in his body and his life line being monitored round the clock by a computer. He was practically sinking. He was in the last leg of his life. The doctors were not able to give any hope to me for his survival. They simply said – Pray to God. When I saw my son’s hopeless and precarious condition, I had no other go but to fall again at the feet of those idol gods and pray to them again to forgive my foolishness of breaking their pictures in anger and requested them to save my son at any cost. With tears rolling down my cheeks, I used to chant many manthras seeking mercy from all the gods from morning to evening. I used to chant Kandha sasti kavasam, 108, 1008 Om Sakthi manthras, then Sivaaya Manthra and then Miruthunjeya Manthra i.e. life saving manthra, then Vazhga Vaghamudan mantra by Vedathri Maharishi. Days after days, weeks after weeks, I was chanting these manthras and praying to all the Hindu gods I knew with tears and broken heart. There used to be Satya Sai Baba bhajan on every Thursday, in one of the South Indians’ house in Portland and I used to attend that bhajan regularly seeking Baba’s healing touch on my son. There they gave me the sacred ash brought out through miracle by Sathya Sai Baba and the sacred water blessed by Baba. I applied that sacred ash on the fore head of my son and poured a few drops of the holy water into the mouth of my son thinking that it will heal him completely. I had pasted the photo of Baba in the ICU ward of my son believing that it will ward off the demon of sickness from my son. Sai Baba’s disciples told that if I read the life history of Shirdy Sai Baba (the previous avatar of Satya Sai Baba) within one week with a prayer request, it will be blessed by Baba. I read it with tears and prayers in four days time to save the life of my son. But nothing happened. All the manthras I was chanting, all the gods whom I was worshiping and all the prayers I was making with full heart, soul and tears did not heal my son. Instead his condition was going from bad to worse. He was practically sinking, dying and his pulses were going down. “…no one knows who the Father is except the son and those to whom the son chooses to reveal Him – Luke 10:22 (NIV)” My son’s condition was a challenge even to those American doctors who were supposed to be the best, experts and exponents in advanced medical science in the world. St Vincent Hospital in Portland was adjudged as one among the best hundred hospitals in America for the last seven years consecutively. Finally the doctors told me that they have done their best and that nothing further can be done by them. Even if my son survived, he will remain a burden to himself, to us and he can never lead a normal life or go for a job. To avoid all these, the best thing would be to do the ‘Mercy killing’ they said. It is permissible under US law. The end will not be painful. Once the life supporting apparatuses are removed, his end will come even without his knowledge and it will be as if he is still sleeping, they said and recommended mercy killing of my son, without any mercy in their heart. They gave me a booklet to read on the subject and to take my time to take a decision in the matter. I was shocked and really shattered. I told those doctors in even tone, “Never again talk this topic to me. You are not suggesting Mercy Killing but you are killing the Mercy. We Indians have the mind and duty to take care of their sons at any critical condition”. But I did not know what to do further except to cry. As David said in Ps 18:4, the cords of death had entangled my son; the torrents of destruction had overwhelmed me. The cords of grave have coiled around Karthik, the snares of death confronted him. In my distress, I called the Lord; I cried to the God for help. I cried loud – Is there no REAL GOD in this world to hear my prayers and change the fate and karma of my son? From the Heavens, the REAL GOD – Jesus Christ heard my prayers! My cry must have come before Him and fell into His ears, for I heard the answer from the Lord the next day. “This poor man called and the Lord heard him” – Ps 34:6 The next day on 2nd November 2000 when I was sitting in the ICU reception so much depressed and dejected, a person passed by me. Then he starred at me, retreated and came over to me and said, “Excuse me, are you from India?” I said, “Yes”. He then asked me, “Which part?” I replied, “Madras”. In a friendly and pleasing way, he shook my hand and said “I am Pastor from Kerala. I am a Pastor in one of the Indian Churches here in USA.” He then enquired what brought me there. I told him everything. He felt sorry and said a few soothing words and then asked me if he could see my son. I took him to the ICU room where my son was lying in coma. Pastor’s eyes grew wet when he saw my son’s condition. When he came back to the reception, he took my hand, patted it comfortingly and then asked if he could pray for my son. I was taken aback with surprise. I then said with tears in my eyes “Please pray for my son. I need all the prayers for my son”. He prayed. He prayed with tears and with all his heart. He prayed with agony, real concern and love. It was a strong, effective and heart touching prayer. He really wept in his prayers, unmindful of the situation and passers by. I had never heard such a soul stirring and touching prayer in my whole life. I was sobbing uncontrollably. It would be natural and alright if I cried as a father for my son’s such condition. But an unknown person was praying for my son with tears! I had never experienced such a prayer and it was something quite strange to me. None of my Hindu friends or close relatives had ever cried or prayed for my son like this. Even in prayers, we, the Hindus are selfish. We pray only for ourselves, for our family and children and NEVER for any neighbors or unknown patient or for those people who fought with us, talked ill and evil about us, scolded us, abused us or cheated us. One needs to have a good, divine loving heart to pray for others especially unknown and enemies. I came to know later that ONLY TRUE CHRISTIANS HAVE SUCH TYPE OF GREAT, TENDER AND HOLY LOVING HEART TO PRAY FOR OTHERS! They take the burden and sufferings of others and pray for them and also share the goodness and happiness they enjoy with others. They only have the heart to forgive other’s mistakes. Then the Pastor asked me if he could bring in some more people who are prayer warriors and who would only be too willing to pray for my son. I said, “Please bring them”. Within another one hour he brought in more than about 10 people and they all prayed for my son with tears in the ICU reception lobby. “…if we know that He hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of Him – I John 5:15 (NIV)” Third day on 5th November 2000, Pastor took me to his Church. It was a small congregation of about 20 to 25 families, all Indian Keralites. The Pastor explained about the serious condition of my son and asked every one there to pray for my son. They all joined together, circled around me, laid their hands on me and prayed with full heart in one accord. They literally shed tears for my son and cried to Lord Jesus Christ for the healing and deliverance of my son. They all prayed together with one mind “Father, please have mercy on Karthik and his father. Shower your blessings on them. Let your power of resurrection come down on Karthik and raise him up from coma. May your injured hands touch him and heal him completely. We claim complete deliverance and healing for Karthik in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Father, we read in James 5:15 that the prayers offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him. We claim it for Karthik in full faith in Jesus precious name, Master. Amen”. The Almighty God who promised His presence, in the midst of two or three gathered on His name (Mt 18:20), heard their tearful prayers made in one accord. The Lord who has said that He will never forsake you (Josh 1:5) and ask anything in His name, you shall get it, listened to their earnest, faithful prayers. The loving, merciful, miracle God – Lord Jesus Christ broke and removed the cords of death entangled around my son, unwound the cords of death coiled around my son and BLESSED MY SON TO COME OUT OF COMA! When we reached the hospital from the Church, we found him seated in a wheel chair, fully conscious and in all his senses for the first time in three months and he nodded his head on seeing and recognizing me. It was a great and pleasing shock for us. Even the doctors and the ICU ward nurses wondered and said that his recovery is quite unbelievable. I could neither believe nor disbelieve my own eyes. I could not help but think like this – the so called Hindu Gods whom I had been worshiping whole heartedly and devotedly for the past 58 years had failed to help my son. On the contrary, the Lord whom I had despised and hated has saved my son from the valley of death. Tears rolled down my cheeks on seeing my son’s recovery from coma of which I had totally lost all my hopes. Jesus Christ who created this entire universe and all the living beings in it with one word, has also changed, altered and nullified the horoscope of my son which predicted the end of my son’s life. Praise the Lord! “…the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared – Titus 3:4 (NIV)” Then every day Pastor and many others from his church used to come, pray and talk about Bible or Jesus Christ and His unceasing love to me. They said, “If you believe Jesus, you have a good life in Him (Rom 1:17)”. I needed their prayers for my son but NOT Jesus. When they started talking more about Bible and Jesus, I became little alert and cautious. I thought these people were trying to convert me to Christianity taking advantage of my helpless condition. So I started arguing with them telling that whatever they are telling, all are there already in Bhagavat Gita or Ramayana or Mahabharatha or in the teachings of Vivekananda and in many other Hindu Vedas and Upanishads. But they never argued back nor did they talk anything ill about Hindu gods or Hinduism or its rituals, culture or traditions. They talked only about the abundant love of Jesus, how He had died and shed to the last drop of his precious blood on the cross for all our sins and sicknesses and what He has promised to us. And whosoever came and talked to me had a miracle in their lives to narrate and they were a living example and witness for the blessings, mercy and healing power of Lord Jesus Christ. Then I asked myself – what are these people going to get by converting me into a Christian? Is their Church going to give them one lakh or two lakhs rupees for converting a Hindu into a Christian? No, nothing! Neither monetary benefit nor reward nor any recognition do they get. In day to day life we recommend so many worldly things to others – go to that particular tailor, he stitches well or go to that automobile mechanic. He is good at the job. Like that we recommend so many worldly things to others without expecting any thing from them. Similarly it may be the way they show their gratitude and love to the Lord for the blessings, healings, miracles and the eternal joy they had received from Jesus Christ. So I THOUGHT WHY NOT I ALSO PRAY TO LORD JESUS CHRIST? “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ – 2 Pet 3:18” Hindu philosophy teaches that all the Gods are same and only the names are different. Eshwar, Allah, therey naam, sabko jannath dhey Bhagawan! Rivers may be different but finally all the rivers converge only in the ocean i.e. Bhagavan, the Supreme Almighty God. Further, as it is, we, the Hindus are not worshiping one God. We pray to umpteen number of Gods like Shiva, his wife Parvathi or Om Sakthi, their son Ganesh, His brother Murugan, his two wives, Lord Venkatachalapathy, his wife Lakshmi, his sister Saraswathi, Hanuman etc. apart from several self proclaimed godmen like Saibaba, Sankarachariya, Bhangaru Adigal and so on. So I admitted Jesus Christ into the crowd of Gods and started worshiping him also. I used to chant all the manthras for the Hindu Gods first and in the end prayed to Lord Jesus. In one month, without my knowledge, Jesus had moved from the LAST POSITION TO THE FIRST PLACE and I became aware that I was praying only to Jesus afterwards. WHEN I WAS WORSHIPING ONLY JESUS, MIRACLES AND WONDERS STARTED HAPPENING IN MY SON’S CONDITION. I could see life and a sense of recognition in his eyes and a steady progress in his general condition. Within another fortnight he was transferred from ICU to general ward and then to a Rehabilitation Center. More than Rs. 3.5 Crores had been spent on my son’s medical treatment. As my son’s medical expenses were covered by the Insurance, I was spared. Otherwise, it was beyond my imagination. I don’t even know how many zeros are there in 3.5 Crores. I am just a middle class person. The strange thing was that my son had worked only for 25 days in USA, not even one full month. I could only thank Lord Jesus Christ for His divine intervention in our lives and for His remarkable, wonderful guidance. Hallelujah! “Taste and see that the Lord is good - Ps 34:8 (NIV)” In the Rehabilitation center, on one of the days in December 2000, the nurse removed my son’s urine catheter which was used for more than four months. He was then wearing an adult diaper. I took him for physiotherapy and before putting him to bed for a nap in the afternoon after lunch, I checked up his diaper to change it if it was wet. Surprisingly it was totally dry. It was something very strange for me. In that winter, any person would normally feel the need for urinating every hour. My son had not urinated since morning in that climate. I thought of waiting till the evening to check him up again. I checked up again at 4 PM. His diaper was still dry. But he was restless and perhaps was feeling the urge and uneasiness but could not express it. I called for the nurse and she said that my son could have developed some infection in the urinary track or a blockage in the passage which was a serious matter and wanted to call the doctor immediately. I asked her to wait. “Before you call your doctor, let me call my Doctor! Immediately I rang up my Christian friends and told them. They said “Don’t worry, just lay your hand on his body and pray in the name of Jesus. Your faith will heal him (Mk 5:34). Cast all your care upon Jesus for He cares for you (1 Pet 5:7). We are also kneeling down and praying for him”. I did as they advised and prayed in full faith. THE NEXT MINUTE THE MIRACLE HAPPENED! My son urinated immediately without any problem. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord. Many times Karthi’s condition grew worse, totally unpredictable and his head would collapse without any known reason and our faithful prayers used to bring him back to normalcy. How true and sincere is Jesus Christ to His promise “Call upon Me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you and you shall glorify Me (Ps 50:15)”. “My times are in your hands – Ps 31:15 (NIV)” I told Pastor that if Jesus Christ heals my son completely within one month by Jan 15, 2001, I would accept Him as my personal Saviour. He agreed but told me to stop worshiping any idols and have complete faith in Jesus and worship Him alone. “Without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6)” he said. From that day onwards, I had stopped idolatry and chanting of any mantras and started praying only to Jesus. I prayed sincerely, with all my heart and soul. I prayed all the time. I prayed for every thing. I prayed before doing anything. The prayer was in my mind all the 24 hours. I could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in me. Many miracles happened in my day to day life proving to me “I am with you always even to the very end of the age (Mt 28:20)” and the God’s grace was with me all the time. Every Saturday I used to call my family. The call, normally, won’t materialize for a long time and it really used to test my patience. But as soon as I pray and beg to the Lord for the connection, I would get it immediately. This happened many a times. One day I had misplaced the telephone prepaid card somewhere. I searched it for more than 30 minutes but to no avail. I got it immediately as soon as I prayed to the Lord. Once I could not open the lid of my cooker. Somehow it had got struck and I struggled for nearly 15 minutes to open it. Finally when I looked up to the Lord for help, it opened up. Normally Americans don’t stop the car on the high way to give lift to any strangers. Many a times, whenever I was stranded in the hospital or in any Max station because of rain or inclement weather, I would just pray to Jesus and I would get a lift in some car to reach my apartment. Like this, THE LORD ANSWERED ALL MY PRAYERS AND MET MY DAY TO DAY NEEDS AND PROVED THAT HE NEVER FORSAKES HIS CHILDREN. “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give you. Let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid (John 14: 27)”. True to His Words, more than anything else, the Lord gave me the peace and hope which I had totally lost without HIM.At the same time, I had a feeling in my heart as to who am I to give an ultimatum of one month to the Lord to heal my son. He is the Almighty God who created the whole universe, millions of stars and planets. The Lord has said, “It is I who made the earth and created mankind upon it (Is 45:12)”. He is the Creator of all the living beings on the land, the air and the sea. Recently I saw a news item in TV that a satellite which was sent by NASA Scientists from USA had traveled continuously for seven years and reached Saturn. When I tried to imagine the distance from earth to Saturn, my head was really swirling. I saw another news item in TV on Sep 01, 2004 that the American scientists have discovered two more new planets like earth at a distance of 35 light years in the solar system. What has been discovered out of the creation of the Lord by the scientists in the world so far is only very little and yet to be discovered is unimaginable. Whenever there is a discovery of a new planet in the galaxy or cosmic universe, we are awe struck with the creation of the Lord. All these things which are beyond our thinking and understanding were created by the Lord with ONE WORD and He hung them in vacuum like flowers in a tree. What a fool I had been to give a time and date to such an omnipotent Lord and Creator to heal my son in one month! He knows what is best for me and for my son. HE DOES EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL IN HIS RIGHT TIME AND WAY (Ecl 3:11). Psalmist says in Ps 55:22, “Cast your burden on the Lord and He shall sustain you. He shall never permit the righteous to be moved”. That sense and realization dawned on me and I asked the Lord to forgive my foolishness and I totally surrendered at His feet. “Those who oppose him he must gently instruct…2 Tim 2:25(NIV)” The Satan tried his level best to destroy my newly found faith. Pastor , and so many other Indian Christians whom I can never forget in my life, strengthened my faith and laid a strong foundation in Christ by obeying the Word of God in Luke 22:32 “When you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren” by their sustained fellowship, visit, love, moral support apart from upholding me in all their prayers. I recall the innumerable occasions I had insulted them, neglected, ignored, irritated, avoided them and argued with them just for the sake of argument. I still remember the days when I used to go for walking on seeing them in order to avoid them off. But they ignored all my irritant behavior and went on firmly in bringing me to Christ by preaching the Word as Apostle Paul has exhorted in 2 Tim 4:2, “in season and out of season”. They loved me and my son so much; they were ready to do anything for us expecting nothing from us. They reflected the true love of Jesus Christ. It was their sincere, true, selfless Christian love that finally cracked me and won me fully to Christ. I was able to see Jesus in them. I received the holy love of Jesus through them. They were really true Christians. I was a hard nut to crack and a very strong religious minded Hindu. I had studied Hindu Vedas and Scriptures and I was very deeply engrossed into it. Further I had hated Christianity and was dead against it. I was an educated, experienced and matured person and not to be easily converted on account of my son’s sickness alone. It was their sincere prayer, love, real Christian life and fellowship that turned my mind and soul to Jesus Christ. It is because of them, we are now enjoying such a blessed life with so much of peace, happiness, love and fellowship of so many people that we have not enjoyed in our entire life. “It is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose – Phi 2:13 (NIV)” One day I was recapitulating as to how my hatred towards Christianity and Jesus Christ since childhood had disappeared and the love for Christ and His Way had bloomed in me. What exactly had transpired or attracted me towards Christianity? Which one truly prompted me to interchange my hatred for love? I sank deep into the bottom of my mind in introspection and analyzed to find out the answer. It was true that I was greatly disappointed and annoyed with all the (so called) Hindu Gods for allowing such a deadly disease to come upon my son and for not saving him from coma and paralysis. But that disappointment and annoyance alone could not have been the cause for changing my hatred towards Christianity to a love for it. Because Hindu religion, its culture, traditions, belief and rituals were of very great values to me and they were very deeply assimilated into my blood stream. My liking and leaning towards Hinduism was not borne out of my having been born in a Hindu family and background. I had in fact loved Hindu religion and admired it. I was rather proud to be a Hindu. I used to sing devotional songs on the deities of Murugan and Adhi Parasakthi and other Hindu gods/goddesses from the bottom of my heart with tears rolling down my cheeks and with true devotion and dedication. I had even done a devotional musical concert to raise funds to conduct the wedding of daughter of a temple priest in Delhi. I had also practiced transcendental meditation and kundalini yoga. After reading many Hindu Vedas, Upanishads and religious books, I thought I was fully convinced that Hindu religion was a meaningful religion. How could a man with such a background and knowledge about Hinduism ever change his opinion and concept about Christianity and Christ? I am not boasting of myself. It is not really easy to convince me on anything as I had a probing mind not to believe anything on the face of it. I always asked what, why and how to believe anything. I am a counter-intelligence trained person in the Indian Air Force and the first lesson taught to us was not to believe anything unless it was thoroughly analyzed and evidenced. Nothing escaped from my sight and observation. My assessment and opinion on many issues also do not go wrong. 38 years of my versatile career in HRD, administration, personnel management, security, intelligence, counter-intelligence, insurance, marketing, art and cultural fields had groomed me well in individual and mass psychology. All these experiences and exposures had sharpened my mental alertness, focus, thinking and analytical powers. With the backdrop of these facts, I tried to analyze deeply with an open unbiased mind, the lives of all those Indo-American Christians who were known to me. “When he found one of great value…he bought it – Mt 13:46 (NIV)” No wonder that the Bible excels among all the Holy books in the world and stays alive and appealing even after millenniums. I am a bookish fellow. I have read innumerable number of books in Tamil as well as English. But I have not read a book like the Holy Bible. The Bible alone can give a person the self confidence, hope and faith even in the worst possible situation. Christianity has done a yeoman job for the individuals as well as for the society. It inculcates a feeling of universal brotherliness irrespective of their caste, creed and nationality. As King David said in Ps 119:11, “Your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you”, the Scripture saves, rescues people from sin and gives them enough courage, mental power and strength to win over the worldly temptations and instills a godly fear in their mind to shun away the sin. It guides them to lead a holy, holistic, healthiest, happiest, contended, peaceful and meaningful life. If one follows the teachings of the New Testament, he is sure to experience the richness and unimaginable comforts and peace of the Heaven in this earthly life itself. CHRISTIANITY IS NOT A RELIGION AT ALL. IT SHOWS THE WAY TO HAVE A CLOSE ETERNAL PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CREATOR. It is not one of the ways to the Creator but the ONLY WAY. The patience and humility shown by the Christians, their character/culture of thanking the Lord for every thing, even for a small thing in their lives, thinking and remembering the Creator at every step and stage of their lives, an admirable attitude to forgive and forget the blunders and mistakes of others, giving top most place and priority in their lives for the Lord, enduring all the sufferings with a smile and unshakeable hope that all the ordeals in their lives were permitted by the Lord only to mold them, really astonished me, made me spellbound and speechless. All the family members join together daily at a particular time for family prayer really helped in resolving many family disputes and built up a harmonious, wonderful, close knitted relationship amongst the family members when the joint family system and a good family institution is disintegrating these days. Whatever the impediments that may intrude, they attended the church on all the Sundays with all the family members and enjoyed the bliss, anointing and of the presence of the Holy Spirit throughout their stay in the church and in the worship without allowing their mind to wander elsewhere. The word of God shared in the Church by the Pastor for about 45 minutes really mends and molds our lives, thoughts, our character and attitudes to lead a holy life. I was moved when special prayers were made for the sick, studies of the children, marriage of children or for their job or for the difficulties, problems prevailing in a family. Even when you worship in a church where the congregation is more than 2000 to 3000 believers, every one is able to feel and enjoy the presence of the Lord individually without any disturbance or hindrance and is able to have total communion and a divine relationship with the Lord through out the service of 2 ½ hours. When a new comer comes to the church, he is spotted even among a congregation of thousands and is welcomed, greeted and introduced to other believers and enquired for any special prayer requirements for them or for their family members. Organizing conventions and retreats for the youth in the church for two to three days to inculcate good habits and thoughts in them at the right age before they are tempted to fall a prey to the worldly sins and attractions and conducting of Sunday classes for the young children to shape them for the holy way right from their childhood, praying for a peaceful co-existence in the area, praying for the welfare and development of the nation, to give wisdom to the elected body of politicians, local administration and government officials, praying for the victims of national calamities, disasters etc., helping the poor and downtrodden in times of their dire needs, children’s school admission, books, fees, a feeling of oneness and a family among all the members of the church irrespective of their social and financial status, caste or creed and inviting every member of the church for all the family functions etc. all these and many more good things that I have not mentioned here surfaced before me and I was really awe struck and dumbfounded. What a vital and pivotal role the church, the Pastor and the members play in the lives of its believers in shaping their mind, thoughts, deeds and help them to become a good citizen in the society! The whole world does not know what exactly the Christianity is contributing to the world silently. Almost all the non-Christians carry a wrong notion that the Christians are fanatic and they are interested only in spreading Christianity and converting other religious people to Christianity. What are they going to get by converting people to Christianity? Nothing except that the people will become good, rescued from all sorts of sins, smoking, alcoholism, drugs, peace loving and away from violence, terrorism, unrest, crimes, law and order problems which the government and other religions have been trying to eradicate for centuries but could not do anything at all. I am fully convinced beyond any doubt that strict adherence to the teachings of the Bible alone can bring peace to the world and harmony among many religions and culture. I don’t say that all Christians are good. There are bad people among Christians also. They are not actually Christians. Only for name sake they are Christians. A real Christian will imbibe all the qualities of Jesus Christ and reflect His abundant love and holiness in all his activities and to every one in the society even under adverse circumstances. A true Christian who has Jesus Christ in his heart cannot act in any other way. Hallelujah! “My heart is stirred by a noble theme – Ps 45:1 (NIV)” I could not but avoid the pain and the feelings that all these good things are not there in our Hindu religion. Even if it is a small temple, nobody bothers when we or a new comer comes to the temple for worship, there is none to greet us, befriend us or to have a fellowship with us or to enquire about our problems, difficulties or prayer requests if any and to pray for us. The priest is interested only in the offering one puts in his puja plate/hundi (offering box). One cannot even pray for two minutes without being disturbed. Some body may touch you inadvertently or some one might extend his neck like a Giraffe to have a darshan (look/sight) of the idol for himself alone without bothering that he is obstructing the views of others standing behind, unwanted talk, gossip and thoughts in front of the sanctum sanctorum, the suffocation, congestion, overcrowding due to narrow passage and space in the inner sanctum, pushing and feeling the hot breathings of others on your bare shoulders, incomprehensible Sanskrit slogas and mantras chanted by the priest will surely distract your concentration, devotion and meditation.. The irony is that the devotees are ignorant to the extent that they don’t even understand that they were spoiling the sanctity and holiness of the temple by throwing the banana skins, plantain leaves, coconut shells and other trashes and rubbish inside the temple premises. The height of foolishness of the temple administrators or by the servant of gods is giving preference, priority and respect in front of the deity to politicians, government officials, meting out preferred treatment on the basis of their position, caste, community etc. The temple, instead of sanctifying and purifying them or shaping and structuring the values of life, has just become a place of meaningless rituals which neither mould the devotees nor warn them against evil, sins or remind them of their accountability to God for all their deeds. I know that there are valuable and appreciable teachings in Hindu philosophy and scriptures. Every thing is there but the PERSON is absent. The person is CHRIST. Life is full of problems, sickness, difficulties and tension. Every one has one or the other problem in their lives. They run from pillar to post and from one temple to the other, from one deity to other, do all sorts of remedies, special offerings and pujas to the deities and planets. Yet their problems are not solved. Again they keep running to other places and are ready to do anything to overcome their problems. They really don’t understand the root cause for their problems or who creates or brings these problems to them. Without going to the root of it, they try to get some false satisfaction and liberation by running hither and thither. Having failed to find a solution, they finally try to find a sort of relief through alcohol, drugs or any intoxicants. “He will be called wonderful counselor, Mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace – Is 9:6 (NIV)” Some of my friends told me that all the good teachings of the Bible are there in Hindu Scriptures and Vedas. JESUS CHRIST IS THE ONLY GOD WHO DIED ON THE CROSS FOR OUR SINS AND EXCESSES. He himself is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but also for the whole world (John 2:2). HE ALONE IS THE LIVING GOD AND CARING GOD. The Word of God in Acts 4:12 say clearly that the Name of Jesus can only save this human race. Only He has the power and authority to forgive all our sins. He is the real God and Creator of this whole universe and all the living beings in it. He is Holy and makes us also holy. He is not a God to leave you at the mercy of your fate and karma but will save you at any cost. The Bible says, “Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10)”. HE IS ALMIGHTY LIVING GOD AND KING OF KINGS who can simply nullify and reverse all the fate and karma of men. Irrespective of caste, creed and nationality, the blood of Jesus is uniting everybody. Thus the American Christians and Indo American Christians loved me and Karthi as their own blood brothers and the extent and depth of their true Christian love brought tears to me. I think, all these finally cracked my stubbornness and unfounded hatred towards Christianity and brought me to Christ. Because of that, now my entire family is able to enjoy the peace, happiness and the blessings which we had not enjoyed earlier. Thank you Jesus for pouring your holy love upon all those who come to you and making them also like you. Hallelujah! “The Law of the Lord is perfect, it revives the soul, it is trustworthy…Ps 19:7 (NIV)” When I read Gospel, I was bewildered, thrilled, awe-struck by its holiness, love and compassion of the Father, His son Lord Jesus Christ, His exemplary teachings, His personal example of living to His teachings, His humility, His obedience to the Father, performing unimaginable and innumerable miracles of healing the sick, raising the dead and finally submitting Himself silently without any resistance to all the humiliation, torture and cruel crucifixion for the sake of all our sins to fulfill the Will of Father God! I could not control my tears when I read about the torture meted out to the Almighty son of the Lord. The power of His life, words and His teachings were electric, magnetic, quite encompassing, absorbing and sanctifying. King David says in Ps 19:7-10, “The Law of the Lord is perfect, it revives the soul, it is trustworthy and it makes the simple very wise. The precepts of the Lord are right. They give joy to the heart, radiant and light to the eyes. They are more precious than gold, much more than pure gold, they are sweeter than honey. Lord’s words are eternal and stand firm in the Heavens. They are a lamp to our feet and a light for our path. They are wonderful, trustworthy, our heritage and a joy to our heart”.“God will grant them repentance leading them to knowledge of the Truth – 2 Tim 2:25 (NIV)” In the light of the Lord’s teachings, I looked into myself. I was ashamed and felt so filthy and small to look at my own self. What a wretched and shameful life I have had so far. What a deplorable life I have led until now. Oh, for the first time in my life, I hated myself. What an unworthy vessel I had been. When I looked down more deep into my soul, my past life, my lips let out a painful, feeble voice in repentance – FATHER, I AM A SINNER, AN UNPARDONABLE SINNER. PLEASE FORGIVE ME LORD! I have lived so far only a sinful life, a life full of sins. My heart has been stinking like a gutter filled with filth, vulgarity, lust, anger, self conceit, lies, evil thoughts, jealous, envy, mean-mindedness and cunningness. Oh, it has been full of trash! The realization was like a sharp knife plunged into my stomach. The Holy Book of the Lord showed me, like a mirror, all my past life. I understood that only the Lord Jesus can help me to be extricated from the sin as promised in Heb 2:18, I fell down on my knees crying and sobbing for the Lord’s forgiveness. The very thought that Jesus Christ came to save the sinners of this world (1 Tim 1:15) and He died for us, not when we were saints, but sinners (Rom 5:8) brought tears to me. I could feel the warmth of Lord’s comforting embrace. I could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in me and peace amidst all the trials & troubles. I could feel His awesome Presence wherever I went, whatever I did, either sleeping, walking or standing. Whatever small or big prayers or requests I made, they were immediately answered. JESUS CHRIST IS A PRAYER ANSWERING GOD. Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! “If the son (Jesus) sets you free, you will be free indeed – John 8:36 (NIV)” Whenever I testified and glorified the Lord, Satan did not like it. He would immediately create some problem in Karthi’s health. Having learnt about the technique, we chased away the Satan with faithful prayers in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Our Lord has already crushed his head on the Calvary and he is now a snake with a cracked head. And a crack?! Our strong faith and continuous prayers can only be the weapon to keep him away from us. But we have to be always watchful about him as he is clever, cunning, tempting and does not allow you that easily to come out of your old habits. Although I had grown strong in faith, I could not fully become holy and leave all my old habits. I was in the Indian Air Force for 26 years and I was used to hard liquor for more than 40 years now. Almost I had become an alcoholic. I used to have a strong will power. For sometime I used to smoke. Then I will leave the smoking and start off chewing pan (Betel leaves) and tobacco. To leave chewing tobacco, I would pick up snuffing. Like that I was in and out of one or the other bad habit. With my will power I used to start anything and leave anything. I tried many a time to stop my drinking habit after coming to Jesus but I could not leave it. I thought I had mastered it, but alas! It had mastered me. The Bible says clearly in John 8:34 that he who does sin is a slave to sin. I had become a slave to drinking. Finally I went and cried to the Lord in the Church to help me come out of this bad habit. The Lord heard my prayers, saw my tears and sincerity and since then, MY 40 YEARS DRINKING HABIT AND ADDICTION WAS BROKEN AND I WAS DELIVERED. The thought of alcohol never came up again in my mind afterwards. The Lord says in 1 John 1:7-9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all our unrighteousness. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sins”. No more tobacco or snuff or any other bad habits since then. The Lord has made me totally free from all vices and addictions. If the Son (Jesus Christ) makes you free, you are free indeed (Jn 8:36). ASK ANYTHING IN HIS NAME SINCERELY AND WITH TEARS. JESUS WILL DEFINITELY SET YOU FREE!