Last month I wrote about one of our friends from Nepal that had been attending our collegiate ministry at McKendree College in Illinois. He grew up Hindu and moved to the US to attend college this year. His name is Sudarsun. He had come regularly to our Bible studies and worship services and was trying to understand the commitment we have to Christ. We prayed for a month that Sudarsun would come to understand the faith we have in our Lord.
Then 2 weeks ago, while I was on a business trip, I received the news that Sudarsun had trusted his life to Christ. Praise God!!! Sudarsun did what many of us have never done. He trusted his life to Christ without growing up in a Judeo-Christian (or pseudo Judeo-Christian) society like ours. When we that have grown up here in the West make a decision to follow Christ we might be ridiculed by our friends and family, but most likely not suffer any real persecution for our decision. When Sudarsun made the commitment to Christ it required a shift in the foundations of all that has been taught to him. When you grow up a Hindu it starts a huge change in your life to now proclaim to be a follower of Christ. His friends and family in Nepal will probably have a harder time understanding his decision than any of us will.
Throughout this whole process Sudarsun has kept a remarkable online journal. I think each of us can learn so much from his writings. It is located here. Link. I get excited every time I read it. His approach to Christianity is so fresh and different from most of us who have grown up in the West. We grow up knowing all the facts about Christ that have been drilled into us from attending church and then have our Christian friends try to persuade through reason or emotion to turn our lives over to His Lordship. It only requires a very minimal level of faith to become a Christian in our world. Sudarsun's journey, though, has been just the opposite. He stepped out in faith and dedicated his life to the Lord before he knew all the facts and answers. His decision took a level of faith that most of us have never seen. With fewer and fewer people being exposed to "Christian" principles in our increasingly postmodern society I think Sudarsun's experience is one that will be repeated time and again among our friends. The old method of making a decision to follow Christ with your head and following it through with a decision to follow from your heart will give way to more people stepping out in faith to follow from their heart and then letting their head follow. I think this puts a huge new emphasis on the value of discipleship in the lives of new Christians.
Sudarsun was kind enough to let me link to his journal. Please keep him in your prayers.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Hello Mr. Rick, this is Sudarsun. Thank you for everything. I do not deserve any credit for seeking the truth because it's God who has given me that thirst, by raising me up in a different faith for the best part of my life. I am just very fortunate to have found favor in His eyes. I pray that all others would be just as fortunate, that God will give not just one or two but a hundred opportunities to non-believers and people of other faiths to know Christ and gradually build upon their faith in Him. There are too many people in the world who have never heard of Christ or have rejected Him because of their own faiths and beliefs. They are the ones who need our prayers. Let us all make it a point to pray for them everyday.
Thanks for the comment Sudarsun. You're an inspiration to all of us!
woooooooohoooooooo!! :)
Post a Comment