BREAKING THE ICE

BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD.
In the journey of seeking materialistic success, our spirituality is left behind. More than counting on our blessings we count on our achievements. Success without spirituality is like a king without a crown and our achievements becomes our liabilities. We all like to try our luck with destiny; we want to give it a fast chance. Just like the fastest growing city Gurgaon, so called the Millennium City, a city with scarce water, electricity, rooms full of emptiness and dust for free.
Having just moved in with just one thing on my mind, faith as hope was excess baggage it had to be left behind. We were now looking out for opportunities, options and whatever knocks our door. My husband has been an atheist much before the Genesis, and my testimonies were merely coincidental or lucky. Through all believe or not to believe, he got a call for an interview and wanted my daughter to pray for him. I could hear everything and told him that his ego was heavier than his weight, since he weighed a little more than a hundred kilos, he couldn’t pray for himself. To which he replied that, “God is so great, He shall bring me opportunities right at my doorstep”. The doorbell rang, he opened the door and there was somebody saying, “Praise the Lord”. That was Gurgaon’s friendly neighborhood Pastor Thilak Pappu and his wife Linny, their children Arpit, Abhishek, Sabina and Darshan with a handful of invitation cards.
Pastor Thilak shared his experience on the Lord, coming from a Hindu background, he speaks so eloquently about the Bible and I make tall claims that I am born and brought up in a Christian family our Bible never moved from the Alter and if I remember it was never opened. Pastor handed me his visiting card and I saw evangelist amongst all the other things written on it and immediately asked him to evangelize my husband, and we just passed it off like a joke. I was under assumption that he could make the heavens thunder, the winds and the earth could shake as he could possibly drive the demons out of my husband and he would talk in tongues, I was sincerely looking out for some action, melodrama and everything they make movies of. From then on every visit that Pastor Thilak and Linny made there was something new happening in our lives. This time I made sure that I was not praying for myself but praying for my husband and I wanted a confirmation from the Lord that he has sent me a messenger, and I wanted to be sure of it.
On the second visit Pastor Thilak showed me some verse from the Bible which said, “You shall be set free” and said that he got this message for me, but there was no banging of the doors, or any thing weird happening so I just let this day pass off, we invited the family for dinner. It took us three days to get rid of all the dust and now we were ready for dinner with Pastor and his family, we had a good amount of experience sharing conversation and then it was time for grace before the meals and then dinner. Just as dinner was getting over, there was thunder and the winds running wild, there was such a fierce sand storm that it brought not just the dust we spent days cleaning but also sand within seconds we were carpeted with desert sand. That night I thought that God was working.
The third visit Pastor and his wife got me a Bible and not just me but my husband as well. This reminded me of a few years ago, I was so hurt about the circumstances I was living in, suffering in so much pain for no fault of mine, that I burnt the Bible I had, I destroyed the word of God with my own hands, and asked the Lord that my curses will be turned to blessings only if I am gifted the Bible again. 5th September, as Linny was writing on our Bibles I was wondering how to make the payment for one of them and they were handing out two. They seemed to be like net workers for the World Books and they had many more inside. I was really feeling ashamed to tell them that we cannot afford it, so I courageously asked them how much it would cost me. My pockets were sobbing louder that my heart throbs. Pastor Thilak and Linny impromptu said that it was a gift. This time I glanced at the doors and windows to make that they are closed so if there is any thunder or sandstorm it may just pass over us. As they handed over the Bibles to us there was something beautiful happening when we were receiving it. My husband whom I thought had an altered ego syndrome, looked like a lamb. This time I was scared as I thought that he was always possessed and something unnatural was about to happen. Pastor Thilak then asked us to come down on our knees and now was the time I was praying so loudly in my mind, that if I were given speakers wired to my mind they would surely burst. Pastor Thilak asked us to repeat after him the prayer of accepting Jesus Christ in our lives. I was repeating it but my entire focus was on my husband and I could hear him distinctly say each and every word Pastor Thilak was saying. My husband born and brought up in a backward Muslim community, so clearly and loudly saying each and every word was mind-blowing.
My husband was called for an interview to Mumbai, Pastor came over to say a prayer for us. I was a little worried as I could take care of my kids but just could not get up. My mornings were a real task for me, by noon I was tired like a donkey, just doing nothing. I shared this with Linny and as usual she replied that all answers are in the Bible, that day she taught me to read the Proverbs according to the dates of the month, that day it was the 30th September. It was close to midnight as I read Proverbs 30 and went on to read 31, to my amazement I got my answer. It was the Bible talking to me as I am such a mindless reader, this made me think that if all the answers are in the Bible we have been so foolish to rely on the wisdom of man and so I went to sleep. The very next morning I woke up at 7 am and the morning looked beautiful and readied myself to take on the day. My husband was as surprised to find me answering his wake up call; I waited for his return safely to tell him that I don’t need any more wake up calls. I silently thanked God for sending me such wonderful friends in Pastor and Linny.
Linny then invited us to a 3 day camp in Alwar, my husband excused himself and I was happy to take that break. Speakers came from all over and the hall was in full attendance. I could never find any verse in the Bible and Linny helped me with all the notes. The camp theme, “Rooted and built up in Him” Colossians 2:7, though much of the subject went bouncers. The organizers kept on requesting the gathering to write their questions and they will try to answer them at the end of the camp. Linny kept asking me to write and put my question and put it in the box. I kept thinking to myself all the while that I have so many questions to be answered but I don’t want to put it in the box, I want the answers directly. As Linny was making notes for me and markings in the Bible, something that really shook my faith was, “The parable of the Talents” but since she was marking the Bible I could just read some portion of the parable. We all went back to rest for sometime, but I was restless this afternoon, I read the parable all over again and that day many of my questions were answered. Linny asked me if my questions were ready to be put in the box and I told her that they were already answered not one but all my questions were answered.
Linny introduced me to Dr Silas one the speakers who was in his early seventies but he talks and walks so youthfully and full of spirit. She told me that I could discuss my problems with him but I who can give so much jargon on communication skills I wept, wailed and could not speak a word. I just eased my self when I heard him sharing his experience on Christ. He used to be all that my husband was in his youth, born in a Hindu family, a gambler, an atheist, a complete man of arrogance, now I did not have much to say but I could feel some firmness in my soul, the hurt of being abused by life just vanished. He advised me to go back and love my husband like a child and be a mother to him as a wife I might think otherwise but a mother I cannot leave my child. I looked at all the battles I fought and now victory was at my door step. As he shared his testimony I could picture my husband with dove flying around him. I could see Saul becoming Paul. It has been such a wonderful time meeting this man who now walks, talks, and writes many Christian books. I had the time to reflect on corrective spiritual guidance and then have my faith rooted and built up in Him. My husband was alone at home and so it was a good time for him as he could be thinking more clearly of how he wanted to live and establish his life. I used to be a reader by size, smaller books were my reading preference and now the Bible something to about 900 pages seems impossible. On my return back home my husband asked me to imagine him in his old days and I asked the Lord, that he should be like Dr Silas passing the baton of the Lord’s saving grace to as many who were as lost as me. This is where our friendly neighborhood Pastor Thilak and Linny cheerfully address, “all problems can be solved Biblically”.
My husband who used to be reading the Cole books to keep a track to the races for the day, now studies the Bible every day and races to the Bible study where he gets to know more about the Lord. My husband joined the study because he wanted to know more, but he asked the most questions. Pastor Thilak organizes a Bible study every Thursday at 7pm. They also organize a Light House Meeting which meets house to house every Saturday night. This Light House meeting is like a house on fire a good way to celebrate Saturday nights live and high on spiritual champagne. We have the entire Pastor Thilak Pappu and family in participation for any Biblical occasion. Linny as the conductor, Abhishek on the harmonium, Arpit on the Banjo, Sabina gifted for her voice and Darshan the Drummer Boy, this seven year old can gives the beats of a professional. Sunday is at the Brethren Living Church, at Tagore School at 9.30 am and for the children they organize a Kids Club in the evening at 4pm . Pastor Thilak and Linny also come home to methodically explain the Bible from the very beginning. Linny is a perfect companion for women as she spiritually addresses and even nurses problems faced by women of all ages. My husband was blessed with a job opportunity in a much better location, where water is in abundance, electricity is always there and you can dust your house once a week. So even if you think you know Christ. THINK AGAIN.